Hot take: Joining a top alliance on day one is overrated if you can't be online for every timer
I keep seeing the advice that you have to join a top alliance on day one or you're doomed. I get the appeal-more rewards, better events, easier behemoths-but for a lot of regular players that advice does more harm than good.
I'm a Midwest multitasker. I do dailies while cooking or folding laundry and I can check the game a few times a day, but I can't be there for every rally, every shadow, or every last-minute push. When I tried the "top alliance or bust" route it actually slowed me down because:
The pressure to be online made the game feel like a second job, and that eventually led to me missing days entirely.
Top alliances usually have strict expectations. Even if people are nice about it, you end up feeling guilty when you can't show up.
If you're not consistently present you become dead weight in the activities that matter, so your personal progress ends up worse than it looks on paper.
My take: early on, the best alliance is the one that fits your schedule, not necessarily the one with the highest power. A solid mid-tier alliance that's active when you are and actually explains mechanics will get you further than being carried in a top group you can't keep up with.
Sure, later in the season you may want to move up for big raids and endgame fights. But treating "join the strongest immediately" as a universal rule just pushes casual players away.
Curious where people land on this. If you think joining a top alliance early is mandatory, what specific benefits outweighed the burnout for you?