Comments on: Raiding and the Bench

By: Elder Nyoka of Emerald Dream

Elder Nyoka of Emerald Dream — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:59:36 +0000

Wow, great post! My guild just absored another guild, so we’re suddenly twice as big and having to bench people. We lost a lot of people that just didn’t seem to “get” that you can’t put 37 people into a single 25-man group, some that felt like explaining “but I’m almost fully Naxx25 geared, why don’t you want me?!” … Apparently the concept of gearing up EVERYBODY and not just a select few members of the guild is lost on some people.

By: The First 120 Days of Conquest : World of Matticus

The First 120 Days of Conquest : World of Matticus — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:35:29 +0000

[...] benched, I remind them that itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s what they signed up for and it was a question on the application if they were okay with being benched from time to [...]

By: Daria

Daria — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:08:01 +0000

Great article, and very important for any guild leader to consider these things when the guild is created. I recently left a small guild due to problems with sitting out. They had advertised that they would keep a tight roster and require high attendance in order to minimize the need to sit people. It didn't work however in reality, because they didn't really enforce their own policies. Particular players who worked evenings were always missing raids, and instead of replacing those players the officers just recruited more. It quickly got to a point where even those of us who had 100% attendance were being asked to sit out every week, and the officers themselves never volunteered to sit out. I'm now in a much larger guild, and though we have more healers than we need, at least if I have to sit out I will still earn DKP. I think most sensible people will understand as long as the policy is clear and enforced, and as long as they get some type of reward for being benched such as priority for the next raid or DKP. Darias last blog post..Mending Hearts and Exploring the Old World

By: Stompalina

Stompalina — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:11:39 +0000

Great post, Syd. We have a core 27-30 people that raid consistently. We don't even manage sign-ups, attendance is just expected. But, we also have a core non-raiding population that floats in on the rare occasion. They are an equally important part of our guild. The raiding core often runs off-night instances to aid and gear those social members, knowing that they are our back-up plan. They are a vital part of our progression! I <3 Benchwarmers! Recruiting: If you are recruiting, talk about it with existing members to get the word out. Members are great resources... and PUG! I know people hate doing it, but it is a great way to meet new players. Stompalinas last blog post..How not to be a Deathtard- DPSing in PuGs.

By: Sydera

Sydera — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:22:04 +0000

The only way to grow is to recruit. Keep plugging. I’ve recruited for two different guilds, and it’s feast and famine.

By: Holy Dueg

Holy Dueg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:52:06 +0000

Our guild is having the opposite problem right now. We have a core group of about 20 people who are on every raid night but usually only get one or two more. This means we clear Naxx right after rest then have to wait till Monday to see if we'll have enough people on in a given night to do Maly or Sarth with multiple drakes. We have about 30 raiders in the guild, but attendance is slim lately. We also have an attendance policy and offer incentives to those who show up regularly and on time to raids, but it really doesn't seem to be working for us. We're at a loss right now as to what to do though because people are becoming disenchanted with the guild because of this. Other than demoting or kicking people who don't seem to care, what else can we do? We're actively recruiting, but pickings are slim on needed classes right now. Holy Duegs last blog post..Lies and Slander

By: SuicidalPriest

SuicidalPriest — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:46:24 +0000

Nice post! I've known some players who were shocked if they couldn't raid. As far as I know we don't have to many people on the bench atm. We do have about 30+ raiders but we rarely get everyone to sign up. We don't have an attendance policy in my guild atm, thou I do look at the attendances of the healers (since I'm a healing leader). + If you use a DKP system (I know you guys have a council) what my guild does is give a part of the earned dkp to the "bench raiders". And we ofcourse ask them even if they're on the bench to be there all the time to replace someone who might leave. I think it's justified to atleast give them a small reward for that. SuicidalPriests last blog post..Writing

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:42:07 +0000

When I appointed our Raid Leader, he made it very clear that he would handle signups via the Forums. You can log in anywhere and check if you’re on the roster for that event or not. One thing we found we needed to start doing, especially with the overwhelming number of Melee DPS and Tanks, was to add another field to our roster to handle overflow. So we have Tanks, Healers, DPS, and Priority. Basically, if you ride the pine that week, you’re put in “Priority” so when our Raid Leader posts the next set of sign ups he has a list of Priority raiders that, if they’re able to make it that week, get dibs on their spot. It’s worked out really well.

As well, managing sign ups on the forums has been an excellent way of dealing with complaints when someone says they “never get to raid.” Nine times out of Ten, we can look back and see that he never signed up on the forums.