Quote Originally Posted by Nektulos-Tuor View Post
Who cares? In three-four months better gear will be dropping from far easier content. This isn't a game that rewards you for challenge, so the only reason to do it is Epeen stroking.

If they actually gave you a good reward, heck; I would LOVE to do it. However, doing a long stressful job and getting nothing out of it? No thanks.
What about just enjoying the mechanics of and the feeling of accomplishment that comes from doing something difficult with a team? The best thing about raiding is that feeling of wanting to put in one more attempt because the one you just did was "The last one for tonight" but you wound up making it to the next phase or got 5% closer to down before wipe. The best thing about raiding is the celebration on voice chat when the boss finally goes down. The best thing about raiding is being to poke fun at someone when they slip up and die to some mechanic you had on farm months ago.

The reward is not in whatever meaningless bit of stats and icons that happen to drop, however good or crappy they may be. The loot is a means to an end. The reward is the social engagement that comes from doing the content. The "Epeen stroking" as you put is at best an enjoyable side-benefit when folks start to get all high and mighty about how stupid they think raiding is.