To the OP:

Very good post indeed kinda sums up my feeling but I on the other hand schedule my life around the game, but I know exactly how you feel, If I wasnt raiding I would most likely quit the game, but to fully enjoyy the PVE content and the thrill of the end game boss killing you do need to reschedule your life to fit whatever your guild is doing needs, and thats a shame really I like what your saying where you can progress at any point and not at a certain schedule and I agree and wish they did that, but that would most likely mean a total overhaul of the raiding system and I doubt thats gonna happen before blizz releases their next mmo "maybe", their quick fix was to dumb down content and introduce 10 man as an option to the people that dont want to commit to tight schedules which i think was a bad move.

The major flaw in the raiding system were always the numbers pre-TBC not everyone could get 40 people willing to raid for 4-5 days a week and you had a big chance of missing people at raid time which was a major problem. 25 sort of fixed it you saw alot more guilds rising up as raiding guilds raids were alot less forgiving than 40 man but its easier to control 25 people than 40. I think ultimately 10 man only would be a good number of people to beat down encounters, make encounters harder around 10 people, alot less tank and spank and more positioning , DPS, and interactivity and then you can be alot more flexible on schedules. If i look at my guild right now 90% of the time I login and I could create a 10 man group for progression.

Originally posted by metalhead980

I can't have a awesome powerful character unless I adjust my real life around a raid schedule.

That's it, thats the major reason I can't play this game.

kinda messed up huh? my character has to be pwnage. that's just the way I like to play.

 

Edit:  Since people seem to think I'm trying to say i want to be Uber with a casual play schedule I am editting my post.   I played WoW a crazy amount of hours a week It was the raid schedules that got to me not the amount of playing.

I dont want freebie epics for playing five hours a week, I want to get the best shit and not have to follow a schedule like the games a job.

A grown man looks like a freaking tool telling his wife he can't goto a show since he needs to raid at 7:30pm.

IN games like Eve I can log on at anytime during a 24 hour day and take advantage of all content.

In WoW the game was 100% about the epics (high tier epics not welfare) How could I get these epics if i didnt want to run a schedule? I cant. Even if I played 20 hours a day I couldnt unless I followed some dudes 3-5 day a week schedule.

Its the schedules not being able to play X amount of hours. I hope this clears things up.

I was somewhat having the same problem man, but it was because I was on a Pacific Server and I live on the East Coast.  So I did a lot of research and a lot on posting on the forums and found a guild that fit my timezone and raiding schedule...once again, MY raiding schedule.  So it's definitely possible, you just have to put in a little effort.  Good luck.

I know its hard for certain WoW players to understand.

For me Raiding is the only thing in WoW that I enjoy (and leveling i have 7 70's ).

I level my toons up gear them up in 5 mans, get my rep then start my raiding progression.

I don't like to pvp, WoW is just a better Pve game imo.

I consider 5 mans, heroics and 10 mans all progression that leads to 25 mans.

If I can't follow a schedule then I can't raid 25 mans (i probably could Pug but progress is really slow)

So if I can't do 25 mans why bother doing dungeons, heroics and ten mans? whats the point?

Some people are telling me to find a guild that caters to my schedule, well in what three years of playing I never found a guild that raids the bleeding edge content like i've experienced by just casually pugging its Raid team.

I don't hate WoW, I just hate schedules in games and in WoW if you can't run them you cant have the highest Item level gear. Sure I can get a few nice pieces out of heroics but that's not how I want to play.

Anyway thanks for reading, A few of you guys understand what im saying. laters

Edit: Oh just to make you WoW guys feel better I had a similar experience happen to me in Eve last week.

I created a industrial Hauler character as an alt and joined a Corp. these guys wanted me to follow a mining/hauling schedule, guess how long I lasted in that corp/guild? you could count the hours on one hand LOL!

I could totally Love a game, Once im following a schedule the game loses all appeal and I become frustrated and quit.

Originally posted by templarga

So many people think WOW should be played this way or that way and pigeon-hole themselves into thinking that way, that sometimes a change of perspective helps. Just my thoughts.

Exactly.  I've been 'raid free' for almost two years now and couldn't be happier frankly.  Between the amount of traveling I do and family I don't have the time, nor the will really, to consistently raid.  Thankfully I'm in a guild that supports multiple play styles.

Lately I've been into city raiding again; folks really want those badges.  Once that gets old I'll probably move to either solo-raiding cities on my druid, hunting rare beasts, and BGs.

If WoW didn't support MY play style I simply wouldn't play it. 

Originally posted by IcoGames

Originally posted by templarga

So many people think WOW should be played this way or that way and pigeon-hole themselves into thinking that way, that sometimes a change of perspective helps. Just my thoughts.

 

If WoW didn't support MY play style I simply wouldn't play it. 

 

Truer words have never before been said. So many people want WOW to dictate how they play, that they forget they are in control and can play the game HOW they want too. Once people realize this, the game becomes fun again because you play it how you want.

this is the dumbest thing ever.

You want the best gear in the game, but you cant stand being on a schedule to Raid?

There is one major reason for setting a schedule or raid time.

It gives a time for guildies to show up, so enough people are online at the same time.

And if you dont plan these events you end up with multiple saved instances and many other problems like the right people not showing up, or you'll probably end up pugging half the group. And what happens when all your tanks are saved to some PUGs raid cause you dont have your shit organised.

Originally posted by metalhead980

I can't have a awesome powerful character unless I adjust my real life around a raid schedule.

That's it, thats the major reason I can't play this game.

kinda messed up huh? my character has to be pwnage. that's just the way I like to play.

 

Edit:  Since people seem to think I'm trying to say i want to be Uber with a casual play schedule I am editting my post.   I played WoW a crazy amount of hours a week It was the raid schedules that got to me not the amount of playing.

I dont want freebie epics for playing five hours a week, I want to get the best shit and not have to follow a schedule like the games a job.

A grown man looks like a freaking tool telling his wife he can't goto a show since he needs to raid at 7:30pm.

IN games like Eve I can log on at anytime during a 24 hour day and take advantage of all content.

In WoW the game was 100% about the epics (high tier epics not welfare) How could I get these epics if i didnt want to run a schedule? I cant. Even if I played 20 hours a day I couldnt unless I followed some dudes 3-5 day a week schedule.

Its the schedules not being able to play X amount of hours. I hope this clears things up.

Trust me, I feel you on this one. I have a more then full time job and a 19 m/o. This leaves me with minimal time to play; however, when I do play, I really enjoy the hell out of it. Even though you may not have some badass all purple character, you can still have a good time. Your thinking that all other players in WoW have fully decked out guys... this just isn't the case. Just like anything else in life, there are the overachievers, the shitty and the average. Your average WoW player has decent gear, but it's gear that is for the most part easily attainable. Now… you will run in to the overachievers with the transformer suits on, but I've found that they're not the norm. I quit playing for over a year, and just came back about a month ago, and I'm having a blast. Just don't get hung up on the fact that you won't have the baddess ass mofo on the server and you'll be fine. Other then that, try to join a good Guild who can throw you into the mix every now and then for some gear, and you’ll be golden.

Ive been in the same boat for 2 years + . I used to hardcore raid PRE BC and i was one of the top priest on my server but then i got a night job and couldnt raid anymore so i just play very casual now . Anyway you dont have to be hardcore these days to have good gear . i started a feral druid like 6-7 month before worltk and got him to do some hyjal/BT raiding in about 2 month but then quit due to lack of sleep lol .

Anyway to me the UBER part is mostly for pvp so i make twink and go play them from time to time .

It's like any other hobby, really -- there shouldn't be anything that makes you a "tool" for scheduling time for your hobby.  The problem arises if you are raiding 5 nights a week -- but that's not as much a scheduling issue as it is a life balance issue.

That's my main problem with raiding.  I have no issues scheduling 2 or even 3 nights a week as raid nights -- it's a hobby, and can be scheduled like going to the gym or going bowling or what have you.  But I don't want to do it more than that.  And that's the problem.  The real "progression" guilds in games like WoW (and other games are similar as well) do not raid 3 days a week, they do it 5+ days per week, because they are driven to progress.  I don't have the time for that.  So while I have found some guilds who are supportive of slower raiding schedules -- that is a few days a week typ of thing -- what I have found is that you make little progress, not so much because you can't progress on 3 days a week, but that the really driven people you need to organize things and so forth are not satisfied with 3 days a week and move to a 5+ day a week "progression" guild.

imo, the OP would be better served by a 'skilled' base game instead of a 'time' based game. For example, some multi-player FPS type game.... where how good you are is how skilled you are; which is indirectly a function of how much you play ... sure. But it's not bound so directly to time as an MMO is.

MMOs require essentially zero skill, (compared with other real-time battle or strategy games). They are time-sinks. Whoever spends the most time in game wins. And WoW adds even more on top of that by making those time investments in 2+ hour blocks, (which is the OP's primary complaint... as well as mine)

I agree with the OP 100%.  This game has enjoyable raid content, but they expect comitments 3-5 times a week which I can't give.  Thats why last game I was driven to become a pvp fiend.  Of course now that isn't really an option because I'm a warlock T_T