08-13-2006, 12:52 PM
Quote:The structure of the game will always affect how people socially organize within it. As the max raid size was 40, most end-game raid guilds have built themselves around a 50-60 member core running a single raid. In more of these guilds than most people think, all of the people within them like each other and enjoy gaming with each other.I can assure you that this is simply not the case. A guild with 50 people is just too large, that each one is enjoying playing with each one another. 40-man raids are just too big for individual social interaction. Getting 40 people together is a necessity. And if 35 people are fairly good equipped even that one is gone.
There are cliques and groups of people in a typical raiding guild. And I agree that the size of that type of guild is largely due to the 40-man raid instances. I doubt that the typical size of a guild would be as large if there were no 40-man instances. Even now I can observe on my server that there are strategic alliances formed just for raiding a 40-man instance.
Also let's not forget, that the four big instances won't just disappear once the expansion is released.
To be honest, I'm quite bewildered that people hark this 25-limit as the end of the good times for elite(sic!) raiding guilds. If these raiding guilds cannot adapt then what are they good for?
Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm!