The Big Ten

In just a few short days, 10-man raids will no longer be the place that "real raiders" get stuck before getting the gear to allow them into the "real raids." This is a huge boost for my guild - a purely 10-man guild who managed 3 timed chests in ZA before 3.0.2 after only about 2 months of raiding. By the end of next week, saying things like this won't get you looked down on by 25-man raiders.

I'm very excited to see how our little guild progresses. In the last month, we've jumped from 134th(ish) to 43rd ranked guild on our server according to WoWjutsu. To me, this change really allows people to show off their skill instead of just seeing who can gather up enough people to tromp around endgame. Homoginization of both gear and roles encourages the acquisition of skill over gear as well, and encourages more small runs in addition to the raids that currently happen.

I'd like to see this trend continue and have more questlines like the ones for the level 60 warlock and paladin mounts, and the druid swift flight form. Epic, single person quests that can rank you on your skill if they get progressively harder - like the racing quests on Netherwing Ledge. If the quests are restricted to a single player, even with some group parts, then you can't "fake" your way through by buying a group of people to carry you.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in WoW. I hate seeing people who have either eBayed their account and so have no idea how to play, or who have PvPed their way to ZOMG EPIXX0RZ and think that qualifies them to raid endgame. So implementing a system that combats this would be a dream come true.

At any rate, smaller groups put more dependence on the individual raider which in turn shows off skill more than larger groups. Hooray for expansions!