
So you want to get into raiding, try out a couple "hard" end game instances, gather a team of fellow adventures together that you can proudly call them "MY TEAM"?
Welcome to the vent tent and family room of first time raiding experiences.
Long story short, I enjoy RP in this game, and I almost spend more than half of my time RPing when I'm logged on. I still call myself a casual PVE player most of the time. BUT some time, just some time - I get that itch. That I want to clear certain contents, get the better level of gears that mostly only drop in those raids, and meet people who are hard core PVE players and talk about nerdy things outside of RP - now, if you're still reading, you know that itch!!Â
This past week, I started trying to clear Sephirot Extreme myself as a first baby step to approach the cool kids club of raiding. After few(or more) hours of going around and finding people, recruiting in party finder, talking through mechanics, finally, on the second night of trying, I survived long enough to see the adds in phase 2. As tedious as it may sound like, it was a GREAT feeling to see those adds sprawn - and then we wiped quickly about five seconds later. Honestly it took much longer than I thought, and now I start to get an idea of what I hear about people complaining and talking about when they try to get a raid group together or start trying new content with a team - either way, it's not easy. A good amount of patience and effort has to be put into the process before you get somewhere.
With that said, first time raiding experiences can be...dreading, horrifying, disappointing, though more often than not entertaining. Sometimes it's about learning the fun mechanics and trying to play your class the best you can, sometimes it’s about the people you meet that bring both the misery and the fun. This will be the place for you to vent, to talk about the struggle of trying to get into raid, to share those horrifying and funny experiences with each other, to complain, to encourage one another, or to share the wonderful moments if you've cleared something after weeks of trying - we don't oppose happy posts, though we may just be some bitter grumpy first timers in this raiding world
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After all, it is OK to fail. it is OK to be unexperienced. It is OK to panic or get stressed out in certain situations. Most importantly, it is ok to try out new things - even if you think you’re not ready but you really just want to take that first step and see how it goes. Sometimes, that first step is everything you need to get going. Hopefully, this thread will help you realize that you’re not alone in this experience.
In addition, this doesn't have to be strictly for hard-core raiding experience. Not even just for so-called "raids" instances. For example, as mentioned above I am starting to try and clear Sephirot Ex myself, some consider it soft core raiding because of the complexity and amount of mechanics, but officially it is just a trial. This is for starters, new-comers, and people who may be interested in this sort of experience. Mature raiders are more than welcome to join the discussion as I'm sure you know all about the pain, the struggle and all the other wonderful experiences along the way.
I like Gegenji’s rules on the poor pugs and other terrible tales thread - so I got inspired and borrowed some ideas in regarding to set the rules of what not to do in this thread (Thank you Gegenji! they’re good rules). So, please note that although this is a place to complain, here’s the rules I’d like put down:Â

Enjoy and good luck!
Welcome to the vent tent and family room of first time raiding experiences.
Long story short, I enjoy RP in this game, and I almost spend more than half of my time RPing when I'm logged on. I still call myself a casual PVE player most of the time. BUT some time, just some time - I get that itch. That I want to clear certain contents, get the better level of gears that mostly only drop in those raids, and meet people who are hard core PVE players and talk about nerdy things outside of RP - now, if you're still reading, you know that itch!!Â
This past week, I started trying to clear Sephirot Extreme myself as a first baby step to approach the cool kids club of raiding. After few(or more) hours of going around and finding people, recruiting in party finder, talking through mechanics, finally, on the second night of trying, I survived long enough to see the adds in phase 2. As tedious as it may sound like, it was a GREAT feeling to see those adds sprawn - and then we wiped quickly about five seconds later. Honestly it took much longer than I thought, and now I start to get an idea of what I hear about people complaining and talking about when they try to get a raid group together or start trying new content with a team - either way, it's not easy. A good amount of patience and effort has to be put into the process before you get somewhere.
With that said, first time raiding experiences can be...dreading, horrifying, disappointing, though more often than not entertaining. Sometimes it's about learning the fun mechanics and trying to play your class the best you can, sometimes it’s about the people you meet that bring both the misery and the fun. This will be the place for you to vent, to talk about the struggle of trying to get into raid, to share those horrifying and funny experiences with each other, to complain, to encourage one another, or to share the wonderful moments if you've cleared something after weeks of trying - we don't oppose happy posts, though we may just be some bitter grumpy first timers in this raiding world

After all, it is OK to fail. it is OK to be unexperienced. It is OK to panic or get stressed out in certain situations. Most importantly, it is ok to try out new things - even if you think you’re not ready but you really just want to take that first step and see how it goes. Sometimes, that first step is everything you need to get going. Hopefully, this thread will help you realize that you’re not alone in this experience.
In addition, this doesn't have to be strictly for hard-core raiding experience. Not even just for so-called "raids" instances. For example, as mentioned above I am starting to try and clear Sephirot Ex myself, some consider it soft core raiding because of the complexity and amount of mechanics, but officially it is just a trial. This is for starters, new-comers, and people who may be interested in this sort of experience. Mature raiders are more than welcome to join the discussion as I'm sure you know all about the pain, the struggle and all the other wonderful experiences along the way.

I like Gegenji’s rules on the poor pugs and other terrible tales thread - so I got inspired and borrowed some ideas in regarding to set the rules of what not to do in this thread (Thank you Gegenji! they’re good rules). So, please note that although this is a place to complain, here’s the rules I’d like put down:Â
- No name calling. You can say “the tankâ€, the “the pug healer†as you wish - but this is a thread to share experiences, not a place to name call your raid buddy who did poorly last night in the practice group and shout at the world that they need to do better - so no public shaming, or starting a catty war with someone specifically. Try not to target a whole group either, for example, one bad pug header doesn’t mean all of them are bad, all in all, just be reasonable with your words - they can be such powerful tools!
- At the end of the day, be a kind human (or a cat, whatever it is that you identify with). We all fail at some point, we all panic under stressful situations (and mostly I mean, during raids), we may lose our temper occasionally - but this should be a place for people to bond, over both negative complains and warm encouragements. So - be nice!

Enjoy and good luck!