Proper Raiding Etiquette
Regardless of whether you are just starting Karazhan, or farming Black Temple, raiding can be a stressful time. A group of people are working for a common goal, to defeat a boss, and for one of those raid members to not do everything they can do ensure victory is a slap in the face to everyone else. Properly preparing for a raid and knowing what to do during, and after, the raid will not only impress your fellow raid members, but will keep the stress to a minimum and promote a fun raiding environment for all.
Proper raiding etiquette involves knowing the three stages for a raid. These stages involve preparing before the raid, acting correctly during the raid, and analysis after the raid. It is crucial that a raid member perform each of these stages to ensure the best chances of succeeding for a raid. Failure to do so will hurt your performance, and in some cases prevent you from performing at all. Your fellow raid members will also see your lack of preparation, and take it as a sign that you do not care about succeeding. While some guilds will allow you to get away with this with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, others will not allow you to raid with them at all, considering you more of a risk to the raid, rather then an asset.
Preparing before the raid begins is arguably the most important part of the entire raid. Followed is a list of what should be done before raid invites even go out. Depending on your class, this can take as little as a few minutes, and as long as an hour or more. Ensure you set aside enough time to get prepared.
Before The Raid
-Repair your gear:
There are few things worse than wiping a couple of times on a boss and someone calling out in Ventrillo or Teamspeak, or even raid chat, that they need to go repair because their gear is broken. Making sure your gear has been repaired before its time to go, means you will be able to go for the long haul at peak performance.
-Bring extra gold:
If the raid is going to last longer than expected, it is good to be able to have enough gold to stock back up on reagents and supplies, as well as be able to repair your gear.
-Bring enough supplies/reagents:
Single target and lower level buffs are considered greedy and those around you will not appreciate your antics. Buffs are what keep everyone happy and gives an extra edge, as such; let everyone know you are doing your part by giving them the best buffs possible.
-Know the fight:
It is horrible sitting at your computer for 15 minutes listening to the strategy used for a boss fight because someone doesn’t know how to do it. The easiest way to learn what is going to happen in a fight is to research it before hand. You can either go to www.youtube.com and type in “How To” and then the boss name, or you can go to www.bosskillers.com and check out several different strategys on each boss.
During The Raid
-Keep Vent/Teamspeak clear:
The raid itself is going to be hectic, and your fellow raid members aren’t going to appreciate you trying to chat with everyone about last night’s football game. While you may be able to get away with this for raids that are on farm status, the general rule of thumb is that if the current raid is considered progression, keep your mouth shut.
-AFK:
Everyone has to use the bathroom, get something to eat or drink, or take care of something quickly. If this is the case, either say in Vent/Teamspeak that you will be right back, or type it out in game. Letting someone know where you will be is considered polite, and lets the raid plan around you. If the raid doesn’t know you are gone, they will expect you to perform, and if you are in a critical role, such as a healer, tank, or some type of crowd control, and you aren’t there, it could spell disaster for the raid. Your fellow raiders will also not appreciate you going AFK every fifteen minutes. As stated, things need to be done, however if you need to go do something every few minutes, perhaps you shouldn’t be raiding that night.
It is also considered impolite to go AFK after a raid wipe. Most people agree that if the healers have to run back to the instance because of a wipe that everyone should have to run back. Continuous failure to run back could result in the healers refusing to actually heal you, and therefore you will find yourself dying more than what is needed..
-Pulling Extra Mobs, Breaking Crowd Control:
General failure to pay attention to your surroundings can easily wipe a raid, which no one wants. If you pull extra mobs, immediately say something, so that the raid can brace themselves. If crowd control has been broken, again, say something so it can be controlled again, or otherwise dealt with. An understood rule of raiding is that you pull all mobs that are being attacked away from the crowd controlled mobs, and that you do not do any type of AOE or multiple mob hitting abilities when there are CC-ed mobs around.
-Knowing what gear you need:
When the boss you are fighting goes down, no one wants to stand around for fifteen minutes while you decide if you want an item or not. Before the fight begins, look at the loot tables and decide what you would like. Doing this will speed up the loot process, which means that you can more quickly move to the next boss.
After The Raid
-Gem and Enchant Gear:
Getting your new gear enchanted and gemmed appropriately shows those that raid with you that they were right in giving you the new piece of gear, that you will do what you are supposed to with it.
-Discuss what went wrong:
Regardless of how well you did, there is always room for improvement, and the best way to do better is to correct what you did wrong. Talk with those that play the same class that you do, and find out if they thought you were doing what needed to be doing, and what needs to be improved. Don’t take negative criticism as a bad thing, in fact, learn from it, and use it to improve.
-Look over Damage and Healing Meters:
Most often, damage and healing meters are used to gauge how well you are doing during a raid; however they can also be used to gauge how you did overall. If you find that you are taking too much damage in the raid, or you are overhealing too much, this will let you keep it in mind the next time you raid.
Raiding can be a fun experience; however it is almost guaranteed to be stressful. Each member of the raid must do their part to ensure that the raid goes as smooth as possible. The best way to do this is to ensure that they are prepared. Ensuring that they have enough supplies and are ready to go before the raid, knowing what to do and how to react during the raid, and learning from the mistakes after the raid will ensure that everyone is having a good time, and that everything is being done to successfully raid.
