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Really, WHO would say NO to this?

The problem is designing these would be a lot of work for Sony programmers and more likely they'd want to invest that effort in designing 54-man raids for the NEXT full expansion, which will bring in more money.

Ironically, HoT has actually done a real good job giving grouping types a reasonable path to acquiring nice gear. Altho I do hear you and agree that some kind of middle road raiding, for 18+ players, would be very welcome. It's what they do in WoW, needless to say.

This is an absolutely horrible argument against implementing such a change. The fact is, EQ has a low population. Adjusting content so more than just the top 10% on a server can have better than low-tier group gear is not turning the game into WoW.

I just quit WoW to come back to EQ after being away for 3 years. On WoW I was a guild leader for a "hard core" raid guild. And as we all know hard core on WoW does NOT compare to hard core EQ... which is part of the reason I am back. Anyway... I am commenting because of the #2 statement above. Not to be rude or blunt, but that is bullcrap. The 10 man raids in WoW took a lot more skill to succeed than the 25 mans. They didn't require as high a level of gear, but in 10 man every single person had to pull their weight to get through the content. On a 25 man raid you could carry 2-3 people and still succeed at the same rate.

My guild consisted of 2 10 man groups, and an extra 5 people that raided the 25 man content with us. The extra 5 were nowhere near the gear level as the main 20. Their DPS was nowhere near where it needed to be, yet we still progressed through the 25 man content just as fast (faster on some encounters) than we did the 10 and sometimes ended up 22-23 manning the whole thing. We couldn't have got through the 10 man stuff with 9 or less until after we had farmed it to the point to make it trivial and we were achievement hunting.

A raid designed for fewer people is NOT easier if it is completed as intended. What turns these raids into "EZ Mode" is when the people from the larger raids that are already geared come back and do them. At that point they outgear the encounter and it is easy mode. I am all for smaller group size content. If the raids are designed correctly they will be a chalenge for smaller groups and a good way to be able to progress. There will always be those who outgear the content and go back and use it to gear up alts or catch up people lagging in gear, and that is fine too. If you don't want to do the smaller content, then don't, but don't say it makes the game "easier" and turn it into WoW. Trust me... I have led guilds and raided in both and EQ is not and never will be the easy game WoW is.

Yes, anything to help keep the mid tier raiding guilds survive would be welcome. Many are folding as the food chain unravels.

I read it and value your vote... even though I voted differently. ;)