Making an example

It happened this weekend during a Heroic Naxx run: I had to stiffen my spine and remove someone from the raid just before a pull of the Four Horsemen.

There's a strange disconnect between how I felt as I labored over writing our raiding rules, thinking to myself with satisfaction that 'That'll fix 'em! Anyone who doesn't follow these rules will be booted so fast their head'll spin!' and the sick feeling of dread mixed with indignation that knotted my belly just before I removed the troublesome raid member.

The fact of the matter is that I don't really want to have to be a hard ass. Who does? Sure it's funny to watch the stereotyped jerks that are a staple of any sitcom that takes place in a working environment (Dr. Kelso from Scrubs comes to mind), but to actually step into those shoes and be that guy? There's nothing fun about it at all. For one thing, there are no lines to have memorized. For another, the person you're laying the smackdown on is not an actor paid to look hurt.

I did it anyway.

The priest in question went AFK just before Instructor Razuvious. We pulled anyway and he came back partway through. Then he went AFK just before Gothik. We pulled anyway and he came back partway through and then exclaimed over Vent as if he couldn't believe that 24 other people didn't wait for him to come back. Then we got to the Four Horsemen, where we ran into a bit of trouble with people dying in the back and the raid wiped a time or two. As we got ready for the third attempt, I sent out a ready check. Everyone came back immediately, except for him. I said aloud, "Pull anyway," and my husband, who was tanking, did so. As he pulled, I removed the priest from the raid.

Scarcely a second later, I received a frantic whisper. "Dude! Invite me back! I need this boss!" Since I was busily spamming heals in the back, I made no reply. He kept trying anyhow. Some time towards the end of the fight I died and replied back: "I made my decision for this raid. You have been warned before about your AFK's and I acted as I felt was best for the raid."

Then he got angry and abusive. I informed him that he was welcome to talk to an officer but that I suggest he wait until they were done with the raid as no one would have time to discuss it at present. His ill temper and foul language escalated. I nudged my husband after the last of the Four Horsemen dropped and after a look at that, the troublemaker was removed from the guild.

My hands and voice shaking slightly, I swiftly explained the series of events over Vent and many people, already irritated with the priest's lack of respect, expressed their approval. A few got quiet - other people who had received warnings.

The rest of the raid proceeded smoothly. I didn't have a single person break a single rule. While I always assumed something along these lines would happen - someone would just keep pushing until they were forcibly removed - and that it wouldn't be a great loss to the guild - it would be someone new and arrogant and unlikeable - I somehow never thought it would happen so soon.

I'm very glad, in a way, that it did pan out this way. Now I've had a chance to stick with my guns and demonstrate that yes, I am deadly serious about keeping the rules and holding each raider accountable to what they agreed to. At the same time, I also begin to see why the Raid Leaders of hardcore guilds (or at least the few I've been exposed to) are so callous and seemingly cruel. You have to carry yourself apart from the petty concerns of whether or not people will like you and make the hard decisions and do what's right even when it sucks. This only sucked mildly, since no one was particularly attached to the priest who is no longer in the guild.

Moving onward, I can only hope that no one in the core group of long time guild members who have really established relationships with others in the guild ever finds a need to push me to the same point.

The testing of our rules

When I came on board as a raid leader, the first thing I did was sit down with the guild leadership and work on writing up a list of rules that would govern the way we do the casual raiding thing. One of our craftier officers, who has managed people for a living, gave an excellent suggestion during this process. He said that whatever rules we put out for people to look at should also have a requirement attached to them - basically, that anyone who wanted to raid should sign on the thread that they read and agreed to the rules. This brings our few rules into the realm of 'enforceable' and thereby makes them worth having.

Because being casual and raiding is the aim, we had to consider what was important enough to us that we could enforce it without simultaneously shooting ourselves in the foot by disqualifying everyone from raiding within the first few weeks.

Our rules - without the extra paragraph of details - read more like points of what should be common sense (but so often aren't):

1. Raider sign-ups: Raiders must sign up in order to attend raids.
2. Don't accept what you can't make: We hate having to scramble to fill a spot 5 minutes after the raid was supposed to start and you're still not here.
3. Your time is not your own: We shouldn't have to wait on you so show up on time and ready.
4. AFK's kill: Don't AFK every 5 minutes. We have scheduled breaks every hour.
5. Know when to talk and when to not: Are you the Raid Leader? No? Then shut up and let me give the strat.
6. QQ about loot or raid spots will not be tolerated: If loot is all you're here for, go elsewhere.
7. Raiders will not be asked to raid instances they're not ready for: No, we don't want fresh 80's on progression fights.
8. The not very fine print: Say that you agree to this or you don't get to raid with us.

I'm a naturally rude person. You might be able to tell from my paraphrasing of those rules.

When I first posted the rules to the raiding forum I rather thought that there would be some negative feedback about the eighth item. There wasn't much, but the signatures didn't exactly come pouring in. Oddly enough, it was the seventh rule that raised the most hue and cry. Why? Because suddenly there was something people had to do other than hit 80, run a heroic or two, and sign up to be considered for progression raiding. (Progression being Ulduar - this has only been implemented over the past few months.)

Guild leadership decided to go with be.imba.hu for a yardstick rating system to apply to raiders. It seemed like an easy way to get an idea of where people were on getting geared up without having to individually armory each one and then attempt to analyze their gear and gems and enchants. It was also decided that progression raiders should have a rating of 450.00 or greater - not hard to achieve after going through Naxx a time or two. To make a long story short, when the dust finally settled, we lost about five people due to the blatant unfairness of requiring people to be geared for harder encounters.

That was our first test of commitment to our new rules. Now, not even two weeks into actually implementing the rules, I have passed out four reprimands to three different people. One raider is a hairsbreadth away from losing all raiding privileges. And I am struggling alone with what to do about raids that don't have a full complement of sign-ups. Should I start canceling them? Or accept last minute "I'll come's" from people in guild, thereby fostering an environment where people don't sign up because it's not really required? Not helping matters is that I did cancel a raid this week and an officer promptly stepped up to put something last minute together.

There is a fine line between enforcing the rules for the good of the guild and being flexible with some rules, also for the good of the guild. Right now, I am pushing for a probationary period both for new recruits and new raiders. But the bottom line for me is that I would rather go back to being a smaller guild with people who care about what we have going and who care about making it work as a team than in pursuing a path where I have to try to beat 60 other raiders into some semblance of shape. I would rather have a dedicated and tight-knit team of 10 to get through Ulduar and never see it on heroic than to beat my head against people who just want to skate through.

Obviously, it's far too soon to throw in the towel and a guild meeting to discuss raiding schedules has been called. It just seems like every time we act in the interest of making something easier or better, it adds another layer of complexity and another rough mile to stumble over until we find our footing once again.