Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Why I grew to hate raiding
SwampRob
Member UncommonPosts: 1,003
This is not an anti-raiding post, this is strictly my personal experience. I fully believe that any successful MMO these days, unless it's catering to a niche group, needs to provide content for all styles of gaming, including soloing, grouping, pvp and raiding (and crafting and economy, etc etc).
Let's go back the better part of a decade. Even though I had played MMOs for years, I had never once raided. Eventually, through Wow, I wound up in a nice (nice players) raiding guild. At first, I thought it was very cool. Got the headset on, chatting with friendly, like-minded people, and we're all working towards the common goal of clearing our way through that night's dungeon selection.
So, after some waiting for the raiders to gather at the entrance, I enter it with the group. Most of them had been thru it before, some many times, but for my first time it was a blast, seeing all new stuff, learning the strats, seeing cool loot drop, etc. I was probably somewhat undergeared when I started, but they were cool with that and in time I got geared up.
Anyway, we spend 2-3 hours clearing our way through, chatting, probably wiping a few times, but we finished it, had fun, and most got some gear upgrades.
Then, we do it again the next night. And the next. And the next... And of course, there's the preparation before the raid, getting mats needed for potions, grind some herbs, what-have-you. And then, showing up on time, and waiting for those that aren't. And then clearing your way through the same content that you've seen and done already, several times.
It's not hard to see how the fun turns into tedium. Not to mention it was getting to the point where I was starting to schedule my life around the raid times. "OK, the raid starts at 7, so I have to be on by 6:30, and I have to spend about an hour before that, sometime during the day, getting the mats I'll need for the raid. that means that I have to get home from work, eat supper, and get logged on in a short time". This often resulted in my eating supper at the computer, away from my wife. She was OK with it, but it got to me after a while.
Eventually, even with new people joining from time to time, people wouldn't show up for the raid. So we'd have to find a sub or two or three. "OK, if we can just get one more healer and an off-tank, we can still go". And then the raids are starting 30-60 minutes later than scheduled, which means they are finishing later, and less sleep for yours truly cause I can't really bow out of a guild raid if I'm the main healer, can I?
Even with switching which dungeons we ran, it all became old-hat fast enough, and then instead of exploring, it felt like a chore. "OK, we're at boss #245, and we have 22 out of 25 people who know the strat. So you 22 keep quiet while I relate the strat to the three new people. You know, the strat you've listened to 18 times before?"
Gaming is supposed to be fun! And, for a time, raiding was. Now, company's can't really design these dungeons so that everyone gets all the possible gear upgrades in a few runs, else people would burn through content way too fast. So they need to slow us down, to make us repeat each boss over and over and over until each person gets what they need.
I also fully understand the headaches related to running a guild and guild runs. I have respect for most guild leaders, if for no other reason that putting in the effort required. You have to have schedules, and people gathering mats and balancing groups ("We're gonna need 1 more dps and 1 more cc"). It's all required for raiding if you want a shot at success. But I wonder if this kind of design is ultimately self-defeating?
I'd love to go back to the days when it was fun to me. I still enjoy gaming, but now, when I see the term raid, I can't help but shudder a little.
Comments
And this is where the community splits into those that prefer:
Long raids, 25+ people, tons of preparation, huge investment in time and money (pots, repairs), learning strats and of course hours and hours of wipes and attempts.
Or...
Short raids, little to no prep time, ~10 person group, accessible, achievable in a realistic time-frame, low strategy.
It's a debate that will rage on eternally. Yes you can find a happy middleground, but as we all know with middlegrounds, it results in both extreme ends of the spectrum being unhappy.
Or to top it off.. you've got a nice large guild.. you are working on capping your level and raiding as often as you can.. but this guild plays favorites. You do z dozen raids, and you don't get one spec of equipment.. no matter how much you ask for it; it always goes to those few main people so they can hold onto it for alts and whatnot. THats what always turns me off on raiding; and the fact that most end-games require raiding to get the better equipment, and if you don't raid; its impossible to PvP because of the equipment gap.
Your problem: Raids no longer fun.
Solution: Pull a Leroy Jenkins now and then, lol and then lol some more.
Here's what I think some of the issues are:
Since the Raid is the only way to get all that fancy top end loot that everybody wants people gotta raid. Some of those people don't really like the raid mechanic but want the gear so they go and they grumble and complain the whole time and aren't really having any fun. This attitude spreads to the other people over time and they all become very unhappy but continue to raid and continue to spiral downward.
If there was multiple ways to get at something that is equaly wanted by everybody I think all would be much happier. They'd all get what they want, they way they want it. Unfortunately balancing the different approaches to the same goal has not been done yet and people will usually take the queckest way to the goal and abuse it and neglect the others.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
sorry what does the title say? it seems to be filtered as 'why I grew to hate *******'. Strange.
Jeebux.. I hear yah!
I've felt this way a few times, EQ2 was nasty for this for me personally; I think my warden slit her preverbial wrist a few times after repeating the same mind numbing raid once to many times.
WoW has at the very least turned some things around but if your guild is in the raid farming mentality/mode, it can be pure hell. I've gotten around it but taking on most responsibilities here and there, as apposed to just simply raiding and I help newbies in our guild get acclimated and get em help with their classes and what not.
Gear isn't my main concern with playing MMO's anymore. I've found that especially WoW, since it's SOOO gear centric, it can be easy to fall into the "I want it better" sydrom.
It's healthy to step back, smell the roses and see what else there is to do in game. That's why I wish WoW had more social aspect sometimes (housing, scenarios, etc) so it could be easier to fill your gaming time with pointless good times
.
Important Information regarding Posting and You