Guild Wars 2

I’m a big fan of raiding in GW2, but i know a lot of people really dislike raids because they’re not interested or are finding it hard to play them. But I don’t want to start that discussion.
I often hear how raids are only being played by a small amount of the playerbase. So i’m wondering if anyone has any links to devtalk or has any statistics of what percentage of GW2 players play raids consistently?
Is it 25% of the active playerbase or is it more like 10% or even less? A lot of people in my environment play raids so I don’t really have a good perspective at it.
Any info would be much appreciated.

Nope all they said is that when it was released more % then other mmos population raided.
So could be anything bettwen 11-99% since i know for a fract i havent raided yet.
Wow stated a 10% of our pop raids way back so hence the 11 as minimum.

I dont think they want to give anything concrete either and Im curious how many will stop raiding when they got the carrot ( legendary insights needed for their armor )

As of ~11 August, GW2 efficiency had the following stats

• ~56% have [zero magnetite shards]
• ~18% have 1-50 shards;
• ~10% have 50-150 shards;
• ~16% have more than 150 shards;

The above suggests that a lot more people have tried raiding than many of us might have guessed.

However, it’s probably fair to say that the GW2/E numbers overstate participation by a “significant” fraction.

• Not that many people allow their API information to be publicly available via this site.
• GW2 efficiency can’t estimate how many people play the game across any dimension, including concurrency (those logged in at the same time), hours spent playing vs chatting etc, number of active sessions per player, etc.
• M-Shards might not be the best metric to measure participation,
  • One can acquire them without succeeding and then give up on raiding.
  • Many players will spend them as soon as they have ‘enough’ to get good stuff.
  • The better choice of accumulated Legendary Insights can’t be easily tracked, since it’s not a currency.

So my guess is that GW2/E’s numbers represent an upper bound:

• For sure, less than half of players have stepped foot in raids.
• Those who start raiding ‘mostly’ continue to raid.
• “Probably” more people have tried raiding in GW2 than have tried its equivalent in other games.

edit" modified the list of caveats, after reading Iris Ng’s post below reminding us that folks spend m-shards.

Linken.6345:

Wow stated a 10% of our pop raids way back so hence the 11 as minimum.

I thought I read that the “10%” number quoted includes the “easy mode” that people use to do some sort of gearing up and so grossly overstates WoW player participation. I’ll see if I can find a source for that (i.e. treat that as ‘rumor’ for now).

Besides that, we don’t know what ANet considers to be the participation rates in other games or how they are measuring it.

Either way, I wouldn’t presume that the correct stat is “11-99%” based on our best guess as to WoW’s participation rates.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

As of ~11 August, GW2 efficiency had the following stats

• ~56% have [zero magnetite shards]
• ~18% have 1-50 shards;
• ~10% have 50-150 shards;
• ~16% have more than 150 shards;

The above suggests that a lot more people have tried raiding than many of us might have guessed.

However, it’s probably fair to say that the GW2/E numbers overstate participation by a “significant” fraction.

• Not that many people allow their API information to be publicly available via this site.
• GW2 efficiency can’t estimate how many people play the game across any dimension, including concurrency (those logged in at the same time), hours spent playing vs chatting etc, number of active sessions per player, etc.
• M-Shards might not be the best metric to measure participation, since you can build up a fair number without succeeding and then give up on raiding. (Unfortunately, we can’t easily look at legendary insights.)

So my guess is that GW2/E’s numbers represent an upper bound:

• For sure, less than half of players have stepped foot in raids.
• Those who start raiding ‘mostly’ continue to raid.
• “Probably” more people have tried raiding in GW2 than have tried its equivalent in other games.

I’m in the camp of raiding every week but spend every last shards to gearing alts. Does Gw2E account for it? 220+ Insights but less than 200 shards now

Iris Ng.9845:

I’m in the camp of raiding every week but spend every last shards to gearing alts. Does Gw2E account for it? 220+ Insights but less than 200 shards now

Good point. No, the display doesn’t account for spending of m-shards. I think that’s why the poster chose the “low” cutoff of 160 — presumably frequent raiders would hoard some and even you, as a big spender, still have 200+.

I’ll add that to my list of caveats.

Iris Ng.9845:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

As of ~11 August, GW2 efficiency had the following stats

• ~56% have [zero magnetite shards]
• ~18% have 1-50 shards;
• ~10% have 50-150 shards;
• ~16% have more than 150 shards;

The above suggests that a lot more people have tried raiding than many of us might have guessed.

However, it’s probably fair to say that the GW2/E numbers overstate participation by a “significant” fraction.

• Not that many people allow their API information to be publicly available via this site.
• GW2 efficiency can’t estimate how many people play the game across any dimension, including concurrency (those logged in at the same time), hours spent playing vs chatting etc, number of active sessions per player, etc.
• M-Shards might not be the best metric to measure participation, since you can build up a fair number without succeeding and then give up on raiding. (Unfortunately, we can’t easily look at legendary insights.)

So my guess is that GW2/E’s numbers represent an upper bound:

• For sure, less than half of players have stepped foot in raids.
• Those who start raiding ‘mostly’ continue to raid.
• “Probably” more people have tried raiding in GW2 than have tried its equivalent in other games.

I’m in the camp of raiding every week but spend every last shards to gearing alts. Does Gw2E account for it? 220+ Insights but less than 200 shards now

200 shards? what a casual, I have nearly 500! :b ( don’t hate, I just want to give her crap!)

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run. I play GW2 because I love this game & it’s predecessor GW. I also hate that part of the awesome story line is locked behind the new raid & that the rest of us never get to see it unless we raid or watch it on youtube! I have a life & real world stuff so I play when I can, solo people should be able to do a scaled down version of the raid with the help of the story npc’s like we did in GW! Just my two cents! I still love the game but wish it were easier to raid without all the judgement. I play for fun & not competition! Peace!

Shadowulph.4586:

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run. I play GW2 because I love this game & it’s predecessor GW. I also hate that part of the awesome story line is locked behind the new raid & that the rest of us never get to see it unless we raid or watch it on youtube! I have a life & real world stuff so I play when I can, solo people should be able to do a scaled down version of the raid with the help of the story npc’s like we did in GW! Just my two cents! I still love the game but wish it were easier to raid without all the judgement. I play for fun & not competition! Peace!

Well one of the first things u need TO know for a raid is your class/gear u need to run so if u dont have that than your a step behind

Shadowulph.4586:

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run.

That’s kind of the point. Raids are supposed to be a test of skill. If you don’t have the skill… or the knowledge… or the gear to compensate the lack of both… then you may be the direct cause of your team wiping before you even get to the very mechanics you are trying to learn.

There are plenty of guides out there and videos of each encounter. Read up and watch, educate yourself on the encounters so you know what to do when you try to practice. Gear up and learn the core game first then you’ll find that you’ll have a better time with raids.

Learn to walk before trying to run.

I agree with the philosophy that you should watch videos and learn bosses well before ever stepping foot in the arena. First-hand practice is far more valuable than guides, but I learned all bosses strictly by studying and then trial by fire, and in all cases succeeded in those first runs.

As for how many people raid, it’s hard to say. IWN’s metrics from GW2Efficiency are pretty compelling, and the conclusions are well determined. I’ve always felt that the raiding community is a healthy size throughout the week, but overall well less than 10% of the population. Only ANet knows for sure, but that’s just my gut instinct.

Shadowulph.4586:

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run.

As mentioned above, those are kinda the things necessary to complete a raid. Without having your class geared properly or being able to dodge, you can’t ever hope to beat a raid boss (unless you want to leech a group of much better players, which you can’t expect people to be okay with).
I’d say your best bet is to start with fractals. They offer a smooth learning curve and are the best place to learn your class. First few levels are easy, but you will eventually get to a level of difficulty that is not far from raids. You will also collect ascended equipment along the way, which is a welcome bonus (some raid parties will require it).
After you feel comfortable clearing T4 fractals and can perform your rotations blindfolded, you are ready to become a useful and contributing raid squad member.

Shadowulph.4586:

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run.

I saw a lot of these posts going around and offered to help anybody who wanted to learn raids, no matter the level of experience. There was very little interest from people who actually wanted to learn. While I still do it, it’s more with one of the three training guilds that I assist with now.

There are people out there willing to help newcomers. Most of us who are up for this also expect the person who’s coming for help to put some work in and take the time to learn it though so we don’t feel like we’re wasting our time with some people.

Shadowulph.4586:

I would raid if the community did not judge your gear & skill level, for those of us who have never raided we need to learn. I have tried for months to get into a raid but get kicked out if I don’t have the right gear or know the run. I play GW2 because I love this game & it’s predecessor GW. I also hate that part of the awesome story line is locked behind the new raid & that the rest of us never get to see it unless we raid or watch it on youtube! I have a life & real world stuff so I play when I can, solo people should be able to do a scaled down version of the raid with the help of the story npc’s like we did in GW! Just my two cents! I still love the game but wish it were easier to raid without all the judgement. I play for fun & not competition! Peace!

As an add on to that, most training guilds won’t let you in if you are not even going to put in the effort to gear properly. My last training guild took a team of 8 raid virgins and we got them 6/6 cleared (before wing 3 release) in 4 weeks.

Think of it this way, if you are not even willing to acquire the required gear to raid, what do you think the trainers will think of you? They will obviously think that you are unmotivated and are just in it to get a free ride without putting the effort in. Putting the effort to get the right gear will at least show that you are serious and prove to the trainers that you are not wasting their time.

If you really want to know how many people raid seriously, probably the easiest tell is look up how many people that has more than 50 insights. I think 50 is a good amount to filter because I don’t think the credit card warriors are willing to buy 50 raid kills.

I’ve tried Raids for the first month and a half of Raid. However I ran into a problem most more then likely have. When ANet decided to make this game like most other MMOs a attention to detail tasks, when %95 of the game is purely casual stack and burn. I started to figure out that many of the players was just not ready for the raids and couldn’t focus on the tasks needed for them.

The guilds that could was mostly closed gated communities that required harsh requirements which I didn’t meet. So in conclusion I stopped trying to Raid in GW2, and did harder competitive PvE content in the other MMOs I was playing at the time. The community in those games where hardened gaming vets, so the experience even tho challenging, didn’t feel like I was trying to put together a super car with a human with some huge disabilities or ADD.