World of Warcraft is apparently working on its own tool that is supposed to replace the popular website Raider.IO. This was revealed by the operators of the website – and the code from the new patch 9.1 already contains hints about the new feature.
What kind of tool is this? Raider.IO is a website that tracks player progress in Mythic+ dungeons. It records, among other things:
- which dungeons you have completed in time
- how quickly you complete the dungeons
- what the highest key was completed outside of time
- which specializations and roles you are using
The tool assigns you a “RIO Score” that indicates how experienced you are with endgame content. Raider.IO has been popular for many years and is often used to filter in group searches.
How is it in WoW? The creators of Raider.IO revealed in a blog post that Blizzard is also working on such a system (via Raider.IO). The developers have contacted the website for this and asked them questions.
In the form of the “Mythic + Score”, Raider.IO is also supposed to be implemented in WoW and function similarly. There are no details about this yet, but data miners from wowhead have already discovered code lines in patch 9.1 on the PTR of WoW that indicate the tool (via wowhead):
- According to the code lines, there will be a UI, which is a dedicated interface for the tool.
- The score is apparently based on all dungeons.
- The individual values for the dungeons will be displayed separately.
- A display indicates how much score a successful dungeon would bring you.
Whether all of this is true remains to be seen and is purely an interpretation of the discovered code. It is also still unclear when the Mythic+ Score will be released. Possibly with the upcoming patch 9.1, but maybe later.
“Mythic+ Score” for WoW – Is it good or bad?
Why the tool is so controversial: The RIO score is heavily disputed among players. Some criticize that players are reduced to a number and are no longer included, even though they might be good enough. Just because they don’t run enough Mythic+ dungeons, they won’t have enough score, even if they possess the technical understanding.
Moreover, the score causes some players to leave dungeons even though they could have easily completed them in time – just below the value that would be useful to them. This leaves four other players in the lurch.
Nevertheless, Raider.IO is often used as a guideline. The details indicate how much experience a player has with endgame content. If they complete a high key in time, it is likely that they will also be helpful with lower keys – or that they can work on even higher keys with them.
As the levels increase, the enemies gain more health and special abilities, known as “affixes”. The dungeons become increasingly difficult as the level rises.
The goal is to complete a dungeon in the allotted time while killing enough enemies and all bosses. Depending on how well you are within the time, the keystone can be upgraded by up to three levels.
It is random which dungeon the next keystone enhances. If the keystone is not completed on time or at all, you lose a level.
What does WoW need to improve? Players now hope that the good properties of Raider.IO will be adopted while misbehavior is penalized. On reddit, for example, user samra23 says: “One of the nice things about RIO is that you can’t lose score. I hope Blizzard keeps that and we don’t lose the incentive to run with friends or to finish keys over time” (via reddit).
User SC_x_Conster counters that at least players should be punished for leaving the dungeon early. However, according to many other players, this is difficult to implement without the punishment leading to even more toxic behavior.
Overall, the response seems to be positive. Even if there are opponents, many players see no problem with the Mythic+ Score. Raider.IO is already used – so Blizzard might as well implement it directly themselves. This way, no third party messes with the API and the data.
If the tool comes with patch 9.1, it will likely still cause disputes among players. They are already not entirely happy with the direction WoW is currently moving:
Some WoW players are already mocking the new patch 9.1 and don’t look forward to it
