Why Do People Bother Raiding so much?

[Zorachus]

Because at end game, Raiding it's really the only thing left to do in WoW

- 5man dungeon runs are boring as all hell after you ran them hundreds of time over at Level 90, plus the gear drops blow, and are outdated.
- Heroic Scenarios are cool, they drop ok gear, but also get repetitive and boring after you done all of them, a bunch of times over.
- Daily rep quests, are insanely tedious, and annoying and super boring, extremely grindy.
- Timeless Isle is a waste after you get all the i496 welfare gear, and after you got the cool higher iLevel gear from Rare / Elites. Plus just sitting and waiting for Rares to spawn is boring as all heck.

Yep, you can just sit around Shrines of Two Moons and look cool, or go dive into a Raid and see where Blizzard spent their development money.

[Deleted]

One of the reasons might be : Because it's one of the goals ingame to be equipped as good as you can?! No matter if pve or pvp.

[Deleted]

Gear is a tool, not the goal.

[PewPewlePew]

Agreed, if loot was removed for high end raid content the number of raiders would greatly diminish. The majority of people don't raid for esoteric reasons, most participate because its one of two end game options that afford them better gear. The number of times I had fun in raids I can count on 1 hand.

The number would diminish because guilds would hit walls in progression they'd have no other way to get past.
People do need some rewards and character progression to do things...but there's a big difference between being happy that loot drops and raiding only for loot.

[Bluesftw]

cause its fun and theres nothing better to do, exept maybe farming transmog ;>
pvp is godsh!t in this exp, not a big fan of dailies so ye , i slay dragons

[Grumpy Old Man]

For me the fun in raids are in the teamwork and challenge. Trying to work as a group to overcome the boss, the fight mechanics, and so on.

[bondgirl]

I just like the challange and the atmosphere to play with ppl you know for such a long time. Having fun on any voice comm while raiding is just too tempting to drop raiding. Additionally the gear you receive is just a bonus for your accomplishments. For me, raiding is a big part of the game, while having most fun possible.

[Temp name]

I raid for the challenge. I don't really care about the loot (Even if it's nice to show off that Heroic Warforged piece you just earned before anyone else on the realm).
Maybe a little bit for the community aspect of it as well, but mostly I do it because I want to be challenged in what I do.

[Deleted]

Gear is a tool, not the goal.

it depends. Some just want good equip, some want to beat Garrosh heroic. Some want both. It's just harder with less gear. Some do PvP. Some don't care about all of it and just do it for fun. Different people different opinions.
Some might play because of competition: who's best dps/heal. Trying to beat each other and still play together and doing their jobs.

[Giscoicus]

it depends. Some just want good equip, some want to beat Garrosh heroic. Some want both. It's just harder with less gear. Some do PvP. Some don't care about all of it and just do it for fun. Different people different opinions.

Not only is it harder, it's mind nunbingly dull. Gear means that earlier bosse are less challenging. When a group downs a new boss, they get gear that makes downing him again easier, so they can get to progression bosses faster. If guilds had to do progression on every single boss each raid then it wouldn't be enjoyable. It's a special feeling when you down a progression boss for he first time. Suffering through wipe to do it again each week would be annoying, and stop/slow groups down from getting to the boss they are actually progressing on.

[MoanaLisa]

For PVE: It's one of the very few things you can do on a regular basis that involves playing with more than a few other people. That's a big part of what the game is about of course: playing with other people in groups large and small. Plus, and this is no small thing either, there's not much else to do once you get past a certain point in the game. In the best circumstances--more social than anything else--raiding is one of the very best things in the game and something I can do for hours. In less than best circumstances, it's annoying and something to be avoided. Spending hours with even a couple of people you don't like is a waste of time.

[Heladys]

Gear is a tool, not the goal.

It can be both. That is part of the genius of the game design inherent in MMO treadmills.

[Dwarfdk]

I was a pretty big casual at the end of BC making twinks and stuff. I really didn't talk to anyone in game other than my one real life friend. Once Wrath came out I started to look at different parts of the game and raiding was one of them. Right away I enjoyed it even at the casual so call level. Right now I am raiding at a more Hardcore level and enjoy it even more then before. Every aspect I enjoy even the bad ones. The social aspect of a group of 27-30 people coming together to compete whether its US top 25th or US 100th when ending a tier. Every wipe when learning a new boss while getting closer and closer to that kill gives me an over sense of enjoyment. The gear that comes from those kills letting you flex your item level a little higher every time. Those three are just small examples and there are a lot more.

Edit: I enjoy farm as much as progression.

[Akraen]

Because I have been since 2005 and have too many security issues to stop the only consistency in my life.

[Strafir]

Because I have been since 2005 and have too many security issues to stop the only consistency in my life.

Deep. /10char

[Louis CK]

Because I have been since 2005 and have too many security issues to stop the only consistency in my life.

I'm sure the "people with lives" will flame you for this post, but I have to agree.

Many have different hobbies that they take to heart as a way to find peace in this hectic thing we call life, and this happens to be mine.

[Akraen]

Hey my life is good. It's just, many of us began WoW in late high school, or in my case, Freshman year of university. Life changes a lot through school. I moved around 7 times, I had a few jobs. I'm doing reasonably well for myself, but it's been hectic and I've lived in so many places, met so many faces.

WoW's been pretty consistent, and there's value to that.

Deep, yes. Negative? Nah.

[Whales96]

It never ceases to amaze me how much people lack the ability to see any other perspective from their own. Why would anyone do any recreational activity a lot? Because they enjoy it.

[Akraen]

Sometimes the best first step to introspection is gathering the opinions of others. Maybe the OP is wondering why he doesn't raid so much.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Fun, rewards long-term achievements (for me mounts and mogging gear) and means working together with others to down the bosses. LFR to me just isn't enough, I wanna see the fights from at least Normal difficulty and forward.

To me it's weird how anyone can play this game and NOT be into raiding. I delve into most of the content in this game, even pvp'd during a season back in Cata and had great fun.

Also, this whole stigma about "carrot on a stick"...I remember GW2 marketing their game with it actually feeding the stick to the players, and this made me wonder wtf they considered a reward if what one can get in WoW equals chasing a carrot but never getting it...if the rewards obtained are to your liking, then WoW lets the players Catch the carrot just as much as any other game, if not moreso. The fact that the cycle repeats itself with new expansions and tiers is kind of the whole idea behind an mmo to me...if this game had stopped at t1, it would have died long ago.

I love the first tier of an expansion where you're not yet decked in perfect gear and Downing the first and then last boss of the tier with your team.