Heroes of Swords and Boards » Raid Attendance Issues & My Concerns/Thoughts

Brutale · 7/31/2019 3:55 pm

Before I go into anything, I want everyone to realize that it is not my intention to single anyone out. I love this guild and like every one of our members. There are, however, some behaviors that I cannot ignore without speaking my mind. Thus, there are no names mentioned here with my constructive feedback on purpose, and I would like to keep it so.

Asking for a raid spot in this guild is like joining a softball/bowling league, card club, or charity organization. Along with membership comes regular meetings or game days where everyone gets together and participates. By joining, we make commitments and are expected to honor them by the other members or teammates; it should be no different here. If our team plays softball on Tuesdays & Thursdays from X-time to Y-time and gets together for practice on Saturdays too, we block out that time in our calendar making arrangements with our friends & families letting them know we are generally busy during these times as we have made prior commitments.

This doesn't mean we neglect or disenfranchise other people or commitments in our lives; we just devote other days & times to them.

I realize life happens, and I am not talking about needing to skip a raid to attend a funeral or take the significant other out for that anniversary dinner etc. We are all adults and everyone should see the points I am making here without taking anything personally.

Approaching our raids as optional lets down the team and hurts us all. Lately, it just seems so easy for our members to just bail early or blow off our schedule for anything else that comes up.

Being bored with old content or no longer needing drops form a zone shouldn’t be an excuse for not participating. If the zone/target is still on our hit list, then everyone should be there. After all, others were all there when each of us were getting what we needed too.

If you think the zone/target should not be on our list, make your case with leadership on removing it, but as long as it is on the list, please commit to being there. Many of us have mains that are all geared out, so consider bringing that alt you have been working on. You may get some gear, will be supporting the team, and are helping us complete epics & gear newer members.

In my book, leaders lead by example, and I am disappointed in the some of the examples I have seen set by this guilds leaders at various levels recently. Missing too many raids in general is bad for any raider especially for leaders. Also, playing an alt while the guild is raiding and short on numbers sets a bad example, and I personally have a hard time with this.

Finally, rage quitting the guild or a raid over a disagreement, misunderstanding or perceived injustice seems like conduct unbecoming of leadership at any level in any organization. When leaders exhibit any negative behavior or the kinds of things mentioned above in a business, a charity, or a recreational group, underlings tend to perceive this as acceptable behavior and do the same.

Submitted for your consideration with much love and respect,
Brutal

Last edited by Brutale (7/31/2019 5:24 pm)

Brutale · 7/31/2019 3:59 pm

Before we knee jerk react and decide we shouldn't be raiding Fear, Hate, or Sky, please realize that we still have members needing epic drops from those zones, and there are some items unique to Sky that will be useful forever like the shaman's feign death ring and the ranger's clickable haste cloak.

If our entire raid force does show up, we would blow through this content fast making it less painful for all, but trying to clear Fear and Hate with under 30 something players is not nearly as efficient.

Now, if these raids can be done pug style with lower numbers easily enough like Kedge Keep and getting ourselves locked to a DZ outside of an official raid isn't going to be a problem, we may want to consider removing the raid from our hit list.

Perhaps we need just to recruit more players, so we have more than enough to allow for people who don’t show up in each class the way the cleric team is stacked (kudos Airmed). Yes, this may mean at some point some people who want to raid are going to “ride the bench" some times.

Last edited by Brutale (7/31/2019 4:12 pm)

Aveline · 7/31/2019 4:04 pm

Agreed 100%. Thank you for putting this out there. I will say that I am not on as often as I would like. I am in law enforcement. I am an elected Sheriff in my county and as such, at times I do not have as much time as I would like. Believe me when I say I deal with enough stress on a day to day basis that I LOVE this game. It is a great stress relief and the people here are awesome. I am on the west coast and raiding your times is not ideal for me, but it is all of you that keeps me here. In the winter I will be around a lot more, during the summer, it is tourist season and we are nuts. So if you do not see me on as much, do not think it is because I don't care. I do.

I am ALWAYS available to help lower levels out if you need it also. Camping a mob or leveling...just let me know what I can do to help.

Stay strong, stay focused and before you know it, we will be killing dragons every week. :-)

Be safe.
Sauve The Wolf

Audubon · 8/01/2019 3:13 am

Totally agree with Brutal on many points made, thank you. I know its frustrating to have variable attendance at raids. I can't speak for everyone but I do my best to attend every raid I can. I'm sure most of us do. And for me it doesn't matter whether I need anything that drops or not. I like to see everyone getting gear and drops.

That said if I am absent from a raid its going to be 100% that I am working (often have irregular hours, late days, not to mention pacific time as well). As much as I love playing and raiding with you guys I am a professional and my work comes first.

Jools · 8/01/2019 9:00 am

I am going to take a more contrary position, not because i have a strong conviction otherwise, but rather to illuminate the alternatives. First off, if leadership needs a break, take it, you more than earned it. Second, everyone needs to realize you will never have 100 people on the same page, same schedule, same drives,and same needs in the game. The key to success is adaptability and flexibility in VERY LARGE measures.
This guild is awesome. But it is also the most alt unfriendly guild i have been in and we have lost people because of it. But you have to realize we would probably lose the same amount of people if we treated alts as regular members. So this is a good example. Want to change anything? Expect to lose some folks and gain some as a result. That is the way it goes.
But as for attendance, its low for several tangible reasons. Velious will turn it around. Just dont be hard on leadership or you might find vancantcies you dont want to fill

AdonnaofMangler · 8/05/2019 5:32 pm

Summer is tough because people go on vacations, have family get togethers, etc. I for one have been out of pocket for the last couple of weeks for those very reasons. I have a few things on my calendar coming up that will take me away from game some more, but all isolated things (like this Friday I have a retirement party for a friend, Saturday a surprise 60th birthday party, things like that that I just can't blow off. Being on the West Coast in an EST guild also presents challenges. Wednesday raids are at 4:30, which I can usually make, but sometimes, I'm still at work. Weekend raids that start at 5PM EST gives East Coast People all day to get stuff done, eat and be ready to spend 4 hours at night to raid. On the West Coast, That's 2PM to 6PM or later, which seriously cuts into weekend duties, dinner with family, etc. Add to that, I have a new Granddaughter who is 9 weeks old and has taken up some of this non-work free time (and is a priority to me). This is not to say I am not committed to the guild or don't want to raid - I Do! and I think I have demonstrated that over the past several months. I will be there whenever possible, but if I do miss, it's not because I'm playing an untagged alt or just blowing it off, it's because I have RL conflicts that are important and I can't miss. I do my best to communicate these as they occur. I hope you all understand and know that I am usually around and always willing to help. See you online!