Be on time. This is as simple as it gets. The invites start 15 minutes before the scheduled raid time. This means if the raid starts at 9pm, you need to be online for your invite at 8:45pm. Do not be in a heroic, do not be in Wintergrasp pvp’ing, be ready for the invite and ready to head to the instance. The first pull is expected to be at the time listed for the raid start. This means everyone there, inside the instance and buffed by the raid start time. The raids will be scheduled for 3 hours, this is a strict 3 hours from start to finish. We will begin on time and end on time.
Today I bring you another post from my Captain Obvious collection. The on-time start is about as rare as a hunter who has all three spirit beasts.
If there’s one thing I plan to drive home in this series is that raiding is a team effort. It’s not unlike being on a softball team or tennis team. Your attitude and behavior impacts the other players around you and their enjoyment of this game.
Now I don’t know about you, but I play this game in my home. This means that all it takes is my entering a password and secure ID number for me to be at my destination.
I used to play on summer league tennis teams. We had matches scheduled every Saturday morning at 9:00 am. Early in the week I’d let the captain know of my availability (see rule number one). On game day I’d get up early and drive to the site of the match usually arriving about 15 minutes early. If I knew I needed to be late, I’d let the captain know so he could make arrangements for a later start with the other team.
When it comes to raiding I accept/decline raid invitations as soon I know my availability. I usually logon 15 minutes before first pull, and I let the raid leader know if I’m going to be late.
For some reason it seems that since we can play in the comfort of our own home versus having to “be” somewhere, there is a tendency to take things a bit more casually.
Just because you don’t have to get in your car and drive somewhere, and just because you aren’t meeting people face-to-face doesn’t mean you should treat this any differently then if the raid were a tennis team match, or even a happy hour meet up.
The raid is an event that you have been invited to. It has a meeting location, a start time, and your actions impact the nine or 24 other players who are also participating in the raid.
It’s not just about you, although it is all hunter loot. 😉
