Almost everyone wants to "skip" having to raid!

[Ikeda]

snip

It's because WoW attracted a apocalyptic amount of people to mmos that have no business playing mmos because they don't have the patience to deal with the long term-centric fundamental designs of mmos. So now we get "mmos" (really just single player online games where the people you play with may as well be npcs) and no one caters to real mmo players anymore because for some reason WoW's unfortunate success seemingly gave every other mmo developer out there the delusion that real mmo players aren't a profitable crowd anymore.

[Gormogon]

when did things change?l

It changed when raids standard form was simply seeking out the bodies to do the content with to today format where it is now difficult and stressful content where nearly all the players in the group need to play near picture perfect and having to follow a strict code of "watch video" and "perform up to a standard of unquestionable excellence" or deal with constant whining, moaning, complaining, and the overall drama that breaks groups apart.

While it isn't impossible to do it is a tedious requirement for a video game, which is why I rather wait for duty finder.

[IveraIvalice]

I would love to do the latest coil. I want a challenge too, I want good loot and I hate waiting for it till the next coil comes out. But I want the challenge to be the raid not the people or person I can't stand or the requirement for a mic that I don't want to have/use. I would rather practice with my friends and have a good time when we take on hard content. But that's not possible with this lock out.

Just because I don't like being in a static and everything that makes up that experience, doesn't mean I don't like a challenge and I want everything handed to me with little effort. I just want the freedom to play how I want. With the lock out, I can't play how I want and that means I can't play second coil at all. That sucks.

[Marael]

In over ten years of MMO playing, I have to say, that the big endgame things have always been my LEAST favorite aspect of the whole MMO experience. I hate the drama. I hate the everyone expecting everyone to be absolutely perfect. I hate the stress. I absolutely despise the requirement that I use third party voice chat programs. People say they make things easier... but to me they make them harder, more annoying, and far more frustrating. I hate the waiting in line for gear that never freaking drops. I hate having to be online at specific times to do specific things with specific people. I'm more of a spontaneous person and do not like being kept to a schedule in something I'm using to escape from reality where all there is is schedules, stress, and everyone expecting me to be perfect. It becomes more of a job than my actual job!!! These things are not fun to me. The events themselves may be entertaining, but the people I usually end up having to do them with, and the often ridiculous requirements they impose upon others to be able to participate in said event with them, are not. Thanks, but you can take your endgame crap somewhere else, I'll stick with what I find fun. When I first picked this game up, I promised myself that I was just going to stay the hell away from endgame, and that's what I plan to do, because I just don't need that garbage in my life again.

I'm 35. I have a wife, kids, a house and yard that need upkeep, and other hobbies. I'm not in high school or college anymore. When I have limited leisure time, I don't want to spend it putting up with all of the crap that made me quit most MMOs that I've quit. I don't want to feel like I'm going to another job, where I have to be on at a certain time to do a certain thing. You go right ahead and do that if you want, but I have better things to do with my time. The absolute last thing I want to have to do is put up with prima donna drama endgame BS. I've had enough of it to last a lifetime, and I want no more. I'm playing this game to have fun, not to be a babysitter and work at something more stressful than my actual career is. This game is pretty easy to play as though it's single player, and I'm okay with that. In fact, these days, I actually kind of prefer it. An MMO where I don't need a huge group to do the things that I want is exactly the thing I wanted.

[Nuinn]

It's all about the loot, for most it seems. As unimpressive or unneeded some of the end-game gear is, there's the nagging voice that seems to have gotten louder over the years, that e-peen size matters I find it quite unfortunate as, more often than not, when I enter a random duty by DF, or even PF people seem to become mute X___X or enter troll mode.

Perhaps it's the nature of the content and the abundance of easy to obtain items being flailed in our faces, or it's cause the overall attention span of MMOers has shortened. Can't see it changing as the developers and publishers have to gain good coin, and this route seems to work well enough. Until someone invents something completely new and amazing within the genre, which doesn't happen often. . . .

Thankfully, there's still people who like to socialize, take their time with everything and just enjoy the virtual life and not worry only about the virtual job.