This weeks raiding experience was interesting to say the least. We struggled. We didn't struggle because we didn't know the fights. We didn't struggle because we had a couple folks along who were under geared and under experienced. (Though the both were true) We just seemed out of sync with each other.
Tuesday we got a late start and got to Sha in the first wing of Orgimmar flex. That means in one raid night we got three bosses down, when we have been doing this wing in about an hour previously. Once again it's not that we didn't know what we were doing, things just seemed to be running rougher then others.
Wednesday we managed to get Sha down after three attempts and got stopped on Galakras in the second wing. This means for the first time in a few weeks, we didn't get further then downing the first wing of Flex. This of course breed frustration, and when people get frustrated they tend to speak out a bit more.
Now, as a raid leader I promote feedback. I think when people are allowed to voice their opinions, and you can listen that you can get a better picture of what is going on. When you are healing, tanking, or dpsing it's hard not to get tunnel vision and ignore everything that going on that doesn't relate directly to you. It means that as times, you may be focused on keeping life bars full, or catching rampaging adds rather then calling out what is happening in the raid to those around you. This means, if people are used to you calling stuff out, you have ripped a crutch out from under them.
I am not the best person at calling stuff out. I admit this. Until a few months ago my wife would do this for me because she is fantastic at noticing what was going on, and calling it to the group. Now without her I'm starting to feel like I need to be more aggressive on speaking out and leading the raid verbally. I am going to experiment a little with this, so that I may do better.
Circling around to the reason I am discussing this however is that when people give feedback in raid, it isn't always in a positively re-enforcing manner. If I walk to a boss and my re-action is, "Crap I hate healing this" then it effects the group around me, if only slightly. If I do it constantly it makes everyone around me start to feel negatively towards me and my attitude so that eventually everything I say is undermined by the over all impression I give of myself.
This also goes with calling out reasons why someone believes we are wiping. There is a world of difference between approaching something with "We don't have the Dps to get this down," versus "Hey, the adds are going down a little slowly, any suggestions on how we can pick that up better?" Both essentially say the same thing, but one comes off as, "Meh, lets admit defeat," and the other is "Alright, how can we pick up and do this better?" One opens possibilities, one closes them.
The other thing to keep in mind when you call something out, your not always going to be right. Even if you are right, sometimes things will still not go your way. People will not agree with your point, and even I, in my raid leaderlyness may not agree with your. By calling it out instead of whispering the raid leader though you need to recognize a few things.
A. You put me in a position where I have to answer you. If I don't agree with you I have to do it in front of everybody. If you whisper me, I can go back and forth with you in a manner where we are both not in positions that may look bad if the calls are wrong.
B. You are not just speaking to me, you are speaking to the raid. If you are saying the DPS is too low, you are calling out every member on the DPS team for their performance. If you say the heals feel low, you are not just telling me, but you are calling out the entire healing team on their performance. When you say something over vent you are addressing everyone, not just me. If a group needs to be called out over vent, I need to be the one doing it. If someone else is doing it, they are just building animosity towards themselves.
C. Your attitude will matter more then your words. As I said above, people don't have the luxury on this game of knowing you face to face, so what they hear and see is all they have to judge you on. If you are constantly calling stuff out, and it ends up being wrong, or you sound like your talking out of your ass, it will effect the whole team negatively.
I normally wait a few pulls on a boss before I start suggesting ways to fix things. I find that often, people will realize they are standing in the poo, not seeing adds going down quickly, or feel they are struggling and work to self correct. If two or three pulls later we are still struggling on the same mechanics, I will start to suggest and ask for suggestions on how to fix the problem. I am not making us pull several times to slam our faces against the wall, but I am seeing if we are repeating the same problem, or if someone just happened to make a SNAFU, and if they fix it without being called out in front of everyone.
I recognize when people are calling stuff out and giving reasons for wipes they are trying to help out. Even if they are doing so in a negative manner, or in a manner that rubs people the wrong way, it is in the spirit of trying to help the raid team. I do not want to stifle anyone who is trying to help, but I would like to build them to do so in such a manner that it builds the team. If it's bringing the team down, or making people feel negative about the team, eventually I will have to address it.
Next week, I am putting forth a lofty goal. I want to get the first wing down in the first night, and the second wing down on the second night. All our fights are posted on the guild website, so there is no reason for anyone to walk into the raid not knowing what they are doing. If you have time to cap valor, and run LFR's during the week, you have time to watch a ten minute video.
As always, I will find a way to build things up.
Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye.
1 comment:
Fantastic blog this week! All points taken to heart. Thank you for your continued leadership in giving us all an opportunity to see this part of the game! Ready to blast on Tuesday. Lillamb
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