I see Midcore as being the stepping stone between Normal difficulty and Hard difficulty . It needs to be the testing ground for a player to decide if advancing into Hard content is right for them, and provide some challenge for those who want greater than Normal difficulty but may not be able to commit to a group for Hard difficulty progression.

Normal - should be MSQ dungeons and trials. That's content everyone is intended to be able to experience.

Midcore - normal raids/EX trials. Add some more bite to the normal raids. They are the best training ground for Savage since they share some of the same mechanics already. If worried about players being able to see the raid story, add solo duties where the raid bosses would be with tomestones for rewards but no gear. Players can choose if they want to go the solo route or the raid route. Alliance raids can always be the "normal" raid for everyone to experience.

Hard - Savage

Ultra-hard - Ultimate