Nicked by the razor

So last week I wrote a post talking about the fine line my guild walks with it's raiding core. Saturday we slipped a bit, and nicked ourselves right in the butt.

To be fair, it wasn't the system that failed, it was the people. Of our 35 invited we had 28 accept/confirm the invite (we use the in game guild calendar), 6 decline, and one who never changed his status. 28 accepted is an acceptable number, and it gives us enough room to flex and bend through the raid.

At invite time there were 21 people online.

Fifteen minutes after the raid was supposed to start, and we're staring at Thorim with 24 folks - four of which are tanks, and only six healers. Our doom-chicken logs on, and when he gets harassed for being late his response was "when did the raid change to 30 minutes early?". The mind boggling thing is that our raids have started at the same time for over a month.

The real kick

I don't mind that folks decline raid invites. Real life happens, and sometimes you just have to miss a raid. We only raid one weekend night (Saturday), so Friday and Sunday folks are free to do whatever they want.

What gets me is the no-call/no-show people. Those that accept, but don't show up at all. In today's electronic world, how tough can it really be to let someone know you won't be around? Half our officers have their cell phone numbers listed on their guild info, the calendar is available through the armory, and we're a small enough guild that everyone knows at least one other person in real life.

The Knee Jerk

The inital reaction of course is for officers to freak out, loot rules to be changed, and yelling to commence. I've been that guy before (it was a dark time), and I think I present a more even keeled approach now.

Expectations have to be clarified, and people need to know there's a stick behind the carrot - but there's a limit. In the end, this is a game. And while 24 other people are counting on you to show up, we can always replace you if it comes to that. I think it's a fear of change that keeps us from doing it more often.

Once we make a decision I'll share it - and hopefully get some opinions on how we've adjusted.