For those who have recently quit raiding...

[Sunnydruid]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
How did you go about leaving your raid team/stopping
Why did you quit?
What do you do now that you stopped raidiing?


I know for me, it was just time. Raiding for years I just got burnt out, even with taking most of Cata off I just couldn't really keep focus anymore. I got to the point that I did not care about raiding at all, and I just didn't want to do that to my guild - that's just not a good move to do. So I am helping them find a replacement for me and am probably just going to pvp and do casual things. I told them last night, and just came out with it. No bs (which i think they took it to heart but oh well), but since im jobless (laid off 3 times in 6 months and have been out of a job since feb) when i find a job I don't want any previous commitments to potentially hold me back from performing my job to the best of my ability. That and it took some time away from real life things that I care about deeply and I knew it would be best in the end!

I feel very good about my decision and now I can experience even more this game has to offer at my own pace!

To each their own in the end and I don't want to seem like I am "hating" on raiding, because I am definately not! I loved it while I had an interest in it, now I just do not have a drive to do so anymore

[Deleted]

Funny, I just started raiding again.
Haven't since WotLK, was looking forward to it.

We did a full Mogushan vaults run, I even managed to pull off some nice things whilst healing!

[Sunnydruid]

Nice yeah it's a great expansion to start raiding in for most who haven't for a long time! Content is actually challenging and whanot just happened to be my time to stop by coinsidence(sp?)

[Attackrabbit]

I stopped about 3/4 of the way through last tier. I had been raiding since midway through BC and since late WOTLK was raiding at a pretty high level. I still enjoyed raiding at the time I stopped although not quite as much as I have in the past but it was still pretty good fun
As to your questions:
It still feels strange to not be commited to being on line 5 nights a week at a set time, still find myself occaisionally thinking 'hmmm better start heading home soon for raid' then remembering I don't need to.
The other 3 questions sort of come under 1 for me, I severely mangled my foot and had to spend 3 months in bed and was only able to use the computer for a short time before my foot became too painful from sitting up / moving around so I basically stopped raiding as I could not guarentee my attendance.
Since I stopped I have spent a lot more time socialising with people who aren't on WoW, building and flying rc planes and recently doing a lot of physio as well as cycling to strengthen my foot and leg
I'd like to raid properly again one day but at the moment I'm pretty happy just logging in occaisionally to mess around, maybe do a bit of lfr and some pet battles.

[Crym]

When raiding got to the point for me where I couldn't experience anything in the game besides raiding I started asking the guild to replace me when they could. Eventually they had a steady enough member that I could duck out almost entirely. It was nice to be able to PvP, get achievements, do dailies, etc... instead of JUST raiding with all my game time.

Eventually we formed a smaller 10 man group of members who don't typically go on the 25 man runs (either by choice or because they never got a spot). It was raiding the way it should be. Close group of friends who get together a couple days a week for a couple hours and see what they can do. Best part is we avoided the burn out, since we all still had time to do the other things in the game as well.

I don't think there's anything inherent about the format of raid content that makes it stressful. It's just the fact that groups are larger, which leads to a lot more chaos ultimately resulting in a need for more strict type of play. If you can find a team of players that all get along with and respect each other, raids don't have to be as strict and it's a blast.

[Darsithis]

It felt great in some respects. I was better able to plan social time or take advantage of unexpected events in my life. I could stay up later or go to bed earlier, watch a TV show I previously had to record, spend more time with my boyfriend and our dogs...but I also miss that community and sense of achievement I got from those hour struggling and then finally beating that boss.

[pld]

I started raiding in MoP again, but had previously taken off the latter end of WoTLK and nearly all of Cata.

It initially felt nice having free time, but after a while, I just ran out of things to do. It was great in college because there's always something going on, but after I graduated, I found myself with a lot of free time after work. I hung out with friends pretty often after work, but there's not all that much to do. Plus, the cost of going out, eating out, and buying stuff really added up.

After a while, I decided to start playing WoW again and when I told my friends, they all immediately subbed with me. We all raid together so it's nice, and we still have the weekends to hang out in person. Seems like a nice balance to me.

My only regret is that I don't have much time to play any other games. I've been itching to play a few of my PS3 games as well as Heart of the Swarm.

[Sunnydruid]

It felt great in some respects. I was better able to plan social time or take advantage of unexpected events in my life. I could stay up later or go to bed earlier, watch a TV show I previously had to record, spend more time with my boyfriend and our dogs...but I also miss that community and sense of achievement I got from those hour struggling and then finally beating that boss.

Honestly that is exactly how I am feeling at-the-moment.

Kind of like a freedom from a feeling of forced play if you get my drift. So far it's feeling a lot better, it was for the best anyways. Everyone will have their time come sooner or later, I feel :0

[Skez]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
It's really nice! It feels like I quit a boring job.

How did you go about leaving your raid team/stopping
I've been with them for a long time and all things come to an end, the guild and the guild members also realize that.
I still have contact with them, mostly on their forum which is very active daily.

Why did you quit?
It all went downhill with Cataclysm and MoP finally killed off all the things I liked about WoW.

What do you do now that you stopped raiding?
It's so much, I frequently exercise, studying more, watching more movies and my creativity for my music has increased.

All in all I feel it was a great decision. I'm tempted to come back but I won't begin raiding again. Probably ever.

[Noorri]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
How did you go about leaving your raid team/stopping
Why did you quit?
What do you do now that you stopped raidiing?

The constant need to sign up and show up on raid days didn't bother me at all and it feels no different.
I basically posted on the guild forums saying that I felt ToT was overtuned and a terrible raid and that I wouldn't raid anymore. I also said that I might return for 5.4 raiding if I thought that sounded more enjoyable and I hoped to join them then if it was possible.
I quit because ToT is the least enjoyable raid instance I have been in so far. Overtuned, boring, to linear and basically just a bunch of bosses that has no connection to eachother or anything else.
Since raiding was basically the only reason I played WoW and I find ToT to be a really bad raid I am currently looking for some other game to play while I wait to see if Blizzard gets their act together for 5.4. I am currently re-downloading Skyrim and hope that it can keep my interest until I find something more permanent.

[Gimlix]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
It's really nice! It feels like I quit a boring job.

How did you go about leaving your raid team/stopping
I've been with them for a long time and all things come to an end, the guild and the guild members also realize that.
I still have contact with them, mostly on their forum which is very active daily.

Why did you quit?
It all went downhill with Cataclysm and MoP finally killed off all the things I liked about WoW.

What do you do now that you stopped raiding?
It's so much, I frequently exercise, studying more, watching more movies and my creativity for my music has increased.

All in all I feel it was a great decision. I'm tempted to come back but I won't begin raiding again. Probably ever.

Not ment anything with it, but MOP raiding is pretty damn good, it didn't went downhill in MoP, Mechanics are amazing.

[Skez]

Not ment anything with it, but MOP raiding is pretty damn good, it didn't went downhill in MoP, Mechanics are amazing.

Personally I didn't like Mogushan Vaults nor did I like Heart of Fear. I found Terrace pretty okay and I haven't tried Throne of Thunders but from what I've heard it's kind of awesome.
But I said that MoP killed off the things I liked about WoW which wasn't only raiding even tho that's what I did mainly.
When I think about it some more I think I quit in the first place due to the problems of maintaining a 25-man guild (since I was an officer). And as everyone knows a lot of 25-man guilds have either disbanded or moved down to 10-man raiding. I guess that's why it felt like I quit a really boring job.

I might come back one day but I'm fairly sure I will never step into the raiding game again!

[Sunnydruid]

HoF was definately a pretty blah raid, that is probably where i really started to lose interest in raiding the most.

[Alvito]

HoF was definately a pretty blah raid, that is probably where i really started to lose interest in raiding the most.

Worst raid yet. Even ToC and RS were more fun then that pile of hot garbage.

[Deleted]

I had to quit because I got a job that had me working quite a lot of evening shifts.

It was relieving to stop playing the game after such a long time of having played (we're talking some 1,5-2 years straight).

[superstargoddess]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
How did you go about leaving your raid team/stopping
Why did you quit?
What do you do now that you stopped raidiing?

1. I felt great to not be obligated to formally be somewhere at a certain time for a certain amount of hours.

2. I went about it by sending a very formal and eloquent ingame mail to my raid leader, explaining why I had to stop. I did it that way because I could gather my feelings and write exactly what I wanted to say instead of just fumbling around with it on live chat.

3. I originally needed a mental health break. I was getting so nervous about raiding since we had switched from 25 man to 10 man due to about 11 people of the 25 man deciding that they didn't want to do 25's anymore. As one on usually only 2 healers on a fight, it was just a huge stress for me. If you die, and it's a 2 healer fight, the fight is over unless you can get a brez and not die again.

But then a short while after I took my mental health break, my grandmother fell (I've lived with her since I was 6 months old), and had to go into the rehabilitation center for 2 months. During that time I was very busy taking care of the house and going to see her every day. She has been back 3 weeks now, so I'm constantly busy with her, helping her get to the bathroom and doing things for her. There's no way that I can formally raid again until she gets a little better, if she gets any better.

4. I do LFR now, as it only takes around 45 mins, I just ask my grandmother if she is going to need anything for 45 mins before I go ahead and queue. Also, for the mental health thing, I actually got prescribed Valium for my social anxiety and it would double as my little raid helper if I can ever raid again formally.

[yjmark]

HoF was definately a pretty blah raid, that is probably where i really started to lose interest in raiding the most.

Really? I thought HoF was pretty awesome. Some great encounters and mechanics in there, and it stepped up the bar from a difficulty standpoint. I defientely liked it better than MSV. But ToT (imho) is far superior to the previous tier.

[melodramocracy]

The stop wasn't recent, but I do distinctly recall that I just got burnt on the schedule. The folks in my guild were nice enough I suppose.

I've simply never been particularly inclined to go back to that sort of thing.

[nekobaka]

In term of guild raiding, I did not feel it to be a burden to be on a schedule as I guild raided when I had the time to do such. The consistency of both a schedule and a raid team is why I joined a guild.

It sucked leaving friends and a team of which I grew to know and progressed with. There are also the occasional conversations of them wishing I could come back to raid with them.

Life changed and already having a late night play schedule makes it harder to find guilds. The late night schedule also makes it hard to find PuGs and even more so in MoP with the PuG population having taken a large hit from LFR.

I quit WoW as the content at my level that is engaging has been made increasingly harder to access with a casual schedule.

Not ment anything with it, but MOP raiding is pretty damn good, it didn't went downhill in MoP, Mechanics are amazing.

I did get to do the first tier on normal. Vaults felt it more frustrating than T11 and T12 with difficulty all over the place and generally boring as a DPS with the frustrations being on the healers who suffered more for other players mistakes. Terrace felt like it could have been very good and I enjoyed some of the mechanics and the zone. As a last raid for the tier it was very bland and simplistic to even vaults in my opinion. Terrace was mostly just tuned far tighter and otherwise far too simplistic compared to even vaults. Terrace should have been the first raid if you ignore story.

Personally for T14, the zones was designed better. I just felt like T11 and T12 fights was far more fun. I have not seen the latest raid which Blizzard says should compared to Ulduar. There does not seem to be much praise for it as Ulduar had when it first came out. I might watch it on youtube one of these days.

[XingoJenkins]

How did it feel to be free of a "constant" need to sign on during raid days.
Well, progression raids are the same of any other responsibilites. And is good to get that time free. Sometimes you feel something is missing that time you were raiding when you don't have nothing to do.

Why did you quit?
I was bored about being stuck in progression. My raid group is made of real life friends and some of them give a f*ck about the meaning of "progression raiding". Most of them just want to have fun and, consequently, don't care about learn how to play and to improve your playerskill. This leads to a bad time raiding, when you just fail at a boss because people just don't understand simple mechanics or simply forget that they're raiding with other players.
After that, I saw that WoW raiding was nothing more than do the same thing over and over.

What do you do now that you stopped raidiing?
Go out with the same friends of my raiding core (they left WoW too) and spend more time doing other activites, spending my time with my family, etc.