Hey all!
We wanted to drop some notes on WoW group content in our community, to perhaps inform newer members and remind more experienced members of our expectations.
Personal responsibility and manners are a big part of interacting with a community. Some of the below will be reminders of rules and expectations we already have in place. Some might be new iterations. But here we go:
Discord
Please utilize Discord. Use it for your groups, use it for hanging out, use it to post silly memes - just use it. And encourage others to do the same. Be part of the community.
Discord Party channels - all are welcome to join in on any Party channel but be respectful if the channel is already being used.
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Anyone and everyone should feel like they can join any of the Party channels at any time - even if a group is already going. BUT if (for example) a dungeon group is actively running a key - be respectful when you enter the channel. Feel free to say hey and listen to the key being ran or ask them to stream it so you can watch. Participate in the conversation if it is a conversation, and it’s not dungeon callouts. If more people start to join and full conversations are starting to take place over the original group - please take the new conversation to another channel if asked (or take it upon yourself to do so).
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We are a mature server - so we do allow cursing/cussing. Please watch out for excessive cursing though - especially when hanging in the Lounge, but this applies to all channels. It should not be every other word of your sentence, c’mon. Thanks!
PUGs - How To Get Them In Channel on Discord
When getting a PUG to join our server so they can join your channel:
- Share the server link.
- Tell them to click ‘I ACCEPT’ in the #welcome channel.
- Tell them to choose any role in the #role-assignment channel. (by clicking the Alliance(Proudmoore) or Horde(Area 52) buttons - either or both)
These instructions are also given to them when they click the server link/join the server. This is the standard process across many gaming servers.
For any text communication you need to have with them via Discord - use the #wow-mythicplus Discord channel.
M+
Post your keys up in guild and Cross Faction chat to build groups and feel free to X up for posted keys. Use the @WoW-Mythic+ role on Discord to mention users with that tag (plz not more than every 5 mins or so to avoid spam). What else is a community for, if not to do content with fellow members? BUT know your capabilities as well as your limitations and do not expect the guild to “owe” you a key.
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Know what ilvl is appropriate for what key level.
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Know the dungeon - if it’s a higher key and you know you don’t have the dungeon/affix knowledge to do it - go run it on lower keys until you do (or do your research on WoWhead, etc).
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Don’t be afraid to ask questions if it’s a dungeon or mechanic/affix you’re unfamiliar with. But also do your own research if there is something specific that you are struggling with.
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If you do X up - be prepared to take no for an answer and not take it personally. If a group is trying to time a key and you X up for it but are undergeared/underexperienced - they are not obligated to say yes.
–If you are a member having to say no to someone - I expect that you are not going to be an asshole when you decline. Explain why - either due to ilvl, how hard the key/affix combo is, low dungeon knowledge, etc. Use that “no” for a conversation.
That’s not to say “carry groups”/learning groups won’t post up and take you regardless of your ilvl/experience - but do not expect this to be the status quo.
We currently have 2 nights of M+ Mingle Nights on a rotating schedule (schedule posted in #wow-mythicplus Discord channel pins and on the calendar in game). This is a good time to get to know fellow members and have fun - this is not for pushing keys. If someone in a group has the highest key, they are not obligated to use that key for the group. The key chosen should align with the abilities of the group.
Raid - One Roster, One Team
We may run two teams but they exist with the mindset that there is ONE raid team in Evolved. If we can’t set both groups up for success, we are failing our ONE team.
As previously discussed, this means:
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Tuesday, Friday, Saturday are one roster. 2 groups. 1 Team. 8 hours total time commitment (includes 2 optional hours).
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Wednesday, Thursday are one roster. 2 groups. 1 Team. 4 hours total time commitment.
Raid Balancing
Each roster is balanced between its respective groups to the best of our abilities. We try not to make these balancing events happen too often, and never mid-week, but if we see issues that need to be addressed (like a large dps imbalance or not enough healers/too many healers in one group), we will address them. Our groups should progress at roughly the same rate. That is our goal. As a raider within the Evolved community, we ask that you be flexible (we do primarily keep spouses together if requested, and secondarily we will TRY to keep friends together…but that is not a guarantee).
Sign up, Show up
If you are signing up to raid, you are saying that, “If I’m available to raid IRL, I’ll be online and raiding with the team”. Real Life will always come first - it’s why we don’t have mandatory attendance and allow people to join in for 1-3 nights a week depending on their Real Life schedule. We understand that raid burnout may occur and you might want to do something else with your time online. If this is ever the case - take a whole week off at a time. This will minimize impact to the teams and to your officers trying to solidify their expectations for a raid night. Don’t become frustrated two nights in and not show up for the 3rd night but still be online. It’s disrespectful and just an overall shitty thing to do. Sign up to raid, show up to raid.
If you can’t show up due to real life, please post out in the #tue-fri-sat | singup_our or the #wed-thu | signup_out channel so we know what to expect. If you need to DM the raid leader/raid assist with more specific details than you want to share in the public channel, do so but then also go post in the Discord channel so the whole Officer team has a notification of your absence. If you are one of our members that has let us know the specific days they are available (ex: Tues/Sat, but never Friday) and that changes, please update us.
Will Call
There is one Will Call roster for Tues, Fri, Sat. There is one Will Call roster for Weds, Thurs.
Each requires its own sign up or the mention that you’re signing up for both, when you sign up. Raid Leaders and/or Raiding Assists have the discretion on whether to approve and add you to the individual rosters.
If you are Will Call - it is your responsibility to let the raid officers know you are available to raid via whisper/ping in Discord.
- Whoever you whisper/ping will acknowledge the message is seen.
- If it gets missed, try again. There is always A LOT going on at the beginning of raid.
Will Call and Available to Raid - Will Call raiders are not guaranteed a spot.
- If a raid is full, then we don’t have room.
- If it would hurt the scaling of a boss we are progressing on, you may not be invited for that boss.
- If it would hurt our progression b/c you have not been around on other progression nights of a boss, you may not be invited for that boss.
Will Call is definitely more viable a position to be in when we have more things on farm. BUT being Will Call still means that you meet all raid requirements AND have knowledge of the bosses.
Raid Success and Removals
Raiding in WoW (in any MMO) is TEAM content. Being on any team comes with an unsaid agreement that you contribute to the overall success of the team. We have been lax on some of our existing rules/strategies while learning progression bosses, but going forward we will be more strict on using our existing rules to get past raid roadblock. That includes removing raiders when we need to, in order to get bosses down.
Every progression fight has the potential to cause a problem for any guild. A team effort is required to kill bosses especially during progression. A handful of individuals cannot carry the group to success. There will be times where we will have to remove or add raiders based on their:
- knowledge of mechanics pertaining to your class/spec such as DPS/dmg done, healing abilities, or tanking abilities.
- Sometimes, the flex size of a raid may require shrinking the raid to better balance the challenge. Please don’t take this to heart, we all want to have a successful raid.
Attempts
Raiding requires a certain amount of commitment. Every member is expected to learn the boss mechanics. Repeated failure of mechanics will result in removal from a boss fight. We will address the situation(s) as they arise during both progression and farm.
- We will always go for a minimum of three attempts on any bosses with all raiders before removing.
- Respect the time of your raid team members.
- Please have the personal responsibility to remove yourself if you know you are not meeting expectations for a specific boss.
Removed
When learning new content, it’s always harder to judge what level of DPS/Damage Done or Healing or Tanking that is needed to down a boss. For this we will be using various websites, guides, and our own learning to move forward.
- With this in mind we will be removing underperforming raiders.
- Get with your Raid leader after the raid as they will explain why you were removed
If you are being sat during raids due to underperforming, please take the time to ask questions AFTER RAID in regards to why you are being sat. There could be many different reasons as to why. Could be as simple as not using an ability enough, or you might not have ever used it because it’s not on your bar.
- Better Your Performance .
- If you are removed please either remain in the channel, in case you are called back in, or log out in a calm manner.
Raszageth the Storm Eater
Lady Raz has a lot of personal responsibility as well as several DPS checks built into her fight.
TFS
Blizzard has again made personal responsibility in survival, dps/hps, and mechanics a core part of their last raid boss for the tier. This means that one person failing a mechanic, dying early, or doing sub par dps (<45k) will be cause for a wipe. Raszageth is one such boss. The above rules apply to any boss, but if solid progression isn’t seen during the first few pulls (1-3 at your RL’s discretion); we will be shrinking the raid size. This is to minimize the impact to our raid night as well as to keep the raid team’s morale high. The scaling on Raszageth highly affects the size of her hp as well as the size of the shield in P2. Consistently going in to this phase with almost anyone dead in the raid has resulted in wipes, therefore we hope that shrinking the raid size will keep the fight manageable.
If you are asked to sit for the night, you are welcome back the next raid night. Take the time to look at the logs/Wowanalyzer/Wipefest to help you improve or ask someone in the raid to stream so you can see the fight and progression while not present. Most raiders have seen this fight 50-100 pulls at this point, so we hope that shrinking will help us get that first kill which should hopefully make it easier going forward for everyone.
TIPS
- Look to make sure you are running a good spec for Raszageth - wowhead and icyveins have suggested specs per boss. You can edit these to fit your playstyle - for survivability, for movement, etc - but take a look and do some research to see if any changes would help your performance.
- Make sure you are using your health pots!
WT
This is TBD and will be updated as needed.
Personal Responsibility
Also refer to the Raider Rank section of World of Warcraft Raiding Information.
If you struggle with your spec or with specific mechanics - you should be taking it upon yourself to find ways to improve. Recognize your struggles and improve on them - always be working to improve. That’s what this game is - improving on dmg/healing/tanking/mechanics with better gear/skill/rotation/experience/practice - always improving.
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If you sign up with a specific spec, we expect that you are able to raid with it at the level of skill required for the content. If you need assistance to improve, feel free to reach out. We are more than willing to look with you at logs, WoWAnalyzer, and point you to resources you can use to improve.
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- Examples of issues: If you are a DPS - your dps should at minimum be above the tank. If you are a HEAL - you should be using a raid appropriate healing spec. If you are a TANK - you should know when to utilize your dmg reduction cd’s - not just be using them on cooldown.
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You are required to be familiar with mechanics - watch videos (multiple videos, from varying Points of View, if needed), read raid strategies on whatever site you prefer, but do the pre-requisite of being familiar with a boss before you join the team to fight it. Heroic is not where we teach mechanics that should have been learned in Normal. And even for Normal, you should have some idea of the fight prior to even stepping in. Raid Leaders will always give a basic explanation of the fight - but they are there to LEAD not to teach. Do not be afraid to ask questions if you are confused by a mechanic - mechanics can be effing confusing. But if the answer does not solidify your understanding, be willing to put in the work to improve your understanding. You should not be consistently dying to the same mechanic every time we visit a boss, especially two months into the tier.
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You are responsible for your own improvement. We are here to help, but we cannot do it for you. Help us help you. We monitor performance week-to-week (always have) - but if we do not see improvement week to week, you may be asked to sit until we see improvement. If this happens, let your Raid Leader know when you can attend an Open Raid (or if Sunday’s will never work for you - schedule a conversation with your Raid Leader and discuss what you’ve worked on to improve) and we will re-evaluate.
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If you’re looking for a resource for improvement on our forums, check here.
We want everyone that wants to raid to be able to raid, but signing up to raid means you have an unspoken agreement with the rest of the team that you will work on yourself to improve, keep up with gear, and know the mechanics of a fight (among other things). Respect your teammates.
We are more than willing to help, just ask.
If you have questions about this post, feel free to DM me or any officer.
Thanks everyone.