Flex raiding lockouts changed in hotfix
So, if you're confused about how Flex Raiding's lockout system works now, you're not the only one. The forums are abuzz with questions, and today Crithto posted to explain exactly what was up. The persistent pug explained that, thanks to player feedback, there were some changes to how Flex lockouts operate. Previously, the raid based which bosses were up in a given Flex raid on the player in the raid with the least kills, so if you were invited to a Flex raid that had killed two bosses but you'd killed none, those two bosses would be there. Now, that's all changed.
After careful consideration of the feedback you've shared, and after weighing pros and cons of the Flex mode system that came with Patch 5.4, we've decided to change how raid progress is saved. At patch launch, entering Flex mode SoO was based upon who had progressed the least. For example, a raid of 11 players entered SoO and downed 3 bosses on Tuesday night. Wednesday night, all 11 come back together to continue but decide to bring along 4 new people. If the raid had queued together, they'd have had to start the raid over from the beginning because those 4 new players weren't flagged as having downed the first 3 bosses. Our original intent was to err on the side of making sure no one in the raid would miss out on a boss that they still needed to kill.
A hotfix applied this morning, however, takes a more traditional approach to raid lockouts by basing boss progression on the group leader's status. In other words, if the raid leader faced 3 bosses on Tuesday and decides to continue where he or she left off tonight, anyone who joins the Flex raid--even those who have never set foot into SoO--will begin the instance at the same point where the raid leader finished on Tuesday. This system is more straightforward and understandable for much of the WoW raiding community, therefore Flexible raids will no longer be based upon the least progressed member.
So there we have it - the community's voices have been heard, and the Flex boss lockout is now based on the raid leader instead of the least progressed player. Hopefully that will make Flex raiding less confusing for people.
