Here’s something I dug up somewhere in the crypt….
Some things to consider when you are either taking part in endgame content raiding or considering doing so, that will result in a buff to your Common Sense spec.
1. RAIDING IS NOT NECESSARY.
World of Warcraft is perfectly awesome without endgame raiding. However, some people do like to raid, whether casually or in a serious raiding atmosphere with a guild dedicated to doing nothing but raiding. There are many different ways to raid. Soon, you’ll even be able to PUG (pick-up-group, or randomly choose people for) a raid.
2. RAIDING IS NOT INSTANCING.
One of the things a lot of players who are new to raiding or who have never done it don’t always understand, is that raiding is NOT the equivalent of a dungeon or heroic but with more people. While raids require 10 or 25 or 40 people instead of 5…they are not the same as a 5-man but bigger and harder. The way a WoW raid is designed is completely different from a dungeon/instance/heroic, even though both have trash pulls and boss fights. Raiding requires a completely different, and much more serious, approach to learning to play one’s class and to be able to fulfill the role you will be assigned in your raid, whether that’s as a tank or a healer or a DPS. Certainly the skills you learn and the gear you earn in dungeons/instances/heroics will help you to be able to start raiding – but raiding is a completely different (and optional, see #1) creature.
3. RAIDING REQUIRES PREPARATION.
You will have to do more than just have nice iLevel gear and some food or flasks on hand to raid successfully. Raiding requires commitment to a team or teams that work together toward shared goals. It requires you to know exactly what you are (and are not) capable of, and all of the intricacies and strategies of your chosen class and sometimes those of others, especially if you intend to participate as a tank or a healer. It will require commitment to show up at scheduled times and be ready to go and be in the game without distractions at that time. When you raid, anywhere from 9 to 39 other people are depending on you. If you fail at raiding, EVERYBODY fails, and it’s over for the week. You can’t just reset instances or get a new group in raiding. You’re in it for the long haul.
4. LEARN TO PLAY – KNOW YOUR CLASS
Being able to live through heroics without dying is a great accomplishment. It won’t be enough for raiding. You will need to research the mathematical strategies and formulae behind your chosen class and specialization (or “spec”) within that class. This is the difference between an amateur and a raider. The new raider will have found someone on the server who is already a raider, and asked lots and lots of questions to learn how best to play to maximize their role in the raid. They will have done their research, whether on elitistjerks.com for the backgrounds on how the various play styles and rotations work, on tankspot.com for videos on how we do the various boss fights, or they will talk to their raid leaders or class leaders and learn how to play. Again, raiding is optional. It is nothing you will ever be required to do, but if you want to do it, expect to do a more than just show up and press some buttons. The better you are, the better the raid is as a whole. We don’t raid for ourselves, but for the entire team, as every member counts and a raid is only as good as its least competent member.
5. RAID READINESS AND RAID RESPECT
If you commit to a raid, expect (note I didn’t say assume, I said EXPECT) to do the following things:
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