First Foray into the New Naxxramas

I am one of those people who holds the opinion that one should not enter the raiding environment until one has had the opportunity to properly prepare oneself. By this I mean taking the time to run some heroics, replace at least a few of the leveling greens and blues one's acquired on the trek to level 80, and started earning reputation with the appropriate factions to ensure access to good items and item enhancements. Additionally, I also feel that one should take the time to do some research about the items available from various reputations, dungeons, raids, and vendors, and then properly gem and enhance those items that seem as if they'll have decent enough staying power to remain worthwhile, as well as learn about the encounters one will inevitably come across in the raid.

So, knowing those beliefs, I probably look like a big fat hypocrite for going to Naxxramas less than 24 hours after reaching level 80, still wearing gear primarily consisting of Tier 5 quality items, and without knowing any of the encounters in the particular wing we entered (Military). Well, I sure feel like one, too. That's probably the biggest contributing factor to why I'm inclined to say my first post-Patch 3.0.2 Naxxramas experience was not as fun as I think it should have (or at least would have otherwise) been. Spending several hours feeling like you're just letting 9 other people down has a way of sucking all the enjoyment out of things, and even though I dearly love the group I went with, I don't think I'll be joining them for their future expeditions...at least not for now.

Although, to be fair, I do think that I managed to perform at least decently well, especially considering I wasn't the only undergeared person there. Also, it wasn't as if I sought out a Naxxramas run to go to—I was...uh...I guess the best term would be "aggressively recruited" by a group of friends who I've ran with for various raids since back before the Burning Crusade launched.

Still, I don't think I'll be doing that again. At least, not until I've had a chance to properly prepare myself for round 2.