"If they want the convenience of 10-man raiding, they choose 10-mans. If they want the challenge of 25-man raiding, they choose 25-mans."

Anne, usually I agree with you on most everything, but I'm going to have to go ahead and argue with that one. I'm not a 10-man raider for the "convenience" of it. Not at all. I'm a 10-man raider because I like smaller raid groups, because I like feeling very responsible for my healing role, and because I find 10-mans more compelling. Not to mention the fact that my aging computer really does not like 25-man raids. But what I really enjoy about raiding is hanging out with a smaller group that I've come to know very well. I like that I heal with only one other person and that we work so well together as a team. For me, the 10-man group is simply far more comfortable and it fits better.

For the record, the reason I started to feel disgruntled as a 10-man raider during Wrath was not because of the fact that I couldn't get the BiS items or anything like that. I didn't need to absolute best gear to tackle 10-man raid content, and we were able to take down plenty of hardmode bosses without it. It was more because it felt like the WoW community simply didn't take 10-man only raids seriously. This was of course expected, when 25-mans used 10-mans as a means to gear up and learn encounters. But for someone who was only doing 10-mans, it got a little frustrating to feel like we weren't "real" or "serious" raiders, especially since it was difficult to track our progress versus other groups. Of course groups that were doing 25-mans as well were able to progress faster through 10-man content. They had more gear and better gear opportunities. It wasn't until GuildOX came out with 10-man only rankings that we were able to say "Oh hey, we're actually one of the better 10-man strict guilds on this realm."

I like and respect the 25-man raid groups I know, and I want to see them do well, even if that raid style isn't for me. I don't know what the solution here is either, but I do hope that 25-man raiding doesn't go away, since I know so many people enjoy it.

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