A Guide to Casual Raiding (or How I Learned to Love PuGs)

My Warcraft "career" (if you want to call it that) has been a slow and meandering trek from complete ignorance of the intracacies of Warcraft to an awakening on the mechanics of the game to a useful and experienced player. I have never been in a major guild and haven't ever had the opportunity for organized raiding. I'm certain opinions will vary but I imagine that raiding with an organized and well structured guild is generally more productive and perhaps more enjoyable than what I do. What I do is PuG raid. I prefer to call it freelance raiding; it sounds a bit more professional and sooths the ego into thinking I can be elite like the big boy guilds. I lump PuG raiding into casual raiding. In my view casual raiding encompasses those of us that raid via PuGs and guilds who only want (or can) to clear a single 10-man raid over the course of a week and not disciplined enough to complete heroic/hard modes.

My preference is to be in a more serious raiding guild but for reasons personal and somewhat professional I'm not able to do so; simply because I cannot easily commit to a fixed schedule for raiding. I'm currently in a very small guild of people I know in real life as a way to maintain association and have a guild bank, nothing more than that. I do want to raid however and so I must resort to the looking for group tool and lurk in Dalaran waiting for a group who may have a space for me. I've been doing this for a while now (some in BC but mostly during WotLK) and here are a few tips that have helped me.

Play Hybrid
Sorry Hunters, Warlocks, Mages, and Rogues! There is nothing to be done about this. It is easier if you can fill more than one role in raid. This is especially true if you have a good healing or tanking set/spec. In my case I play a Protection/Holy Paladin with solid gear sets and specs. Tanks and Heals are generally the hardest thing to fill in a raid and I can do both well. My hunter who recently hit 80 has been trying to do Heroics and early raids and has had no success thus far because there are just so many people wanting to PuG as DPS. So, if you play a class that can tank or heal do yourself a favor and get that offspec setup and geared up. Chances are you can still get the gear you want and you'll be collecting emblems as well that you can spend however you like later.

Do Not Feint Expertise
If you do get in a raid and you manage to get to a fight you have not personally done before (TankSpot videos do not count) be honest if the raid leader asks if you have. It's far worse to claim you know the fight and due to ignorance cause a wipe than to admit you haven't done it before. Groups that PuG in individuals to fill out the raid are generally forgiving if you admit that you don't know something and don't do well during your first attempt. They will be down right hostile if your inexperience shows when you said otherwise. People will remember this and avoid you later on because you caused problems that could have possibly been avoided.

Build Relationships
If you looked at my Ventrilo client you'd see that I have nearly 30 different guild vent servers listed. It's not uncommon that I PuG with the same guild (though not necessarily the same people from that guild) several times a month. This has occurred naturally as I have not specifically sought to regularly raid with a specific guild. In this case I have happened to raid with the same guild a few times have built a reputation with them of being a solid PuGer when a guild regular is not available. I have this sort of relationship with several guilds and it has worked quite well so far. Additionally if you demonstrate your competence on a regular basis people will notice and seek you out. I have gotten into a few raids without even looking for one because someone remembered that I'm a good tank/healer.

Accept Frustration
One of the biggest problems with PuGing in general is that group cohesion is largely non-existent. You don't know these other people and they don't know you. You aren't certain of their capabilities and experience and they are uncertain of you. This tacit distrust is a huge hurdle to overcome and is what causes people to drop out on the first wipe during a VoA 10/25 attempt. Accept that some people have a very low threshold for failure. There are so many types of people that play Warcraft you are bound to run into someone who just ruins things for you. There is nothing that can be done about this; just know that there are as many people like you that are willing to stick things out and wait for that moment when things start to click and go well. Patience in this regard reinforces the previous point on building relationships; people are grateful when other stick things out for a bit, especially when it results in success. Having said all this know when to quit. Sometimes the configuration of your raid is not suited for success (too many of one class, DPS too low, etc). If you have been pounding your head against the wall for an hour on the same raid boss it's probably time to quit. Do not just drop out without saying a word. Be polite and explain why you are leaving. People may not like it but you will not cause ill will with a sudden unexplained departure.

While I would prefer to be in a raiding guild with a well developed hierarchy and raid schedule here are some advantages/disadvantages I see with my current situation...

Advantages

- No commitments. I'm not obliged to any guild or schedule. If I want to raid I can look for a group and if I'm lucky do some raiding. If things go bad, oh well. I can depart and next time hope for a better group. If I don't want to raid or can't I don't have to contact my guild leader and explain why I won't be available.
- Avoiding loot drama. I'm not sure how big of a problem this is really, but despite loot systems like DKP there is still some degree of drama within guilds on who gets what sometimes. Naturally since the relationship in a PuG raid is temporary any drama generally ends the moment you hit leave group.
- PuG raids are sometimes desperate for individuals and sometimes you might be able to get into a raid even if you are a bit under geared or under experienced. However, do not jump into a ToC 10 if you are mostly in blues and early epic items. They might need a DPS, but if you are not anywhere near geared for the raid do yourself a favor and wait till you get better equipment.

Disadvantages

- Not being part of a guild and subject to the randomness of PuGs means you might go days without raiding. The huge advantage of a well organized guild means a reliable schedule in which to raid and insure that you get the gear and achievements you want.
- No glory. A guild allows for a much higher degree of group cohesion which means harder challenges can be overcome. Hard modes are doable since strategies can be settled on because the group dynamic is well established as well as the composition of the raid. I haven't seen a PuG raider get an iron bound/rust proto-drake yet.
- Guild comradery. Achieving together builds relationships and even friendships. Even when things don't go well you can commiserate with individuals who understand how difficult the challenges you face together in game.

In the end, I say find a good guild if you want to reliably raid. If you can't commit to the schedule or don't like commitment to a guild then there is hope. Lots of people PuG raid and manage to get lots of enjoyment out of it. However, if you do live between The Bourgeoisie and The Proletariat keep your expectations reasonable.

Happy PuG raiding!