To My Esteemed Raiding Colleagues

Dear Raiders Upset About The Coming Nerf,

How are you, dear friend. I am sorry we haven't been able to speak as often as we used to, or even write like we did once, but our schedules match up so rarely.

You, after all, have your three, four, five night raiding schedule, while I'm limited to my meager six hours and when I am not absorbed in a raid, my son and my wife, my other hobbies and the banality work take up so much of my time. Where does it all go, my friend? Why can we no longer just get together and ride across the breadth of Azeroth as we used to, lo so many years ago?

But I digress.


The purpose of this missive is not merely to catch-up, I confess. There is a weighty matter at hand to which I will attend presently. Let me be plain - I am disappointed in your reaction to the news of upcoming nerfs to the current raid content. If I may be plainer still, it smacks a bit of class-warfare, of the haves being angry about a privilege being passed on to the have-nots

Let us consider this through the prism of time. When the patch arrives, our present enemies, at least in their normal incarnation, will have been available to us for some seven-odd months.

Still, let us grant some smaller guilds a generous leveling and gearing period of two months (which is how long we took to get started).

And let us grant a lease for the scaling of difficulty from the enemies we faced prior to this recent Cataclysm (and let us not lie to ourselves as gentlemen and ladies - even casual guilds were one-shotting T9 every week from the point of launch, and clearing all of T10 as it was released except perhaps for the end-wing bosses and the King himself).

And let us grant, lastly, that some might have trouble with their roster due to the general lack of interest and malaise that has gripped even the staunchest and most secure of guilds (we lost 4 long-time core raiders and any number of intermediaries).

That might leave them, perhaps, only a handful of weeks or months to try and bring down 12 enemies, strong enemies boasting techniques and tactics more difficult and arcane than the ones we have been used to. It took time, to study them, to train forces, to retrain new recruits who stepped in to fill the gaps of fallen comrades and deserters, to acquire weapons and armor that could stand up to the onslaught, to teach every member of the unit to divine the enemies intentions, to sidestep his feints, to avoid his traps.

And still, some of us fight on, still some of us struggle, and still, some of us endeavor even to pass through the barrier held before us, against enemies that seem unassailable.

But what of you, my dear friend? You have had enough time, no, enough time and more, time in abundance to sweep all of our enemies from the slate, yes? You and your allies in a guild of great somberness dedicated to progressing our cause (as you care so much about the raid difficulty, I take it you are likely still engaged in a most serious raiding guild). You have been done with this content since - and let us be generous here - March? Early April?

You moved on a month to two months ago. Perhaps even longer.

What does it matter, then, that these enemies are being shorn down? Their heroic counterparts are left alone, they will be no different on Tuesday than on the Monday before the change. If you struggle against these still, you will not miraculously be able to overcome obstacles that have held you back. Your challenge will be no less than it is today.

Sindragosa still waits for us, as potent as ever, beneath the Bastion of Twilight.

So I ask again - how does this affect you in any way?

This change allows our friends - those with children, those with responsibilities, those unable to devote the time that you, or even I in my own meager way, have devoted - to face these enemies. It gives them the opportunity to see them fall, to rejoice in their own way, as you and I have. Let them reap the rewards we have - in weapons and arms, in the spoils of titles and yes, even the glorious Phoenix.

These things do nothing to diminish your achievements. Believe me in this, my friends.

I trust that there is nobility and perhaps even a spark of empathy within you and if on taking a step away from the prize you gained after an herculean effort, should you consider this, not with pride, but with empathy - I think you will agree.

Go, then, after the new enemy rearing his head to breathe fire on us - I will be at your back, at your heels, holding the rearguard even as you blaze a new path, and we will fend off this threat while our allies ensure the brutes put down months ago never regain their strength and assail us when our flanks are most exposed.

I do not wish to linger when my point, I think, is abundantly made. We prepare for war again, so let us secure what last armaments remain to be acquired and walk to Hyjal, leaving our old enemies behind.

We will meet again and soon, Ragnaros awaits in the Firelands.

Dutifully yours,
A Raider Completely Fine With The Coming Nerfs