You don't have to participate in VoG. It's really not that big of a part of the game. If you can get with a decent group, it's 1.5 hours of your day. And that's killing Templar and Atheon legit, not pushing them. As to your last paragraph - they've done exactly that. They marketed this as a game that casuals could play, as well as "not so casual" to the "hardcore" gamer. Casual will just not really complete the raid very much, if at all. There is an expansion coming up before too long. It will have new gear that will help you level up higher than 29, without completing a raid. And really, if you aren't raiding, you don't need any higher than that right now anyway. And with all that being said - Nightfall is usually harder than VoG on normal.