I’m In Charge!

And I have no idea what I’m doing!

So last night I ran a ten man Ulduar which was, in retrospect, a smashing success even though we only dropped three bosses.  Most of the group had done said bosses on twenty five man, but I had found very little information about the pared down versions so we kind of had to wing it.  Thank god no one wanted to kill me.

One of my pet peeves is a poorly informed raid leader.  I don’t like someone calling the shots that has no business calling the shots, and I try to not be that person by being open to raider input.  Like, did you know the person at the direct center of the platform will tank Razorscale blue fire patches?  I didn’t. 

MY BAD GUYS.

At any rate, it’s really neat to experience this content as a healer and then as dps, because you really do get a much better understanding of mechanics.  I’m quasi-hoping I can get this same group together each week because we did well and I think everyone had a good time.  Anna at least did.  That’s good, since the poor thing was healing it and healing in there is an absolute nightmare.

This all leads into the meat of my post, by the by.  There was a discussion in my living room the other night about raid tactics and how “raider input” can be a bad thing when there’s too much of it.  I’m not of this school (simply because I ran with a raid leader who had horrible ADD in the past and raider input bailed us out), but I understand the mentality.  Someone has to lead, twenty five people cannot.  Some people have a horrible time adjusting to change and switching tactics will utterly confuse them if it’s done too quickly.  The tough part about boss strategies is there are usually five or six good ones out there, and you have to balance those tactics with the strengths of your raid.  Example:  crowd control on Razorscale versus no crowd control (which was what started this conversation in the first place).  If you have a bunch of multi-shotting crazy hunters and someone with a felguard?  Yeah, CC might not be such a great thing.  If you have superior dps in general, though?  Nuke ‘em and nuke ‘em hard.   Will a raid leader always have the best strategy up front? No, or at least, not in your opinion.

So how do you communicate that well?

First off, if you don’t agree with your raid leader, keep in mind your raid leader likely spent a lot of time outside of game putting things together – especially if this is new content.  Raid leading is a rewarding thing, yes, but it can also be incredibly stressful.  You’re watching pulls, giving out directions, doling out loot, listening to what people have to say, and in general trying to keep chaos from winning the day.  The last thing any raid leader needs is attitude from a raider who doesn’t agree with your call.  I’m not suggesting that you can’t disagree with your raid leader or can’t bring up a concern.  I’m suggesting you should think twice before you verbally eviscerate them.  They likely worked a lot harder to get this raid working than you’re giving them credit for.

Secondly, if you think your idea still holds more weight than one implemented, wait until after the raid to bring it up if you can. Why?  You’ll find a raid leader a whole lot less distracted post-raid which in turn means they’ll give your opinions a lot more attention.   I don’t know many raid leaders who out and out ignore their folks.  That’s how raids fall apart and lose people.  The problem is, if they’re too busy managing healing, positioning, and every other crazy thing that comes up during raids, there is the distinct possibility the brilliance of your suggestion will be lost in the shuffle of Raid Madness.

Lastly, if you feel you have to get your information out there RIGHT AWAY, try a whisper first.  There is absolutely nothing more aggravating than trying to give directions during an encounter and having people interrupt you.  You may think what you have to say is positively imperative, but you are very likely adversely affecting someone else who is paying attention to the raid leader for an instruction.   Unless what the raid leader is saying is point-blank wrong (which hey, it happens, I understand that) . . . don’t mess up your raidmates by cutting the instruction-giving person off.  They might end up jumping back into their instructions at a different point than where they were when you cut them off.  Their flow might be disrupted.  You may actually knock the leadership off-kilter, and if the leadership is off-kilter, your raid is likely borked.  Someone has to hold the group together.

That’s all for me today.  I’m sure people have thoughts or comments about this, so feel free to add on.  Good luck in Ulduar, guys!  Ta.

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