Just read that the LFR for Patch 5.2 will be reduced to 480. There was a large thread talking about the original number at 486 and how this number was pretty controversial. I made a suggestion that the correct number should be 480. Not sure if Blizzard took my post into consideration, but if you look at other LFRs, the numbers make sense around that point (e.g. to get into the first LFR for Mogu’shan Vaults, you need 460, which is 3 levels lower than maxing out your gear from Heroics, assuming each slot is 463 and you didn’t purchase any higher ilvl equipment nor found weapons in Heroics of 476).
This is great news for many casual players as the bar for LFR is pretty high as is. Also, mathematically the 486 number really didn’t make sense since that would assume people managed to get all pieces from LFR, upgraded each slot via VP and won rolls from Galleon, Sha of Anger or purchased VP gear. While this can happen for the casual (e.g. myself minus the Galleon aspect), you have to take into consideration things like alts as well.
My biggest argument about this setting is the psychology in which players in WoW works. Currently, the way LFR is designed, Blizzard wants even the casuals to go through a sense of raid progression. So they’ve created barriers between each raids by forcing people to complete each one in order as well as setting ilvl restrictions. However, one thing I’ve noticed is that as the expansion continues, the player base drops off and/or simply stops working on older LFR content. Even now, I’m finding queue times for Terrace of Endless Spring on a raid reset night to take in excess of 20-30 minutes. That’s the top tier for LFR. So how would that impact future progression?
It is understandable that you would want certain minimum gear requirements so that players can output enough damage, healing or damage reduction. However, if the content is tuned such that it requires a vastly higher number, then Blizzard already would be overshooting the core intention of the design (which in this case are the casual players). The only way to make up for this design is to once again introduce quick gearing instances similar to Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm. But at that point, the whole intent of raid progression goes out the window.
Just like in writing, it’s easier to subtract than add. So I think Blizzard made a wise move by reducing things this quick. For myself, I’m quite happy because my paladin just hit ilvl 481 today, making him qualified for the next LFR. However, I will continue to gear him as if the requirements were much higher. To me there’s no such thing as too little preparation.