BANEFIRE RAIDER’S CHARTER

1.   As a Banefire raider, I fully understand that raiding is different from casual gaming, and that raiding has higher expectations for player performance. Futhermore, I understand that raiding is a matter of playstyle choice, not a difference in status, and that it does not elevate me above non-raiders. I understand that raiding is about following raid leader orders, technically performing my designated team role, and putting the group’s success above my own comfort.  And as per the Banefire Articles of Raiding, I pledge to live up to these higher expectations without malice or complaint.

2.   As per the Banefire Articles of Raiding, I pledge to fulfill my raid role with skill, respect, humility, and consideration of others. If I am unable to fulfill my role for whatever reason, I will offer to remove myself from raid.

3.   I will positively contribute to the raid group morale at all times.  As per the Banefire Articles of Raiding, I will not abuse, nor will I poison the raid morale.

4.   I will strive to be a skilled raider, an honourable individual, a courteous player, and a supportive teammate, in all matters related to raiding, whether I am running with guildmates or anyone outside of guild.

5.   I have read, and fully understand, the Banefire Articles of Raiding document that follows. To this charter, its articles, the positive spirit of Banefire raiding, and to the success of my raid group, I solemnly pledge.

BANEFIRE ARTICLES OF RAIDING
(3 parts)

INTRODUCTION:

Endgame raiding is about disciplined group performance. Unlike casual WoW questing, raiding depends much more on interaction with fellow players, and that interdependency carries with it more responsibility than just casual gaming. Preparedness, the ability to perform a specific combat role without hesitation, and the emotional mettle to honourably deal with disappointment... these are the three big tests of a Banefire raider, and the reason for this document.

The following Articles of Banefire Raiding detail the specific expectations of raid conduct. This document is very detailed because clear expectations promote confidence and rapid response.  Please do not look at this document as an onerous form of legalese. Rather, this document is about adding credibility to our commitment as an honour community.

PART I) HOW TO GET INVITED BACK FOR REPEATED BANEFIRE RAIDS

1. Be prepared. 

Your preparedness is measured by how often people have to wait for you. Being prepared means doing the following BEFORE raid: stabilizing your computer and connection, removing AFK distractions, blocking out the required 2 or 3 hrs, researching the fights in advance, completing your macros before the instance, having extra stacks of consumables, reagents, ammo, shards and pet food, stabilizing your ventrilo, and being logged into game in time.

Being prepared also means that you have signed up at the guild calendar in advance (whenever possible).  You are logged into your main raid toon before invites begin. And you are one of the first people to the instance to help summon.

2. Contribute to group morale and confidence as a “Giver”.

In the world of givers and takers, a giving raider is a person who elevates the group’s confidence and positive attitude. A giving raider promotes mutual respect through courteous chat, supportive acknowledgements, a shut mouth when silence is required, quick response to raid leader directives, and considerate and minimal use of AFK’s.

A giving raider can quickly switch to being solemn and focused and silent. A giving raider can also let go of disappointment and bad feelings quickly, so as not to weigh down the raid.

A giving raider also promotes camaraderie and energetic spirit by knowing when to add appropriate humor, a well-timed cheer, or even a bit of friendly ribbing.  Energetic spirit, when done well, does not detract from the performance focus.

3. Show respect and responsiveness to the raid leaders.

Even if you disagree with the raid leader’s tactics, you will support that person’s authority and promote group confidence in that person wherever possible.  If you have suggestions for different tactics, you will tactfully bring them up in group chat, or use private whisper.

Give the leader’s tactics an honest try before suggesting a change.  Two or three wipes is a good rule of thumb of assessing a tactic.

4. Focus on your own performance, not on blaming or finding deficiencies in others.

Weak people look for fault in other players.  Weak people will want to blame a wipe on someone else.  In Banefire, we are better than this.  If your group keeps wiping repeatedly on a fight, look at yourself and assess if you are doing the best job you can with your raid duties.

Bite your tongue if you feel like lashing out at another player. Blamestorming will do no good. Instead, let the raid leader swap players if the current makeup is unsuccessful, and keep whatever bilious comments you have to yourself.

5. Leave your ego at the door.

Yes, you want to perform well, and you want to fulfill your combat duties with excellence.  But if your ego and personal discomfort have to become the center of the raid, then something is wrong. Egotistic behaviour will show itself in multiple ways, like: trying to break the dps meters at the cost of bad pulls or contravening the raid leader instructions.  Egotism sometimes takes the form of poisonous snobbery in chat, or the need to push your knowledge as being superior to others. Other times, egotism drives a person to rudely leave a slower raid, or take cheap shots at other players. And in some cases: egotism shows itself as an attitude of entitlement, like “I signed up first, I should get to go” or “I know more than that person, so I should get the loot”.

If you have a  misplaced sense of self-importance, and try to elevate yourself above others in the raid, then you should look elsewhere for a raid group. Being a egotist or narcissist is about being a taker, and we don’t like takers in our raids.

6. Share raid spots willingly and honourably.

By the very nature of raiding, only 10 or 25 people will fit into the instance. Banefire strives to balance its loyalty to its regular raiders against the inclusion of newer raiders who have less game time or experience. We make attendance decisions so as to assemble a successful raid balance each night.

It is inevitable that both senior and junior raiders will get turned away from raids.  As you will know from the guild policy on raid selection, we make raid attendance decisions considering all dimensions. We consider things like: is this the person’s main/only toon?  How often do they get to attend raids?  Have they sacrificed a spot before? Is this a speed run or a progression run?  Do we have the necessary heals, dps, and tanking to take this player with us? Raid leaders need to consider all these questions and more when choosing attendees each night. A good Banefire raider understands that raid selection is a challenging management process. Accordingly, a good Banefire raider is willing to share raid spots without drama or complaint.

7.  Earn your pre-raid gear and raid stats on your own.

A good raider is both a team player and an individual player.  A good raider doesn’t expect handouts from epic players, nor expects to passenger with raiders who busted their buns to get raid gear. A good raider doesn’t sit around waiting for guildmates to run him through heroics, or whine about how pugs are bad.  A good raider takes initiative and shows independence as well as team spirit.

Go farm your own gold, buy your enchant mats, and grind the reputation and heroics to get yourself good blues and purples.  Courageously and respectfully join pugs instead of waiting for a guild heroic run. Step up and show that you are not dependent on the good will of others when it comes to gear.

Youth is wasted on the young.

PART II) HOW TO GET KICKED OUT OF A BANEFIRE RAID

1. Poison raid morale through inappropriate comments and chat.

Poisoning morale is when a player seeds distrust and animosity via comments and self-centeredness.  Examples of poison include: constant complaining and whining, regularly insisting on bringing undergeared alts, insubordinately defying the raid leader, dominating ventrilo with unproductive chatter, throwing out insidious bits of sarcasm, repeatedly commenting on fight outcomes with snarkiness, belittling other player’s performance, blaming, name calling, irritating outbursts.  These poisonous behaviours are signs of childishness and insecurity.  This is unwelcome in a Banefire raid.

Whatever uncomfortable emotions you are feeling, whatever sort of injustice you are personally feeling: don’t make it the problem of the raid. Suck it up and take control of yourself, or else leave the raid.  Poison is baggage, and baggage is against our credo as Banefire raiders.

2. Have uncontrolled outbursts in ventrilo and chat.

A much more blatant form of poison, being a drama queen, is a fast way to get kicked from a Banefire raid.  If you have to make your own discomfort the center of the raid, then you lack self-control and maturity.  Whether it is how angry you are at Blizzard bugs, or how unjustly you feel that you died in that last fight, don’t take it out on your fellow raiders. Take it to Jerry Springer, where people might actually be interested in how loud you can yell.

3. Abuse the raid with repeated AFK’s and disruptions.

Sure, if your child has an emergency need at home, or if the doorbell rings, Banefire raiders are very understanding.  But if it is repeated and abusive, then don’t be surprised if you are not invited back to raid.

Banefire will follow a 5-minute rule of thumb.  Any player who goes AFK for more than 5 minutes without a raid agreement in advance, then the raid leader will replace the player.

4. Regularly be the last person to the stone.

It’s one thing to be called on short notice to fill a raid gap.  But if the start time was published in advance, and you keep insisting you want to finish these 3 quests before joining the raid, then that is an abuse of other people’s time.  Similarly, if you are always the last person to get to the instance, then there is a problem with how you respect your guildmates.

5. Don’t listen to the raid leader directives.

If you personally dislike the raid leader, then remove yourself from raid.  But staying and being insubordinate in chat or in raid conduct is unacceptable. As described earlier in this document, we either respect the raid leader, or we leave the raid politely. Don’t poison other people’s experience by trying to turn them against the raid leader, and don’t turn a raid into a public battleground for your personal differences with another player.

6. Be intolerant, bigoted, and immature.

Maybe you have personal issues with people of different race, color, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, credo, or lifestyle. Perhaps you have problems with authority, with women, or even political stance. You are entitled to your own opinions.  But if you bring intolerance, homophobia, or hate into raid, then you will be removed and not invited back. Plain and simple. 

PART III) RAIDER DUTIES AND EXPECTATIONS

As a Banefire raider,

1.   I have read and understand the Banefire Raider Minimum Requirements document, as published at Banefire.com

2.   I believe in maximum raid performance, but not at the expense of mutual respect or common courtesy.

3.   I will apologize when I cross the line and fail to live up to this credo.

4.   I will not repeatedly delay the raid with AFK’s. Similarly, I will take all reasonable steps BEFORE the raid to prevent AFK’s.

5.   I will not be a passenger who expects to be carried to nice loot.  I will work on my own gear, main or alt, so that I am not a liability, even if it means pugging outside of guild.  To expect to be carried is disrespectful to the people who worked hard to earn their gear.

6.   I will keep ventrilo clear, particularly during boss fights.

7.   I will control my emotions and emotional outbursts. I understand that failure to do so may result in me being removed from raid.

8.   I will respect the raid leadership. I will also be supportive of all raid leaders, especially the new raid leaders, as one day, I may be the new raid leader. I  will not start public debates over strategies/theorycraft,  or cause drama because I disagree with the raid leader. If I have a suggestion for a different fight strategy, I will raise the suggestion with respect, or use private whisper to the raid leaders.

9.   I will keep an open mind and give fight strategies an honest try. Three times is a good rule of thumb.

10. I will fulfill my combat role as per the raid leader’s directives, without complaint or insubordination.

11. I will not ninja loot.  I will not loot while people are dead at a boss fight.

12. I will abide by the guild rules of DKP , loot council, and guest raiders.

13. If I have to go emergency AFK for more than 5 mins, I will communicate so, leave raid and then log out to allow for a replacement.

14. If I know that I have a big disruption pending, I will not join a raid without disclosing this up front.

15. I fully expect to pay for my own repairs, the bill of which may be over 100 gold on progression wiping nights.

16. I will not mooch. I will bring my own consumables, including food, potions, ammo, reagents, and such.

17. I will have my computer stabilized, ventrilo functional, mods updated, and UI checked before raid start.

18. I will treat raid meter data as a tool for improving myself, NOT as a hammer to punish or humiliate another player.

19. So as not to distract from the raid success, I will only publish raid data at the end of the raid, or in private whisper.

20. I will not blamestorm.

21. If I am the person wiping the raid, I will courageously admit it to the whole group, and offer to  remove myself from raid.

22.  I will strive to keep the raid morale positive.

23.  I will give credit where credit is due, be it publicly in chat or vent, or in private whisper to those players who distinguish themselves

24.  Wherever appropriate, I will inject energetic spirit, good humor, and supportive acknowledgement into the raid.

25.  I will act at all times to bring honor and respect to Banefire guild and its raiding program