Riding the Bench

I’ve read quite a few blogs, forum posts and tweets recently from raiders lamenting their semi-permanent “bench” status.  In some cases, I sympathize.  But most of the time, I want to smack the author upside the head with a 10-pound catfish and ask “What in the name of all that's dark and soulless did you expect?!" 

(Sorry.  Once a warlock, always a warlock.  >.>)

I don't want to call anyone out, so I'm not going to name names.  Instead, I'll talk about a few case studies — some from my experience as a guild leader, and others from elsewhere in the nether.

Case Study #1: The Casual Raider in the Not So Casual Guild

The situation: 

You are an excellent paladin.  Or hunter.  Or death knight.  You are active in your class community.  You dabble in theorycraft, frequent the Elitist Jerks forums and maintain a well-respected WoW blog. 

Unfortunately, for whatever reason — conflicting timezones, odd hours at work or the ubiquitous "wife aggro" — your playtime is limited, sporadic, or simply on opposite hours from the rest of your guild.  You don't consider yourself a casual player; on the contrary, you invest more time, effort and resources in researching your class, perfecting your performance and min/maxing for success than most of your guildmates.  However, because you aren't able to attend all or even a majority of your guild's raids, you are still perceived as "casual" and often the first person dropped from the roster when a raid is over-signed.

Your perspective: 

This is, in your opinion, entirely unfair. 

You are every bit as good as the guild's other raiders — and, indeed, better than most.  Because you can't attend raids predictably, you have made a point of improving your gear outside of them.  You have never missed a heroic daily; you often PuG 10-mans for emblems and that odd piece of loot; and you have invested thousands of gold over the course of the expansion on orbs and BoE epics.

Such initiative should be rewarded.

Besides, it isn't your fault that your schedule is incompatible with your guild's.  It really wouldn't hurt the guys with 100% attendance to step out once and a while, either.  After all, they're disenchanting gear that you could actually use!  Personally, you don't understand why your guild leader hasn't set up some kind of rotation to ensure that you see some raid time, too. 

Fair's fair.

The guild's perspective:

The guild actually agrees with you: it isn't your fault that you can't attend a majority raids, and Real Life™ should always take precedence over a game. 

However, it isn't the guild's fault either.  Nor is it the fault of the 10 or 25 other raiders who can commit to a set schedule.  Who among them would you like to sit out — at your convenience — so you can experience the occasional raid? 

No one begrudges you your time away from the guild, but no one feels particularly obligated to step out for you either.  If you were able to commit to raids, then you would have a guaranteed raid spot; because you aren't, the guild has either recruited a core raider to replace you or enlisted several similarly casual players in the hopes that at least one of you will be available on any given raid night. 

Either way, someone has to sit out — and it doesn't seem fair to ask the player who attends every raid to ride the bench so someone who shows up only once and a while can take her place.

Possible compromise:

The guild can attempt to set up a rotation.  For example, Surreality offers full standby EP to wait-listed raiders, which encourages those players who don't need gear from a particular boss to volunteer to step out for those who do.  As long as there's a warlock in the raid, substitutions are relatively simple and can be accomplished during the inevitable downtime between encouters — especially if leadership is on top of the rotation and has standby raiders queued for upcoming bosses.

If the guild is unwilling to comprise:

If compromise isn't possible (or enough to satisfy your needs as a raider), then you can look for guild with a schedule that is more compatible with yours, or one with a more casual-friendly attendance policy. 

Your playstyle may not be casual, but your playtime is; plan your search accordingly.

Case Study #2: The Fair-Weather Raider

The situation: 

After a semi-serious flirtation with burnout, you decided to take a month or two off from the game.  Now, after some much needed time away, you have returned: refreshed, with a renewed passion for raiding and excited by the prospect of exploring a new raid zone with old friends.

... only to find that your guild has recruited extensively in your absence, and is now asking you to ride the bench while a new batch of initiates are trialed. 

Your perspective:

By the time you decided to take a break from the game, your guild had already cleared all of the current content and was simply farming old instances for gear — and, increasingly, Abyss Crystals.  Because Lady Luck smiled on you during the first few weeks of the tier, you already had everything you could possibly need to jump back into hardcore raiding upon the release of the next content patch.  In the meantime, no one was likely to miss you.  In fact, stepping out could actually benefit the guild in the long run because it would open up a raid spot for one of those perpetually wait-listed casuals. 

Your guild knew you were leaving.  Your guildmates were supportive of your decision, and reassured you that you would have a place with them when you returned.  So why are they shunning you now?

The guild's perspective:

Your guild didn't stop raiding in your absence, nor did it continue to slot 9 or 24 players in the hopes that you would eventually decide to return.  No: your guild recruited a replacement — or several replacements, since it's unlikely that you were the only raider to take some "time off" during those long months between tiers.

From the guild's perspective, you geared up your character and then disappeared, leaving a hole in the raiding roster.  Eventually, the guild filled that hole with another player — a player who doesn't know you and certainly doesn't feel obligated to step out so you can return to what you still perceive as your rightful spot.

The solution:

Be patient.  Sooner or later, a spot will open up or the guild will need a fill-in and you will have an opportunity to raid again.  Most raiding guilds experience cyclical attendance: it peaks upon the release of new content, only to taper off again as a raid is farmed into irrelevance. 

Case #3: Slightly Subpar? Or Something Else?

The situation:

You sign up for every raid.  You are almost always wait-listed, and seldom raid except as a fill-in or on those odd off-nights when no one else is available.

Your perspective:

The worst part is that you have no idea why. 

Are you a "baddie"?  Does your guild leader hate you? 

Are you being punished for some infraction you aren't aware you committed?

The guild's perspective:

Who knows?  It's a mystery.

The solution:

Ask!

A good guild or raid leader will tell you why you're riding the bench.  If yours doesn't, then don't hesitate to ask.  It could be due to sign-ups or class composition.  Or it could because of something you've done or haven't done in the past.  Either way, how can you be expected to correct it if you don't even know what it is?

Some possible explanations:

These are all things that I consider when a raid is over-signed:

• Seniority.  Core Raiders before Raiders, Raiders before Initiates, and Initiates before non-raiding Members and Friends & Family. 
• Class composition.  Although this is occasionally a cop-out, it is often true.  If I have three core rogues slotted and have to chose between a fourth rogue or a second mage, then — all other things being equal — I'm going to take the mage.
• What is your prior raid attendance?  Someone who has attended recent raids, especially in the same reset period, is likely to be invited over someone who has not.  I strongly believe that those players who wiped to a new boss on Tuesday are entitled to participate in the kill (or simply wipe some more) on Wednesday.
• How often do you /afk?  If you tend to /afk every other pull, then I'm disinclined to /invite you.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  (So are are players who refuse to run back after a wipe.  If the healers are running, you're running.)
• How reliable are you?  Do you show up when you say you will, or do you tend to flake out at the last minute?  And, if you do flake out, do you at least post on the guild forums or send me a text message to let me know?
• How reliable is your Internet connection?  If you're prone to random disconnects, you may be more of a liability than an asset.  I'd rather take 24 raiders with stable connections to the Beasts of Northrend than 25 raiders if the twenty-fifth is likely to disconnect in the middle of Icehowl's charge.
• How much effort do you put into raiding outside of raids?  Player A farms heroics for emblems and is always the first one to volunteer for a 10-man run.  Player B spends all of his time grinding obscure profession patterns and running retro raid content.  He can seldom be pursuaded to participate in 10-mans, even when the content is easy and upgrades are plentiful.  Given the choice, who do you think I'm going to invite?
• Are you competent?  Do you pay attention during raids?  Do you ask questions when you have them?  Do you know how to stay alive long enough to perform your required raid role?  Are you adept at avoiding The Bad?

Standby should never come as a surprise!

I can't emphasize this point enough. 

Guild and raid leaders:  Your wait-listed members should know exactly why they're wait-listed.   Be honest.  And whatever you do, don't attempt to sugarcoat it to spare their feelings.  I'm not saying to be mean (please don't!), but do understand that those little white lies we're occasionally tempted to tell to avoid a pre-raid confrontation or — worse — the dreaded D-word will only breed frustration and resentment on the bench. 

In other words ... if you tell that godawful mage that she's standing-by due to your pressing need to "balance class composition" or  "maximize raid synergy," then you may be sparing her some near-term embarassment, but you're also setting her up for failure by withholding information she desperately needs to improve.

Guildmembers and raiders:  Be fair.  It sucks to ride the bench — but if your guild's leadership is likewise fair (and competent) than there's probably a reason.  If it isn't immediately obvious, ask. 

And if your guild's leaders are neither fair nor competent nor open to discussing their decisions regarding raid slotting, then consider: is the guild one you really want to be a part of?

This blogpost is brought to you by the rampant whining in the Blogosphere, and the recurring tension headache I experience on every scheduled raid day.