Quote Originally Posted by Kyuuen View Post
The formula wasn't really changed here though, the feel of it most definitely has been improved no argument, but I wouldn't necessarily say the formula has changed. It's still the MMO standard tried and true receive quest, fulfill quest, turn in quest, receive rewards.
I mean WoW already let you level strictly via dungeons (granted the new scaling tech gutted dungeon xp, so that option is not very good now). It let you level exclusively through PVP if you wanted. You could in theory grind mobs all day long. You've had options for a long time. You didn't HAVE to quest.

More importantly though, do you have any insight/ideas into how the leveling formula could be shaken up/improved? I'd be more interested in hearing about that than discussing the semantics as to what does/doesn't qualify as a formula change.

I'll give you that one. It's largely a feature I don't use due to having to use Party Finder instead of LFD. I simply don't like putting up with peoples ridiculous requirements such as needing certain addons or unreasonable ilvl expectations. So I avoided this system as a whole.
You're looking at it the wrong way. If I am ilvl 970 and doing a +15, I'm going to set it to people around my ilvl. I'm not going to set it to 910 even though they could easily clear the +15. There's no reason too when I have a staggering list of 960+ candidates trying to get in my party.

What addons are you referencing for M+? I've never seen or heard of anyone requiring specific addons and I acquired KSM long before NH dropped.

Take your own Keystone (you can get one from a regular DF'able Mythic dungeon) and make your own party and get other like geared/minded players and have a blast. See how high you can take the key.

Mythic + has hands down supplied me with some of the most rewarding experiences in my MMO career (10+ years, even as a top 20 US raider for a portion of it). You're doing yourself a disservice by not experiencing it. I'm alliance on NA Stormrage if you wanted to group up.

I dunno, I'll give you the flex raid part, but at the same time it feels like they don't try to break the mold enough. Sure there's a few fights throughout WoW that you can claim to have done this such as Malygos, healing the green drake in ICC, Arthas kill mechanic which has been used twice now considering Argus, Flame Leviathan, etc. Perhaps it's more of a time thing in looking back at all the raids and what's been done. But personally WoW's raids have felt kind of stale to me as of late. XIV's dev team seems to strike a balance in trying something new here and there to break up the monotony of mechanics such as Cruise Chasers timed event and Byakko's falling mechanic.
It depends on what we consider breaking the mold. By your examples, it appears that unconventional mechanics are what dictate your consideration. That's fair. Gimmicky encounters can be cool, but if they're overused they lose a lot of what makes them fun.

That said, I agree that WoW encounters have been a bit stale lately. In ABN, I really wasn't impressed with any of the bosses until Coven, and it ended with Coven. I took a break through ToS, and only came in like twice to full clear it with old guild for fun so I don't want to comment on it as I didn't progress it. NH had a few good fights. Elisande, Spellblade, and Botanist get credit for being fun fights. ToV Odyn & Helya were both good fights (I HATED Helya, but that's because I had shit mobility). EN sucked. I actually liked Nythendra the best out of all of them haha. The mind control + rot stacks was a really neat mechanic interaction.