Quote:Do I want better loot? Of course! Why? Because it will help me do what I want to do: see everything the game has to offer. Get all the stupid mounts so I can ride an elephant as a Dwarf. See Medivh summon a dragon and kill it with one spell, turning it into the terror that is Nightbane. Gasp as the ceiling caves in over Magtheridon (and reassemble itself after a wipe, that's a neat trick). Battle my inner demon. Throw a Tainted Core at a teammate. Dodge Void Reaver's orbs. Witness the controlled chaos of fighting all four of Kael'thas' advisors at once. Watch Akama give his speech to the Deathsworn inside Black Temple. Wreck constructs before they own your raid. Get bubbled when Archimonde hits 10% and listen to the cacophony of screaming victory over vent as your heart pounds out of your chest. Queue up for Arena in the last week of a season and be practically shaking as the next game could possibly get you a Gladiator title. And hopefully someday soon, watching Illidan Stormrage hit the deck, defeated, conquering the game and freeing Outland.
-Bolty
Of course I want better gear to do my 'group job' better, whether that be tanking with my warrior, or blowing stuff up with my elemental shaman. I could care less about 'showing off' my gear. I just want to be able to tank better or do more DPS, or heal better. Some may ask why I need to, if ZA's as far as I'm going at the moment. Well, you can do T6 instances in T4 gear or even less, so you don't *need* T5, do you? That's a dead argument. Everyone likes to improve their toon, and gear is the main way to make it better. Would I like to see Hyjal? Yes. Do I, realistically, have the time to put in to see it right, without being a burden to the raid I see it in? No. Sure, given the time, I could be an asset to a raid. Been there, done that.
Unfortunately for me, with my current RL commitments, 2/3 of the stuff you list up there to see in the game are out of my reach because I don't have the uninterrupted time blocks to do them. However, because of the same time constraints, half the stuff you list as things you're bored with and never want to see again, are things that I've just dipped my toe in, so to speak, and I'm not finished with. I mean, I just finished some of the SMV quests last week. There's a heroic or two that I've experienced one time only.
As I told Skan, you and I aren't necessarily even playing the same game, Bolty. Your game is 25-mans, bleeding-edge, seeing everything that's there. I have to limit myself to what I have the time blocks for. I play every night, but I have interruptions. If I raided like I used to, my wife would skin me alive. :wacko: Do I still have fun? Yes. Is my fun the same as yours? Evidently not. At least, not anymore. That's not a criticism of you and your way of playing. It's just that what works for you isn't working for me. I tried, but I just didn't have the time. When I was ready for Kara, you were almost done with it. When I was ready for 25-mans, you were ready for the 2nd tier. I know I'm not unskilled in a raid environment, but I'm also aware of the time requirements. I can't keep up.
I'm glad that I at least have something to work for, and that it's not like the old days. I *can* make my character better without having to raid 25-mans. I think that's what it's all about. Every time someone suggests making a special badge that you get off of Kael or Vashj, I just cringe. If you do that, then the only people who will see those badges are the people who are already raiding, OR, you will end up right back at raid-or-die, like it was pre-BC. It seems like the people who love the 25-man raids assume that everyone else does. It's a nice idea, but it really doesn't work that way.
As far as great moments, I remember tanking on Avarice's first Emps kill. I remember the night Seiki and Anadrol were both gone and I MTed BWL the first time. But I also remember a lot of 5-man, solo, and even 2-man victories in the game. I still have more fun in a 5-10 man environment with other people who know what they're doing than I had in 40-man or 25-man raiding, with only one or two exceptions.
--Mav