Since EQ isn't instanced all players compete for the same and very limited amount of camps and spawns.
Some of the content has been divided into timeslots for each guild, some of it you have to compete for (such as racing designated players to engage the target first).
What it effectively means either way is that at any time around the clock something can pop and at least someone needs to be online to watch for it to happen. I.e. stare at a blank screen for hours upon hours. Usually you would have parked your raiding character at the location ready to engage when the raid target has spawned. I.e. unless you're bound there you usually can't play your character during those hours. In some guilds people are logged off and they literally get a message on discord or their phone to come online. I.e. some will get up at 4 am and wake their sleeping family to kill a dragon.
The fights are usually super easy, dragons die in seconds. You may not even get a spell off in time. So it's 99% waiting and 1% dragon killing (less, actually).
Raid gear, most of it that's of any use, is hard to come by and requires a lot of raiding.
You typically also have to farm consumables for the raids. Some raids like VP have tough prequests in order to get the key. You'll have to farm mobs for days (once again, staring at a screen) if the camp isn't taken in which case u may have to wait in line).
Tbh, it's fun to raid a little just for the experience and see the content. See Lady Vox, Nagafen, the planes. After that, eh...
There are some raiding items of note that'll change how a character plays or power them up in a significant way. Some classes though needs very little or nothing from raiding to perform well in the endgame dungeons of the world.
As for the drama. Well, when people pour in literally years of their life into a game the competition can get serious indeed.
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