One man army and twenty four others

I love the Raid Finder. I love it a lot.

Why? Simply because… I love free epics. I enjoy being with 24 people that I don’t know, one shotting raid bosses and getting loot. The raid finder is like the friday night T11 alt run that my old guild used to do. You can make a drinking game of it and still win. (ie: you drink everytime someone does something stupid, or dies, or aggroes random stuff. Trust me, you drink a lot.)

I do miss being with people that I know, sometimes. I miss the friendly atmosphere. Most pugs hate your guts, just for being a random stranger. And I get it. I don't particularly like most random strangers, too.

I love doing my thing on my own. But raiding has always been a social activity. You usually have to use Vent or the equivalent, and sometimes people are funny, or plain stupid, and then I mute vent… but that’s besides the point.

In the Raid Finder, you can listen to music and not even pay attention to chat and still win, if you have even just the faintest idea of what you’re doing. Even on spine, if you know what to attack and when, you can pretty much wing it. Most of the time, I like that. It’s like a one person raid. The other 24 people could be NPC’s for all I care. NPCs that steal my loot, mind you.

Sure it can be painful at times. Some groups can't figure out what to do, or just don't care, and we end up wiping to Spine or Madness. I can't tell you how many times I've had the urge to strangle strangers through their monitor. I often fantasize about being able to physically inflict pain on pugs douchebags.

But sometimes, you're lucky, and the pugs will be quiet, or even won't say a word at all, they won't die stupidly and you will kill the bosses in a relatively smooth manner. Just sometimes, things die fast, and you don't have time to actually feel the pain that is pugging. Some people love pugs that talk and are friendly. Me, I prefer the silent ones. It makes it so much easier for me to pretend they aren't people. Now, that doesn't mean I'm a jerk and roll on stuff I don't need or make their lives miserable by standing in bad and hitting the mob the tank had no aggro on. No. I'm considerate towards those "not real people." But I don't feel like I have to be especially nice or friendly to them. It's not that I don't like people. It's just that sometimes, I just don't feel like being social.

I haven't raided in months, other than the Raid Finder, and I like it that way. I got tired of the commitment that is raiding. I find that I don't always feel like raiding three hours a night, three nights a week. I enjoy being able to raid whenever I feel like it. Maybe that will change in MoP. I'll probably try and find a raiding guild at some point. But for now, I'm just enjoying being on my own.