True. I’d forgotten about that. Although my server (Thrall) is one of the more populated ones anyway.
But I don’t think that’s because of the expanded access. I think the expanded access is actually mitigating the losses.
And maybe there are just more options out there than there were in the late 2000s, and so the pool of potential customers is being split up among those options.
Thrall has 8 guilds at 11/11M and 8 more right behind at 10/11M. So to say that NOBODY is raiding anymore is a bit disingenuous. There’s still high level raiding going on out there.
I’m still not understanding how a mediocre player getting less powerful gear from a less difficult version of the raid affects your experience through the most challenging and rewarding version of the raid. Maybe it’s just one of those things you can’t really explain, but it’s how you feel.