Breakfast Topic: Do you pay attention to 25-man progression?
by Daniel Whitcomb 
May 28th 2008 at 8:00AM
I was having a discussion with my brother yesterday, and he was telling me that he really doesn't pay attention much to the raid game anymore. Back in Everquest, he used to be a pretty hardcore raider, part of a giant guild that could field raids of 100 or more people, ready to track down and kill bosses the minute they spawned (since they were never instanced, you only got kill each boss around once per a week on each server). Because so many people were needed, and you might not even get to kill some bosses some weeks because other groups would beat you, you might go months without loot.
Because of this, he says, he doesn't really care any more about server firsts or world firsts. The 25 man raids don't really interest him, and he doesn't feel like 25-man raiders are worthy of respect. They get loot at a much faster rate than he ever did, and even if they don't get the drop they want, they still get badges. There's probably other people like him. There's also other people who may ignore 25-mans because it really doesn't affect them. They run their 5 mans, maybe an occasional Karazhan, and they really don't care what people do beyond that.
Me, I tend to like to follow the 25-man raid scene. I enjoy hearing about world firsts, and I keep abreast of what guilds are doing on my server, as well. Our server forums have a progression post that almost everyone knows about and is regularly updated so that we always know who's killing what, and I'm always eager to hear who's killed what in Sunwell Plateau right now.
Why this is I can't really pin down in one reason. Perhaps this is in part because I used to be a raider, and still like to know what's going on in that part of the game. Perhaps it's because the main 25-man raid group of my guild alliance is one of the top on our server, having a few server seconds and thirds. But whatever it is, following raiding exploits has always been part of playing MMORPGs for me. I like to know what my server is doing, and how they're doing compared to everyone else.
So here's my questions: Do you follow world raiding progression? Do you follow your server's raiding progression? If you do, Why do you think you're interested in them, especially if you aren't taking part in them or aren't even in the raiding game? If not, why not? Is it just not your thing, or do you honestly think it's not worthy of any note that people have downed a raid boss for the first time?
Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Breakfast Topics, Instances, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
native May 28th 2008 8:04AM
nope
Jeni May 28th 2008 8:42AM
I use to raid with one of the top 5 guilds on my server. But yanno what? It's just not as fun as doing 5 man heroics and Kara/Zul'Aman. You can JOKE and laugh and wipe and there's no RL yelling at you, threatening others, taking other people on raids, gearing up some people over others... I don't even look on wowjutsu anymore. And yanno what? I might have a t6 character in retirement, but I am LOVING my new Kara/badge gear characters and I love the people in my casual guild. I'm having a better time now than I ever did in Hyjal and BT.
That's why I'm so excited about Wrath. We can 10 man everything! It'll be awesome!
Jordrah May 28th 2008 9:05AM
yea, beyond world firsts i really could careless
F0REM4N May 28th 2008 9:22AM
Nope - A vast MAJORITY of us don't.
Greg May 28th 2008 9:23AM
^ Speak for yourself
Esk May 28th 2008 10:14AM
I used to follow the raid progression very close before Burning Crusade, back when my guild was in top3 of our server.
Main reason: the competition. Stuff like "OMG we've beat guild X on this boss, yay!", or "C'mon we can make top X Europe!!"
In BC, the hardcore part of my old guild formed a new one. It also kept my interest for raiding progress high, as my old friends were directly involved.. "you can do it guys!!".
After they disbanded.. I stopped giving a damn on what the overall progress was, and focused on PvP.
kdeselms May 28th 2008 4:31PM
Frankly speaking, it's so hard to get a good 25-man raid built and by the time you do, you lose people to other guilds when they've geared up enough to jump ship and ride the coattails of a bigger guild with more stuff on farm. Then you have to take a step backward to train/gear new players to fill those holes and the old-timers get pissed because the forward progress has slowed, and they don't want to do the same old crap. So they stop coming.
The raid game sucks, but it's not because of the game...it's because of the people.
Ekimus May 28th 2008 8:10AM
I follow 25 man progression, and get excited when I hear of world, country, and server firsts. It's an accomplishment to take down a boss before others have. The top guilds dedicate time to this goal, and should be congratulated for their efforts.
The EQ raider you speak of is a bit too bitter, he should re-roll in EQ if he wants that type of progression. WoW is relatively easy, and doesn't hide it. That doesn't mean that the top guilds don't deserve credit for their efforts.
PeeWee May 28th 2008 9:31AM
"WoW is relatively easy..."
Guess why it's the largest MMORPG ever? Yup, because it's accessible.
Rich May 28th 2008 8:14AM
Don't follow. I used to be a hardcore raider, but am no longer. I really only care about the fun I am having in the game, not what others are doing.
Rich
ninjasuperspy May 28th 2008 8:21AM
I want to see the end of the plotline, but I don't pay attention to what other people on other servers in other parts of the world get up to. I can't be bothered to enter the measuring contest because honestly I'll never get into the 25 man raids. I flat out don't have the time. The existence of large portions of the game I will never (never) see is one of the primary forces causing me to reconsider my $180/year. No, I'm not interested in Age of Conan or Warhammer. Fallout 3 drops in a few months and I'll definitely be able to beat the final boss in that one.
JPN May 28th 2008 8:22AM
It's all a little too hardcore for me anyway, so I don't really care who gets first/second/world/whatever. I do enjoy hearing interviews with members of top raiding guilds to hear about how they do things, thoughts, etc. but I don't care who's "first". PTRs kinda ruin it all anyway....I'd be more interested in who's first if they just dropped an instance/boss onto the live realms and everyone had the same opportunity to figure out how to kill it. I mean, I know that's how it works on the PTR kinda, but still...
Orestes May 28th 2008 8:22AM
Not actively, no.
Chen May 28th 2008 8:28AM
not too keen on the raiding games myself, mostly because i'm just not that big into the raids... or knowing what others had achieved. World's first KJ down? good for you! Server's 3rd BT complete? ok.... I join raids because i want to get the tier armorsets, other than that, I find other game mechanic more interesting to me
robotrock May 28th 2008 8:28AM
Only because Arena seasons are tied to PVE progression. If they'd disconnect the two I wouldn't care.
Alaw May 28th 2008 8:30AM
I don't go out of my way to learn about raiding world-firsts.
That said, I think raiding progression is less uninteresting than any potential PvP equivalent like "world-first WTFPWNT a fresh 70 with a spell" or "EU-first WTFPWNT a fresh 70 with a melee weapon".
Sirg May 28th 2008 8:31AM
I think 25 man raiding is for dedicated gamers, people who want to be high performance gamers and do this in an organized fashion way - see SK gaming, who tend to be a business based on gaming.
There are lots of people that do 25 m content, but I think it's to much time consuming for a regular person. Besides, I've tried it for a while and it didn't feel right for me, because I wasn't having much fun. To much pressure and harsh language for virtual things.
In the end it's a game! You can play it for fun or for performance, like any other sport. I don't want any medals or trophies, just to have fun in the fantasy world which I love since I discovered Warcraft 1 Orcs and Humans.
Greg May 28th 2008 8:37AM
Yes
Elvinalfie May 28th 2008 8:49AM
I am vaguly aware of world / country / server firsts through the variouse reporting sites like this do for the community at large.
However, I do follow the 25 man progression on my own server and always feel a sense of pride when a guild downs their particular nemisis. It doesn't have to be the server / faction first kill of the most progressed guild, I get just as much joy hearing about a guild finally downing that "lesser" boss that they have been working on for weeks. For those people the accomplishment is just as great as the most progressed guild killing Illidan or Kil'jaden
Tigress74 May 28th 2008 8:47AM
I pay attention. To me its like any other news that involves the game.