Behavior in raids – obeying the rules

There are rules in the game. Some of them are coded into the game and breaking them will be considered cheating and some are policies and might get you into trouble with the game company if you decide to ‘play’ with them. Then there are the ‘unwritten’ rules of the social gaming community. They are based on a certain level of consensus meaning that what might be allowed in one raid might get you kicked in another. All though nobody has taken the time to list them like ‘The Rules of Fight Club’, there are definitely a set of rules for raiding. It is more a problem of knowing exactly which interpretation or version of the rules that are active for any given raid experience. One of the positive elements of joining a raid guild or community is the fact that these rules will remain more or less the same over time, but there is also less flexibility when it comes to breaking or bending them.

I have found a few rules to be more ‘common’ than others and I have tried to make a quick list of them with a few comments as they are not always self explanatory to non-gamers:

1  –  do not stand in crap
This is the rule that covers the mutual understanding that you have some idea of what this boss fight is about and that you will be able to act accordingly. This simplified version basically refers to the understanding that you should not let your avatar stand in stuff on the ground that will kill it, but is often meant more broadly and refers to having an understanding of how a certain boss fight works and that you have either already successfully mastered this or you have a decent understanding of how you might be able to.

2  –  play your role
A carpenter is not a neurosurgeon, and a tank is not a healer. When signing up for a LFR you will also select a role to play and people expect you to be able to perform accordingly. When it is questionable if you are ‘playing your role’ people will most of the time ignore it, but if you blatantly take on a different role than the one you have signed up with the raid will kick you quite quickly – even if you might be able to sneak in a wipe or two first…

3  –  be prepared
Directly relates to rule 1 and 2, but includes an expanded level of preparedness through having brought with you virtual goods as well as making use of add-ons and/or other 3rd party software that will enhance your ability to perform in the game.

4  –  be nice
Do not be an ass, try to be friendly and polite when ever possible and avoid name-calling and abusive behavior. Even if cyber bullying is all too common these days I find that most raids have a tolerance level that only stretches so far. Emotional outbreaks will happen, but unless your actions could in any way have any positive effect you are better off rage-quitting than ‘infecting’ other raid members with your ‘social vileness’ . Same goes for handling failures and mistakes; stating the obvious will not make ‘obvious’ go away and a little kindness will always get you farther than calling someone ‘a retard’.

That last rule also seems to be the one that a random group could be more ignorant about than what you would see in a raid guild. On any account; the more rules you break the quicker you will get yourself kicked. Add to this that the more rules that are broken the more likely the raid will perform poorly it seems like a good idea to follow them.