It appears that there's some new people who are worried about the word "raid". As stated in this thread, that terminology here in this game is not completely the same as the term used in the "classical MMO sense".

Alliance raids are not raids in the sense in that they're not ultra-difficult content that requires planning and flawless execution. For the most part, except for 1 boss fight in Orbonne Monastery, it is extremely difficult for 1 person to wipe the alliance and the existence of new players going in blind or players who aren't very good at the game is balanced out by the fact that there are 24 people here and your contribution or lack-thereof is negligible. Elements that are already present in the MSQ are much more difficult than alliance raids are. Chrysalis and Steps of Faith were both very difficult when they were first released and have since been nerfed or had ilvl increases make them trivial.

If your fun ends when having to play a dungeon with group mechanics with 23 other people, then MMOs might not be for you, and that's fine. In the end, this is an MMO and playing with other people is a part of the game. Also, this is still a video game and not a visual novel. It is expected that there are parts of the game that are going to be difficult that are tied to the story. All video games have difficult parts and while you shouldn't let the fact that others have an easier time of it discourage you, difficulty has always been a part of video games and you shouldn't except everything being handed to you on a silver platter just because it's tied to the story.

That all being said, SE has already realized the errors of its early days and Steps of Faith has been nerfed and the legitimate raids from Heavensward onward all have a "normal" mode that is much easier and more forgiving than the real raid. This allows people to see the story without being a "raider".

TL;DR: Alliance raids are not on the same level as savage raids so you shouldn't be scared of the word "raid".