LFRs: Soloing VS Group

This may seem silly to some, but I have been asked before on my thoughts for LFR and its worth.

Well, ya its gear.  I mean, if you don't hardcore raids, the only way you'll see ANY content is via LFR.  Thanks to LFR, I got to see current content in Cata that I wouldn't of seen because I wasn't raiding.  Thanks to it, I got to see Siege in MoP because I wasn't seriously raiding it.  And now I get to see and learn the fights of Hellfire before I lead my team through it. 

And in most cases:  The gear is worth it!  Sadly, Tanann killed the need for doing the Hellfire raids at all if your willing to farm crystals. 

That being said, I want to point out that this post is for those with either enough free time to grind AND do LFRs for gold each week.  Or for those who just enjoy seeing the raids-even if it isn't completely up to snuff (I wouldn't call it easy either..  You've got a chance of wiping as much due to inexperience or trolls!).


MOVING ON!  :D


Lets start with SOLOING:

• No pressure.  Ever noticed when your with friends how you feel a need to try harder?  It may not be that you WANT to be the best dps/healer/tank..  Just more of you don't want to look like crap in front of them!  That's abit of stress there!
• No timing or waiting.  If you raid serious, you get this better then most.  You cant start without this person, you have to wait on AFKs, and you cant be the dick who says "Baby can cry.  Were not wiping."  When ya run solo in LFR, its on your time.  Requeue back to back or take a 30 minute break!
• Focused on your task.  Ya know, friends are great...  But casual players do tend to be less focused during fights.  Because of that, they joke and try to hold a conversation during a mechanic filled boss like Rag.  So, their dps/healing is crap and they are probably dragging you down too.  Sadly, hardcore raiders are JUST as bad.  Yes, you heard me!  If their not bragging about how "easy" it was, or how everyones a "noob" then their spending the whole fight saying whats being done wrong.  In all cases, reading while fighting is distracting.  But listening to a rant over vent is a pain in a fight.  And when its someone you know, switching off the active chat for the fight might get you a extra special bitching later.
• No obligation to stay in a bad group.  When ya run with others, they may not want to drop and sit for thirty minutes waiting to just to start a new queue.  This means the no way in hell groups turn into your pet project.  That 15 minute raid is now a 4 hour one..  Well, what can ya do?  This person is your friend and will hate your guts if you ditch them..  As with all things group:  its not all about you. 

Okay, now that I've pretty much shared the down sides to group, AKA the reasons you'll rather solo...  Let me share the reasons for GROUPING:

• Added gold!  Oh ya, in Warlords LFRs with friends gives you "Stacking the Deck" which means an extra 40-400 gold per completed queue.  That means your getting a average of 275 a run.  Now that's some nice change!
• Chance at faster queues!  As a dps, your que is long, aint it?  Well that tank/healer that hates running along can cut that time drastically!
• Less likely to be put in a "Half-Done" group.  Ya know when ya need EVERY boss?  Well that's when WoW puts you in a group at the second or last boss.  Well, I can say from experience:  When with others, you rarely get put in started groups.  Unless they majorly fucked and lost 90% of the raid.  But you get the point?
• Less likely to be kicked.  Ugh.. I know trolls use this to their advantage..  But if you have a friend or two hitting "Decline" to that vote to kick, you'll be able to stay in group.  That means (assuming your not a troll, in which case ya can go have fun time with a jagged bottle.. ;3 ) that your probably either the person trying to explain how the fight is suppose to be, or you dc'd for 5 seconds and their impatient, or the VERY common: your pulling less then that WAY over geared tank who is in the top 5..  I've seen the 3 happen and sadly, have had then be put on me due to gear or honest to god lag.  But, since I tend to queue with friends to give them faster queues, they stick by me and decline the votes off the bat and tell them where to shove it (atleast while im dc'd... ).  Nothing sucks more then being on the last boss and being thrown out because someones being a ass or because your power flickered.

Well that's my list.  Yall got anything to add?

A special thanks to the person who requested the post, and to my guildies Don and Josh who helped me brain storm the reasons!

Happy Hunting!
Elve