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Raid and trial etiquette
thorwyn
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While waiting for my family to arrive for xmas dinner, I decided to write a more or less detailed trial etiquette guide. A similar thread probably already exists somewhere, but I could not find one, so why not give it a go?!
This guide is supposed to help new players preparing for their first trial and maybe reduce their fears of messing something up. It is also aimed at more advanced players who are trying to make the next step and get into more serious trial groups. After all, running a trial is a 12 person activity and with increasing difficulty, efficiency becomes more and more important.
Disclaimer: The "rules" I'm listing here are by no means written in stone. It is how I think groups should work together and it represents my ideas of raid courtesy. So without further ado...
Raid preparations
Before the raid starts, everyone should check a couple of things.
* Show up early
Try to be in discord or TS at least 10-15 minutes earlier than scheduled raid time. If you can not make it for some reason or if you are late, tell the raid lead as early as possible to give him time to find a replacement or react otherwise.
* Buff food
Make sure you have enough buff food (of the right type) on your character and make sure you use it before you enter the raid. The kind of buff food obviously depends on your role. If you are not sure what to use, ask the raid lead.
* Potions
Make sure you have enough potions (of the right type) on your character. If you are attending a learning raid on normal difficulty, you probably don't want to use the expensive potions. If you are playing advanced content, the quality of your potions is getting more important.
* Inventory
Make sure to have at least 30 free inventory slots. Please do NOT ask for a banker half way through the raid. This is something to be sorted out beforehand.
* Soul Gems
Make sure to have a couple of soul gems in your inventory so you can rez and recharge during the raid.
* Repair Kits
Make sure to have a couple repair kits in your inventory so you can repair your gear during the raid.
* Gear setup
Make sure you are wearing the right gear. If you are planning to use more than one setup via Alpha Gear or Dressing Room, double check that you have all the pieces in your inventory and double check that the setups are saved correctly. Do not be the guy that says: "Oh wait a second, I want to swap gear... oh crap! that set is on my other char, hang on, I'll quickly log out and and back in." Srsly, don't do that!
* Skill setup
Same story: make sure your skill setup is trial ready and if you are using more than one skill setup, check that the combinations are saved correctly.
* Mundus
Make sure you have one. The right one preferably.
* CP
Make sure to have your CP assigned correctly.
* Communicate
If you are a healer or a tank, you might want to ask the raid lead what sets you should wear. If the raid lead does not care, ask the other healer/tank what they are wearing and coordinate your sets.
During the raid
* Listen
As soon as the raid has started, the raid lead is the one who is in charge. If you are in a learning raid, the raid lead will give you a more or less detailed run down of the mechanics. Try to listen as good as you can and if you did not understand something or if you have questions, ASK! There is no shame in asking questions. Some mechanics are hard to explain until you tried it, but please don't pretend to know and hopr for the best.
* AFK
We all know, real life is a thing. The phone rings, the spouse has a question, pizza arrives, the cat is vomitting on the carpet... stuff like that happens. But please try to avoid unnecesary afk time. There are 11 people waiting for you.
* Strategy
No strategy discussions during the raid. It is the raid leads job to figure out a strategy for any fight and announce it. If that strategy fails, you can discuss this after the raid, but during the raid, do as the raid lead says. Making suggestions on how to improve details is ok, but keep it at that.
* NO calls
This is by far the most important rule. If you are not the raid lead OR have a certain task such as portal runner, making calls is NOT YOUR JOB. That includes "hard calls" such as announcing block/dodge but it is even more important on situational calls like "ignore add, focus boss" or "skip portals". Noone except the raid lead should make calls like this... ever! Period! Nothing is more frustrating than wiping the group because of two contradicting calls.
* Chatting
Between fights, chatting is perfectly fine. During the fight, chatting should be reduced to the absolute minimum. If you die, do not explain what concatenation of unfavorable circumstances has led to your death. It is irrelevant.
* Lay off means lay off
If a fight goes wrong and the raid lead tells you to lay off and restart, do it. Don't try to dance around showing everyone how long you can avoid those aoe's or how long you can resist the dragon's breath. You are wasting people's time.
* Trading
Do not trade anything during the raid. When the raid is over, post the items you want to GIVE away in group chat and then start trading.
* No flexing
Do not post your supposedly godlike DPS into group chat after every boss. Noone cares.
* Rezzing
If someone dies and you are near him, rez. Always prioritize the tanks and healers over DD's.
I think that's about it. Feel free to add things I might have forgotten or even discuss the points I mentioned.
Merry Crimbo everyone.
Edited by thorwyn on December 24, 2021 1:49PM This guide is supposed to help new players preparing for their first trial and maybe reduce their fears of messing something up. It is also aimed at more advanced players who are trying to make the next step and get into more serious trial groups. After all, running a trial is a 12 person activity and with increasing difficulty, efficiency becomes more and more important.
Disclaimer: The "rules" I'm listing here are by no means written in stone. It is how I think groups should work together and it represents my ideas of raid courtesy. So without further ado...
Raid preparations
Before the raid starts, everyone should check a couple of things.
* Show up early
Try to be in discord or TS at least 10-15 minutes earlier than scheduled raid time. If you can not make it for some reason or if you are late, tell the raid lead as early as possible to give him time to find a replacement or react otherwise.
* Buff food
Make sure you have enough buff food (of the right type) on your character and make sure you use it before you enter the raid. The kind of buff food obviously depends on your role. If you are not sure what to use, ask the raid lead.
* Potions
Make sure you have enough potions (of the right type) on your character. If you are attending a learning raid on normal difficulty, you probably don't want to use the expensive potions. If you are playing advanced content, the quality of your potions is getting more important.
* Inventory
Make sure to have at least 30 free inventory slots. Please do NOT ask for a banker half way through the raid. This is something to be sorted out beforehand.
* Soul Gems
Make sure to have a couple of soul gems in your inventory so you can rez and recharge during the raid.
* Repair Kits
Make sure to have a couple repair kits in your inventory so you can repair your gear during the raid.
* Gear setup
Make sure you are wearing the right gear. If you are planning to use more than one setup via Alpha Gear or Dressing Room, double check that you have all the pieces in your inventory and double check that the setups are saved correctly. Do not be the guy that says: "Oh wait a second, I want to swap gear... oh crap! that set is on my other char, hang on, I'll quickly log out and and back in." Srsly, don't do that!
* Skill setup
Same story: make sure your skill setup is trial ready and if you are using more than one skill setup, check that the combinations are saved correctly.
* Mundus
Make sure you have one. The right one preferably.
* CP
Make sure to have your CP assigned correctly.
* Communicate
If you are a healer or a tank, you might want to ask the raid lead what sets you should wear. If the raid lead does not care, ask the other healer/tank what they are wearing and coordinate your sets.
During the raid
* Listen
As soon as the raid has started, the raid lead is the one who is in charge. If you are in a learning raid, the raid lead will give you a more or less detailed run down of the mechanics. Try to listen as good as you can and if you did not understand something or if you have questions, ASK! There is no shame in asking questions. Some mechanics are hard to explain until you tried it, but please don't pretend to know and hopr for the best.
* AFK
We all know, real life is a thing. The phone rings, the spouse has a question, pizza arrives, the cat is vomitting on the carpet... stuff like that happens. But please try to avoid unnecesary afk time. There are 11 people waiting for you.
* Strategy
No strategy discussions during the raid. It is the raid leads job to figure out a strategy for any fight and announce it. If that strategy fails, you can discuss this after the raid, but during the raid, do as the raid lead says. Making suggestions on how to improve details is ok, but keep it at that.
* NO calls
This is by far the most important rule. If you are not the raid lead OR have a certain task such as portal runner, making calls is NOT YOUR JOB. That includes "hard calls" such as announcing block/dodge but it is even more important on situational calls like "ignore add, focus boss" or "skip portals". Noone except the raid lead should make calls like this... ever! Period! Nothing is more frustrating than wiping the group because of two contradicting calls.
* Chatting
Between fights, chatting is perfectly fine. During the fight, chatting should be reduced to the absolute minimum. If you die, do not explain what concatenation of unfavorable circumstances has led to your death. It is irrelevant.
* Lay off means lay off
If a fight goes wrong and the raid lead tells you to lay off and restart, do it. Don't try to dance around showing everyone how long you can avoid those aoe's or how long you can resist the dragon's breath. You are wasting people's time.
* Trading
Do not trade anything during the raid. When the raid is over, post the items you want to GIVE away in group chat and then start trading.
* No flexing
Do not post your supposedly godlike DPS into group chat after every boss. Noone cares.
* Rezzing
If someone dies and you are near him, rez. Always prioritize the tanks and healers over DD's.
I think that's about it. Feel free to add things I might have forgotten or even discuss the points I mentioned.
Merry Crimbo everyone.
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
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