I really wouldn't call Alliance Raids...well, raids. I mean, they are in the strictest meaning of the word, but there is no difficulty in them at all and the longest one lasts maybe 30 minutes. I welcome it because the raids have had pretty great storylines so far(except Copied Factory, but that one isn't finished...but I enjoyed the first step of all of the other series, so I don't have much hope for the rest in this line) and the more people that experience the story, the better. Gives the writers more stuff to work with down the line, as well. Though, I don't really see how they can get the yorha stuff to be relevant later on after we finish up on the First.