Aaesop
08-29-2007, 01:44 AM
All too often a raid group falls prey to small mishaps. These things are often just small mistakes that occur in nearly any raid. But other often times this is due to morale. In the raid guild its often overlooked during the session of raiding. Whether this is due to the focus of downing trash or bosses or because of the lack of a weather eye on the raid members themselves.
There is a very real momentum in every raid. A raid could be going at an excellent pace, and with no mishaps. Bosses are being one shot and trash goes down quick. However, it only takes one wipe to possibly destroy the group. Just like stopping a bus, once its stopped, it takes a minute to get back rolling again.
In my raiding experience I've gone from raid leaders that are loud, some quiet, some that are obnoxiously positive like a morning episode of Barney. Even some that are strict, blunt and harsh. We can more or less say that they behave in these ways pretty much as a necessity (I hope at least it works in that way.)
However there are always exceptions to that case.
Lets assume that there's a guild that's making their first attempt into Karazhan. They may go in and crush off everything in front of them up until Opera, in which case they get Romulo And Juliene. A seemingly easy fight for any group that's spent their share of time in MC. But this isn't always true today. Many raiders today have never raided MC before, and in turn haven't raided at all before.
Certain pressure is there. They know from talk that raids are a lot bigger in scale and dedication than anything a 5 man ever is. This is a delicate point in a raid team's future. If they go in and are unable to clear to Attumen then they are most likely going to look at the experience in a negative way, and feel that any short term attempts would be just the same as the current. Sighting inexperience or lack of gear as the probable reasons. Morale there is being lost and fast.
If the team does make it past a few bosses then there's steam that has built up, a definate good sign. This is where it gets a tad more tricky. If theres a wipe it's very possible that steam could die out. Multiple wipes compound that. Veteran raiders are less prone to this happening as they can almost always identify the real reasons to why a wipe occurred. If it's inexperience they know the next attempt will go better than the first.
Herein lies the best aspect of all that. The fact that they know that the next attempt will be better, plain and simple. "This boss has a debuff that we must negotiate and adapt to, once we have that worked out we'll crush it." They don't view it as "we just don't have the gear to plow through."
Some things like Prince just rely on luck. Nobody knows where the Infernals will drop, its just a matter of going in and giving it the best shot.
With that said, morale and keeping a few standup members informed that they need to keep the raid pumped, or providing great feedback to the raid is essential! "We got curator to 20%!! We can nail this!" 20 percent isn't taking a boss down but it's a clear sign that the group is on fire and if they redouble their efforts that they'll make it one more step closer to glory. "We got it down to 20, we just need to go back in and rock him harder, So and so you did great rounding up those adds running around, keep it up!"
If you as a raid leader or anyone see someone do something good, let them know, whether by tell, raid chat or voice chat. Let them know their on the right track and that their actions really ensured that the group is going to roll right over this encounter.
Earlier this evening we were on Maiden and I died because I wasn't healed for a period of time, our druid off tank immediately jumped from cat to bear form and worked on taking aggro from me. In the end I did die but because of his sharp eye, Maiden didn't run rampant to destroy the raid. Our paladin simply got tied up between using blessing of sacrifice, healing, and clensing. After Maiden dropped I immediately praised Hoko (The druid) for being right on the ball and being aware of the raid group the whole time to have the mind to prepare to pick it up. BUT, I also let the Paladin know that it was perfectly ok, and that he did a great job of so much multi tasking. It was fortunate as well that the healing mace and a tank neck dropped. Both people were recipients for their hard work in this case. But more so I believe our next pulls and fight in Opera went smoother because the raid group as a whole had gained a lot more morale during that fight. We had brought on a great deal of newcomers in the run so it was a mixture of experienced and new. I felt it was good that we downed her in that fashion.
It drove a statement that our group could tackle any obstacle so long as we kept sharp minds and stayed positive with each and every pull.
In your next raid be vocal about what people did in a positive light. Let the healers know they are all spot on with heals and are doing great to keep everyone afloat, making note that their job is integral. Tell the hunter that grabbing the loose mob into a trap was an awesome snap reaction and it saved the raid. Let the other tanks know that their doing great, nobody's coming close to ripping aggro from them. But always let the group as a full know that their work thusfar has been outstanding and that if they keep it up that the boss IS indeed going to take a dive.
Taking these proactive measures along with your officers, raid leader and GM will ensure that your raid team performs at its peak, if not anything else it keeps the fun going and keep the stress down to the very bottom.
There is a very real momentum in every raid. A raid could be going at an excellent pace, and with no mishaps. Bosses are being one shot and trash goes down quick. However, it only takes one wipe to possibly destroy the group. Just like stopping a bus, once its stopped, it takes a minute to get back rolling again.
In my raiding experience I've gone from raid leaders that are loud, some quiet, some that are obnoxiously positive like a morning episode of Barney. Even some that are strict, blunt and harsh. We can more or less say that they behave in these ways pretty much as a necessity (I hope at least it works in that way.)
However there are always exceptions to that case.
Lets assume that there's a guild that's making their first attempt into Karazhan. They may go in and crush off everything in front of them up until Opera, in which case they get Romulo And Juliene. A seemingly easy fight for any group that's spent their share of time in MC. But this isn't always true today. Many raiders today have never raided MC before, and in turn haven't raided at all before.
Certain pressure is there. They know from talk that raids are a lot bigger in scale and dedication than anything a 5 man ever is. This is a delicate point in a raid team's future. If they go in and are unable to clear to Attumen then they are most likely going to look at the experience in a negative way, and feel that any short term attempts would be just the same as the current. Sighting inexperience or lack of gear as the probable reasons. Morale there is being lost and fast.
If the team does make it past a few bosses then there's steam that has built up, a definate good sign. This is where it gets a tad more tricky. If theres a wipe it's very possible that steam could die out. Multiple wipes compound that. Veteran raiders are less prone to this happening as they can almost always identify the real reasons to why a wipe occurred. If it's inexperience they know the next attempt will go better than the first.
Herein lies the best aspect of all that. The fact that they know that the next attempt will be better, plain and simple. "This boss has a debuff that we must negotiate and adapt to, once we have that worked out we'll crush it." They don't view it as "we just don't have the gear to plow through."
Some things like Prince just rely on luck. Nobody knows where the Infernals will drop, its just a matter of going in and giving it the best shot.
With that said, morale and keeping a few standup members informed that they need to keep the raid pumped, or providing great feedback to the raid is essential! "We got curator to 20%!! We can nail this!" 20 percent isn't taking a boss down but it's a clear sign that the group is on fire and if they redouble their efforts that they'll make it one more step closer to glory. "We got it down to 20, we just need to go back in and rock him harder, So and so you did great rounding up those adds running around, keep it up!"
If you as a raid leader or anyone see someone do something good, let them know, whether by tell, raid chat or voice chat. Let them know their on the right track and that their actions really ensured that the group is going to roll right over this encounter.
Earlier this evening we were on Maiden and I died because I wasn't healed for a period of time, our druid off tank immediately jumped from cat to bear form and worked on taking aggro from me. In the end I did die but because of his sharp eye, Maiden didn't run rampant to destroy the raid. Our paladin simply got tied up between using blessing of sacrifice, healing, and clensing. After Maiden dropped I immediately praised Hoko (The druid) for being right on the ball and being aware of the raid group the whole time to have the mind to prepare to pick it up. BUT, I also let the Paladin know that it was perfectly ok, and that he did a great job of so much multi tasking. It was fortunate as well that the healing mace and a tank neck dropped. Both people were recipients for their hard work in this case. But more so I believe our next pulls and fight in Opera went smoother because the raid group as a whole had gained a lot more morale during that fight. We had brought on a great deal of newcomers in the run so it was a mixture of experienced and new. I felt it was good that we downed her in that fashion.
It drove a statement that our group could tackle any obstacle so long as we kept sharp minds and stayed positive with each and every pull.
In your next raid be vocal about what people did in a positive light. Let the healers know they are all spot on with heals and are doing great to keep everyone afloat, making note that their job is integral. Tell the hunter that grabbing the loose mob into a trap was an awesome snap reaction and it saved the raid. Let the other tanks know that their doing great, nobody's coming close to ripping aggro from them. But always let the group as a full know that their work thusfar has been outstanding and that if they keep it up that the boss IS indeed going to take a dive.
Taking these proactive measures along with your officers, raid leader and GM will ensure that your raid team performs at its peak, if not anything else it keeps the fun going and keep the stress down to the very bottom.