Larissa gave her views on my little insight as to the status of Hardcore Raiders. I feel I need to expound on it farther and share my thoughts with you. I use to be on the same page, not anymore. My motto is if you can’t beat the casuals, join ‘em.
A little history lesson first. I come from Dark Ages of Camelot where we would run treehuggers, and midtards out of Darkness Falls. Where we would wake up in the we hours of the morning on a Sunday to wage war with them. It wasn’t about the loot. Sure we worked on our gear, with seals, and crafting. But the end all be all of doing these hour long activities was for realm, and guild pride. Just plain having fun with your onlne friends.
Then came World of Warcraft, we tried to world pvp, but only a handful did such activities. With the advent of the Battlegrounds, PvP died for me. It wasn’t about pride, or being the best. It was about the grind, to get more tokens, more gear. I turned my eyes towards the PvE game, at first it was fun, and exciting 35-40 people working together to face monsters. These days I played a Protection Warrior, totally turning my back to PvP. It was a great time. Well rewarded when I first gazed upon Ragnaros.
As time rolled on, and I turned to being a mage, I still was a Hardcore Raider. I would be in a dungeon 5 nights a week. At this point Molten Core/BWL was on farm. Then came AQ 20. I thought this was a novel idea, but loved AQ 40. I did not know AQ 20 was the begininning of the End for what I deem the glory days of raiding.
In comes the Burning Crusade, and the advent of the 25 man raid. With no more 40 mans, alot of the larger guilds had problems. Groups developped inside guilds. Raiding Group 1, and Raiding Group 2…or even worse. Alot of divisions were created, cliques developed in the larger 40 man raiding guilds. Then one day they started to crack, or they started to adapt. Mine cracked. Thoughout it all the guild tag changed but I kept on raiding.
Things in WoW started to change, it wasn’t about faction pride it was all about the purple pixel. We did our job, not because it was our job, but because we wanted that reward, that loot, that badge. I saw Greed consume guilds, and turn longtime friends into enemies. I saw not Raiders, but mercenaries crying about repair bills. Most people would not enter the dungeon until it was on farm, or farm like status. You know how much gold I spent on repairs probably enough to buy 10 epic mounts, but once a dungeon was on Farm, I didn’t want to go into it anymore. The challenge was over, and thats what I like.
Nowadays I see Raiders, and Raiding Guilds and I laugh to myself. They know nothing of what’s it like trying to get 40 people on the same page, complaining about not getting loot, when I had to battle with 5-6 mages in the same dungeon, I hear complaints about progression…when I use to have to spend weeks working on the same boss, not days.
I left WoW, I went to WAR. There the Casual reigned. I could log on do 2 dungeons in 40 minutes, and be done. Lost Vale, what I call the 6 man raid was probably the hardest in WAR, but once you conquered it, you tore away the time. Lost Vale when I first started took me 3 days, now I hear people can do it in 4-5 hours. I could log on to WAR, and spend an hour PvPing, log off and be done. No 4 hours of time investment, or gold farming. The problem for me was there was no immersion, still no realm pride. It was a Ping Pong match for MMO’s, and I do love Ping Pong, I grow tired of that game andWAR’s back and forth of it. The Endgame, The Lagfest, and the utterly crappy PvE of WAR wore upon my soul, thus I left and returned to World of Warcraft. But the thing that stuck with me, was it was nice not putting in a huge time commitment and still seeing results.
When I returned to WoW, The landscape has changed, at first I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I tried to return to raiding, and it was fun. Then summer hit, i no longer had the time to dedicate to the raid. I felt like left out in the lurch. I felt like there should of been a retirement home in Dalaran for dinosaurs such as I. Where Raiders of Old could gather and trade war stories.
With the advent of this latest patch. Seeing the quicker 5/10 mans that dropped epics worthy of raiding. At first I was threatened by it, like some old man from the 50′s seeing Elvis for the first time, shaking his hips. Then when I thought about it, what was I holding on too. Was it worth the hours upon hours of time invested for me for a mere pair of boots. Good times can still be had, and I do with the people I share my time with online, it’s just different. The challenges are different, the people aren’t.
Hardcore Raiding isn’t a thing of the past just yet, but I believe it’s on life support. I believe those that held on to their status as a Hardcore Raider misplaced what gaming is all about, and should realize that your large e-peen means nothing to the rank and file of the gamers out there. So go ahead burn your bridges with people you gamed with for years because your guild didn’t down the next boss so you can get your lovely pair of boots, next patch I’ll get those same boots for less work, and still see the same boss a little later then you maybe.
So once I was a Hardcore Raider, now I’m just a Hardcore Casual, and tell you the truth I’m having fun.
***************This just in..new Playable races are Worgen, and Goblins…Thanks Syp and WoW.com, My thoughts on this..not much*********
