Raiding: PUGs, Guilds, and Raids

Boys,

What is a PUG? Pick Up Group

In WoW, there is the initial game of levelling from 1-X (x = whatever current content goes up to; for our RL game we are going to use 1-100) followed by PVPing and Raiding. Not everyone who plays levels 1-100 wants to PVP or Raid. While I got my toes wet PVPing, I preferred raiding. The bosses are known and can be studied. Strategies can be researched and tried by changing one variable at a time until finally you figure out what works for your specific group.

Guilds offer numerous opportunities for various levels of play and commitment. Within a guild there is a leader and unique set of guidelines. For some guilds, there are opportunities for lvls 1-100, and for others they won't even grant you membership until you are epiced out. There are pros and cons to each of these.

RL Guilds come in the form of churches, schools, or even Boy Scouts. Each is a subset of our community with something in common binding them together. Over generations they come into fruition and then fade into memory with each new tide bringing in both death and the new life that will replace it. There are benefits that come from establishment and of course frustrations when obvious changes can't get made.

PUGs, on the other hand, are formed on the fly. They come without the long term commitment of a guild, but are then limited by their immaturity.

Each raid needs a raid leader, tank, healer, and DPS.

The raid leader's job is to research strategy and keep the group on course. Sometimes, a bad call is made because he doesn't have all the information necessary to make the right decision, so it's important for raid members to know which bits of information are superfluous and which are significant.

The tank goes around picking fights. Raid members know overall which bosses are on the agenda, but the tank gets to determine which mobs get pulled and how. It's important to keep pulling at a rate where progress is being made, but cautiously enough that time isn't wasted unnecessarily due to wipes.

Healers heal. It's probably the most sociable job because you get to ignore most of the raid chat and stay in your own little world, but it is a crucial part of the group. Tanks can only take so many hits before they die and a good healer provides the protection and regeneration necessary for the entire group to progress.

And progression is ALWAYS the goal.

(Progression = doing BETTER!)

Raid Boss #1: T1D (considered defeated when A1C<9)

Raid leader: Jason

Tank: Veronica

Healer: Cindy

DPS: Anthony, David, Gregory

GAMBATTE!

-mom