[Arrivan]

Source: Kerchunk I guess that's the divergence - I'm not fully confident the type of person who contributes to this site represents the "average" raider in WoW. I would say they're a shining minority. Maybe I'm wrong. I certainly haven't sampled much outside my own server, so perhaps you're right - maybe I'm just biased because I've listened to a vocal minority of elitist jerks (no relation) who think having the time to raid makes them superior to those who don't. Again, I'm not decrying the raider nor the raiding lifestyle. I'm one myself, or was until I had a kid and switched jobs, moved across the country, etc. thus forcing me out of the raid rotation. My gripe is specifically with those who fancy themselves more skilled at the game -- and the logical extension of that, those who believe that raiding 25-man content entitles them to special dispensation - that somehow it's an "insult" to them that their precious raids will now be available to those who run 10-man content. You can't argue that these people don't exist. There's plenty of outrage being slung around from the raiding community over these changes, and the only justifiable stance you can take in being upset about this change is that you somehow feel that 10-man raiders don't "deserve" to see the content to which I ask the question my argument implies - if they're just as good at the game as you, why not let them experience the content? If you have the time and enjoy the 25-man game, go right ahead, but unless you're one of the ones who think that makes you a superior player you ought not to care that the same content is being run by 10-man groups.

What does it matter if people like you describe exist? These are the same people who QQed about the transition from 40 to 25 man raiding (and again when ZA was released) and their complaining didn't make the slightest difference. The same thing is happening now and again it won't make a bit of difference. These are the opinions that do not belong here. Keep in mind also that the elitist pricks on the WoW forums do not represent the majority of raiders either. This change is by and large excellent, and anyone who doesn't or won't see that can either not participate in the content or quit. They won't be missed.

[Rampart]

I would have a feeling that the majority of raiders are college students, just solely based on age. Now, no offense to any hardcore 7-day-a-week raiders, but if you're a college student, like I am, then are a dozen better ways to spend 5 hours on a Friday night than sitting in front of your computer screen. I really enjoy the change in the size of the raids, as it allows me to go to raids when I pretty much feel like it, as there are always people to swap in. To get to the point, the raiding schedule doesn't dictate the rest of my life. It's quite the opposite now in fact.

[Sparkarn]

Being able to select either 25 man or 10 man raiding is indeed one of blizzards best changes to the game. This will allow people to raid with their rl friends, for example on my server, Magtheridon EU, we are 10 people living in the same city, going to the same school and we play together every day. This new system will allow us to create a guild consisting only of us 10 friends and some stand ins, this change will bring smaller guilds which will result in tighter communities. Great change, allover.

[minrog]

I'm not too happy with the direction they are taking with their game. On one level I'm somewhat disappointed they kept up with their ProgressQuest/Everquest clone treadmill approach on the Xpacs. With the amount of money and talent Blizzard has I was hoping they'd do something more with it.

The other level (the in game aspects) I'm disappointed with the class dynamics they are introducing on the raiding level. I don't care for Kara or ZA because they force class stacking initially; not a lot of place for things like Moonkins or Ret paladins as an example. A 20 man raid such as ZG allowed you to bring hybrid specs and not gimp your progression speed.

I also don't like the 25 man raiding size because you end up excluding folks if you build 3 of the 10 man raids or you end up having to pug people if you run 2 of the 10 man raids. I don't miss the 40 man sizes much because the trash got really old after a while. 40 man raiding guilds had a pretty hefty numbers requirement and I would rather be in a smaller tight knit group when I play. I would probably be happier if all the group sizes were evenly divisible by the smaller groups (5/10/20).

[bosephus]

Source: minrog The other level (the in game aspects) I'm disappointed with the class dynamics they are introducing on the raiding level. I don't care for Kara or ZA because they force class stacking initially; not a lot of place for things like Moonkins or Ret paladins as an example. A 20 man raid such as ZG allowed you to bring hybrid specs and not gimp your progression speed.

I'm not sure I agree with this. My guild has completed ZA bear runs and we've always had a ret paladin in the group with us. We're T4/T5 geared (only recently started Hyjal), so it's not as if we over gear the place. Variety is the spice of life. The new format of 10 and 25 man raids will help give people more options to enjoy playing the game. More people enjoying the game = more subscribers = more money. There's no need to cater to a subset of people to keep Blizzard in the black.