I'm torn here because I don't want this post to look or sound like the airing of dirty laundry. I realized, however, that this is exactly the kind of issue that guilds deal with and that it's the continuation of the story for those who read about our guild's development. And so, I press forward...
I'm in a great guild. I've got great leaders. We've got great members. This weekend things got a little haywire and I'm not sure what to think.
I was sick most of this weekend and had to delist from the raids. I just can't run. Well, it couldn't come at a worse time for QSS. A lot of people were absent this weekend. Sunday's Vashj pulls were canceled. Tonight's pulls are ongoing, but it took some work putting together the group.
Forum posts from leadership came out expressing frustration with sign-ups and a mention of potential recruitment were made. The unintended tone of the message was that "we" the absent were to blame and that we would be replaced if we can't shape up. Heated discussion ensued.
For the record, I don't think that this was the intent of the message. I think this was the earnest desires of leadership coming through. They are committed to progression. They are committed to being "hardcore" about raiding.
Two schools of thought grew out of the discussion.
School #1 in the discussion were those frustrated at the lost opportunity that this weekend created. Having 5/6 SCC & 3/4 TK bosses cleared w/ 2.5 nights of raiding remaining for pure progression is a raider's wet dream. Having Sunday canceled and Monday put together on a shoestring is a progression raider's nightmare. Frustration is natural. The posts from this group were from leadership & the most hardcore of us.
To be honest, if I weren't sick this weekend, I would probably have been from this camp.
School #2 in the discussion was the backlash from the people who felt like this was no big deal and that leadership was over-excited about nothing. We've been the "new" QSS for less than 2 months now. We've had a new raiding schedule for two weeks. This is just an adjustment period. These posters, in many ways, over-reacted to the apparent over-reaction of the first school.
I found myself agreeing with these posts, but I wasn't sure if it was my personal guilt for missing the raids or because they were right.
My takeaway was that they were both right. I felt like the frustrated people were right to be annoyed and were even right to consider further recruitment. I also felt like the second school was generally correct in their assessment that this was an odd weekend and that we all need to give things time to solidify.
My second takeaway was much less profound, included some expletives and generally had to do with people needing to step back and gain some perspective.
I was confident that the discussion had been resolved. Leadership would consider recruitment over the next few weeks. Players would consider their overall time commitment. I personally resolved myself to consider changing my personal schedule to help the guild. I also resolved myself to not get sick again...yeah, that'll happen.
Except then, I see this: Que Sera Sera is Recruiting. I was surprised. Not by the fact that it was done, but by the speed at which the event occurred. Is recruitment right for the guild? Won't it cause even more signup issues? How big can we get before loyal, hardworking members get pushed out for new recruits who simply have better schedules and maybe fit the slot a tad better? How hardcore are we?
I think this weekend may have been more telling than the guild split on that front. We may have graduated to hardcore. If so, there are some truths that QSS leadership & members must face and deal with.
The truths about being in a hardcore raiding guild are simple. If you aren't leadership, you are akin to an employee. There are benefits (raids, free enchants, network of helpful people) but you must be productive. Failure to show up for work, even with a good excuse, hurts the bottom line. The company will only show you as much loyalty as your productivity demands. You won't necessarily be "fired" from your guild for going on vacation or skipping a few weeks for a deadline at your other job (the one you actually get paid for) but there's nothing stopping it.
I'm not saying this will happen to QSS. I'm not even saying I disapprove if it does. I am saying that I am cautiously optimistic about the next steps for this guild both for our members and for my own raiding.
P.S. I still stand by my earlier comments about QSS being great. So, if you've got the skills, take a hard look at the post on Karthis' site.
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2 comments:
Most of the holes I posted were needed even before this weekend. Warlock sign-ups on weekends have been abysmal for a few weeks now, even before the new schedule. Same with tanks.
Canceling raids undermines our contingent of super-keen raiders.... and makes us more likely to lose members to guilds that can feed their hunger for raiding.
This weekend was the final straw, so to speak.... additional recruitment has been considered for the better part of a month.
As for "hard core".... we still only require two raids per week. We may have some hardcore raiders, but we're not a hardcore guild. Consider people like myself and our warlock lead.... I can do 2-3 raids a week, Calyia can do 2..... we'd be booted from any hardcore guild for absenteeism.
If we get new awesome recruits with insane availability will we use them thru the week as well as on weekends? Perhaps. But the reaction from some people on the forums was way overboard, and assumed far too much from such a small, to-the-point statement.
Thanks for commenting Karthis. It helps to paint the broader picture.
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