Quote Originally Posted by MoroMurasaki View Post
Snip.
Umm, no my friend...it would be strange for me to have an anti-raid outlook considering I've raided across multiple MMOs for more than a decade. I do enjoy the content, and most of all, I enjoy bringing people into the content who have been hesitant to try it for a multitude of reasons (many I can emphasize with as someone who's dealt consistently with depression and anxiety over the years).

Here's the issue I feel like you keep missing: Perception vs. Reality. I have never argued as a whole that the raid community is a toxic wasteland. That said, I can also understand how those 'on the outside' with no leg in the raiding game could perceive many needlessly harsh comments that quite frankly are a daily occurrence on any MMO forum as a sign of a toxic community. Are their perceptions in line with reality? No, cause the raid community doesn't have an agenda to go out of its way to be toxic. But when you consider that many of these outlying negative comments typically go unanswered (as well as many times GD being skewed negatively) you have to consider how that impacts perception. Considering those not raiding likely don't have the benefit of interacting with those raiders who aren't complete assholes, then these kinds of blanket statements make up a larger percentage of a person's perception of the community. Perception vs. Reality.

My main goal in continuing this conversation is that I noticed quite a bit of anger/frustration towards people earlier in the thread who stated that they avoided raiding due to their perceptions of a toxic community. Some went to imply that these people were lying or had ulterior motives. I just don't see how this helps. Acting in this manner does nothing to try to understand how their perception developed, and worse yet, probably just helps to affirm their perceptions. I really wish folks would try more often to engage in a good spirited way to help people see past their first impressions.