So your whole premise boils down to simply believing you'll get 25 people that will pay attention all the time. That is what you are banking on. But if you have had so much trouble getting people to do that now, why do you really think it will change with just healers? Why not just form a guild with people playing what they want to play and keep them focused? Because you won't have any more luck getting the 40 people you need to sustain 25 man raids all based on healer classes than you will if you are selective with the 40 people playing a broader selection of classes.
And I will go back to DPS. Because I'm not talking about BWL or MC encounter when I speak of it. I'm talking about Twin Emps and beyond. The newest encounters designed for the game. I fully expect that most of the 25 man stuff and hopefully even the 10 man stuff will require the kind of focus that these encounters required. And if you can't beat them because you in fact do lack DPS, which you do, then you can't over gear for them. The other thing is that you are expecting to find that many druids of that skill level. Non healers like to think that DPS is super easy. And I will admit it is in general easier (and I've healed all of MC, BWL, and AQ40 up to and including the trash after the twin emps, I've tanked all of MC, and everything in BWL except Nef. I've played a hunter for all of MC and all of BWL except Nef, I've played my tanking or healing class spec'd and geared for DPS on everything in BWL) but it does still take skill and focus. That average skill druid doing DPS isn't going to get to 90% of the DPS of the rogues (and that is in MC, it gets lower in BWL) it will get to 70%. Because it will be at 90% of that average rogue.
Your all healers won't get past Broodlord and I doubt they could be Chromaggus, because even though he isn't a true DPS burn fight, he will be frenzied the whole fight, a fight that will last longer, because I still don't buy your calculations, and I'm very very sorry for you if they are true. So you are looking at a longer fight that will suck mana faster, and then you get not only frenzy but the enrage at 20%. I don't recall the numbers but Frenzy + Enrage would be something like 400% more damage per attack with like 2x the attack speed. So around 800% more total damage. I just don't see you beating that. And it isn't just no hunters to stop that frenzy, it's less DPS (even with more healing). He will kill your druid tank and he will get loose. Any fight that is even as simple as Chrommie is with just those basic abilities I feel will stop you.
But again that isn't one of the DPS burns. I don't think you could get past trash designed like a Stoneskin Gargoyle and the reason is lack of DPS. In this case burst DPS. 6 seconds to go from 30% to dead or it will be fully healthy. You have no warrior execute. You have no super powered mage shots. No trinketed shadow bolts, no rapid fire hunters. No rogue 5 point finishing moves. You have a few extra shaman shocks and stormstrikes, a few extra (over the base group that you expect on this) crusader strikes, a few extra druid 5 point finishers. But I still doubt that something designed like that will be beatable by this group. And these are some of the simpler burn mobs. I full expect and hope to see more like this.
But yeah if you can find the critical mass to make it happen and have people happy with slow or no progress, more power too you. I don't expect a full healer group to be able to progress. I expect that you'll end up with a lot of alts that have to fill in, but if you got people that truly loved their healing class they simply won't be as good on those alts that you have to have. But as mentioned I can point to some of the best healers I know, and they will freely admit that they are not as good at DPS as people that really like DPS.
I think you would get better returns on your energy simply recruiting people that can play well and are willing to play a healer alt. Their weaknesses at their turn healing on the alt should be easily made up for by the fact that you should have more skilled healers than average.
But we just have a difference of opinion. I respect you for wanting to try it, I hope you prove me wrong, but I just don't think game design will allow it. I think you overestimate some things and underestimate others.
Edit:
Just get in a guild that allows the freedom of rolls anyway. A guild that embraces feral druids, and retribution paladins and enhancement shaman, and shadow priests. In other words, get in a Lurkers guild. :) We had a new druid join. I don't think he believed us when we told him that we expected him to play how he wanted and that if he was willing we would call on him to do everything a druid can do. He has tanked, healed and DPS'd in 5 mans and 20 man raids. He hasn't joined us on any 40 mans yet. Just get a group of players that all think like that and it doesn't matter what classes they play.
And I will go back to DPS. Because I'm not talking about BWL or MC encounter when I speak of it. I'm talking about Twin Emps and beyond. The newest encounters designed for the game. I fully expect that most of the 25 man stuff and hopefully even the 10 man stuff will require the kind of focus that these encounters required. And if you can't beat them because you in fact do lack DPS, which you do, then you can't over gear for them. The other thing is that you are expecting to find that many druids of that skill level. Non healers like to think that DPS is super easy. And I will admit it is in general easier (and I've healed all of MC, BWL, and AQ40 up to and including the trash after the twin emps, I've tanked all of MC, and everything in BWL except Nef. I've played a hunter for all of MC and all of BWL except Nef, I've played my tanking or healing class spec'd and geared for DPS on everything in BWL) but it does still take skill and focus. That average skill druid doing DPS isn't going to get to 90% of the DPS of the rogues (and that is in MC, it gets lower in BWL) it will get to 70%. Because it will be at 90% of that average rogue.
Your all healers won't get past Broodlord and I doubt they could be Chromaggus, because even though he isn't a true DPS burn fight, he will be frenzied the whole fight, a fight that will last longer, because I still don't buy your calculations, and I'm very very sorry for you if they are true. So you are looking at a longer fight that will suck mana faster, and then you get not only frenzy but the enrage at 20%. I don't recall the numbers but Frenzy + Enrage would be something like 400% more damage per attack with like 2x the attack speed. So around 800% more total damage. I just don't see you beating that. And it isn't just no hunters to stop that frenzy, it's less DPS (even with more healing). He will kill your druid tank and he will get loose. Any fight that is even as simple as Chrommie is with just those basic abilities I feel will stop you.
But again that isn't one of the DPS burns. I don't think you could get past trash designed like a Stoneskin Gargoyle and the reason is lack of DPS. In this case burst DPS. 6 seconds to go from 30% to dead or it will be fully healthy. You have no warrior execute. You have no super powered mage shots. No trinketed shadow bolts, no rapid fire hunters. No rogue 5 point finishing moves. You have a few extra shaman shocks and stormstrikes, a few extra (over the base group that you expect on this) crusader strikes, a few extra druid 5 point finishers. But I still doubt that something designed like that will be beatable by this group. And these are some of the simpler burn mobs. I full expect and hope to see more like this.
But yeah if you can find the critical mass to make it happen and have people happy with slow or no progress, more power too you. I don't expect a full healer group to be able to progress. I expect that you'll end up with a lot of alts that have to fill in, but if you got people that truly loved their healing class they simply won't be as good on those alts that you have to have. But as mentioned I can point to some of the best healers I know, and they will freely admit that they are not as good at DPS as people that really like DPS.
I think you would get better returns on your energy simply recruiting people that can play well and are willing to play a healer alt. Their weaknesses at their turn healing on the alt should be easily made up for by the fact that you should have more skilled healers than average.
But we just have a difference of opinion. I respect you for wanting to try it, I hope you prove me wrong, but I just don't think game design will allow it. I think you overestimate some things and underestimate others.
Edit:
Quote:I have no idea whether people will stay motivated, indeed whether they'l even stay, period. The deal is slower raid progress in return for freedom of role and the ability to collect a variety of gear. Some players will like the deal and some won't but in the end I suspect success if we give this a try will be about the usual issue of drama management rather than games mechanics
Just get in a guild that allows the freedom of rolls anyway. A guild that embraces feral druids, and retribution paladins and enhancement shaman, and shadow priests. In other words, get in a Lurkers guild. :) We had a new druid join. I don't think he believed us when we told him that we expected him to play how he wanted and that if he was willing we would call on him to do everything a druid can do. He has tanked, healed and DPS'd in 5 mans and 20 man raids. He hasn't joined us on any 40 mans yet. Just get a group of players that all think like that and it doesn't matter what classes they play.
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It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.
It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.