Maybe it's time for a casual "strike" if not complete departure.

[Evergrey]

Well for starters the gear not being near enough immediately invalidated by crafted gear would be a pretty good start. Why am I going to do a Normal Mode raid more than once if crafted is of the same Item Level and substantially easier to obtain? The gear expense is roulette Gil. For me personally I can fully outfit a class before I've even finished doing a weekly reclear, so why would I bother? Now, if normal raid gear was +10 of it (so equivalent to non-augment Tomestone), then the incentive to actually rerun it would be there. Same thing with Alliance Raid gear, that should be equivalent to actual raid and augmented tomestone.

Personally I don't buy crafted gear because I see no reason as to why I need BiS/high end gear when I am not planning on raiding. It's literally not needed for non-raiders.
I play the normal raids for the gear because I don't have to waste gil on it and I think it's more fun to play than simply craft/buy something from a menu and then have nothing to do strive for/keep me occupied, again.

Getting crafted gear designed for entry-raid levels and not raid is like buying a high spec PC to play 10 year old games.
You might find personal satisfaction of having "great" gear but it's not anywhere needed for the non-raiding content.

[Lilapop]

You forgot the "basic social skills" part. I'd start there.

My head? Back in my hands.

[Lilapop]

I giggled.

Static? Where I must apply like a job? With curriculum, interview and all? To be even more judged by toxic hardcore players?

Discord? Where hardcore players can speak their minds without limits and be as toxic as they want without risk being banned?

Any other suggestion?

"Raiding" in this game is actually "how well can i understand and memorize a guide" and "this has to be done as fast and efficiently as possible" and "anyone who's worse or slower than me should quit the game."

Don't worry, if anything goes wrong in the song and dance that is memorizing the guide and a perfect rotation (someone makes an oopsie, you butterfingers your rotation, etc.) it'll probably be your fault and you'll be told off at least twice for it. What part of this DOESN'T sound fun???

[Clockworks]

"Raiding" in this game is actually "how well can i understand and memorize a guide" and "this has to be done as fast and efficiently as possible" and "anyone who's worse or slower than me should quit the game."

Don't worry, if anything goes wrong in the song and dance that is memorizing the guide and a perfect rotation (someone makes an oopsie, you butterfingers your rotation, etc.) it'll probably be your fault and you'll be told off at least twice for it. What part of this DOESN'T sound fun???

You have to be good and actually do a tiny bit of research to do the hardest content in the game ?

No way ! Who would have thought you actually had to be good (or at least willing to get better) at the game to complete the most difficult content in the game !

[Lilapop]

You have to be good and actually do a tiny bit of research to do the hardest content in the game ?

No way ! Who would have thought you actually had to be good (or at least willing to get better) at the game to complete the most difficult content in the game !

You have to be good? Good at what? Good at memorization? What exactly takes skill in how this game handles raiding? If you said it took time of repeatedly bashing your head against the ground, then yeah, I'd agree.

[Erzaa]

You have to be good? Good at what? Good at memorization? What exactly takes skill in how this game handles raiding? If you said it took time of repeatedly bashing your head against the ground, then yeah, I'd agree.

Memorising something while being bombarded with information and maintaining uptime is definitely a skill, multitasking is a skill.

The issue isn't if raiders are skilled, of course they are, it's if the rest of casual players are interested in that kind of content. I know I'm not, I don't find it fun or entertaining.

[Kaurhz]

Personally I don't buy crafted gear because I see no reason as to why I need BiS/high end gear when I am not planning on raiding. It's literally not needed for non-raiders.
I play the normal raids for the gear because I don't have to waste gil on it and I think it's more fun to play than simply craft/buy something from a menu and then have nothing to do strive for/keep me occupied, again.

Getting crafted gear designed for entry-raid levels and not raid is like buying a high spec PC to play 10 year old games.
You might find personal satisfaction of having "great" gear but it's not anywhere needed for the non-raiding content.

The way I see it is character progression is pretty intrinsic regardless of whether you do high-end raiding or not, and gear is one of the key defining factors of this. The normal gear is also as much for casual players doing gearing catch-up as to what it is for high-end raiders that want to raid day 1, the only difference being the latter is generally more lucrative than the former due to the urgency. Some people might grind Normal Mode for it, and that's fine, but when you have a direct comparison like crafted placed up against a weekly gated gearing, then the design choice just strikes me as bizarre, as irrespective of content deficit, people are typically going to go with convenience factor or factor of least resistance.

many, many things in this game go much quicker if you have gear beyond what the minimum asks of you. So yes, you can say it isn't necessary all you like, but it absolutely is practical beyond just "Man I feel good".

[Collin_Sky]

I giggled.

Static? Where I must apply like a job? With curriculum, interview and all? To be even more judged by toxic hardcore players?

Discord? Where hardcore players can speak their minds without limits and be as toxic as they want without risk being banned?

Any other suggestion?

I really feel sorry for you if this is your outlook. To think everyone is constantly talking behind your back.

[Volgia]

and "anyone who's worse or slower than me should quit the game."

I think it's funny because either no one has said this, or you found an asshole who did, and decided to paint the broadest stroke possible to all the raiding community with it.

[CidHeiral]

I think it's funny because either no one has said this, or you found an asshole who did, and decided to paint the broadest stroke possible to all the raiding community with it.

Most of the people saying things like that in here know they don't have a leg to stand on without this fictional evil raider persona they've invented. I swear every post is more ridiculous than the last.

"You have to give them your social security number and your firstborn child to join a static and if you mess up your rotation even ONCE they come to your HOUSE and BURN IT DOWN and KICK YOUR DOG!!!!!1"