Married IRL

This is going to be somewhat brief and to the point, and I’m not going to get into specifics, because I don’t want to blast drama across the internet. However, AC as a guild has run across this situation a couple times now, and I’d like to make sure people think about things like this before they jump in.

When you are accepted as a member of a guild, and you are given the go ahead that you can raid with them if you want to, please, please think very carefully before you say “yes.”

A lot of people come into a situation thinking about all the fun and cool things that can happen joining a new guild. But then after only one or two raids of participation, something else catches their attention - a new MMO, a new alt, whatever. And then said person misses a raid or two. Then the delay game begins.

“Well, you know, I have to do X, but I should be able to raid again in a couple weeks.”

“I’m just burnt out on it right now, give me a little bit.”

“X real-life commitment is tougher than I thought, but I should be able to work it out.”

Here is the problem. Raiding guilds, especially casual ones like AC, have to maintain something of a delicate balance. A hardcore guild can recruit 30 people or so and say “we require 90% attendance.” But since we have no attendance requirements, we have to maintain enough of a raider base so that when some people don’t show up, raid can still happen. Conversely, we can’t recruit TOO many more people than a full raid, otherwise people don’t get to raid enough because they’re being switched out all the time, and get fed up and leave. It’s a balancing game, taking into account many people’s RL schedules and trying to fit them into a puzzle.

So when a casual guild accepts you, it means they are depending on you to live up to your commitment. Even more so if they have shuffled around the raiding roster or group roles in order to accommodate you. And if you hang around, not raiding, but still saying “just a little more time and I should be back on the bandwagon,” you create a problem. The guild can’t necessarily recruit to replace you, because you’re saying you will be back, and when you do people’s raiding opportunities have to get split up that much more. At the same time, when you’re not showing up, they’re stretching more and more to cover your slot, trying to keep raid momentum going while shorthanded. The problem only multiplies if two or more people start doing the same thing.

So, from a guild leader, please, please look at things from the guild’s point of view for a moment, before you decide to take the plunge. At least personally, if someone made a full effort for at least a couple/few months, and then something came up, I can understand it. But sporadic attendance, or promising you’ll be raiding real soon now, is worse than never showing up at all. It can threaten to stall a guild’s progress, which leads to more people not showing up, which exacerbates the problem, and so on. It’s a real mess to clean up.

Please don’t be That Guy.

(This has been a public service announcement from Stressed Guild Leaders of Azeroth)