The Heavensward raid: Alexander

[Prototype909]

for the challenge? people really play a game with a weekly lockout just for the gear?

There's no point in undertaking a more difficult challenge if the reward is the same for most people, look at how many people care about Savage Coil vs. Final Coil. Something as trivial as bragging rights only motivates so much, especially in a game like this where the community hardly ever even interacts. Savage Coil is like any other fight in this game - if you dedicate enough time to it you will eventually settle into the pattern and clear it regardless of how strict or complex it is. The difference is few people actually care enough to invest the time into Savage when all they get is a title.

Loot is the motivating factor for almost everybody who raids, unless you're someone who is actually in a group with the potential for a world/server first clear I'm willing to bet most people don't care about the challenge as an isolated motivator for raiding.