Why I love raiding.

I love raiding.

Sure, sometimes I love it less than other times. But that's natural.

Raiding for me, is about the encounters. It's about spending time with people I enjoy spending time with. Just as a quick example, I'm flatting with 3 guildies, we got a 4th over and had a blast [5man group]. Seriously, most fun I've had in WoW in months, just by doing things with people. It was just some Tarren Mill PvP and random group quests in SMV. But it was still fun. We're going to be doing Weekly Ony's. For fun. Sure, there's a little gold there. But that's a bonus. As is the T2 Helm.

That's what I think people lose sight of. It's got nothing to do with the big picture. I am not the big picture. You are not the big picture. People like you arn't the big picture. Hell, the big picture isn't any fun at all. When I'm raiding, I'm not thinking about the big picture. Hell, I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks, because I'm having fun.

Hearing someone yell "YES!", when he wins a roll is fun. Even though I'm not getting loot. Hearing the person he won the loot from go "OMG YOU SUCK!" is just as fun. Mainly because we all know if the second person won, the first would be doing the same thing.

Playing with people who're excited about playing is an awesome experience. I personally believe it's what people are really referring as the 'good old days'. There's a reason why people don't raid TM/SS anymore, and I personally don't think it has much to do with PvP rewards. People would do it for fun, if it still was for them.

Badge loot or no badge loot. It's not going to change my fun. It's going to give me a new goal, which will probably make me play the game a bit more. But each moment isn't going to be less fun because of it. And I don't think anyone can really argue against that. Unless you're a lootwhore.

Apparently my opinion's in the minority. People seem to be blowing loot out of proportion. Here's the hard line.

Bad players are still bad, even with better gear.

Nothing's changed. They're still bad. And that's the thing that really matters. The new gear might give people the final nudge to beat an encounter. But it wont enable them if they were no where near beating it in the first place.

If you're unhappy because of the environment that the loot's created within your guild, do something about it. Nothing's going to happen if you don't do anything. And yes, it is upto you to do something for yourself.

Just as a final note, there are people playing the game, the way I am at every level of content. From lowbie areas doing a 10day trial stint to people who give Illidan a little each week.