Why Should We Raid?

I saw this on the WoW forums today:

Q u o t e:
thought you people learned by now. And you would think that having to progress and gear up as you progress like the rest of us did all those months with those horrible zones (besides Ulduar ) would actually matter for something.

So tell us again why should we raid?

It came out of one of those discussions that goes something on the order of, "gearing up is too easy now, and they're going to hand everyone T9 when 3.3 comes out."

I think this highlights one of the constant conflicts of vision between a certain type of player and the Devs that's come from the (relatively) recent shift in design which has been branded as "catering to the casuals." As Blizzard views it, which is the point of view I agree with, World of Warcraft is a game. It is supposed to be fun, something you enjoy. And they're trying to make it easier for everyone to enjoy it together. Just hit 80, all your friends are working on TotC? It's ok! You can go run heroics for conquest badges and even some triumph badges so you can get caught up and raid with your friends! Prefer PvP? Well, you can use those conquest and triumph badges to buy last season's arena gear, so you don't have to spend months being destroyed by everyone around you in order to get enough gear to actually survive more than five seconds at a time! I switched to my paladin, who was freshly 80 in blues and quest greens, during 3.1, and I would have killed to even be able to get valor badges from heroics. Instead, I had to go back and run naxx again in order to start pulling my weight in Ulduar.

But that certain type of player, they don't see it this way. Warcraft isn't a game, it's srs bsns. For them, progression, and the gear that comes with it, is a measure of their self-worth. "Look upon my full set of tier 9, and see how it indicates my greatness! Also, it shows that I am well endowed, because no one with a small penis could ever accumulate this much epic gear! All you noobs must go through the same harrowing progression I did in order to try to prove that your penis is this big, but by the time you would accomplish this, I will have a full set of tier 10, proving that mine is even bigger than yours!"

And then, in accordance with their stance on this, Blizzard will make all dungeons below icecrown drop emblems of triumph, allowing those among us who recently hit 80, or are slightly behind in progression, to reach a certain level of gear with relative ease, so that we can all join in for the final assault on icecrown. Because that's their goal, to make the raid content accessable, to give newly dinged 80s a chance to experience the battle with Arthas before the next expansion comes and pushes us to new frontiers. But to those players whose self-worth is all wrapped up in their epic gear, this is intolerable. They're letting anyone have gear as awesome as theirs, and then no one will look at their gear and think they have a big penis. So, they ask the question that originally sparked this: if raiding won't prove to people that I'm awesome and have a huge penis, why should I raid?

Well, you should raid because it's fun, because it's something you enjoy. And honestly, if your self-esteem has become this wrapped up in a game, you really need to find something else going for you. And while I'm not going to deny that getting upgrades and having uber gear is part of the fun, you really should raid because you enjoy raiding. And if you really need people to think your penis is big, go do something more traditional like buy a sports car and let the rest of us enjoy our game in peace.