108229-changes-to-attunement

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First of, like the title states, I hope we can keep things civil, because as it stands, our little Community isn't the picture of fair debate and Thread Locking is at an all time high, often within reason.
 
I read all the posts in the recently closed thread about "Nerfing Attunement" and some conclusions came to mind:
 
Raiding is a group activity and an integral part of both Ms in MMO. I still believe the content can be difficult without the added pressure of scrounging for people in a dwindling population. In my opinion, the attunement change came to be more out of population metrics than from an outcry from a group of players. And no, I can't provide the metrcis, just seems to me like an idea out of common sense. 
I'm fine with removing the Timers from the Dungeons, which made them seem not only artificially difficult but also too punishing on folks without a dedicated guild or dungeon circle (yes, they do exist). That being said, the change could have been a lot more organic by simply removing the Timer but keeping the attunement requirement at Silver. Way I see it, lowering it to Bronze seems like a tourniquet to stop the bleeding (in the population, that is) 
It's 2014. That means what was relevant 9 years ago, it's not so much today. Carbine, as many other  companies, needs to adapt and survive. I too look back with teary-eyed nostalgia the countless nights I spent wiping in Karazhan, pursuing my attunement for TK and SSC, and loudly swearing at M'uru in Sunwell Temple for being such a heartless, floating turd. Howevere, I love the way my life is right now, and the trick with nostalgia is that is quite rose-tinted. Speaking for myself, the person I was when I had the availability to be HARDCORE is radically different from who I am right now. 
Discussion is possible without namecalling. Before being pegged as casuals, hardcore or elitists, are not players in the end? As much as it stings, we all need the presence of Elitists to do the math and the dirty work for us, as much as they need us casuals to keep the game alive and receiving updates that keep it alive and vibrant. 
I think it would do us good to remember that at the end of the month, your 15 bucks look exactly the same to the bank.
			
				
	Edited August 13, 2014 by BusterCasey
	
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Raiding is a group activity and an integral part of both Ms in MMO.
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Raikun,
 
Great sentiment! I think one thing we should remember is that Carbine sort of set us up for what can only be described as the most toxic community since League of Legends with the emphasis on "hardcore" and marginalizing casuals/"cupcakes". You should probably not invent terminology that your population can essentially use as a substitute for "filthy casual".
 
As a result, I'm not terribly surprised at the turn this forum takes more often than not.	
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I'm fine with removing the Timers from the Dungeons, which made them seem not only artificially difficult but also too punishing on folks without a dedicated guild or dungeon circle (yes, they do exist). That being said, the change could have been a lot more organic by simply removing the Timer but keeping the attunement requirement at Silver. Way I see it, lowering it to Bronze seems like a tourniquet to stop the bleeding (in the population, that is)
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I'm fine with removing the Timers from the Dungeons, which made them seem not only artificially difficult but also too punishing on folks without a dedicated guild or dungeon circle (yes, they do exist).
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Silver without timers is essentially a bronze.  I'm glad they left the silver timers in tact so that people who want to try and achieve them at a later date can still do so.
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It's 2014. That means what was relevant 9 years ago, it's not so much today. Carbine, as many other  companies, needs to adapt and survive. I too look back with teary-eyed nostalgia the countless nights I spent wiping in Karazhan, pursuing my attunement for TK and SSC, and loudly swearing at M'uru in Sunwell Temple for being such a heartless, floating turd. Howevere, I love the way my life is right now, and the trick with nostalgia is that is quite rose-tinted. Speaking for myself, the person I was when I had the availability to be HARDCORE is radically different from who I am right now. 
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But many of the man-made things you are enjoying today were dreamed up and developed years ago. Almost nothing software-wise released in 2014 was created in 2014.
 
As for attunement. What other MMO has it? It's is not an archaic notion, it's just a single checklist for progression. Other games have it too but not in a single format.
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This is not the case.  MMOs can and have existed without raids.
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I'm still on the fence about the upcoming changes to the attunement process.
 
On one hand, I can't help but feel a little disappointed that the whole process is being made easier. The silver screening required both skill and determination, each step forward being an accomplishment on its own. The upcoming "bronze screening", on the other hand, could be done in a single night by experienced players. It's nice for those who wish to get alts raid-ready, but a little disappointing for those experiencing it for the first time. I'm currently 3/4 with silver dungeons and will be pushing for that silver SSM before these changes are implemented. I've been waiting for this glorious moment for far too long.
 
And then on the other hand, it's been made painfully obvious that the whole "timer" aspect of this attunement process was not welcomed by a majority of the population. I've watched too many players simply give up and vanish before they could even see their first raid. It's unfortunate, really, because raiding n this game looks like a blast. I guess making the content a little more accessible will keep more players in Wildstar, and that's just what the game needs.
 
I've admittedly never been a fan of timers, I find them needlessly stressful, but I accepted them as part of the game. It's the original vision developers had and I find it unfortunate to see them forced to cave in. I don't think this change takes away from the game's more "hardcore" nature, but I do hope it won't be opening the door for cries of actual content nerf.	
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			I really don't mind if wildstar becomes almost like vanilla WOW 2.0 and make it a place for ex WOW players to go to after the great 2010 betrayal.	
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I dislike this but I guess there is less and little I can do about it. I liked the required group synergy and mechanic's knowledge that was required with a silver run. With this change I can literally go into a dungeon for 6hrs, and derp my way through it and be raid attuned. The required time investment and persistence that was required to get a silver for the dungeon's was also a key indicator that the person was raid ready. 
 
For the sake of transparency I am 50% way through my dungeon attunement so I do stand to benefit from this change as it will allow me to get into raids quicker, that being said, I have already told my GM that I will not take a raid spot until I have silver in the dungeon's.
 
Has there been any word on when this will be implemented?	
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With this change I can literally go into a dungeon for 6hrs, and derp my way through it and be raid attuned.
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All I know is, Silver Dungeons with Timers were a valid way to test a player's skill level, but not by far the one and only. I feel it's a bit unfair to argue that by the magic of a timer, a player can be deemed worthy. Even Guild Leaders currently raiding GA and DS fully admit to having members that still die and derp consistently on phases that quite honestly, dungeons should have prepared them for.
 
My argument is simply that a challenge should be attainable with sweat, blood and tears, but attainable nonetheless. I've always been against encounters and mechanics in general that simply reward the player with the loftiest time to spare, because it simply sends the message that "Hammer it enough times and it's bound to break".
 
A skilled player is and will be skilled regardless of content and regardless of gimmicks. I can tell you just from today's experience, that there's a ton of groups that fail even at Bronze, and tons of "raiders" (quotations intended) that can show Silver in their credentials, that have no clue that the red stuff on the ground is a big no-no. 
 
It presents little surprise that these changes come almost at the same time as the Quarterly Reports that effectively show just how succesful (or not) Wildstar is so far. Perhaps these Attunement tweaks, which in no way diminish the complexity of the encounters themselves, will allow guilds to draw from a bigger pool of skilled players who were waiting by the sidelines patiently while their Dungeon Queue popped, only to have to face disbanding if the objective wasn't met.
 
I long for the days when a PUG could actually teach new players how to face an encounter, and subsequently, establish bonds of camaraderie that could extend even to raiding later on. I want to believe, with my heart and my wallet, that Carbine has talented people who are also humble enough to realize that the Hardcore Club can stand perfectly on its own just by merit of Raid Design itself, without the need to feed the egos of a chosen few who mistake Hardcore with tedious repetition.	
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			I say most of those purist are basically out of touch on what is going on in the game and prefer to have their own little world until the game goes bankrupt or F2P or is it their intention all along.	
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Other mmos have several raids and you progress as you gear up and learn to play at a higher level... From the easy intro raid to the latest cupcake that slaps even the vets around.
 
Other mmos just have gear attunement, you won't succeed if you're not geared in the previous tier, the rage timers ensure it.
 
Some mmos require you to complete dungeons to open up the raid (story driven) and even have you complete a pre-raid each time (raid level or dungeon where you split the raid to complete).
 
Can't think of other systems.
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