Raid prep and where to begin?

We are starting to try raids, and well.. yeah. Where is the best place to start training? Factor in Exotic Armor, Ascended Trinkets/back, Exotic weapons. If it's better to master say fractals or wherever please say. :D

If you've never stepped foot in T4 fractals then yes, start there.

If you've done fractals before completed most of them especially 97-100 and any of the related CM's then you should be more than ready to handle anything a raid can throw your way mechanically.

Next would be identifying and finding a group of people to play with and getting your build/gear upto their standards. So if you intend solely to LFG to victory be familiar with the PuG meta. If you're in a speed clear group they'll likely have you use QT or their own builds. If you're in a casual whatever happens guild then....whatever works i guess.

Thanks. My biggest hurdle is I'm an old school gamer, started MMO's in 2003, played RPG's since PC's hit the market. I'm used to mmo raids where you show up, work your way thru a dungeon, beat up the boss, complain about the loot, then go home. The rub your tummy, pat your head, jazz routines I see required in GW2 Raids isn't my style. Many may love them, me.. not so much. So I need to get past that. We'll see. It would be different if the loot was game breaking, but, it's not. I can craft it and not be aggravated by arcade style mechanics.

Anyways, tks.