I've often talked about the responsibilities of Guild Leaders and Raid Leaders. Today I wanted to take the time to talk to all you NEW RAIDERS wanting in on the action. For the old veterans, consider this as a basic refresher reading and if you have other pro tips, please comment as you will.
To the new raider:
Understand that life doesn't revolve around you anymore, you are a part of a team. This means you need to learn to act like a team member and show up in a responsible, timely fashion. For those that PuG into raids, you are not in charge, you volunteered. Therefore, kindly listen to your raid leader. If your raid Leader's Strat isn't working, respectfully approach through a whisper if you think you have a better suggestion.
Walking into a raid with a toon that you power leveled and have no idea how to use is a quick way to never get invited to a raid again. Take the time to practice your rotations and know your abilities. I personally hate power leveling, I think its the worst thing in the world. Besides, honestly it doesn't take very long at all to lv the regular way in AoC. When I see toons not even landing a combo blow, I know for a fact they have not the slightest idea of how to run their class effectively. I'm all about teaching folks what they need to know and consider myself fairly patient. But I won't carry folks in a raid. That's asinine and it reflects poorly upon your guild in the long run. Take the time to research what your character does.
Come prepared. Don't ask for mana or stam or health pots. Buy the damned things. Most of you by now are in a guild. Most guilds have at least a rudimentary guild city started. That means if at least a Tradepost is created and you've hit at least Renown lv 3, there is a Brewmistress. BUY FROM HER!!!! Keep them set on your hot bars. Make sure your armor and weapons are as up to date as possible. Allow the Raid Leader to equipment check you if necessary and make recommendations. Also, if you plan on testing a new rotation or a new character build, do so BEFORE the raid so you know what you are getting into. Easiest way to do that is either get a target dummy to rate your performance or get out to Khitai and beat the shit out of multiple mobs. But don't go into a raid with an unproven spec that you just pulled out of your 4th point of contact. Get comfortable with your spell or melee rotations and make sure it works first.
I do recommend you at least use one of the following customized UI's. The stock UI in AoC sucks.
Stonerune, Fire, Plagued, Strange. Any of these are decent and allows you to map keys easily. It gives you a ton more slots to put your hot key abilities. I grant, the Stock UI can be used, but it's really not user friendly.
If you don't have ventrillo/teamspeak/mumble, you NEED to get it! Look, Raid Leaders don't have the time to type out strats. You don't need a mic. But you do need to listen in on the directions of the Raid Leader. Short of being hearing impaired, there is no reason for you to not have Ventrillo or mumble depending on what your Raid Leader uses.
Know and understand your raid's loot rules. READ the description of every loot peace and don't hit that need button unless it's for your class or the Raid Leader opens it up for the rest to roll on. If the Raid Leader says, only <X> class roll on it once the box pops, then only that class rolls. Don't rush your rolls. Take your time, no one is going anywhere till all the loot is distributed. But let's say for the sake of argument you accidentally won something that should have gone to someone else. Get the loosing party with you. Then YOU the undeserving bastard that accidentally won the item need to type the following:
/pet raid loot issues
Wait till a GM whispers you and then let them know the member standing right next to you should get the item. The GM will delete it from your inventory and then create it in the inventory of the deserving party. If I sound like a nazi about it, I have seen this happen in raids way to often. Don't like being called an undeserving bastard? Easy, be situationally aware enough to only roll on what you are supposed to roll instead of...OMFG SHINEYS YAYAYAYAAY, MINE MINE MINE!!!
That isn't a difficult concept. Yet I have seen it happen on more than one occasion. I promise you, there are a lot of guilds out there that have no mercy and will make sure never to invite you again. Not to mention they will Raid Kick you on the spot.
OK, this is a basic primer. Those who are old vets, I invite you to comment and add in your own pro tips to this basic set for the new raider.
Great right up and you really had me chuckling about loot rules. Seen it happen way too often myself, in fact fell victim to it not once, not twice, but 3 times in two days. It got to the point that I just took time off raids for a couple of days. I simply could not believe it.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the advise is spot on, especially those who come into raids after being powerleveled. Worse thing to happen to a raid is to have several members or even one for that matter that has done this.
Again, great write up...I'm sure a few will disagree...lol....but good luck to them being invited to raiding.
Oh and VENT IS YOUR FRIEND, get it or don't raid.
*write up* lol...can't seem to type as fast as my brain is working today.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important as a player to admit it, if you have no clue about the tactics and what you are supposed to do. I have often experienced people who give a shy tell to a raidleader or another player asking for advice, even though the raidleader inquired before the fight if there was anyone new to the dungeon.
ReplyDeletePossibly those people come from WoW, where it is quite normal (especially since raids there also work with the automatic search tool for members now) to simply be kicked from a raid if you have no experience. In AoC most raidleaders will be happy to teach new players the tricks of the trade :-)
I would agree there, as a Leader you do need to be ready to explain strats. In my previous posts on Raid Leadership I do indeed talk about it. As a player, you do have to be honest. Even guys in full T3 gear can occasionally screw the pooch and wipe on a T1. It happens. It's pretty rare that I've seen any AoC Raid Leader drop a player when they ask for a quick refresher. At least in the T1 and T2 zone. But the players should also do a bit of research themselves. At least show the effort. I'm all about training new folks. I understand mistakes happen and dont't expect flawless runs every single time. My real emphasis for this particular post was to come prepared, knowing the bsics of your class and it's mechanics and be ready to work as a team.
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