My guild could have written this letter, though we didn't. We are going with a bit of a mix between ideas 1 and 6. We started Dragon Soul on all dedicated raid nights, and the person who's working on the staff picked an off night on which they could raid (and we could support them) and we do Firelands for them that night. Alts are welcome, especially since after the nerf, bringing half an overgeared team leaves a little room for other lower performing players. If everyone knows the fights and has the gear, achievements or hardmodes are fair game.

We fully support this Firelands raid with as many prime raiders as possible and with guild supplies so that it keeps its aura of "approved, serious raid". That does seem to help. Thankfuly, we have very patient raiding officers who go back to do this raid, keep people interested, and make it enjoyable. I'm willing to bet that a guild's ability to keep people coming back to older content will depend very much on the atmosphere the leadership is able to give to it.

We definitely do have people who won't show up for it, either because they're "so done" with Firelands, or because they can't raid that night. We usually find enough guild members, but if we don't, we pug some spots. This can also be a very good way to recruit, especially if your raid leaders are doing a good job of making this raid both productive and enjoyable.

While you probably can't convince most of the "rank and file" raiders of this unless they already have something to gain from Firelands, as a leader, you should keep in mind that it's good for moral to have a tier completely cleared, and the guild achieve/pet from getting the staff is a status symbol for everyone, not just the staff-bearer. So as a leader, I definitely consider this as worth my time to support in the long run, and it will probably be a long run. I think our current staff recipient said they have about 3 months left of 6/7 FL raids before they're finished. That's serious and consistent effort, not just for them, but for us to keep going in there, making it enjoyable, and getting other people to go along now that it's not "current". We'll probably pug more and more people as time goes on. But look at the bright sides as much as you can, and keep your goals in mind (and realistic) as you move forward.

One side note I will add is that for my guild, this decision brought out some negativity from certain members, for various reasons. If you're getting backlash, don't freak. Deal with it calmly and thoroughly, and do so in a manner that sets the tone moving forward. Whatever that tone is for your guild. Just use this time of transition to reassess your goals for your leadership, your guild structure, your membership, etc. Change is rarely comfortable, you might as well make it good!

Best of luck!

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