🚀 go-pugleaf

Hmm, interesting... this might make pugs rather more common (and
perhaps more accepting - I gave up even trying years ago as most have
ridiculous requirements to even join, such as outgearing anything that
drops in the place...)

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http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/10175200/A_Raid_for_All_Seasons_Flexible_Raid_Preview-6_6_2013

Raids in World of Warcraft have a long history of not just challenging
players, but changing and evolving as the years and expansions go by.
As with everything in the game, we’re always thinking about what more
we can bring to raiding to improve the experience for an even wider
range of players. While Normal and Heroic Raids are a great fit for
many, we feel there’s another gap worth filling—and to that end, we’re
currently working on the development of a new type of Raid for the
next major content update: Flexible Raiding.

One Size Does Not Fit All
While it’s impossible to fit every player into a neat, tidy archetype,
we recognize that we could be providing a better experience to one
broad category of raider: social groups comprised predominantly of
friends and family, and smaller guilds that do their best to include
as many members in their Raid outings possible.

During the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the 10-player Normal
difficulty served these groups of players pretty well, but the
unification of 10-player and 25-player into a single difficulty
effectively eliminated that niche. While Raid Finder mode is extremely
accessible, it doesn’t provide smaller groups with a tight-knit social
experience while progressing through the content. In Patch 5.4, we’re
planning to introduce a new mode of raiding that allows us to deliver
the sort of experience that we think these players are looking for.

/Flex
To fill this void, we’re in the process of developing a new Flexible
Raid system, which includes a new difficulty that sits between Raid
Finder and Normal difficulty, while still allowing friends, family, or
pick-up groups to play together. This difficulty will be available for
premade groups of 10–25 players, including any number in between. That
means whether you have 11, 14, or 23 friends available for a Raid,
they’ll all be able to participate.

The Flexible Raid system is designed so that the challenge level will
scale depending on how many players you have in the Raid. So if you
switch between 14 players one week and 22 the next, the difficulty
will adjust automatically. Keep in mind that unlike Raid Finder, no
matchmaking is available, so you’ll need to make sure you invite
people to attend—but if some can’t make it, it’s not the end of the
world (or the Raid). You’ll also still be able to invite Real ID or
Battle.net friends cross-realm. Who you choose to bring and what Item
Level gear they’ll need to join your merry band is up to you,
too—there’s no Item Level requirement for this Raid difficulty.

Dressed to Kill
A new Raid difficulty also means a new Item Level. Flexible mode will
award loot with an Item Level that falls between Raid Finder and
Normal quality, and will use the Raid Finder’s “per person” loot
system, specialization choices, and bonus rolls, so you won’t need to
worry about bringing the “wrong” person and having them win that piece
of gear you’ve long been waiting for.

You Have the Keys
We plan to unlock the Flexible Raid difficulty in wings, similar to
Raid Finder, but on an accelerated timetable. This new difficulty also
has a separate Raid lockout from Raid Finder and Normal difficulty,
allowing you to take part in all three if you so desire. You’ll also
be able to complete portions of your “Glory of the Orgrimmar Raider”
raid meta- achievement in Flexible mode as well as in Normal or Heroic
to earn cosmetic rewards such as an epic mount. This will allow Raid
groups the opportunity to switch off nights between raids to complete
achievements. Finally, taking part in Flexible, Normal, or Heroic
difficulty will provide access to additional rewards that won’t be
available in Raid Finder.

Getting Down to Brass Tacks
As with any in-development feature, we’re continuing to refine how the
Flexible Raid system will work, and we look forward to hearing your
constructive feedback from your experiences on the Public Test Realm
when the new system goes live.