Raiding Expectations

Legion has brought new friends to Game Theory, so I would like to set the proper expectations. Let's start with what we are NOT.

We are not super hardcore raiders (even though some of us occasionally want to be). The really hardcore Mythic crowd does things like have two max level, fully geared characters at all times. One is in the raid, the other is sitting outside the instance. They trade out characters and players for each boss. They spend 3 hours a day farming items that will give them a 0.00000001% better chance to win. In the Mythic race, all that can make a difference. They'll drop a character and level a whole new one if they perceive a recent change had too big a negative impact. That is not us.

We are not an "anything goes, whatever happens" casual guild. This kind of guild takes whatever friend or family member wants to come along. Gear doesn't matter, spec doesn't matter, it's just about playing something together. This guild never gets out of Normal, if even that far. There are absolutely no requirements or expectations except not being a jerk. Also not us.

Neither of these styles is bad. Putting effort into being the very best is great! I love overcoming challenges. Just chilling with friends and family is awesome. Everyone should be able to have a good time playing a video game. These styles are simply not Game Theory and that's ok. What are we?

We are in the middle. We are not going to kick someone because they didn't hit the theoretical 350k DPS threshold. We also aren't going to ignore someone doing less DPS than a tank. (Sorry tanks!) The raiding goal here at Game Theory is to clear Heroic raids while they are current. (We might poke into Mythic if we have time and the people, but it's not a goal.) We do Heroic raids because that level allows us a balance. There is still a challenge, but it's not so extreme that our non-WoW lives need to suffer for it. We do Normal raids to get ready for Heroic and for fun. Also so that we can bring along some less skilled/geared friends to have a good time. Heroic raids are still a challenge and require more effort.

I expect you to have flasks and food and potions. For one person, these do not make much impact. For a whole raid of 20 people they have a significant effect. I don't expect you to use the most expensive potions for our first pull on a new raid boss. Or our 20th pull on a boss that we have not gotten under 50%. It's fine to save them for the real close attempts, when we wiped at 10%. The guild provides 500 stat feasts for every raid. Material donations to the bank are appreciated so that we can always be prepared!

You should have flasks for each raid. We are usually able to provide a flask cauldron, but you should always be prepared in case we do not have one that night. Flasks are very cheap these days with the Blood of Sargeras vendor in Dalaran. Have some made and ready, just in case. Multiple crafters in the guild are happy to make them if you provide the mats.

These expectations aren't here to be arbitrary. Our goal is to beat the bosses and that can't be done if we don't put in the effort. On a similar note, these bosses have certain DPS and healing requirements. I'm not going to set a specific number to hit, but if we are clearly failing the DPS requirement on a boss and there are a couple people that are consistently low on the meters, I may have to ask you to step out of the raid. This isn't to be mean or punishing, it's just the reality of the DPS needed to beat the boss. If we only have four healers online, we can't take 25 players. That's too many. If we don't have enough healers, we will have to cut down the raid size.

That's unfortunate, because the BEST thing about Flex is that we can take any raid size! No one should have to sit out! But there is no point going in with a raid that can't do it. That's just wasting time and gold.

That's enough for the moment. :) Definitely don't stress about being kicked because of a mistake or two, that won't happen. If you are continually struggling, we are happy to help you. This is just about setting the expectation for new and old members. We are a very relaxed guild and we have a lot of fun, but part of that comes because everyone cares. We succeed because everyone tries hard. We want to be the best we can, so we can have the most fun, so everyone can enjoy. We don't want to spend night after night in frustration of wipes. Oh, some nights of wipes will happen, but so long as we work as a team, those wipes won't last long. If we work against each other, we will get nowhere.

I am so very glad you are here! I hope you love it here and enjoy your time in Game Theory and in Warcraft. Please ask questions if you have any!