Casual with great friends, or good progress with people you don't know?

[Terridon]

Basically I just got accepted for trial in a 12/14H guild, but I decided to stay with my friends in my current 2/14H guild.

Was this the wrong choice?

If you had a choice between high progress or super casual with great friends, what would you pick?

Would have picked the same as you. If i felt like i had time for both, and they didn't raid at the same time, then i could consider it, but i'm in the raid to have fun, and i know i have that with my current raid. Progress matters of course, but i don't need fast progress. I'm happy when a boss goes down, despite many others having killed it before me

[Deleted]

Casual with friends, in general I'd much rather play with people I get on with who aren't great players than skilled douchebags. I dunno, I just prefer the social aspects of the game, progression has never really been super important for me. I joined one of the better guild on my server for a while and I hated it, everyone was so boring, moody and serious the whole time. I mean, ideally you'd have the best of both worlds, but that's not so easy to come by.

[Fus Ro Yay]

Friends over progression.

If i didn't have my friends, this game would be completely pointless.

[Fluttershy]

I'd raid with the worst people in the world if it meant I'd be 13 or 14hm.

[Deleted]

Friends over progression.

If i didn't have my friends, this game would be completely pointless.

This right here.

[willemh]

Neither tbh, I would quit this game really quick if I coudnt progress with friends. But I would quit this game as quick if I woudnt be able to have decent progression and was wiping to my friends standing in fire all night long, it would frustrate me and not be fun at all.

If I would be stuck in normal modes for the whole patch I woudnt call it raiding with friends, it would just be messing around without any focus whatsoever, I dont see how that could possibly be fun.

Similar I woudnt want to join some random guild and get carried to 14/14hc either without contributing anything but a bit of dps, that would mean nothing to me aswell.

[owbu]

I could neither stand raiding without progression in mind (whatever that means to you personally), nor raiding with people I dont like, so I guess

"raid with people about as good as me, that are decent human beings, so that they can become my friends" would be the right choice in your situation

[ThrashMetalFtw]

Progress > Friends.

For me, ppl failing, is the biggest source of frustration. Nothing takes away the fun more than wiping on easy bosses. I can be with the coolest guys ever, have a shitton of fun of Mumble/VT, but if the actual raid sucks, I'm not having fun.

Also, you seem to forget the fact that, if you are a good player with the same mindset as other ppl in said 12/14 HC guild, you will eventually make some friends there aswell.

[Deleted]

That's actually the problem I'm in right now as well. I tried both.

I decided for my friends, which are not really good, but we get to kill some bosses in SoO at least. I don't think we will be able to try heroic though
Anyway, I enjoy a funny evening in Teamspeak where we wipe and die more than the hardcore progress raid I tried before. But yes, it's ofc totally personal what you prefer.

[Aqua]

I have the opportunity to move up too. And I didn't/don't but...then again my group of friends is a liiiittle more progressed than that.

I feel like I have a good deal. Nice people, nice atmosphere, decent progression. None of them are IRL friends since in my youth I was unable to make friends due to extenuating circumstances (actual circumstances, not my own personal quirks or crappy personality, and it developed a crippling self loathing streak in me, which I acknowledge and work hard to overcome.). So WoW was something of a welcome substitute. I kept searching until I found a group I was comfortable with and have helped them as best I can to reach new heights.

Your question is unanswerable sadly, but I think you made a correct choice. If the more progressed guild turns out to be made of douchebags who aren't on the same level as you personality or maturity wise, no amount of hollow victories is going to make the situation improve. The thrill of a server first, or a strong progression will fade quickly under the weight of realizing you're not communicating or connecting with anyone. And it really sucks.

Progress > Friends.

Also, you seem to forget the fact that, if you are a good player with the same mindset as other ppl in said 12/14 HC guild, you will eventually make some friends there aswell.

This is not necessarily the case. Every hardcore player is just as different and has varied expectations as a casual player. There is no guarantee that you'll mesh. And if it turns out NOT to be the experience he's looking for, he's just snubbed a good load of friends who will probably be there for him.
Look I empathize, my own friends just ballsed up a really simple tried and tested, dance yesterday. I did have to reign in my comments a bit, but tbh, we all get frustrated when each other fails and no one takes grievous offense and it eventually devolves into joking about it. And the tension and frustration over the mistakes quickly evaporate over realizing that this is still a game at the end of the night and we're all having fun working it out.

Progress may take precedence over friends for some, and that's fine, you probably have strong friend and family bonds outside of WoW, but some of us need that social aspect ontop of progression and finding a perfect balance is the unicorn that will ensnare your senses and keep you in the game a long long time.

You may prioritize progress and end up meeting good friends. Or douchebags. (A long time ago I made that call and lucked out)
You may prioritize friends and not realizing that their stifling your progression has actually prevented you making new friends and connections. (Again I made a call to ignore this once, but I won't do it a second time, I'm now comfortable)

It's a tough call and actually has no right answer.

[Socialhealer]

i'd just play an alt with friends, anything less than a full heroic clear of a current tier is just too damn easy.

[Deleted]

With your friends of course. It's going to be a million times more fun.

[Nobleshield]

Progress > Friends.

For me, ppl failing, is the biggest source of frustration. Nothing takes away the fun more than wiping on easy bosses. I can be with the coolest guys ever, have a shitton of fun of Mumble/VT, but if the actual raid sucks, I'm not having fun

This is exactly how I feel. I love having fun with my friends, but if we're derping around and wiping on shit, especially bosses we've previously killed or on bosses that we should be able to down, then it frustrates me to the point where I want to just unsub entirely than deal with it.

[bounstar]

Why does it need to be a choice between those two extremes? It's very possible to play with a good group of people who are also nice/friendly etc.

[Baracuda]

Why would you want to do anything with people you hate? Except maybe casual sex :s

[Gliff]

My last guild was a casual 10 man guild with friends I had been playing with for 4 years. All quality players but we only raided 6 hours a week and didnt put much effort into maximizing our time. I had to quit RL because I didnt have the time and everyone pretty much quit rather then going to another guild.

I decided to try out a 25 man guild and I really have enjoyed my time here.

I miss the good old days with my friends but I am experiencing something that I never could there so it's a trade off. It's not like I'm in a guild full of scumbags that I cant stand. But it isnt 9 people that I had been playing with for years, most of which I know IRL and played other games with.

Just figure out what you want out of the game.

- - - Updated - - -

Why would you want to do anything with people you hate? Except maybe casual sex :s

This made me laugh.

[Louis CK]

Basically I just got accepted for trial in a 12/14H guild, but I decided to stay with my friends in my current 2/14H guild.

Was this the wrong choice?

If you had a choice between high progress or super casual with great friends, what would you pick?

Both. Well, sort of.

1st, especially with the new Flex setup in WoD, there's no reason you can't raid with casual friends on main/alt.

2nd, even if both are running Mythic, one is casual enough to raid on an alt (2/14h at this point is easily alt raiding) if you have enough time to do two raids a week.

3rd, I would never be in a guild where I hate the people just to get progress in, unless I was alt raiding with friends every week on another character... In which case I'd probably just be a raid logger in the progression guild.

--

My advice is: if you have the time, do both. Otherwise, go with the fun route.

Not to mention, what's to say there aren't awesome people in the 12/14 guild that you just haven't spent enough time with to get to know?

[willemh]

Why would you ever raid with people you hate. That's like working a shitty job because "you can".

Tbh, if I could get a job thats super boring but pays 10x my current salary then I would very much consider it.

[Deleted]

Whilst I went for 'casual with friends', for me it wouldn't really be a viable choice, as if anything I'm one of the weaker players in my (13/14 normal) raid team.

That said, there are several team members who probably are good enough to be applying for our server first guild and getting accepted, and if they were to do so I'd wish them well, and hope to still do flex and challenge modes and so on with them (although with my RL hat on I wouldn't exactly be looking forward to the recruitment that would follow). So yeah, don't assume that moving on to a more progressed guild means never playing with your old guildmates again.

[Sillychan]

This choice is ultimately with you. I have friends outside of my raid team as well, so even if I didn't get along with them, I'd still have a social aspect in game.

If progression is that important to you, then it's a no brainer. I play to progress, and any friends I make along the way are just a side-effect of this. I'm entirely thankful for my friends I've made in game, and I'm always going to be a polite and easy going person. But whether or not I like my guildmates is not a question as long as we can work well as a team.