Most people think they’re a good team player but what really separates the real team players from the others? I can see it a mile away so here are my thoughts on it after a raid night where the tone was set by a glaring, early mistake by myself on Goroth while healing on Caledonia.
On a night like that, obviously a team hangover after beating the lips off Kil’jaeden(yes Dalton), people definitely did not bring their A game. People had to go AFK and deal with real life and the rest of us seemed to switch off at times. It’s frustrating to have a stop-start night like that but I’ll tell you what will prove a point; Sunday night’s attendance and attitude.
If after arguably a disappointing evening, people have decided that a heroic KJ kill will do for them, they start switching off or failing to attend because they’d rather do something else then that tells me a story about character. Some people in our team turn real life down in order to be there and I’m one of them. We care that the others have pushed time aside so if we make a commitment to the team then unless an emergency comes up, we have done what we need to do in order to manage that window of non-interruptions and focus on what we want to do.
The real test comes when things don’t go your way. When the chips are down and people aren’t at their best then you really see who’s who. When people must go and deal with stuff they’d rather not then they leave behind a situation where the team has to believe in itself and calmly manage the best use of our time. When Daltzilla had to take a timeout, everyone knew he had no choice and the team made good, calm decisions about what to do in his absence. Elizarlena stepped up and the team responded.
I don’t know much about why the other guys had to go but I’m sure it was important and it left the team weakened. One or two returned by the end and while it was just one of those nights, I’m excited to see how we respond on Sunday. Make no mistake, Sunday is a huge test and it will show us who we can rely upon when the going gets tough. The reaction is crucial and I know we will have a positive experience because I know this Ironwall team has spirit.
If everybody pulls it together, keeps focused for the full evening and works hard then we can get both bosses down again. I expect wipes and so should everyone else. We have players who missed Thursday night returning and those of us who are battle hardened from an actually quite impressive 7/9 haul also returning for a tilt at repeating the success of last week where we took everything!
WHEN we wipe, the patience to be a good team player is tested. When you’ve made your own mistakes on progression and now feel you have the fight under control and then someone else makes errors that cause wipes, look inside as well as at those making the mistake, because they need you to stick by them. No doubt you’ve been where they are and while maybe they should know better, some people just have other things going on that can cause a momentary loss in concentration and these days, fights are very unforgiving on that. Saying that, people really should listen when they are told not to tunnel the boss and stand in stuff, if you really cannot prioritise moving ahead of casting your stupid little 500k damage spell then Wednesday evening is your place, learn that fact and stop pretending you’re good.
The caveat tho, when the team wipes, that IS raiding. Raiding is all about wiping. If you’re so used to blowing content down that you can’t deal with a full night of wiping endlessly and getting zero loot then a progression raid team is not your thing, learn that and adjust your mindset if you need to. We want people who learn and put time into the game on the other nights while not raiding so that they give themselves the best chance to provide value to their team mates on the night.
There is no way Avatar or Kil’jaeden should be treated as on farm, even tho I may joke that they are after a first kill. That is not the case so I hope to see the results of everybody’s game face on Sunday. I look forward to people having managed to set aside that time for your team mates who feel badly affected when you are not there. We are still adding to the roster in preparation for possible mythics and definite Antorus, The Burning Throne.
I’m looking forward to seeing Ironwall come together again to pull out a solid night and may the lovely loot gods be with us. Some of us deserve a better legendary and according to my mathematical calculations, killing heroic KJ provides a 143.8% increased chance to drop a sexy legendary 🙂
/salute
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