Hey Matt,
I’ve got a good one for you, and I know it’s one you’ve covered before – but a slightly different perspective.
I’m a Hunter Class Leader for my guild, and there’s a pack of Hunters who just came back. They’re very enthusiastic about what they’re doing, but one of them really needs help… he’s just not making the most out of his spec, or his gear, and he’s convinced he’s doing the right thing.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve got a huge problem with this. The guy wants help, but is of resolute mind that running Karazhan will solve all of his loot woes, and that the PVP gear he’s got will be great for PvE. His spec can do well in PVP, sure, but he doesn’t get that it’s not same as PVE, particularly in emphasis on stats… and what worries me is that he wants to raid with us. Not just Karazhan, he wants to come to Gruul’s, Mag’s, ZA, and whatever we do after that.
If he had half a mind about the way he was gearing, I’d be fine… but this guy is even wearing Shaman mail with his PVP gear. No, not +strength or +agility and +crit, anything that’d be useful to Hunters… plus HEALING Shaman mail!
What’s worse is that his DPS has a long way to go before he should even think of raiding. It’s merely OK for Karazhan, and I wouldn’t have issues with him in heroics, but I wouldn’t take him to anything past that.
The Guild Leader’s asked me to offer some helpful suggestions on our forum, and I have. The immediate response from this hunter was that, as helpful as I intended it to be and as nice as I put it, that I have a holier-than-thou attitude, and I’m just trying to make his life difficult, and he’s worked so hard for his PVP gear, that spec is what works for him, that the shaman gear’s the best he can get, blah blah blah.
I’m trying to be patient, understanding, and all of those good characteristics; but this guy makes me want to take the kiddie gloves off. My job is to help, not to coddle, and the person in question is a grown adult, who has no license to be acting this way. What makes things worse is that he feels since he’s been in the guild longer than I have, he doesn’t have to listen to me if he doesn’t want to.
If you have any advice whatsoever, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m at my wit’s end here.
– Can’t Disregard the Huntard
Dear Can’t Disregard,
That’s a sticky situation. By broadly addressing the subject, and maintaining a respectful tone, you’ve done your job perfectly. Since the Huntard’s excuse for his laziness is to question your authority, It’s time for your GM to stop delegating this task fully to you. The message that needs to be passed on is this:
“For our guild to progress, those we regularly field for raids must be in top condition. To achieve this, our class-leaders have been asked to review the gear and spec of prospective raiders. Those who choose to disregard the advice of their class leads should expect few, if any, invites to raids above Kara-level. I (The GM) will have the final say on whether a raider is acceptable.”
This clearly explains the situation, establishes your authority as a class-lead, defines the choices open to the prospective raiders (comply, or don’t), defines the resulting consequences, and describes the appeals process all in a concise manner.
Since your GM obviously knows this guy has no clue what he’s doing, it should be easy to make sure your raid leaders and anyone else doing invites is aware, too. Then, when he asks for an invite, they can let him know that they can’t make an exception to the policy just for him, and when he implements X of your suggestions, he may ask for another invite. (2 things are important here. You MUST NOT make exceptions for other idiotic raiders, and you have explicitly tell him that he’s welcome back IF he complies with the rules. That keeps it from being personal.)
Alternatively, to save LOTS of time remember my personal staffing mantra:
95% of all guild problems can be solved with a good Gkick. The other 5% can be solved by recruiting.
– From Wynthea
Dear Can’t Disregard,
You should listen to Wyn because she is full of win. She gave you the long answer to a short answer problem. I believe the problem can be solved quite easily. You’re a Hunter, are you not? If only Hunters had abilities that could misdirect additional threat to other players…
– From Evil Matt
Problems in your guild? Need some help and advice? Not quite sure who to turn to for those relationship problems in WoW? Feel free to contact us!
Hahaha, MD… the hunter answer to all woes.
Great advice Wyn, which I saw implemented very effectively tonight. If raiders aren’t willing to listen (at all) to the officers in a raid, then they should question whether it really is the guild for them, and vice versa.
Besides, hunters really need to prune out those annoying creatures who give them a bad name!
Another suggestion I’ve seen work before is to concentrate on the numbers. If this guy’s damage sucks, he’s going to be way down the WWS damage list, and then it’s nothing personal. It’s just math. If he doesn’t want to change, and his damage remains terrible, gkick him.
I’ve dealt with this very problem for a long time in my guild. Make sure he knows exactly what he needs to do to improve himself. If he continues to be argumentative and belligerent, no more raid invites. He may get huffy and leave the guild. This an acceptable, even desirable, result. Don’t invite him back!
For a guild running Kara, it’s hard to kick someone because he’s a bad player. My raiding guild won’t kick someone just because they don’t play well. That even goes for initiates–we’ve never yet said goodbye to anyone with a good attitude who was actively trying to improve, regardless of meter performance. However, we’ll kick them for lying, no showing, or being an asshat, though. This guy’s behavior sounds very immature–if you do go the gkick route, make sure your members know that it’s for attitude.