Raiding: Goals, Requirements, Rules, and Fall Schedule
We have some new members, level 80s, and raiders, so this post will cover general (and I mean very general) raiding info for our guild. Obviously chat with me in game if you have questions or suggestions; I don’t want to write a novel here.
Goals
As if I even need to say it…most importantly, we are a relaxed–but progression-oriented–guild. We want to raid to have fun, most of us are RL friends and working adults with busy lives, and we need to make the most of our precious hours in WoW : )
We’ve all been busy running heroics and ToC post-3.2 these past weeks, but it is time to turn our focus to 10-mans again. Our primary focus will be Ulduar. Gearing through heroics, ToC, PUG raids, and professions should get most geared for Ulduar pretty quickly. We will continue to run Naxx (and of course VoA and OS) some as well for those that are not quite ready for Ulduar and those that just want to see it for the first time and not skip content, but Ulduar will be our focus for the near future.
Requirements
If you are new to raiding you will need to attend a few guild Naxx runs to learn to work with the guild, get a general feel for raiding, and make sure your add-ons/UI work to your liking. They key to us succeeding and enjoying raiding as a guild is for us to work well as a team…gear is only part of the equation.
Obviously check the standard forums (elitist jerks, tankspot, wow official forums, etc.) for detailed info on your class, gear, professions, rotations, class-specific add-ons, etc., to ensure you are best prepared to participate. You owe it to yourself and your guildies to fully understand your class, the buffs and talents you bring to the raid, how you fit with the other classes in the raid, etc…in other words, the best approach to maximizing your contribution. We generally don’t require anyone to spec/play certain ways, and if you chose a spec that is known to be lower dps, or a healing spec that favors raid heals, or a tank spec suited to aoe tanking, whatever…that is perfectly fine if you prefer the play style; we are not here to tell people how to play. In extreme cases we may request a change, but only if it will drastically affect our ability to successfully raid.
As our main tanks and healers all have Naxx and Ulduar experience and are (or will be by Oct) geared for Ulduar10 or beyond, here are simply our requirements for dps:
- Naxx10: 2k dps sustained
- Ulduar10: 2.5k dps sustained; nearly all epic gear (a few blues are fine)
THESE ARE REQUIRED, NOT OPTIONAL. Raid leaders may allow one low dps’r or blue geared player to attend a run, but more than this is usually unacceptable. Our Ulduar date is still weeks away so please, please, please get your dps, gear, and play style up to par and understand these requirements are to ensure a fun and quick raid for everyone.
As for add-ons, big surprise…you need Vent, DeadlyBossMods, and Omen–again, REQUIRED. I highly recommend a dps counter (recount) and some form of dot/hot timer (dotimer) and buff manager (satrina buff frames) as well. We all have preferences and can suggest additional add-ons for particular needs. I personally recommend combat text, camera, UI, and action bar mods that let you see more of the game field and reduce visual clutter.
The other part of the equation is simple: RESEARCH THE FIGHTS. Just because you are not the tank or healer does not mean you can show up and say “I’ve never done this, tell me what to do.” There are ample resources to educate yourself. Mort and I both heavily rely on tankspot.com, which has high-quality video walkthroughs of Naxx and Ulduar boss fights. If you don’t know when not to stand near spot X, when to dps an add and not the boss, etc., you can wipe the raid. The tanks and/or raid leader for runs will provide strategies, call out notices, etc., but they can’t be responsible for everyone.
Rules
Our rules are pretty simple, standard, and few:
- Be ready on time: Please arrive 5-10 mins. early if you can so we can quickly form the raid, pug any holes, and start.
- Plan for four-hour raids: After four hours raids will usually be called to be continued another day.
- Come Prepared: Should go without saying, but come with buff flasks and food (though we will usually have feasts for guild runs) and gemmed and enchanted gear.
- Be in Vent: You MUST be able to hear instructions and warnings. And raids can be boring unless you can talk to friends : )
- Chatting: Do not speak in vent during boss fights and do not type in chat during boss looting.
- Plan for AFKs at set times: Do NOT simply announce “BRB 5 mins.” and go AFK. We will generally have planned, five-min. breaks every 45 mins. or so.
- Loot: Read Bak’s loot post. We follow a fair system that helps everyone get gear and progress as a team. Do not loot during combat.
Schedule / Attendance
Let me know your preferred raiding times so that I can schedule events accordingly. And please understand that occasionally even if you sign up for an event you may not be able to attend due to raid make-up (class, roles, dps averages, etc.). I will track who attends what to do the best I can in ensuring everyone gets a chance to raid (I’ll keep in touch with Mort on this issue for his events as well).
Given our geographic spread and small number of guildies, we will likely continue to schedule most guild runs Sat and Sun afternoon through no later than midnight EST for near future. Many of us would prefer to do weeknight runs too, so we’ll work on scheduling those as possible. Hopefully in the near future also we’ll be able to schedule two raid a week to further ensure opportunity for everyone to participate.
Feedback
I am always open to questions and suggestions. I don’t claim to be a master raider or 1337 tank, so I welcome any dialogue that will help our raiding or help me fulfill my roles better. I really appreciate the conversations I’ve had with folks so far and look forward to raiding with everyone soon!
