I don't know why I'm responding to this guy's bait thread, but...

I haven't stepped into the raid myself yet - so I'm not going to make any comments on its actual mechanics or their difficulty. In terms of design/presentation, though - it's a 24-man trial, just call it that... Alliance Raid implies things like adds (which can be done in an interesting way, look at Criterion, or even BA) and actual physical progression through zones, not "you zone in already on the platform in front of the only boss". OFC, the actual 8-man raids in the game used to be designed like ARs, too, but that's a whole different topic of discussion...

The only thing I really want to comment on, is people saying "I hoped this would be like/we'd get stuff around BA/DRS difficulty level" (which I agree with!), and getting replies like "well just wait until the new foray in 7.2".
Why does that particular level of content difficulty have to be restricted to forays?
It's totally fair for people to say "hey, this kind of content (BA/DRN/DRS) is fun - can we get more stuff like this without it being tied to a foray zone/progression?". Yes, we all know the foray is coming - but people want stuff to do without waiting over half a year out from the expansion release. Chaotic was a great opportunity to give something like that, but instead it ended being another Criterion. I'm not going to pout about it after the fact because they did warn us several times in advance "teehee we overtuned it", and it is what it is, but it definitely feels like another missed opportunity.