Who is “That Guy” and How Do You Deal With Them?

Several weeks ago I received an interesting link to a forum post titled “So you’re off to BT/Hyjal (A Guide for bads)” (Update: Link has since expired, but has been preserved for posterity on WoWWiki). It’s a HUMOROUS read for anyone who understands the raid encounters in that area. There’s an interesting bit during the part 2 segment for Black Temple especially in regards to Teron Gorefiend.

Here’s a quick snippet:

Teron Gorefiend:

The key to this fight is prayer. Before attempting this boss, everyone in the raid take a 15 minute break to address their deity of choice. Their request is simple: Please don’t let THAT GUY get Marked for Death. if everyone prayed hard, this fight should be extremely easy, everyone goes about their merry way hitting things, healing things, killing ghosts, and collecting loots. However if your raid didn’t pray hard enough THAT GUY will get marked for death, possibly followed by THAT OTHER GUY, causing a whole bunch of skeletons to run into the raid and 23 people to groan loudly on vent, this simply means you didn’t try hard enough with your prayer, human sacrifice is also an option. Once your bloodthirsty gods have had their fill of human hearts, you can collect your elemental shaman totem and thrown weapon (YOU DESERVE IT!).

Every Guild Has one

That’s the cold reality of the situation. A good glimpse at determining whether or not your Guild has THAT GUY is the Big Bad Wolf encounter in Karazhan. He’s the person that you dread getting the debuff because he’s not very good at handling it or just downright… fails. Their attitude and spirit may be in the right place. But that doesn’t amount to anything if they’re not able to battle through.

There are technical encounters in the game where the success of a raid rides on the ability of one player.

So what do you do about THAT GUY?

Educate him

Have someone sit down with him 1 on 1 and figure out what the problem is. Teach THAT GUY as much as possible. Show THAT GUY a few “training” videos on how to get past that phase that he has trouble with. Give them a few links to excellent sites that might help him get a big picture idea of what to do.

Remember that a lot of people learn differently. Some absorb information better when they “see” it. Some are great at processing a ton of stuff that’s said to them or on a screen (such students make me jealous). I’m more of a hands on learner.

But if that doesn’t seem to be working…

Bench him

As a raid leader and GM, you will have to make a few touch choices throughout your WoW raiding career. One of them involves making THAT GUY sit out for a fight in the interests of progression. You may not like it. THAT GUY may not like it. But don’t forget you’ve got the pressure of 23 other people in the raid looking to you to make the call or fix the problems somehow.

Obviously, no GM envies having to tell a player that they suck and must bring in someone more competent (in a nice way).

Two reactions

Expect 1 of 2 reactions when you break the news to them and be prepared for it:

Tantrum: The worse case (or best case) scenario is a gquit. They get so heated up that you question their ability to play. There is a feeling of disbelief and betrayal that anyone especially the GM could think such a thing. After all, their image as an “awesome” WoW player has been shattered and reality has set in. So they end up attempting to cause huge drama and rouse the Guild against the GM. Such coups usually fail.

Acceptance: The mark of a good Guildie is one who accepts their short comings. He understands that he’s not quite there yet in terms of performance. He’s willing to sit out this boss for the next one in the interests of progression. Hopefully, you’ll find one of these types of players instead of the one above.

Whatever the case, there is no denying that THAT GUY is a part of every Guild. It’s up to you and your Guild to figure out the best way to deal with THAT GUY or else sooner or later, you will have some very frustrated players.