There really needs to be some sort of top tier incentive/rewards for players who don't always require that someone "KWTD" to participate in raids, dungeons, GMs etc... As someone who doesn't have a dedicated group of people to run with on a regular basis, I am RARELY able to do raids for a couple reasons and therefore never have a chance to get any raid loot as a result...
1: Being the aforementioned reason of not having a team to coordinate with.
And 2: (More importantly) Being that when I LFG for a team, they ALMOST ALWAYS require that you "KWTD"....
I am in no way blaming people for not wanting to spend their time in game wiping over and over because they are having to teach people mechanics and strategies, while also simultaneously not being given any extra incentive to do so aside from the already expected loot. So IMO, there really needs to be an incentive system for teaching and carrying people who don't otherwise have the time or means to do so.
This current situation negatively impacts the casual/newer player experience by essentially telling them that they may never be able to complete some of the most fun things to do in the game because the veterans are, at no fault of their own, gatekeeping activities to other veterans who KWTD... People can't be expected to KWTD if they are never given the opportunity to play it in the first place... (Again, at no fault of the players who are looking to get their quick raid completions for the week and or weapon farms done). This is simply a systemic problem with the current reward structure of the game itself...
SO PLEASE, maybe instead of guardian ranks being just a sort of "Hey look what all I did to reach a higher number than you", maybe make the top tiers actually grant TANGIBLE rewards for the players who do, in fact, sherpa people with no or few clears. (I.E, guaranteed Deepsights at time of completion on top of chest rewards, or exclusive emblems and shaders for a certain amount of Sherpa runs.)
*Edit* Also a physical representation of their runs with people who have 0 clears and a special title next to their name or something (that would be something to poll the carry community about), that reflects how helpful they are to the community would be a nice touch.
Food for thought to help keep newer or casual players engaged.
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i used to be a sherpa, for gms and all sorts of raids. At some point my biggest problem was that too many players didnt want to learn anything, they where just looking for someone to carry them through, root of nightmares is a joke, and not so hard for two players to carry, but good luck in master vow of disciple or vault of glass same for grandmasters, take an unpopular and frustrating one like moon, mars or glassway and not only die a lot, but also quit before finishing also, usually getting a raid team that doesnt know what to do means it will take too many hours, and mostly for the first problem that too many players put zero effort in learning and just want to do ad clear and be carried through without putting any effort into it, so everything takes longer then needed and another huge problem is the lack of patience - didnt one phase final boss? they quit we wiped 4 or 5 times? they quit / someone has a lodout they dont like? they whine and quit at the end we spend a lot of time waiting around for other players to join, especially in unpopular raids