The Evolution of Raiding 4

I can personally attest to being in both camps during my WoW career. For most of The Burning Crusade and the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, I was in a middle of the road guild that cleared most of the encounters in the game at an average or below average pace. I had no complaints in TBC, but when WoTLK came out and we started raiding, we had lost a few key members, and our 25 man raiding team proved to be subpar. I am personally glad for the 10 man 25 man model that Blizzard employs now, because while our 10 man group, which was made up of some of the better players in the guild, blew through content, our 25 man group was sorely lacking. Sadly, even with the super easy raids, our 25 man group never even managed to kill Kel'Thuzad before our main tank/raid leader quit either out of frustration or burnout. After a while, I jumped the sinking ship that was my guild to one of the best guilds on the server. The difference was like night and day. We blew through Naxxramas without trouble, Malygos was only a slight bother, and the only true challenge came in the form of Sartharion with the 3 drakes in tow. But he too, eventually fell to our blades and spells, and we also got server fifth for the Twilight Zone achievement.
After experiencing what it was like to raid in a guild that was more than decent, I could definitely sympathize with the more hardcore guilds. However, I also can't forget the guild that I was with for a large part of my raiding career. As hard of a time as we had Naxxramas, I doubt that we were the only guild in the world who found it to be a bit of a challenge. It is was a wise move on Blizzard's part to account for those who find their raiding content more than a bit challenging, while keeping the option for a bit more challenging experience available for those who want it. In the ever changing landscape that is World of Warcraft raiding, our next foe will be the Lich King himself, the most recognizable figure in the Warcraft franchise. With such a prominent figure being the next one to go down, Blizzard has to promise both an epic and accessible experience. Perhaps they will finally find a raiding format in patch 3.3 that will make everyone happy and that they can stick with for the rest of the game's life. Only time, or maybe the Public Test Realm, will tell.