News broke that Mythic+ dungeons in Shadowlands will drop lower iLevels than we are used to (comparatively speaking). You see, in BfA, completing a +15 key rewarded loot equal to bosses from Heroic raids. In Shadowlands, +15 keystones will drop loot that is 3 iLevels lower than Heroic bosses.
Then the internet exploded.
When that happens, we run surveys in hopes understand and quantify human emotions (for Mr. Robot, of course).
View the full infographic or read this article for a detailed breakdown.
How do Warcraft players feel about the lower iLevel change to M+ loot?
It turns out the change is as equally loved as it is hated.
A few qualifying questions
At the start of the survey, everyone was asked a few questions:
- What do you consider to be your main raid difficulty?
- How often do you run Mythic Keystones?
- What is your main motivation for running M+ ?
- After they rated their feelings about the iLevel change, they were given a text box to explain why they felt that way.
The answers let me slice the data in different ways to find interesting trends. Let’s look at a few of those next.
How do raiders feel about the ‘nerf’ to Shadowlands M+ loot?
I looked at responses from people who regularly raid Normal, Heroic, and Mythic. It’s still a pretty even split.
Motivations for running Mythic+ does affect opinions
Players were asked to identify their main motivation for running Mythic Keystones. While there were 9 motivations to choose from, just 3 of them account for 90% of players:
- To meet the weekly cache requirement
- To gear up my main
- For fun
This is where support (or lack there of) for the item ‘nerf’ starts to change.
The quotes are from the open ended question asking players why they like or dislike the change.
Running more dungeons = less supportive of the change
Another trend emerged based on the number of dungeons players ran each week:
- Players who run fewer dungeons are more likely to be in favor of the item level nerf
- Players who run more dungeons are more likely to oppose the nerf
This makes sense. If you run a lot of dungeons, you’re used to getting a lot of loot. Loot is fun! Even if you like running dungeons for the challenge or any reason other than gear… getting less gear is (almost?) always less fun.
On the flip side, if you only run a couple of dungeons a week, this change doesn’t have as big of an impact because it wasn’t a large source of gear upgrades.
In case you are wondering (like I was) what the overlap is between people running fewer dungeons and the weekly-cache motivation…
- 57% of people who run 1-2 dungeons a week are motivated by the weekly cache
- 21% of people who run 3-5 dungeons a week are motivated by the weekly cache
Weekly cache getting choices: all in favor!
The randomness of weekly cache loot has worn us all down. So much so that (almost) no one opposes the addition of choice to The Great Vault (the new weekly cache).
Even though the PvP and Mythic Keystone caches will no longer be separate in Shadowlands, players want to be able to choose the item instead of the weekly reward (possibly) being a complete disappointment.
Note: this question was asked & answered before the announcement of bonus rolls going away.
Why did Blizzard make these changes?
Community Manager Kaivax made a blue post:
…the very strongest loot in WoW comes from the three organized multiplayer endgame progression paths: Rated PvP, Mythic Keystone dungeons, and raiding. The design intent is for all three paths to provide parallel progression over the course of a tier, while providing players who engage in multiple paths at a comparable level a faster advancement experience.
Kaivax, Warcraft Community Manager