Reliability

A few weeks ago Raid Invite had a few problems with our host provider.  There were a few days of downtime, where the site was either totally offline or unbearably slow to load.  After several attempts to contact support, whether it be through their email account or java based chat room, I decided the best course of action was to drop them.  If they couldn’t be reliable enough to keep my website up and running then there was no need to spend my money on their services.  I promptly switched to a new host provider and am (so far) very happy with the service.

I wasn’t happy with the service that was being provided and switched to something that could better accommodate my needs.  This got me thinking how much this same concept applies to how a guild works.  Both sides, guild leadership and the player both provide to and require a service from the other.

Guild Leadership Provides:

-Scheduled Raids

You guild leadership (Officers and Class Leaders if applicable) should be making sure that raids are getting scheduled and filled out with appropriate players.  Their job is not to reserve a spot for you, only to provide you a spot if there is one available.

-A fair system to obtain Loot

It doesn’t matter what system is picked, just that there is one and that it is fair.  Those that raid are usually competitive in whatever role they are filling and upgrades to loot are precious.  Nothing will lower morale and break up a guild faster than a corrupt loot system.

-Feedback and constructive criticism

In a guild there are many different types of people from many different cultures and different ways of life.  There are also varied levels of knowledge about the game and the mechanics behind it.  There are those in a guild that know everything about everything and those that know little to nothing about the game.  The Officers and Class Leaders of a guild should be looking to improve the general knowledge of raiders.  Sharing talent spec ideas, reviewing stats collected from a raid and reviewing the players themselves are all great ways to improve your players.

Players Provide:

-110% in the role you fill

Simply put, it sucks to have a player in a raid not give it his all when its game time.  Whatever the reason may be, having a half ass raider hurts the team as a whole.  If you, the raid member, are not doing everything you can to fulfill your role in the raid, you are failing.  Remember that there is a difference between not doing enough damage or not producing enough threat or healing because of a gear or mechanic issue and failing to do your job because of lack of skill and knowledge.

-Attendance

If raid time starts at a certain time, you need to be online and ready to go a few minutes beforehand.  As a Marine, the rule of “15 minutes prior” has been drilled into my head.  The idea is that if something starts at a certain time, you show up 15 minutes early.  If you know that you are going to be late or unable to show up at all, let that guild leadership know.  Raid leaders are counting on YOU to form a raid and are expecting you to log on when the time comes.

-Feedback and constructive criticism

As a raider, you have an obligation to police your own, you should be trying to help improve those around you when you raid.  If you find that a fellow player is struggling to keep up in a role that you excel in, talk to him or her.  Throw out ideas for talent specs, gear choices and rotations.  Improve those around you so that everyone benefits.  An officer in my guild once said that there are always going to be players that need or want to be carried but the more people that put effort into their work for the guild, the lighter the load will be.

So the question now is what happens when you are upholding your end of the deal and the other side is failing to do their part.  My suggestion is to do the same thing that I did with my web host:Give a few solid attempts to resolve the issue, if that doesn’t seem to fix the problem then replace until you are happy.