Trying in ICC

Last night we had an interesting run.  As happens we were a few short.  Silly things like bucks nights and work and road trips. Many of those that were on were ... tired and/or grumpy.

So we pugged.  So far in my pugs I have generally had people with a clue.  Not always the best, but good enough.  Not last night.

Entry level bosses (on any raid) test that the tanks and healers can walk and chew gum.  Later bosses are harder.  Sindragosa (our current joy) tests more of the raid.  I really thought that this was a 'no shit sherlock' idea. 

I dont insist that players have the achievement.  I dont insist that players are overgeared.  I really do prefer that players have a basic set of gems and enchants, and a set of consumables.  I also prefer that players have a basic understanding of the fights. For the record I have no problem with failure. But I do prefer to fail better than last time.

Last night I got an overgeared moron DPS. Had not done Sindy (no problem). Good gear (better than mine), and gemmed solid red, to the point of an unactivated meta gem that required two yellow gems. Had exaclty 1 enchant. When I pointed out the lack of enchants I was told 'I was hoping to upgrade my gear before enchanting it'. For me this was Strike 1 - on the Foo grumpy meter - Do not lie. He forgot/didnt know/couldn't care about enchants.

We have vent. We explain strategies that we are going to use. Sometimes we will get these strategies wrong. We called the location of ice tombs. At every point our pug took extra damage - standing in the wrong position as a tomb. Standing next to an incoming tomb and getting frozen. Consistently getting hit by tail swipes and the frost waves. Strike 2 : Don't consistenly take more damage than the tank.

One person however good or bad does not cause consistent wiping or carry a raid. I knew that we were doing it wrong. So - A couple of us announced a brief AFK to look at strategies. Our pug announced AFK to do facebook. Strike 3 - at least look like you are making an effort. And yes he also came out with "It's only a game". I do not for a minute assume that the failed run was due to him alone, but it did not help.

WoW is a game. However a 10 man raid means that 9 others are depending on you to some degree or another. I am happy to provide training and work with most players, but last night I may have found my limit.