so, i've now tried a contest-mode raid for the first time ever. it was with a group of my friends, which had been a dream of mine since i started getting really into this game

my team definitely had the skills to do it, i think, but some of us didn't have all the components for optimal loadouts (due to just coming back from long breaks), and we had to make a couple personnel substitutions partway through, so we were only able to make it through the first encounter before people got tired of trying. honestly, even that feels like an extremely satisfying accomplishment! i got a piece of raid loot early, hell yeah!

and if we keep raiding together and doing other stuff, i bet we'll be able to do it next time. overall, i had a lot of fun and it seems like everyone else did too. that means way more to me than a contest-mode emblem