WoW Raiding and You
8:16 AM Posted In World of Warcraft Edit This 0 Comments »
Well this week has brought about a very interesting article as posted from my Main Tank in WoW Odok. He posted this article because our 25man has been having some issues with attendance and attitudes and what not. So I thought I'd share it for the few people who you know, play the game and read my blog. Don't worry I will get back to the regular 'mommyhood' posting scheduled soon =)
Mind you - this comes from World Of Raids and is in no way shape or form mine!
http://www.worldofraids.com/topic/16293-building-a-better-raid-the-ideal-raider-part-i/
Anyone who has ever raided has, at some point, raided with "that guy." There are a lot of ways for a person to earn that illustrious title: perhaps he or she whines incessantly about losing out on loot, throws a fit and ragequits after a wipe, or just won't stop telling idiotic jokes. We all know the annoying traits that can make a player a real headache, but what are the traits that really make for a superb raider? Imagine that you could recruit any player in the world to your raid. What social and mental characteristics would you place at a premium?
This week, I'll take a look at the social qualities of what, in my opinion, is the ideal raider for any type of cohesive raiding raid guild, even more casual outfits. Next time, I'll tackle the mindset angle.
Solidarity
The ideal raider puts her team before herself. This can manifest itself in a number of ways. It may mean passing on a minor upgrade for another player who needs it more. It may mean agreeing to ride the bench in the name of good raid composition. Bottom line, it just means taking your role as a member of a team seriously. When you sign up to be part of a raid, there is an implicit promise there that you will do everything in your power to ensure that the group succeeds. If your guild takes progression seriously at all, then it is nothing short of a responsibility to work toward that goal with everything you can reasonably muster. It's not necessarily about being hardcore or casual or how many hours you spend playing in a given week. It's about 10 to 25 people investing their time, effort and trust in one another - and you holding up your end.
Consistency
For our purposes here, consistency means that when you sign up for a raid, you show up for it. You treat the raid as a legitimate commitment. A lot of players subscribe to their "Real life always comes first" mantra. That works when you're talking about serious issues, like personal or family illness, significant other aggro, or house fires. When you're blowing off the raid because you decided that you'd rather go out partying, that's a different story. Yes, WoW is just a game, but when you flake out it isn't the game that you're bailing on. It's a bunch of real people who've potentially just had their plans for the evening screwed. People in your real life may make jabs, but the only reason that raiding isn't seen as a legitimate hobby is because players themselves subscribe to that stigma.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that you should become a shut-in or that you should feel compelled to over commit yourself to a raid. All I'm saying is that for the times that you agree to raid, you make the raid a priority.
Maturity
People define maturity in different ways. Some define maturity in terms of how a person carries himself. In the raiding context, maturity is defined by the way a person interacts with his teammates. It's entirely possible for someone to be the "raid clown" and be the most mature and levelheaded person in the group when it's time to get serious. At the same time, it's possible for the guy that never cracks jokes and always talks like he's writing a dissertation (did I just inadvertently describe myself?) to be the most immature.
It's when there's impending drama that a person's maturity is really tested. When it comes to drama, the ideal raider's response is almost always: "We can discuss it after the raid." Nothing good ever comes from mid-raid drama. Best case scenario, a lot of time is wasted. Worst case, someone (or even multiple players) /gquit and the whole night ends up the in ditch. Unfortunately, things like loot can't always be adjudicated at a later time. The best bet for the mature player in that sort of situation is to just let the other guy win, and then take it up with an officer later to make sure it doesn't happen again. A 1% DPS boost or survivability boost just isn't worth wasting everyone's time and stressing the whole raid out. Exceptions need to be made for exceptionally abusive or idiotic players, of course. That's another measure of maturity, though: knowing when to say "Enough is enough" and kicking a problematic player to the curb.
Your Ideal?
That sums up the core social characteristics that I look for in other raiders. Next time, I'll talk about some more game-y qualities that make a good raider. Until then: what social qualities do you look for in a fellow raider? Do you consider a raid group a true team, or just a group of people who happen to share the same vitual space? What's your take on the "real world comes first" mantra? How do you handle mid-raid drama?
Mind you - this comes from World Of Raids and is in no way shape or form mine!
http://www.worldofraids.com/topic/16293-building-a-better-raid-the-ideal-raider-part-i/
Anyone who has ever raided has, at some point, raided with "that guy." There are a lot of ways for a person to earn that illustrious title: perhaps he or she whines incessantly about losing out on loot, throws a fit and ragequits after a wipe, or just won't stop telling idiotic jokes. We all know the annoying traits that can make a player a real headache, but what are the traits that really make for a superb raider? Imagine that you could recruit any player in the world to your raid. What social and mental characteristics would you place at a premium?
This week, I'll take a look at the social qualities of what, in my opinion, is the ideal raider for any type of cohesive raiding raid guild, even more casual outfits. Next time, I'll tackle the mindset angle.
Solidarity
The ideal raider puts her team before herself. This can manifest itself in a number of ways. It may mean passing on a minor upgrade for another player who needs it more. It may mean agreeing to ride the bench in the name of good raid composition. Bottom line, it just means taking your role as a member of a team seriously. When you sign up to be part of a raid, there is an implicit promise there that you will do everything in your power to ensure that the group succeeds. If your guild takes progression seriously at all, then it is nothing short of a responsibility to work toward that goal with everything you can reasonably muster. It's not necessarily about being hardcore or casual or how many hours you spend playing in a given week. It's about 10 to 25 people investing their time, effort and trust in one another - and you holding up your end.
Consistency
For our purposes here, consistency means that when you sign up for a raid, you show up for it. You treat the raid as a legitimate commitment. A lot of players subscribe to their "Real life always comes first" mantra. That works when you're talking about serious issues, like personal or family illness, significant other aggro, or house fires. When you're blowing off the raid because you decided that you'd rather go out partying, that's a different story. Yes, WoW is just a game, but when you flake out it isn't the game that you're bailing on. It's a bunch of real people who've potentially just had their plans for the evening screwed. People in your real life may make jabs, but the only reason that raiding isn't seen as a legitimate hobby is because players themselves subscribe to that stigma.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that you should become a shut-in or that you should feel compelled to over commit yourself to a raid. All I'm saying is that for the times that you agree to raid, you make the raid a priority.
Maturity
People define maturity in different ways. Some define maturity in terms of how a person carries himself. In the raiding context, maturity is defined by the way a person interacts with his teammates. It's entirely possible for someone to be the "raid clown" and be the most mature and levelheaded person in the group when it's time to get serious. At the same time, it's possible for the guy that never cracks jokes and always talks like he's writing a dissertation (did I just inadvertently describe myself?) to be the most immature.
It's when there's impending drama that a person's maturity is really tested. When it comes to drama, the ideal raider's response is almost always: "We can discuss it after the raid." Nothing good ever comes from mid-raid drama. Best case scenario, a lot of time is wasted. Worst case, someone (or even multiple players) /gquit and the whole night ends up the in ditch. Unfortunately, things like loot can't always be adjudicated at a later time. The best bet for the mature player in that sort of situation is to just let the other guy win, and then take it up with an officer later to make sure it doesn't happen again. A 1% DPS boost or survivability boost just isn't worth wasting everyone's time and stressing the whole raid out. Exceptions need to be made for exceptionally abusive or idiotic players, of course. That's another measure of maturity, though: knowing when to say "Enough is enough" and kicking a problematic player to the curb.
Your Ideal?
That sums up the core social characteristics that I look for in other raiders. Next time, I'll talk about some more game-y qualities that make a good raider. Until then: what social qualities do you look for in a fellow raider? Do you consider a raid group a true team, or just a group of people who happen to share the same vitual space? What's your take on the "real world comes first" mantra? How do you handle mid-raid drama?
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