Why Do People Bother Raiding so much?

[Saphyron]

I find it fun to raid.
I love the social aspect of working together to down a boss.
I like the aspect of getting rewarded for my troubles and working together as group to decided how we should share those rewards.
I like the lore behind a raid and seeing how it looks like.

Granted I am not in a team in this patch but that is because I am taking a breather from raiding until wod due to the fact that the last 2 years I have raid leaded a team and raided in 2 other teams devoting 6-7 days a week for raiding.

LFR will only fulfill the lore part. while flex and normal fulfill the rest.

[Giscoicus]

I find it fun to raid.
I love the social aspect of working together to down a boss.
I like the aspect of getting rewarded for my troubles and working together as group to decided how we should share those rewards.
I like the lore behind a raid and seeing how it looks like.

Granted I am not in a team in this patch but that is because I am taking a breather from raiding until wod due to the fact that the last 2 years I have raid leaded a team and raided in 2 other teams devoting 6-7 days a week for raiding.

LFR will only fulfill the lore part. while flex and normal fulfill the rest.

Flex doesnt feel very social...

[Saphyron]

Flex doesnt feel very social...

Well considering I can't join public flex raids cause their ilvl requirements is too high I only do it from time to time with my guild and we are prett social about it.
Much laughter, fun, giggles and pervertness is plentyfull to find while raiding with my guild.

[Lilly32]

People in WoW actually dont raid that much unless a top 10 guild. I went back to Everquest in August and played through December and my guild was only #2 on the server and we raided Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 7pm-10pm. Also Tuesday was basically backflagging with open rolls for loot instead of having to spend DKP. so basically 5 nights a week and we still had 50 people per raid show up and sometimes even had to bench people cause we hit the 54 man cap. I have never raided 5 times a week in WoW. Usually only 3 and that was during Wrath when we were allowed to do 10s and 25s instead of being forced to pick one or the other.

[Aqua]

This may be shocking...hell it might be shocking even to them.

But I enjoy the audible company of the people I raid with, I know them as much as you would know friends or close acquaintances and that is a comfort not easily afforded to me in the real world.

Finding like minded individuals both in humor, play skill, and interests is a valuable part of the experience that keeps you playing.

I'd be in cutting edge guilds (aka: not 11/12 hc like we still are because slow month is slow it seems) instead of this one if the 'going through the raid' was all I valued. And I do value it, don't get me wrong. I like looking at all the work and effort the team put into the raids, and I do push my group for progress by backing up the raid leaders decisions when we want to push the envelope that evening instead of going for a safe clear.

But raiding to me is social as well as game play... it feels like how one would go to a familiar bar in the evening...only you provide your own drinks usually and there's not so much slurred ranting or puking and maybe one or two un-forseen interrupts, but the general vibe is very much on the same wavelength.

It feels as though alot of the players have forgotton what WoW is first and foremost.
A mass. multi-player. online. role-playing. game.

Mass. Multi. Player.

Say those words to yourself. I'm not saying playing alone should be forbidden, or even discouraged, but if you feel the game has lost your appeal playing by yourself, then I ...don't think I can say I'm surprised in the least. The game was not designed for you in that way.

[Sturmbringe]

I'm just curious. In my own personal, not pushed on anyone else, I am not claiming everyone who disagrees with me is wrong, or trying to troll... opinion, it just seems like Raiding is a carrot on a stick. You spend months and months grinding, farming, gearing, over and over just to hit the 553 ilvl, when 3 months later a new expac drops and you can buy better greens than the purples you spent months grinding for. It seems to me just running LFR to see the content would be sufficient enough.

Now, before someone goes flying off the handle with insults or suggestions like "go play something else", you should know I am:

A) Not complaining about raiding, LFR, or Flex. I am not a raider, and have not been since TBC/Wrath.

B) Not suggesting it be removed, dumbed down, made harder, or changed in any way, shape, or form.

C) Not personally judging anyone who does raid either Normal, Heroic, Flex, or LFR.

I am genuinely curious what the appeal is to raiding. For me, at least, it would feel less like a hamster wheel to see the content, and then wait til the next expansion for the new gear. Is it the sense of accomplishment or the need to win? Are you just interested in having the best gear, or clearing content faster than anyone else?

I haven't raided seriously since WOTLK. I only raided a bit in CATA and none at all in MoP before I quit.

Raiding is the whole point of the game. I feel sorry that you didn't experience proper raiding in its full glory during the ol' days. 10 man raiding isn't raiding at all.

I feel very fortunate I played Vanilla, TBC and WOTLK and raided in each of these WoW versions.

WoW, back when it was still World of Warcraft, used to be a great social experience, that's why it captivated so many people. It was epic to get together with 25 friends from all over Europe and raid together and overcome challenges. Really epic.

Earlier still, 40 man raiding was even more cool, even though we had 10 officers and some afk'ers. More friends to raid with=more fun

WoW wasn't a single player game as it is now. It was a social game where you were part of a huge, vibrant community and you made lots of friends and enemies. For instance, in my Vanilla days I was stalked by an UD Rogue called Skia. :-)

[Chain Chungus]

Raiding is so boring.

[Issalice]

It's fun. Yes the gear will be outdated at some point, but that can be said about every aspect of a game that is ever-evolving.

[Tishiq]

I'm just curious. In my own personal, not pushed on anyone else, I am not claiming everyone who disagrees with me is wrong, or trying to troll... opinion, it just seems like Raiding is a carrot on a stick. You spend months and months grinding, farming, gearing, over and over just to hit the 553 ilvl, when 3 months later a new expac drops and you can buy better greens than the purples you spent months grinding for. It seems to me just running LFR to see the content would be sufficient enough.

Now, before someone goes flying off the handle with insults or suggestions like "go play something else", you should know I am:

A) Not complaining about raiding, LFR, or Flex. I am not a raider, and have not been since TBC/Wrath.

B) Not suggesting it be removed, dumbed down, made harder, or changed in any way, shape, or form.

C) Not personally judging anyone who does raid either Normal, Heroic, Flex, or LFR.

I am genuinely curious what the appeal is to raiding. For me, at least, it would feel less like a hamster wheel to see the content, and then wait til the next expansion for the new gear. Is it the sense of accomplishment or the need to win? Are you just interested in having the best gear, or clearing content faster than anyone else?

For me simple as it can be. I was raiding not because of gear or being the best but because of people. My guild was amazing and im sure it was my best times in any game ever. I was just happy to play with them and spend time on raiding but it could be anything else like doing dailies or farming nodes Now when irl stuff comes i just had hopes to see some of them in WoD.

[Radish Spirit]

Because that and competitive PvP are the only thing sin the game that your average 5-year-old child can't accomplish with basic knowledge of a mouse and keyboard?

[Deleted]

Because i want to get some challenge and lfr cant provide it. Also its pretty fun to spend time with guildies

[-Superman-]

AKA: I don't actually want to be held to account for not putting my all into something.

Actually, it would be - AKA: We started off as friends til I figured out raiding was more important than friendship. Turns out they were just elitist jerks and I found out the hard way. You're neither funny nor clever. You assume too much without gathering facts. You wanna know something, just ask.

[Giscoicus]

Well considering I can't join public flex raids cause their ilvl requirements is too high I only do it from time to time with my guild and we are prett social about it.
Much laughter, fun, giggles and pervertness is plentyfull to find while raiding with my guild.

When running with your guild I wouldnt really consider it being like Flex. Its just normal mode with a lower difficulty.

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, it would be - AKA: We started off as friends til I figured out raiding was more important than friendship. Turns out they were just elitist jerks and I found out the hard way. You're neither funny nor clever. You assume too much without gathering facts. You wanna know something, just ask.

Translation:

There were disagreements between them and me, and when they removed me because the majority of them were in favor of it, they were just being mean elitist jerk dickbag toxic scum.

[-Superman-]

Translation:

There were disagreements between them and me, and when they removed me because the majority of them were in favor of it, they were just being mean elitist jerk dickbag toxic scum.

You people and your assumptions. I was benched for missing one raid, for being out sick. I even sent a text to the RL, who happened to be one of my best friends IRL, and let him know. But he, giving into the mob mentality never bothered to explain it to anyone else and instead turned into an asshole just like them. I got sick ONCE and was not on the roster for a long time after that. When I did get back in, it was nothing but insults and other bullshit. I'm all for some locker-room trash talk for missing a raid, but these jerks weren't joking.

[Louis CK]

You people and your assumptions. I was benched for missing one raid, for being out sick. I even sent a text to the RL, who happened to be one of my best friends IRL, and let him know. But he, giving into the mob mentality never bothered to explain it to anyone else and instead turned into an asshole just like them. I got sick ONCE and was not on the roster for a long time after that. When I did get back in, it was nothing but insults and other bullshit. I'm all for some locker-room trash talk for missing a raid, but these jerks weren't joking.

Stories always have 2 sides, and people can be dicks. But this seems like you're leaving out important details. *shrug*

[Deleted]

I only do flex, i cannot be arsed with normals anymore so i'm really interested in WoD how that meta is gonna change.

I have the legendary Q mainly through LFR and i feel like my purpose of playing the game is done now. Got legendary, seen all content and story via LFR and if i really want higher numbers for the sake of having higher numbers i'll never use, i can do flex via open raid.

It's just a grind at the moment raiding and doesn't feel fun any more. I had fun yesterday in flex though cause i knew a few people in there guess that could help

[Raiju]

You people and your assumptions. I was benched for missing one raid, for being out sick. I even sent a text to the RL, who happened to be one of my best friends IRL, and let him know. But he, giving into the mob mentality never bothered to explain it to anyone else and instead turned into an asshole just like them. I got sick ONCE and was not on the roster for a long time after that. When I did get back in, it was nothing but insults and other bullshit. I'm all for some locker-room trash talk for missing a raid, but these jerks weren't joking.

Yes, the evil internet people corrupted your best friend and turned him into an asshole

[Giscoicus]

You people and your assumptions. I was benched for missing one raid, for being out sick. I even sent a text to the RL, who happened to be one of my best friends IRL, and let him know. But he, giving into the mob mentality never bothered to explain it to anyone else and instead turned into an asshole just like them. I got sick ONCE and was not on the roster for a long time after that. When I did get back in, it was nothing but insults and other bullshit. I'm all for some locker-room trash talk for missing a raid, but these jerks weren't joking.

They had other reasons. Chances are you were:
-under preforming
-attendance issues in general
-clashing with multiple guildmates

If he was a real life friend, chances are many members had a issue with you and wanted you replaced. Or you were in a top 10 guild during progression.

Its not an asshole move to replace you. You're being an asshole putting pressure on the raid leader to treat you differently as one of his friends. You did something and they wanted you replaced, and now you are mad your friend took his responsibilities as a raid lead seriously. Chances are he had been defending you for some time if you were replaced that quickly.

[Deleted]

I raid 9 hours a week, we progress though heroics every tier on 25 man, working on Nazgrim atm having downed all the others.

I enjoy the challenge that the raiding brings; i enjoy the people i play with; i enjoy talking with them about all sorts of stuff, not just wow. Been playing with them for 4 years and the friendship grows, there is quite a tight knit of core players that have been around a long time.

Continually wiping on a boss evening after evening might seem boring for some people, but i (we) enjoy the challenge and are not (completely) motivated by gear, we're motivated by seeing the boss die!

[Fhi]

When I raided, it was because we had a wonderful group of people to do it with. We never got far, usually we are raiding previous patch's raids. But it was great to do it with those people.