3 Myths and Misconceptions About Raiding Guilds
In my journey through the end-game of World of Warcraft, I’ve seen many players and guilds struggle, and others progress victoriously. There’s a few misconceptions that often go around about top tier raiding guilds, and why they experience a higher level of success. In this column I hope to debunk these myths.
Myth #1: Raiding guilds require a large time commitment. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sure, some of the top guilds in the world spend seven days a week raiding, and achieve world firsts. But a great deal, if not the majority of raiding guilds, are average people with busy lives. Often the hardcore raiding guilds spend less time raiding than casual guilds do – often as few as three nights per week. They are able to do this by setting a few basic ground rules. Everyone is expected to show up on time for the raid, fully prepared with consumables, reagents, and fully repaired gear. The raid starts on time and ends on time. AFK’s are kept to a minimum and are taken during trash pulls if necessary. The raid keeps moving at all times and boss fight explanations are made as concise as possible. For 25 man raids, DPS, healers, and tanks each have their own chat channels set up to delegate duties during a boss encounter. Raiding guilds do not necessarily spend more time raiding – they simply use their time more efficiently.
Myth #2: Raiding guilds are full of elitist jerks. This may very well be true of some raiding guilds, but it’s also true of many casual guilds. It is human nature for some folks to be jerks. However, this is certainly not the norm for all raiding guilds. Hardcore raiding guilds have members who are knowledgable of their classes and roles, and regularly put in the time and effort to continue to improve their gameplay. Just because you know what you’re doing doesn’t make you a jerk. You can have no clue what you’re doing, and still lack proper behavior. Raiding guilds often have a strict application process to make sure all those who join know what they’re doing, but that is a far cry from making them elitists.
Myth #3: It’s too hard to get into a raiding guild. If you take the time to learn how to play your class/role as best as you can, and prove your worth by completing heroics and gearing yourself up properly, there is a raiding guild out there that will have room for you. You just need to look around. Some good starting points include your realm forums, the guild recruitment channel, trade channel, your friends list, and pick up groups. When you fill out an application, be as descriptive as possible in your answers and avoid simple “yes/no” responses when possible. Don’t be afraid to detail your strengths and weaknesses. It takes far less time to find a raiding guild that’s a good fit for you than it does to wipe several times in a raid!