Illidan down by Nihilum!

[Bolty]

I don't raid to crack pinatas for loot. The process of learning an encounter and then finally beating it is what's fun about raiding.

Man I wish more people felt that way.

That's less fun than having to take a couple raids to learn abilities, devise strategies, and having it all come together for a win.

I have no doubt that TBC raiding is easier, mostly because it sounds like the gear checks have been thrown out. But I wonder how much of this is perspective.

If vanilla WoW had been released with raid teams of the level of experience, knowledge of raid mechanics, dedication to raiding every single day of the week, and teamwork they have now but at the moment of inception, and assuming Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and Naxxramus were all out at that time with the artificial difficulty or time cockblocks removed (Quintessence requirements in MC, Vael 1-hour time limit, Onyxia Scale Cloaks, unbeatable C'Thun, resistance checks without any real resistance gear available, etc), how quickly would the content have been smashed?

A guild like Nihilum, existing in its current state, would have smashed Molten Core in less than a week. Blackwing Lair? Toast the next week. MAYBE C'Thun would have slowed them a raid lock...maybe, but likely not, since that's less a gear check than a skill check.

Blizzard removed a number of lame blocks they've used in the past and made encounters more about execution than gear. Guilds made up entirely of players who would make me look like a scrub (and I consider myself a damn good player) are just destroying it.

As Seiki said, one of the side effects is the utter demoralization of lesser guilds. It's hard to be motivated when you're wiping in SSC or Magtheridon and another guild out there is 4-5 full raid instances ahead of you and has "beaten" TBC already. It's not so much of an epeen-contest, it's more of a "I could be so much further along if I were playing with more dedicated people" sort of thing. Even though people don't realize that guilds like Nihilum play on such a different plane of existence that comparing yourself to them is like comparing how you play basketball to Michael Jordan. These guys' LIVES are World of Warcraft. Make fun of them all you want, but the fact is that they play this game for a living, they're better at it than you are, and it's up to you if that bothers you or not. :)

-Bolty