I'm getting tired of this argument that dungeon running isn't the "Classic experience" and that questing should be the primary way to level.
First of all, why should legitimate players be punished because bots and boosting groups abused dungeon XP? If the problem is botting, address the bots. If the problem is boosting, address boosting. Nerfing dungeon XP across the board just punishes everyone else, including tanks, healers, and ordinary players who enjoy running dungeons as part of their leveling experience.
And let's be honest: dungeon running isn't always faster than questing.
Sure, there are specific cases, like Scarlet Monastery, where running the dungeon repeatedly can arguably be more efficient than questing. But try getting a group to Maraudon, travelling all the way there, and organizing everything. That takes time. Depending on your class, group composition, and circumstances, questing or grinding in the open world can be just as efficient, if not better.
The other problem is this bizarre idea that questing is somehow the authentic Classic experience. It isn't.
During the original WoW beta, Blizzard had to add more quests because players were getting bored of grinding mobs and wanted more things to do. Grinding mobs was a fundamental part of the original leveling experience, whether you did it in the open world or inside dungeons. Quests were added to make leveling more accessible and varied, not to establish one sacred, mandatory way of progressing through the game.
People seem to have forgotten that.
And if we're going to talk about preserving the Classic experience, let's talk about what actually changed the world. Dungeon running didn't kill the open world. Flying mounts, among other later design decisions, fundamentally changed how players interacted with it.
Look at the state of Classic today. Mega servers, layers packed with players, and dozens of people competing for the same quest mobs and drops. Is standing in a line with 50 other players waiting for a quest objective really the Classic experience we're trying to preserve?
The original game had smaller server communities where you would often find yourself questing alone, recognize familiar players, and gradually build relationships with people on your server. That experience is difficult to recreate when the population is enormous and everything is overcrowded.
Yet somehow, the solution is to make one of the other legitimate ways to level less rewarding.
Why are we treating dungeon runners as if they're playing the game incorrectly? Tanks and healers are essential to keeping groups running. Some players genuinely prefer instanced content. Others enjoy the social aspect of repeatedly running dungeons with familiar people. And some simply prefer grinding mobs over completing a checklist of quests.
All of these are legitimate ways to play an MMORPG.
The argument that everyone should quest because that's "the Classic way" is historically questionable and ignores how people actually played the original game. Grinding was always part of Classic. Dungeons were always part of Classic. Questing was one part of a much larger leveling experience.
Honestly, sometimes it feels like Blizzard is more interested in dictating how players should play than in understanding why they enjoy the game in the first place. At this point, I'm half convinced there's a quiet competition between the developers and some of the legendary dungeon runners to see who can outlast whom.
If botting and boosting are the problem, target those activities specifically. Don't gut dungeon leveling for everybody else.
Classic should be about giving players different ways to experience the world, not forcing everyone into the same leveling route.
