Current State of End-Game Contents - A Blog Post from A Japanese Player

[Magis]

Skill mattered a lot too back then. Ask anyone who remembers pulling in the Plane of Hate or Fear back when EQ was still new....

Raid pullers who could do it and do it well were looked up to and always in demand.

Back then when you got a drop, you seriously feel like you earned it. Now its more like "Oh, you showed up! Here's a relic!".

The raid/boss fights in FFXIV are like Square Dancing events, the only thing missing is the Moogle on the side with the record player and megaphone calling out the steps.

Razorgore will always be my favorite, and i have always referenced that as my example of "classic" MMO raids. 40 monsters (orcs and dragonkin actually) on the field, some being kited by hunters, some being CCed by mages/rogues, and the rest being killed by damage dealers. ONTOP of that, one player is mind controlling the actual boss, trying to destroy eggs as fast as possible. After all that, the boss finally aggros and must be killed. It was truly an endurance test based on players mental stamina and their character's as well, like one poster mentioned... instead of some arbitrary rage timer. Everyone had to stay focused, use their utility skills and knowledge how to play, and do their job during the fight to pass phase one. However, unlike FFXIV, you could still pull off a win if half the raid (20 people) die and you are still good enough to push out damage, heal the tank, and keep aggro. Unlike XIV where 1 person dieing == wipe.

Oh yeah, and this was the first thing you see entering BWL. You don't get to even explore until you beat me, the giant rooster block lol.