Raiders, why do you raid? None riders, why not?

[Nicodemus_Mercy]

I'll never understand when people say an activity/achievement they've engaged in/accomplished is suddenly "worthless" because it became easier with time/outleveling/outgearing. Just because those who came after had an easier time doesn't marginalize your achievements. If you did it when it was current/difficult then that alone is a bragging right that no one who comes after can ever match.

On topic: I used to raid in other MMO's for many many years. As I've aged I've become less willing to commit my time to a regular schedule. I prefer my freedom to play as I please and when I please.

Why I used to raid: I have a long term guild I am still a part of which has played (and raided in) several MMO's together. It doesn't really raid as a guild anymore, but we are still all close, not unlike a family. Raiding with these people was a great experience for many years in multiple games because there was a strong sense of camaraderie and support. We looked out for each other, became intuitive of each others play, and generally conquered all content set before us. We weren't the fastest, or the most optimal, but we got the job done. It was fun and rewarding in many ways that weren't loot related. On loot however, in most games of those bygone years, raiding was the only real way to gain character power past a certain point. People raided because they had no choice if they wanted to be stronger.

Why I don't raid anymore: Real life happened to me and my crew. I'm old and have health issues now. I can't handle the stress of high difficulty content as well as I used to. Friends had kids, moved away, acquired other priorities. I'm also quite fond of my freedom. I play when I want, I go afk when I want, I engage in whatever content I want at my whim. Being constrained by a schedule is anathema to me these days. Burnout is a big part of that. When games start escalating difficulty, they lose their defined "end" and that kills me. I don't want to clear Raid A and then have to "do it again but harder!", and then "do it yet again even harder!" only to be met with "I heard you liked higher difficulty in your raids so here's more difficulty with your difficulty!". To me it feels more obviously like a treadmill to keep me redoing the same crap over and over. Sure there's often higher end gear for more player power, but its just not worth putting up with. Other reasons include, competitiveness and just being sick of the ever more obvious treadmill as mentioned.

Like my initial comment about people who think their accomplishments lose all value the moment the masses can do it easier than they did, I find such a mindset toxic to a positive gaming experience. I engage in content, collect mounts/glamour/titles, and earn achievements because I want to, not to engage in a dick measuring contest. My self worth isn't predicated on comparing myself to others. Other little things like raider attrition, finding replacements, etc make high difficulty raiding a "not fun" experience for me. Being able to queue up when I WANT to, for something on the difficulty of Dun Scaith or my weekly Soul of the Creator, is the extent I'm willing to raid and no further. I'm not interested in beating my head against a wall for hours on end anymore. Those days are long behind me.

FFXIV is a breath of fresh air for many reasons. One of them being that the gear gap between raiders and non-raiders is so much smaller than in other games with raiding and that's a damned good thing IMO. It makes it so my player power isn't arbitrarily gated by content I don't want to engage in. I get to do the things I want to do and still become nearly as powerful as those who devote themselves to savage content. Sure I won't get the mounts/glamour/titles they do but that's ok, because I can still be about as strong in the content I do engage in. I don't raid, not because of a lack of incentive, I don't raid because I don't want to and I don't HAVE to in order to acquire player power. That's a big positive in FFXIV's favor as far as I'm concerned.