This is a guest post made by Windsoar. Be sure to visit their blog Jaded Alt to find other quality posts on World of Warcraft Topics.

If you’ve ever been an officer for a raiding guild, there always seems to be that certain someone who makes your trigger finger itch over the /gkick function every time they log on. The most frustrating, infuriating, and down-right annoying member that you can ever have to suffer in your raiding guild is the guy who just doesn’t get it – he has a perpetual misconception about what a raiding guild is formed for, and therefore, infuriates other members, the officers and non-guildies complaining about changes that he feels should be implemented. Well buddy, this one’s for you – these are the reasons that your inane requests are not considered, are not on the menu, and will never be implemented.

Raiding Guilds Raid

That’s right – they raid. You know what that means? You are expected to raid too. Some guilds expect you to show up every conceivable night that they raid unless you can mail a certified note signed from your Dr. that you really were in the hospital. More casual guilds may only make a generalized note of whether you were there 1-2 times a week. Read that section again. See where I said even casual guilds keep some kind of eye on who shows? That means, if you don’t show up to raid, you won’t be invited to raid when you do show – pretty simple concept, but one that seems to baffle many a raid member who shows up once a week, if they feel up to it, and expect or even demand to raid with the guild. Guess what pal, you don’t deserve anything. You may get, you may not – it’s up to the guild.

We Have Standards

They might not be much. They may be a certain flair to your gear, a minimum dps/hps/avoidance number that, no, we did not arbitrarily pull out of our collective asses, but actually considered for the content we are trying to clear. In addition to these minimums, we will expect you to:

• Be on time

• Take breaks upon request

• Chant/gem/repair in order to eek the best out of your character

• Follow the raid leader’s instructions without a witty (or more likely a not-so-witty) rejoinder

You will be a cog in our machine, and if that’s too much for you, please, save me the officer meetings about your behavior, the during raid chats that take away from my enjoyment of the game, and generally, the perpetual headache that you bring to my day by manning up and typing /gquit. We know you’d be happier… really.

Did I Mention We Raid?

Do you have an alt? That’s lovely, glad to hear you get the most out of your game time. I will happily congratulate you on Level 20 achievement! However, do not ask, beg, or whine about the lack of people willing to run you through Deadmines. I may do it for my spouse, I may do it for a friend, but I don’t do it for strangers, and I’m not doing it for you.

If I’m on my main and it’s not raid time, I am:

• Running a heroic for badges to improve my gear… for raiding

• Pugging a raid that the guild no longer runs to improve my gear or strategies… for raiding

• Doing dailies for cash… so I can repair for raiding

• Getting materials for flasks or food… for raiding

All of these things will preclude me from helping your alt become awesome at L20. 20 is not an awesome level for me – Deadmines gear is not a must-have, and I will not take your whining about how you must finish Deadmines at the correct level as relevant. If it’s that important to you – pug it with people your own level.

*Crickets*

“I never see anyone on except at raid time.” This isn’t true for all raiding guilds, but it’s a pretty common complaint – you want to know why? It’s a raiding guild. People joined to raid. Period. Oftentimes, they will have all their alts in a leveling or friends guild where they spend their non-regimented time hanging out, shooting the breeze, and otherwise enjoying their WoW time. This is not an issue that your guild officer’s care about – if people are on to raid, have their flasks and food and are prepared to mete out awesome dps, everything is good.

Love Your Officer

Actually, we don’t really require this or even care. I’m not going to be upset that you don’t worship the ground that I tread if you’re in my raiding guild – I just want you to show up prepared, help me kill the giant bug at the end of this instance, and hopefully, have a good time doing it. Everything else is optional – yes it can be fun to form an old instance night, or run a heroic with guildmates, but it is not required, and will likely never be a core issue for any raiding guild you might join. If these things matter to you – screen carefully and save everyone the time and aggravation of trying to set you straight. And for every raider I’ve had the pleasure of working with who has not been that guy, thank you!

Jaded Alt

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