Atually, ive found (via a process of observation) that many raid guilds have a "better" Wow/rest of life balance (by better I mean less wow and more rest-of-life) than more casual guilds.

Simply - raids start at a defined time and end at a defined time.

Raiders do not need to log much before the scheduled start time, are going to get two hours of solid content done, and thus not feel they have to stay on much longer when the raid is called for the night.

Casual players on the other hand - because their goals are less defined and theres no guarantee that other casuals are going to be on, get sucked in into logging on early "to see if anyone is on" - hanging around "in case someone logs on" and so on.

One of the things I value most in my life is the ability to get up at a moment's notice and do something else—go to dinner with a friend who happened to call, head out to a show I found out about that afternoon, or even go to bed early if I'm exhausted. This is exactly why I don't raid. I would like to see more of the endgame content, but I know that if I want to keep living my life the way I want to, I'd wind up letting down 24 of my closest digital friends to hang out with my real life ones.

I think this is true as well, Badtanc. Personally I'm in a pretty casual guild. We have cleared Naxx, and have downed a few bosses in Ulduar, but have gone back to Naxx for the last few weeks (gearing up alt, other mains...). Since we have Naxx on farm, I don't feel there's any real point in playing anymore, except on the rare occasions we're doing Ulduar. If I could spend four-five hours per week in progression I'd be happy, and my gaming needs would be fulfilled. As it stands however, I've begun leveling alts instead because I really like the game.

Maybe it has got to do with the attitude. Hardcore raiders focuses on progression and getting better, while casuals mostly seem to play only because it's fun. I think it's a lot more healthy to have a professional standpoint towards the game, at least a little.

Ahhhhhhh!

@wall

That always got me, work, 99% of the time, is not fun. So why would I want to approach my hobby as work? I tried being a hardcore raider, it was tedious and far to much like having a second job.

When it boils down to it, I really don't give a toss if I'm more geared than anyone else, or if I'm the best, or 1337, or any of that. Its a game, to approach it in any other way (unless you somehow find a way to make your living off of it) is rather unhealthy. Nothing in this game matters one bit, except, maybe, the people you interact with.

I raid two nights a week, at three hours per raid night. We're a progression guild, which means we focus on learning new fights more than farming older instances.

For me, the learning curve of learning a new fight is what entertains me. I have a pretty big stable of alts I can play, but I've reached the point where re-playing content just puts me to sleep (which makes me very sad, because I'd like to try the newer content from a perspective OTHER than as a healer...).

Friends of mine are in a casual guild, and raid for nearly 5 hours every night of the week. The raiding isn't required, for their guild, but for whatever reason more people are needed, or they're trying to gear up new members or alts, or a scheduled raid needs another XX or YY. As Badtanc mentioned, at least in some cases, the flexibility of the Casual guild can snowball into an unwieldy mess of "We have people online, let's do something together!" that winds up happening every night of the week and gets totally out of hand.

I don't raid for gear. I don't raid for bragging rights (I don't talk to a lot of people). I raid to experience something new and exciting, and I hold a mean grudge against bosses in general. That final success is what keeps me playing right now.

In the end, "raider" or "casual" or "hardcore" depends on who's talking and who's listening. I almost feel my guild is "casual raider," and my friend's guild is "hardcore casual." My schedule feels a lot less demanding and stressful than theirs.