Lonewolf is not a Raiding Guild - it's an Adventuring Guild.

Maybe one day Lonewolf will be big enough to organise raids: but the Guild's ethos is such that any such raids will probably include players from other Guilds. So from that point of view it's true to say that Lonewolf will never be a Raiding Guild :D

Most of the raids I (Seefar) have been to have involved a vast quantity of 'Hurry Up and Wait Forever' - not a lot of fun. The waiting around is understandable: I know from experience that it's hard work getting a single group to work together, let alone up to two dozen people, and I do have IMMENSE respect for anyone who accepts the role of raid leader.

It appears to me that most 'raiders' are in it for the loot. Many of the more vocal ones certainly are, anyway. Which means that there is a lot of talk about strategies, and a LOT of arguing about loot distribution. It requires a focus on analysis of all of the numbers in the game; parsing combat logs to see exactly how many damage points a 'mob' deals, and of what type. There's a lot of repetitive beating up on the same monsters over and over again - and a lot of deaths in the process (which explains, to me at least, why death has become so cheap in EverquestII).

Because the focus is on loot it involves 'hunting names' - if there's a named mob in the way that looks too big, the possibility of finding a way past to see what's beyond rarely even enters the average raider's mind. Most seasoned raiders have been there before many times anyway - they already know what's around the next corner, and (if they're honest) they don't really have time for those for whom the zone may be new. The reason they're here is to beat the beast. If a couple of strats are tried and fail, that's the end of the 'adventure'. Game over? No, rush on to the next raid zone...

It's very much like going around and around in circles killing the same old giants. It reminds me of the very early days in EverquestII, where most were loitering around in the scarecrow fields while I was off exploring. Unfortunately it seems that some (many? all?) Raid Zones are designed with the 'raiding' playstyle in mind - presumably they're designed by raiders - which means that the adventurer playstyle doesn't really belong there :(

Different strokes for different folks. If you are interested in Raiding, check out:

Submitted By: Seefar