Hey groovers,
I’m back after losing my internet connection for four days. Didn’t even know I was gone, did you? I managed to miss out on my guild running Naxx normal and clearing 14 bosses, while dropping some gloves and bracers which I desperately need. Major pooh bears for Elizà, but great news for the guild. We are on the way to running 25 man Naxx. We have 16 fully geared and experienced level 80′s. Our plan is to bring four DPS classes into the raids from within the guild and level them up in two ten man groups. We hope that within a couple of runs they will both gear up and understand what running a raid is all about. Then we have 5 players from another guild who want to run with us. So we could be going into Naxx in a few weeks with a 25 man group.
Gearing up is quite clear, and probably shouldn’t need to be explained. In our guild we have a Tank, Healing, Melee DPS and Ranged DPS officer. They help each class understand what gear they are missing and where they can go about finding said gear. Understanding a raid, and more importantly, how to behave in a raid environment is another thing entirely. So what is expected of a raider? Here are some points which every raider should keep in mind.
1. Know the bosses.
Some raiders want to explore and discover new content naturally without any outside help. That is perfectly reasonable – if you’re in a guild which caters for that. Usually a roleplaying guild will be what you’re looking for there. Not so much in most other guilds though. Try turning up to our runs and telling us that you don’t want stuff to be explained to you because it will spoil it for you and you will experience what some have likened to, ‘The Epic Boot of Death”. Check out Tankspot for all your boss video needs.
2. Be Punctual & Prepared.
If the raid is at 9pm, be at the instance with all pots, shards, flasks, bandages, food items, etc at least ten minutes before raid begins. Anything else is acceptable once. Do you all know what the word ‘once’ means? It comes before twice. Which is not acceptable. The word ‘thrice’ doesn’t even exist.
3. Raid Chat Etiquette.
There are two types of raid chat, voice and typing. Typing ‘lol’ is one thing. Saying it is … hell, I don’t even know what that is. But don’t worry; if you say it then I’m sure that there’s a study being done by someone on people who say ‘lol’ out loud. The great thing about studies is that you can find out you’re a fruit-loop for free. Raid chat is an oxymoron, because the last thing you want to do on raid chat is chat. It’s not for that. The raid leader uses it to communicate in a hopefully not too abusive way. You use it to listen to him tell you to stay out of the purple circles next time for the love of all things holy.
4. Dividing Loot.
Your guild should have a loot system in place. Whether that’s simple rolling or a complicated DKP system, whatever tickles your fancy. But make sure they have something and make sure that you understand it. If they took the trouble to set it up, the least you can do is to take the trouble to find out how it works. Suddenly going ballistic in-game because you “missed out” on a drop due to you not knowing about the loot system just tells us that we don’t need to be worried about hurting your feelings because you won’t be around much longer for us to hurt them. This is our loot system.
5. Know your Role.
If your job is to heal, then heal what you’re told. If they don’t tell you what to heal, ask. If your job is to tank, then stand at the front and get bashed up a lot. If your job is to DPS, then try and pull your finger out of your butt and hit stuff. It’s not rocket science, guys. I mean, 16 year olds could do it …
6. Don’t be a Tard.
What else do I have to explain here? We’re serious about raiding but at the same time we’re trying to enjoy the game. So please don’t act like a tard. If you are a tard, please try and hide it for as long as possible if you’re a healing class. Otherwise, go away.
That’s it. All my rules for raiding. Got anymore rules? Feel free to add them below. And now … I’m off to Naxx!
May 12, 2009 at 7:53 am
Pretty much all the first 5 can be tolerated if you don’t fail rule 6.
for 1: Many fights are complicated and hard to get at first. The one thing you really need to drill into your mind before the fight is: what can I do, or not do, that will wipe the raid? Focus on that above all else, the rest will come.
for 2: Rogues finally have a raid-wide buff. It’s called “Fish Feast”.
for 4: if your guild has done the hard yards grinding progression content, and you’re coming in once it’s on, or close to being on, farm: don’t roll against the progression raiders for really epic drops. You’ll be getting all the Bonescythe stuff that they blew past ages ago, and the fact that you’re blowing through Naxx25 with no wipes in 4 hours is due to their hard work in the past, not yours now. Dragon Hide Bag, Reins of the Twilight Drake and Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris are not for you. Don’t even roll.
May 12, 2009 at 11:00 am
Very nice points. I have the great feast, still need to do a few more dalies to get the fish feast. Your final point is brilliant but unfortunately asking too much of the average player. If they see any of those drop down then they just tend to go cross-eyed with lust. Asking people to be sensible is a worthy cause. Expecting them to be is something other entirely.
One other thing I forget is loot rolling procedure. So many people tend to walk away from the computer to get a cup of coffee when the loot master starts dividing up the goodies. For gods sake, pay attention, and roll promptly when asked. Do not roll before you are asked to. If someone keeps doing that I tend to ignore their rolls.
May 12, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Amen.
I actually do say “lol” out loud a lot. I picked up the habit from my brother. Oddly enough, no one sees it as weird. It is weird that I do it around people that don’t play WoW though.
You make some great points here that I think a lot of people forget. It’s really all about knowing your role and being prepared to do it, while not acting like and idiot (although I like “tard” equally)
I stumbled onto your blog yesterday for the first time and enjoyed the read, and then by chance, surfing for new blog content today, I found you again. It’s good work, and I can’t wait to read more.
- Sam
May 12, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Sam,
I’ve been a long time fan of your blog, so I’m very happy that you enjoyed what you found here.
We won’t talk about the lol stuff though …
adam.