One thing I like to do in World of Warcraft is watch the social progression of the people around, and the guilds I’m in, and the friends I’ve played with for anywhere from 1 months to 4 years.
One of the things I’ve seen coming together in the last 4-6 months is the primary reason why I hunted out a new progressed raiding guild to join:
The Easier The Leveling Game Gets…
… the more chaos reigns in all PUG groups - from leveling PUGs to Heroics to Raiding.
So many players are zipping through to 70 on their first or second characters and then jumping into raiding with the overgeared ones who have been raiding Burning Crusade content for a year+, that if you don’t luck into a cohesive group, it’s likely you’re going to end up see incredible chaos even if the group is untimately sucessful in taking down the bosses they’re fighting against.
A guildmate put it succinctly when he described a Gruul’s Lair PUG the night before that three of our raiding guildies had gotten into:
“Gruul’s Lair PUG last night - first shatter, 13 people die.”
Another guildmate asks “did you still get him down?”
The answer?
“Yep.”
Gear Up! Get A Head Start!
So, while there’s some chaos, there’s also loot dropping and being disenchanted in every raid instance in the game (minus Sunwell, I think :) ), and there’s a billion raids going on.
If you’re level 70 and not a tank, it’s likely that you can get into a Karazhan raid that will literally shower you with purple gear.
Then you can get yourself into Zul’Aman and get another gear-shower.
The SSC and TK raids might be a bit harder to get into but again, there’s enough clearing run-through PUGs that one could still get a few items, even though competition will be stiffer with 24 others in the raid.
Get Ready For The Harder Slog To Raiding In WoTLK
Right now, however, I think a lot of players are getting some great gear really quickly, but they’re also getting a poor understanding of how the raiding game works, and when the expansion pack comes out, they’re going to be top of the list of people who have troubles.
They’ve had a taste of raiding, and many of them are going to be eager to get back into it, but many will find the task of getting into raiding guilds or into the raids themselves troublesome.
Why troublesome? Well, mainly because many raiding guilds that make any type of progression in the new raiding world at level 80 will expect their members to do a lot of their gearing up themselves - gearing up for Heroics will be the first big barrier many face, since many new raiders have been able to skip that step and go straight into Karazhan for the purple shower.
Then, there’ll be the other fine-tuned things that the raiders will have to do more than they do now (while many people are overgeared)… things like consumables and gear enhancements… gems, enchants, and the likes that are in heavy demand but low supply. I’m quite sure the new raider from the last 4-6 months won’t be able to afford these things like they can now, when the market is flooded and prices are low for many things.
How To Avoid Having Troubles Getting Back Into Raiding
So, if you’re new to raiding and it’s been a fun, invigorating and easy ride from hitting level 70 to getting a mitful of Epics and becoming infinitely more powerful very quickly, and you want to keep it going, what can you do to avoid these troubles?
First, learn how to earn gold. If you haven’t already found a profitable niche on the Auction House which requires minimal time and effort to obtain, I strongly suggest you figure one out over the next while, and continue to learn how to earn gold. Important gear bits and upgrades and enchants and gems are going to cost a LOT for those getting into Heroics and Raiding again at 80.
Second, find a solid friendship group of people who think the way you do, and play when you do, and plan to level as quickly or as slowly as you plan to when the xpac hits. Even having one or two friends in your dungeon PUGs or quest groups can make things go a lot smoother if you pick up a few of the more reckless players who are used to overgeared players making up for them.
Don’t be afraid of the LFG tool for getting your dungeon groups, but know - the fun, fast ride of end game purple gear is about to come to an end, and we’ll all have to work hard to get back to a world of overgeared raiders making life easier for new toons coming up (whether alts or mains).
Are you ready for the ride? It’s bound to be bumpy for some, and exhilerating for others!
