06 June 2010

Good Riddance, Twenty-Five Mans.

(I know this is old news, it's taken me a while to get back into writing after my hiatus. I'll be writing more soon.)
The changes coming to Cataclysm raiding has been toted as the end of 25-man raiding. Personally, I don't think they'll end, but if they did, I couldn't be happier. See, I'm a 10-man raider by choice. Occasionally I'll do a 25-man for kicks or because a friend needs me, but as far as I'm concerned, there couldn't be a bigger waste of my time than 25-man raids.

Large raids are like herding cats. People not listening to orders, people going afk or running back to town because they forgot to repair, people never paying attention because they feel like it's everyone else's job to kill the add. There is far more time wasted in a large raid than a small one, and far easier for people to get lost in the bustle and get carried through. If a person dies in a 25-man, no one cares. If one dies in a 10-man, the whole raid must rise to the occasion without that person. People always complain that the raids don't feel as epic as they used to when they took forty people, and losing 25-mans will make things feel even less so. To me, the level of epic doesn't come from how many idiots you can cram into a room, but from the level of difficulty that downing a boss with less teammates brings with it. Sure 25-man bosses have more hit points, but when there's three times as many dps, losing one doesn't really make anyone tense up. Not only are 25-mans currently easier than 10-mans, they are also less social. The large number of people makes it necessary to keep Ventrilo clear and no one talks or gets to know each other. There is less of a sense of camaraderie, and to me, they generally feel like a soulless venture. Twenty-five people in a raid isn't you and your buddies, it's a mob.

This could just be me being a big grouch, since I've long hated 25-mans, and never made a secret about it. I am glad I won't have to deal with people who brag all day and night about their sweet 25-man loot and try to make me feel inferior in my 10-man gear, despite the fact that skill, not gear is what determines a good tank. I've all but completely stopped gearing myself. Not because there's nothing left for me to get, but because I know I possess more than the minimum requirement of gear and skill to beat every boss in the game. I don't want to run TOC-25 over and over every week in hopes that a "best in slot" item will drop. I want to beat bosses in ICC-10 with my friends because it's fun.

Speaking of "best in slot", I personally don't believe in them and dislike their very existence. They propel people into an unhealthy mindset that some piece of gear is something they have to have, or that having that piece will magically make them better players. I refuse to listen to fellow raiders who proclaim a piece of gear as "best in slot". I feel that player's obsession with gear is not what the developers had in mind. Blizzard wants the game to be above all else fun and accessible, which is why raiding was so easy to get into during Wrath of the Lich King. It is also why the first raid they announce for Cataclysm they say will be doable in quest blues. Becoming an over powered beast is not what WoW is about, and I feel the removal of the incentive to do 25-mans will prevent players from becoming so overpowered that the game's fun is removed and the game will no longer be simply about acquiring gear.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next entry for: The Art Of Pulling And Holding Aggro.