lemekim,Apr 13 2006, 05:08 PM Wrote:I think another problem with the new content is that it seems you cannot just stop doing the old one either. So when Naxxramas comes out, you will have people in big raids running MC, BWL, Onyxia, AQ, Naxx, with ZG and AQ20 thrown in between. That pretty much means raiding every day of the week. People simply get burned out. I don't really know how to fix it - randomized dungeons and taking out tier 2 drops from the very last boss in MC could be a start.
QFT
Major raid burn out is common phenomenon nowadays in the World of Azeroth. First it was blamed on the subpar design and itemization of AQ, but more and more voices suspect underlying fundemantal issues, such as an overboarding raid duty as you have pointed out.
This is exactly what is happening in our raid alliance. Before AQ went live we were a happy bunch of raiders, with two to three raiddays a week for MC and BWL, plus casual raidcontent such as ZG or Onyxia. We could be competive raid in terms of BWL progression and had also enough capacity to do "farm" content such as MC. As AQ-Gates opened we quickly found out that with only up to three raid days a week we just couldn't hope to stay competitive in the AQ progression race as well as provide for ongoing and constant MC and BWL farming.
Since most of our members are not willing or not able to raid five or more days a week, a schism has erupted in our guild, between those wo want to explore and conquer new content and those who would rather want to reliably farm the older raid instances.
Now a vicious cycle has erupted: as more and more of the well equiped veteran players faded out from raiding, the raid leadership had to recruit new people often still in their T0 set. Now these people of course campaign for more MC farming to get their easy epics, offputting even more veterans who can't bring themself to do MC runs anymore, so more veterans fade out from raiding etc. We are recruiting like crazy, while raiding seems to suck more and more.
There are many such such stories to be read on the WoW-Forums. Please note that this time it isn't a rebellion of the have-nots (non raiding casuals), against the epic equipped have-everythings (raiding guild members). This time dedicated raiders themselves are complaining.
From all the threads on the WoW-Forums regarding this phenomenon I recommend that one for reading.
http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.asp...-en&T=57744&P=1
This post from it sums up my feelings the best:
Quote:I belong to the category of players that left WoW after AQ opened.
The reason behind this decision is rather simple. Time sink. Until AQ opened it was rather ok, as we had 2-3 days weekly for doing BWL in a relaxed fashion, 1 for MC and the others for breathing, for farming, to go out with friends, to study, to have a life outside WoW. There was some sort of a balance.
Then AQ opened and as we rushed to kill stuff in it I realised I'm grinding again, as I have in one way or another been doing since february of last year. And in order to do that and ensure progress (that we all know requires countless attempts and practice) I would have to give up the 2 days per week that I had free. For what?Some crappy loot that gives me +5% AP? Is the scenery new at least? Encounters ground breaking? No. It's basically same "$!@% different day".
I understand that "pro-gaming" requires dedication and a huge amount of time invested. But as long as raiding hours are set at around 19-20 CET and we have 3-5 instances to grind so as to keep people equipped and competitive, pro-gaming becomes the antonym of having a life.
Some might be willing to reach that point, as I wasn't.
I also understand the thrill of downing bosses. I was there for almost all new important kills since Rag and up to Sartura and I felt the rush you all know. But just as the taste of Pringles or smoking, it gets old at some point. The thrill is gone and it becomes a reflex.
As officer and raid leader in my guild (with my main ofc) I have seen a lot of crisis-like situations and a variety of issues and I did my best to help contain them. But this one was clearly the deepest as it does not concern individuals but the WoW community as a whole and as it was pretty much beyond us to mend it.
Blizzard threw at us another instance while logistics stayed the same (time invested, people needed, rewards, scenario) and it gives us a push to be competitive in regard to other guilds (ego is the main reason for itemizing). But it does all that without considering the implications i.e. people not being able to invest that much time and becoming frustrated. And that's just a step away from quitting the game.