trial

Want Better WoW Recruits? Ask This One Game-Changing Question

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When recruiting for a serious raid team, we often get caught up in logs, past achievements, and class comp. But there’s one deceptively simple question that cuts through all of that and reveals way more than people realize:

“How often do you play during the week?”

It’s not flashy. It’s not technical. But what about the answer you get? That tells you nearly everything you need to know about how this player is going to perform on your team.

Why Play Time Tells You Everything

Someone can have great parses and a nice raider.io score, but if they log on twice a week (once to raid and once to check the auction house), you’re going to run into problems. Quickly.

This question uncovers:

  • Whether they’re actively maintaining their character
  • If they’re engaged with current content
  • How much effort do they put into staying raid-ready
  • Whether they treat WoW like a hobby or like a team sport

If someone isn’t putting in time, they’re likely falling behind in one or more critical areas: gear optimization, dungeon keys, renown progression, consumable prep, or simply staying in rhythm with the game.

The Raid-Only Raider vs. The Team-Oriented Raider

It’s the classic split.

Some players treat raiding like clock-in, clock-out shift work. They show up for pulls but never put in work outside of it.
That may be fine for more casual groups.

But if you’re trying to push Cutting Edge, that’s a liability.

CE raiders are expected to:

  • Run high-level dungeons to cap crests and upgrade gear
  • Push reputation and renown, especially in the Liberation of Undermine, where buffs and perks are tied to progression systems
  • Hit at least 4 high-level M+ dungeons weekly to unlock vault choices (naturally this tapers off towards the end of the season)
  • Keep up with class tuning, encounter changes, and meta shifts

If you’re behind in any of these areas, you’re dragging the team down. It doesn’t matter how well you parse if your trinkets are outdated and your weapons are 20 item levels behind.

This One Question Saves You Time and Headaches

Ask it early during the interview process.

You’ll avoid weeks of frustration when someone underperforms due to poor prep. You’ll spare your leadership team awkward “why aren’t you doing your keys” DMs. And most importantly, you’ll align expectations right from the start.

This question:

  • Filters out raid passengers
  • Opens the door to honest conversations about commitment
  • Helps you recruit for long-term fit, not just short-term performance

Red Flags vs. Green Flags

Here’s what to listen for:

Red Flags:

  • “I mostly just log in for raid nights.”
  • “I haven’t done any M+ this season.”
  • “I’m not really into the grind anymore.”

Green Flags:

  • “I’m usually online a few nights a week running keys or helping friends.”
  • “I’ve been working on Undermine rep (or other rep).”
  • “I try to push keys and get my rating up.”

Consistency beats bursts of greatness. You want players who are present, proactive, and part of the team beyond just showing up on time.

Ask the Question. Always.

It’s easy to teach better positioning. You can improve execution. You can implement assignments and cooldowns to the point it becomes second nature. But you can’t teach someone to care enough to log in and improve their character. Player skill is a big part of the equation, but effort is another unit of measure.

Before you get dazzled by logs, ask the real question:

“How often do you play?”

It might be the most honest answer you get in the whole conversation.

Should I Trial Now During Awakened or Wait for Season 1?

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I’ve seen this question pop up a few times both on the player side and on the guild side.

Is it worth even trying out for new teams now that we also have a confirmed expansion date (August 26th)? Is it better to wait closer to the expansion or even when after the game drops?

I would say yes, it is absolutely worth applying now and securing a team to join.

High Turnover

Guilds often see a lot of turnover during new expansions and seasons. Players move around chasing new rankings, taking breaks, or sometimes just not coming back. This creates openings for new members. By trialing now, you can grab a spot before the new expansion rush and settle into the guild. This was especially true following the end of Season 2 for us when we practically had to reboot the entire roster.

Roster Needs

Guilds want a full team ready to go when new content drops. If a guild isn’t fully staffed at the start of a new Mythic raid, they’re already behind. By joining now, you can help them be prepared and improve your chances of being part of a successful team from the get-go. At DJ’s, we’ve been through many opening raid weeks and there’s always a fall off of players for various reasons. It’ll also affect class composition because maybe there might be a busted (or underpowered) class out there. We’re aiming for a number between 27 to 30 players.

It’s More Than Just Performance

When you trial for a guild, it’s not just about your performance in raids. Guilds, especially those aiming for top achievements, look at how well you fit into the team. We already have access to your logs and can see how you play. What’s more important is whether you cause any drama or tension. Anyone who’s performed at the Mythic and CE level usually maintains that consistency from a skill standpoint. What we’re looking for now is social fit. Do they new trial players get along with our team? Are they willing to put in the effort to improve their character? Can they contribute to the raid discussion when diagnosing pulls (even if it’s farm stuff)?

I know of some teams that have had to kick out trial members who, despite being good players, caused problems over loot distribution. These issues are easier to spot now rather than after the expansion. This saves everyone time and helps them get that stuff out of the way now. The new players can learn more about the raid environment they’re in, and the guild can get a better idea of their character.

Avoid the Post-Launch Rush

When any new expansion launches, there’s always a surge of players returning or joining for the first time. This can make it harder to secure a spot in a guild as competition increases. By joining now, you avoid this rush and secure your place early. Plus, you won’t have to compete with a larger pool of players looking to apply.

By integrating yourself into a guild now, you’ll be ready for a smooth transition into the new expansion and set yourself up for success. So, if you’re on the fence about trialing now or waiting, go ahead and start trialing now. It’s a proactive move that will help you tackle new challenges and enhance your gaming experience.

One Last Story

We had a player a few weeks ago who tried out for us but couldn’t handle the intensity of what we were looking for. His perspective was that it was season 4, and it was a good time to go into raids relaxed while he was still trying to gear up his character as it was significantly behind the rest of the team (think in the 480 range). After two weeks, his gear hadn’t made much progression and he wasn’t willing to put in the work to run keys and continue upgrading his gear. We took him into some of the farm stuff, but he’d have to sit on the harder late raid bosses. Ultimately, it wasn’t a good fit because there was such a philosophical difference between what he wanted out of this season and what our expectations were of trials coming in. Knowing that now, I would’ve recommended that he come in as a social and join the community first instead of committing to the raid team since we were still going to be operating.

How to Successfully Pick up a GM

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Image courtesy of dbking

Making the first move and first impression counts when you’re looking to join a Guild. Excellent Guildmasters (I prefer General Managers) have a way of cutting through the random crap that applicants throw at them. They’re able to translate what applicants say and interpret them in a more precise way. As my Guild’s first line of defense against “R-Tards”, I’ve seen my share of bad opening introductions from players that were interested. Here’s 10:

  1. You say: “I can maintain 100% attendance.” GM thinks: “Even if he does make 100% of the raids, he’ll probably afk for a good portion of them.”
  2. You say: “I am willing to listen and pay attention all the time.” GM thinks: “Good, because my guild is full of players who do whatever the heck it is that they want at will.”
  3. You say: “I’m not quite sure what level your Guild is at in terms of progression, but… ” GM thinks: “No homework or research done and you’re applying for our Guild blindly? If you can’t research Guilds then we can’t expect you to research boss strategies.”
  4. You say: “I can lead PvP battlegrounds and form a top notch arena team within the Guild.” GM thinks: “We’re a frackin’ progression guild, not a PvP guild! Besides, this Guild can’t handle more than 1 emo BG leader.”
  5. You say: “I’d like to see end game raiding and experience it.” GM thinks: “You willing to die for it?”
  6. You say: “I don’t think my gear is good enough, however…” GM thinks: “Nope, probably not.”
  7. You say: “There’s not much time left before the expansion comes out, so…” GM thinks: “We’re not a sightseeing operation.”
  8. You say: “I’m willing to sit on the bench for a while and stay as a trial if you’re full.” GM thinks: “Great, someone whose not even going to try and compete for a raid spot.”
  9. You say: “You’ve made these mods mandatory for use in the Guild, but I don’t think I need them because…” GM thinks: “You can’t even pass a simple test of just downloading and installing mods. How will I know you will do as I instruct during a raid?”
  10. You say: “The only way for me to get better as a player is to get better gear.” GM thinks: “A million dollars to anyone who invents a device that allows for strangulation across the internet

The best opening lines to make to a GM or their representative is to say something similar to:

Hi, my name is __________, I would like to raid as a __________ spec and I have experience up to this encounter in the game.

For a much better insight into the application and mental thought processes of GMs, I strongly advise you read Chick GM’s post about the very same subject in more detail.

Post inspired by Guy Kawasaki