The State of the LBR

There’s the screenshot from Saturday’s Laid Back Raid.  We’re chilling on Nefarion’s throne in Blackwing Lair, capping off a night that also included Magtheridon’s Lair and Gruul’s.  Helke’s Troll Rogue is next to Saintvache (if I recall correctly) and managed to get both Tier pieces from the two Outland raids.  There was some good items picked up all around on the night.

Alas, these weren’t the planned raids.  When things kicked off, we had a mere three people on a night where Ruby Sanctum and Onyxia were scheduled and 85 was the highest.  So, we made the most of it and picked up a few more folks along the way (including Mrs. Amateur’s 75 DK).  It was nice to have Euphyley and Tyledres along!  Healblade was on his Hunter and was excited to learn he could tame Chromaggus…unfortunately it’s not something he came in to do, so we ended up giving him the Old Yeller treatment.  The dog.  Not Healblade’s Hunter.

But here’s the thing.  This isn’t something new.  The numbers have dropped off significantly in the past month, and admittedly that makes it harder to schedule.  I’m hoping that with Cataclysm raids scheduled for the next two weeks and switching back to Sundays for the rest of the month things turn out better.

This isn’t a gripe by any stretch.  It’s just an observation more than anything.  The lack of attendance means Blizzard has done well with Mists of Pandaria through the first two months of its release.  It means people have things they want to do more than visit the old content for proverbial shits and giggles anymore.  Like I said, good for Blizzard because they needed to do well with this expansion and thus far they have.

With a decent release I expected turnout to go down somewhat (despite what some assured me at the time), but I just don’t think to the degree it has.  As I say, it’s not a complaint or a means to make anyone feel guilty because they certainly shouldn’t.  LBR has always been a drop-in kind of event.  But most certainly the next two weeks (as one is Alliance and one is Horde) will be a testament to what I schedule in the future.  If we get decent crowds, then I’ll add in some of the newer stuff much more often.  If the numbers aren’t good, then I simply can’t plan raids for groups that just aren’t big enough or strong enough to take them on.  It’s more fun to schedule light under those circumstances and add in more content spur of the moment.