There is an interesting discussion that seems to be building momentum (I caught wind of it in Saresa’s post entitled In Response To Vonya: 10s VS 25s!, which is a response to the post 10 vs 25 : Ego Rattles Some Cages by The Egotistical Priest) regarding the way the “heroic” and “regular” raids are perceived by people.

Difficulty?

Personally, I know I can slack off in a 25-man raid without there being any negative effect on the run as a whole. There is a certain comfort level associated with knowing there are backups available, and that as long as enough people stay alive things will be fine. In a 10-man I have to bring my best game with me, because I’m personally carrying much more weight than in the corresponding 25-man version. Does this make the content any more or less difficult? No. All it means is that the abilities of those involved impact the raid much more directly than they would in the “heroic” version

Management?

This seems to be the point that many seem to make, but even this I have to disagree with. Is coordinating 25 people more difficult than 10? No, not really. It seems more daunting, but let’s be honest: if you run with 10 people or 25 it doesn’t matter, a PUG is a PUG and running with guildies is running with guildies. Either you have a group that stays on task and keeps focus or you don’t, period. There is no difference at all between the two here, because the same issues will arise in both depending on group composition.

Viability?

The thought from some is that the variation in the two, and hence the greater reward in the 25-mans, is in order to facilitate their survival. While I can agree with the premise of the argument, let’s look at it slightly differently: if Blizzard has to do something to ensure that 25-man raids continue, then are 25-man raids worth keeping?

Let’s be completely clear, I prefer the dynamic of 10-man raids because I have to be better in those than I do in the 25-man versions. To me that means I have to bring more to the table, and as a result have to be a better player. If I’m stupid and die because I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings there aren’t two or three other healers available to pick up the slack. Just like in 5-mans, it is much more noticeable when someone is not pulling their weight.

I also, however, enjoy having 24 other people working with me to beat an encounter. It isn’t about a difference in difficulty, or a difference in loot, it’s about camaraderie and teamwork. It’s about that screenshot at the end, where 25 people show that they pulled together to get the job done.

Conclusion

5s, 10s, 25s… they all present their own sets of challenges. Raids are designed (supposedly) to be more difficult than dungeons, but any raid is no more or less difficult than it’s larger or smaller counterpart. The people make the difference in both. If you think I’m a worse player because of my choice in raids you really should turn off your computer and go outside. Look at the world, look at the choices people make day to day. Is one person better than another because they choose to do a particular job in a larger organization than another? Because they choose to live in a larger city than another? Because they live in a larger house than another?