• Raiding is an art form. It is a collaboration of people that are spending hours upon hours for one main goal: To be geared. Raiding was designed in order to allow the player to be geared, and to have something to do once he or she reaches the highest level in the game. Guilds have either come together or fallen apart due to raiding. Raids are beasts that have been attempted to be tamed by hundreds if not thousands of guilds. However, only a few have been able to tame the beast that is the raid. This handful of guilds are the elite, the ones that have been raiding for years, in many other MMORPGs as many different classes. These guilds have bonded together through their experiences together in the real world as human beings, or as hailed heroes of their server.
    To begin with, the raid starts with the gathering of classes. This gathering is assumed to be a standard practice in terms of the priority of the classes.
    First, the tanks are brought into the raid. Tanks are the most important players of any raid, no matter the size. If no one is going to keep the boss on himself/herself, then who will? Tanks are at the front lines, risking their own necks for the rest of the raid. They sacrifice huge damage numbers for the fast-paced adrenaline pumping action of tanking. There are few tanks that have tanked and never want to go back to it. Those that have experienced tanking stay there, as it is the most involving play-style for raiding. Tanks carry the most responsibility of anyone in the raid. If they make a mistake, then this mistake can destroy a raid’s efforts in slaying the boss. Tanking involves fighting with anything at hand, fighting toe to toe with the enemy, using tooth and claw and fist and sword.
    After the tanks are put together in the raid, the healers are brought in. These players keep the raid alive and kicking, providing relievement for battle wounds suffered during the raid. These players are second in priority, and the responsibility they carry is ranked two of those in the raid. If they make a mistake, there are others that can temporarily cover the person, but if more than two healers make mistakes, the tanks will eventually go down and the raid will be destroyed. These players are the rarest to find, as healing is viewed to be the most boring play-style for raiding.
    Once the tanks and healers are brought in, the cavalry is called. The damage-dealers, in their gigantic numbers, flow into the raid. These players are all about how big they can get their numbers to be. Whether it be stabbing, slicing, exploding, freezing, shooting, hacking, bashing, shocking, electrocuting, cursing, or smiting, they all have one common goal: Destroy the enemy as fast as possible, with the bigger the number, the better. These players have the second most involving play-style for raiding, as they usually have an ability routine to follow. The only thing that these players have to worry about is their threat. They can watch the threat meter and see how much damage they can squeeze in before the possibility of pulling threat from the tank. If this happens, the player has a number of things they can do that is tailored to their class in terms of escaping threat. Once this is done, the enemy will revert back to the tank, as he is number two in the threat list. After the tank establishes a high amount of threat again, the same player that pulled threat can revert back to their regular ability routine. The damage-dealers are the most common players to find in any MMORPG, as they have the least amount of responsibility, have the easiest play-styles, and have huge explosive potential.
    Once the raid is put together, the raid leader examines his or her raid. The leader goes through a mental list, checking to see if the needed classes are presented and the quantity needed. If one or more are missing, the leader announces to the raid, asking for volunteers to step out to fill the needed positions. Usually, the leader asks the damage-dealers, as damage can be replaced, while healers and tanks are scarce and those that are already present are highly skilled at their jobs. If there are no volunteers, the leader looks at the damage-dealer class that contains the most members. The leader looks at the raid schedule of these members, and addresses those that can attend regularly, addressing each of them individually, attempting to compromise. If one member steps out, the raid can begin. If not, a random name is chosen out of a hat – that was shaken – and the designated player must step out. There are to be no rolls of the dice, no random numbers chosen, no riddles, no logical questions, no finger amount guessing, nothing based on “luck”. “Luck” is not a fair playing ground, as there are certain individuals that have more “luck” than others. Pure randomization, such as pulling a name from a hat, is the fairest playing ground. The act of pulling of name is completely random, as the names were juggled around in the hat and the name pulled is completely oblivious to luck. However, this act should never happen due to the planning done before a raid begins.
    But, before any raid begins, there needs to be someone in power in the guild that has the designated role of Public Relations. This individual is the link between the average guild members and the officers and the guild leader(s). All grievances must go through this individual in order to be heard by the officers and guild leader(s). This individual must be chosen from guild member pool, and must be respected by everyone in the guild. Respect must be earned from either getting the job done, helping others, providing knowledge to others, addressing in-guild conflicts, and speaking out whenever in-justice has occurred. This individual must not be a blood relative to anyone in the ranks of the officers or guild leader(s). This individual must represent all different types of raiding schedules, from being able to raid every day, to being able to raid for only a couple of hours a week. This individual will pass on information and decisions made by the officers and guild leader(s) onto the guild members, without censorship. This individual must be very active in the guild, both in online play-time and voicing opinion. Public Relations is key to any guild’s survival, because there are cases where guilds have fallen apart due to the skepticism of the guild members. The government should be afraid of its people, the people should not be afraid of its government.
    Raid scheduling is something that is not flexible. Despite common knowledge, raids are a large event. There are things that need to be taken care in the real world before a raid in the world of computer graphics can occur. Having a raid schedule “set in stone”, so to speak, is the best option that a raiding guild has. A schedule allows people to adapt, it allows them to be aware ahead of time of a raid. A schedule allows people to complete real world chores before the raid, and it allows them to consume energy before a raid. Impulse raiding is horrible as it is spontaneous. Raids are draining, and having a raid schedule that changes every week will eventually drain the players, which will in turn cause raids to never happen, as players are physically tired. When concerning individual raid teams, say for smaller raids, these individual teams must communicate internally to agree on a schedule that works for everyone. Once this is done, the team will pass the schedule through the Public Relations individual, who will in turn present it to the officers and guild leader(s).
    In closure, a guild will flourish as much as its members. A guild’s heart is its members. A guild must be afraid of its members, as they can kill it off within a moment’s notice.