Raid Leaders Are Not The Enemy

This is a companion post to "Taking Criticism."

Raid leaders are not trying to destroy your ranking on Bob's dps meter by giving you criticism or tips.

They're not trying to ruin your play style or step on your toes.

They're just trying to whip you into a shape where they'd be willing to roster you more often.

If the boss dies, it shouldn't matter who's top dps. It should matter whether or not the raid leaders, the ones creating the roster, think you did what they wanted.

Not because they're right all the time, or because you won't get rostered otherwise, but because ignoring them (or getting angry) without reason makes you a brat.

Yes. A brat.

So shut up, sit down, and if you don't like the criticism you're getting from your leaders, feel free to argue with stats and resources and explanations. But being a brat who rebels against nothing at all (or even good advice) is just plain dumb.

Don't be dumb.

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Beth Blevins is a former officer in In Vino Veritas.
Beth has been playing Warcraft for three years.

She hates the drama sometimes found in raiding.

Taking Criticism

I have this friend. Recently, she got insecure about her raid performance. I talked to her raid healers, as well as her raid leaders -- basically, four of the five people who comprise my immediate family group. People I trusted to know what they were talking about and to be honest about it.

They gave her a glowing review with a few minor pointers, but the comments that stuck with me were about how she didn't start out as a great raider-- she made a lot of mistakes when she first began, back at the start of Wrath -- but grew into it.

My sister-in-law summarized it best: "[S]he is open to constructive criticism and improving."

My friend has been rostered for almost every progression raid in Icecrown Citadel because she's improved so much, because she's willing to acknowledge her mistakes and learn from them. The raid leaders know that even if she screws up, she'll keep trying and listening to their suggestions until she gets it right. They aren't afraid to be honest with her, because they know she'll listen.

Because of that, she's extremely valued as a dps. More valued than people who don't know how to take criticism, who get angry or refuse to listen.

This is more than a lesson for raiding, it's a lesson for life: you need to know how to take criticism gracefully. If you don't, you'll never be as good as you want to be, and you'll never be sought-after.

Players who know how to adapt, they get pursued by raid leaders. Players who don't... don't.

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Beth Blevins is a former officer in In Vino Veritas.
Beth has been playing Warcraft for three years.

Disconnects and Loot

I've blogged about pug raids before, about unexpected loot issues and the ethics of kicking people. This is a different scenario.

You're the leader (and Master Looter) of a 25-man Arch pick-up-group.

Someone disconnects right before the boss and comes back just before he goes down.

Do they get loot?

Your gut answer is probably no, but think about it in light of these questions:

Are they taking advantage?

Unless you know that they are, you don't have the right to say yes. It's definitely not the best way to pull one over on a raid, since people can see your character standing there doing nothing (or get dropped from the group).

I give everyone the benefit of the doubt for disconnects unless they're a known ninja. It's not fair to screw someone out of their 25-man id for the week because of something they can't control.

What have they done for the raid?

In my case, the disconnect guy had summoned everyone for two raids and helped on the trash. He'd apologized in our 10-man for being late because of bad lag when another player didn't apologize for being late because of AV (and got a summon from the guy who'd flown through major lag).

How well do you know them?

This is not about favoritism. It's, very simply, whether or not you know this person well enough to stand behind them when they say it was an accident.

My Situation

I led 10 guildies and 15 pick-ups into Arch. We pulled a little early, the rogue who pulled died, he apologized in a whisper, I told him "No big."

We downed the boss juuust after he enraged.

I immediately get two whispers and a few comments in raid chat: "Warlock didn't do anything, don't give him loot."

Warlock is a friend. He summoned everyone, he'd been having bad lag all day, and I'd noticed he'd been disconnected (gone grey) at one point.

I replied to the whispers, "He's a friend, he d/c'd, I'll talk to him." Whisperers remained adamant that he didn't do anything when he came back, either. I was sure this was just continued lag but didn't say so.

I whispered Warlock, one of my guild's sweetest kids, and said: "Some people will be upset if you roll since you d/c'd. I won't keep you from rolling, but it might be best if you pass." He agreed. Happily, the other warlock was also in our guild (an officer) and we were both glad to see him get the warlock piece.

The part I know a lot of people won't agree with is "I won't keep you from rolling." But think about it. Even if he was a pug, he blew his entire afternoon waiting on and summoning other people, he saved himself to 25-man Arch, and for what? To get passed over for loot?

This is a weird situation because it brings different philosophies firmly to a head. Many people do not see it as fair to give loot to someone who doesn't participate -- or even to keep someone in the group who doesn't do the best dps (see kicking link above). But I do not see it as fair to punish someone for technical difficulties. Forget how helpful he was with the summons -- it just isn't right to reject people for loot based on performance.

If someone is good enough to get in your raid, they're good enough to roll on loot. This has always been my philosophy. If I let someone in my raid, I have a duty to protect that person's interests, guildie or not. I was prepared to stand behind him and take crap if he wanted to roll, and I hope I would have done the same if he'd been a pug.

Because that's what good leaders do. Stand there and take crap for making controversial decisions in the name of fairness.

What preventative measures can you take?

Kick anyone who disconnects during a boss fight.

This is not a punishment. It's preventing them from getting saved to a raid they won't get loot from, and it allows them to try again later for loot, which is fair to everyone. If they come back and you haven't filled their spot and you're about to try the boss again, bring them back in. If the boss is dead, apologize for the necessity, give your reasoning, and hand out loot while you're talking.

This requires that you be aware of what's going on in your raid panel during the fight, so you might want to have a trusted Assist to kick disconnects (I was healing, it wouldn't have been possible). Sometimes people look disconnected when they're moving and doing their job, so it requires an attentive mind to pay attention to this sort of scenario.

It's harder than a simple "No loot for u!" But it's guaranteed to be fair.

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Beth Blevins is a former officer of In Vino Veritas.
She's a writer and hates leading pugs (but often has to).
Beth's been married since her junior year of college.