I've been playing Destiny since the beta. Love it. Do I see issues? Sure, but by and large I love this game. Anyway I mostly stick to solo PvE. Bounties, daily heroics and vanguard playlists across 3 characters keep me busy enough. In finding people to do the nightfalls with I've met a couple guys who raid. And occasionally they invite me to raid. Most times I politely refuse. Today two youngins invited me to do a fresh vog nm run. I was hesitant so they proceed to assure me that it was easy and they could talk me through it. Most times I say no. Today I said yes. It was just the 2 of them so i found another group of 3 on a LFG site and away we went. It. Was. A. Sh!t. Show. I won't go into all the details but here's a couple highlights. Youngin number 1 quits midway through the templar. "Gonna go eat". Youngin number two gets mic issues. Wipes repeatedly. The other 3 from the LFG site want to kick him but decide against it. I hold my own. But at the platforming section I fail repeatedly. And the 2 that I came with can't talk me through it, ones gone and the other is effectively sans mic. At atheon it gets worse. I'm completely lost. And I don't want to admit that I'm a raid virgin. We're wiping more than someone with IBS. One of the other guys leave. We try a couple times with 4. Wipe, wipe, wipe. And I don't know what I'm doing. Eventually I leave. And I feel like a piece of sh!t. Anyway I send a message to the LFG guys. Apologized. They were solid, we ruined their raid. Exiting that message I notice a message I sent to random like a week ago. While on patrol I saw a 26 trying to open the vog by himself. I sent him a message telling him it's a 6 man thing. He replies with a "wanna do it?" I say that I don't raid and direct him to a couple LFG sites. It's the "I don't raid" that catches my eye. I don't raid. It's a truth that I embrace today. I've read a ton of reviews and articles about destiny. The raids are often cited as the best thing in game. Maybe for some. But I don't like relying on others, and I don't want others relying on me. I won't be raiding. Atheon, nor Crota, nor the enormous shank that I assume will be the final boss in the HoWs will fall by my hands. I just don't find it fun. It's long, it's stressful. Sure the rewards are unique and better than anywhere else. I want a fatebringer in destiny more than a hovercraft in real life. But that's the sacrifice I'm willing to make. Bungie's clearly focused a lot of attention in the raids. I understand why. So this isn't a "fix this!" post. Just a rant. A very long rant. Sorry. Edit: thanks guys for the support. At it's core this community is a great one. To be clear this was my 3rd vog attempt from a random invite. The other 2 were far worse. Yeah I should have told the LFG guys that I was a noob, but after the other issues with the 2 I brought with me I was trying to avoid a "then there's this fu€king guy!" moment. Stupid. Thanks for the invites to raid but I meant it when I said I won't be raiding. Not for right now anyway. Thanks for reading! Edit 2: corrected spelling. And I'm on Xbone BTW Edit 3: last one, promise. Okay so a lot of comments that I should "raid with my group". Again, I appreciate each and every invite. You guys rock. Now scroll down. There are tons of comments from raid noobs down there. They need the help, the guidance and the patience that you are so willing to offer to me. Leave no Guardian behind. Also a lot of "don't let one bad experience..." comments. I totally hear what you're saying. The Raids are meant to be the pinnacle of the Destiny experience. Everything is heighten. The time investment, the challenge, the required communication and teamwork, the rewards. Everything is set to 11. And as such the act of finding a team and tackling it is emotionally investing. Which makes the ultimate success and ensuing lootgasm all the richer But it cuts both ways. The fear of failure, shame of sucking, the disappointment in a fireteam's desertion, the annoyance of the OP's alliteration. All these emotions are heightened as well. You can't have one without the other I guess. No risk no reward. Personally I'm saving my emotional investment and unwavering commitment to the other thing in my life: good job, great friends, an amazing GF and a house that almost always seems to have something breaking or falling off it. That's not a judgment on the rest of you. I admire you die hard raiders. And I will continue to watch your youtube vids with awe and admiration. Good luck and RNGod's speed Guardian. TL;DR Turns out DeeJ's been writing a Lethal Weapon sequel in his spare time. Lethal Weapon Engram. Titan Murtaugh and Hunter Riggs are revived by a Joe Pesci voiced Ghost to battle the Darkness and investigate the disappearance of the Speaker's teenage daughter, the Texter.