Wipe Insurance: Finding the Right Raiding Experience for You

Welcome to the second edition of Wipe Insurance! My name is Eder and I’m a bit under the weather at the moment, so this will be a short entry this week.

Last week we explored how to gear up, what to know and what to do when it comes to raiding. This week we are going to take it one step further and discuss getting a group. There are a number of ways to get your raid on, and they all have their pros and cons.

Hardcore Raiding Guild

• The hardcore raiding guild or “progression” raiding guild is a guild that takes its raiding very seriously.
• The major goal of these guilds is to be competitive and progressive – meaning you need to meet some serious criteria.
• Expect to put in several nights a week of progression in both 10 and 25 man versions of the current raid content.
• The competitive nature of this guild will leave very little tolerance for mistakes and/or lack of knowledge about your class.
• Attendance and loot policy are usually strict.
• Comparable to joining a Major League sports team, you may spend some time on the bench.
• Usually Requires an Application (yes, like for a job), or a current member vouching for you.
• Prepare to answer questions about your gearing choices.

Casual-Hardcore Raiding Guild

• The Casual-Hardcore guild is a guild that is usually comprised of friends and family. It offers a very social environment, but a good raiding experience as well.
• The major goal of these guilds is for everyone to have fun while still seeing content.
• Expect to run 10 mans and the occasional 25 with another casual-hardcore guild.
• Attendence and loot requirements are semi-lax.
• Some members of these guilds will have a hardcore mentality, and some will not at all – this will slow down progression immensly – but its not really about progression, its about having a good time.
• Comparable to joining a Minor League sports team.
• The raid leader will still bother you about odd gearing choices, but not to the degree that a hardcore guild will.
• Usually no application or a very small one

Casual Raiding Guild

• The Casual Raiding Guild is less of a raiding guild and more of a Casual guild that occasionally raids.
• Same as casual-hardcore except the rules are usually even laxer about raiding.

PUG

• A yes, the pug. A pick up group is a collection of strangers who get together to raid. It could be a fresh group of all pugs, it could be a guild run that just didn’t have the people online. Either way – you’ve landed yourself in one and your commited (to at least a few wipes anyway).
• Spontanious – you do the raid you want to do, when you want to do it.
• No Commitment – if the run is terrible, you can get out without trouble (Not saying you should bail on groups, but if you are on your 7th wipe from Beasts, maybe its time to start thinking about it.)
• Loot rules can be abused easily, and accountability is not great.
• Raid leader can either be great or terrible.
• The other pugs can be alts from a hardcore guild, or they can be the people the casual guild won’t even let raid with them, you don’t know how it will be.
• Depending on the leaders checking policy, comparable to finding a bunch of guys in a bar (who may or may not be 3 sheets to the wind) and going to the local park to play baseball at midnight. (Or an all star team who just have nothing better to do – you don’t know!)

So there you have it, the different types of raid guilds – choose one that fits your playstyle and happy raiding! Next week we’ll discuss how to be a good pug, or how to make a good impression on your trial run in a guild.