Many WoW players want to raid as soon as they reach the level cap. However, once you reach level 85, your preparation has just begun. This article may sound negative in nature, as it should. Most people who want to raid really have no clue what they are in for! Here's a short list of some things to keep in mind to help you determine whether raiding is really something you want to get involved in once you're at maximum level.
WoW Raiding Is Not For You If…
You can't be bothered to learn how to play your class. Eighty-five levels should be enough to learn all of your spell rotations, but if it isn't, there's always the EJ Forums. If you are not willing to spend a small amount of time learning how to boost your DPS/healing/tanking abilities to the maximum, it's certainly not fair to the rest of the raid, and you probably have no business raiding.
You don't gem and enchant your gear. One common reply to this is that "I don't have enough gold". Fortunately, gold is incredibly easy to make, and just like with learning to play your class – if you can't be bothered to spend a bit of time preparing your character for raids, you are expecting the rest of the raid to carry you and it's not fair to them at all. Go do regular dungeons or daily quests until you have enough gold to buy the gems and enchants. You don't need expensive ones, and something is better than nothing. (If you lack gems and enchants because you spent your gold on mounts and pets instead, then raiding is definitely not for you!)
You refuse to find a good talent spec and glyphs. This is basically the same as the first two reasons. Every character needs a good raiding spec and glyphs. If you can't be bothered to find a good spec, why should a raid leader be bothered to take you to the raid? It is not difficult to find the right talents and glyphs to use. You can either ask someone who is an experienced raider, or look it up on Google.
You can't commit to a three hour raid time. Many of us have busy lives that demand our attention frequently. Whether it's a job, friends, or household responsibilities, finding a raid time that you can devote three consecutive hours to can often be a challenge. If you are able to make a committment to your raid team, that is the first step in becoming part of a raid team. However, if you find yourself often having to leave because you need to take care of your child, than perhaps raiding is not a good activity to be participating in. Go do daily quests instead, or anything else that won't put nine other people on hold while you have to change a diaper.
You expect the raid leader to spoon feed you all the way to epics. While it is the raid leader's job to organize the raid, that does not mean that you shouldn't prepare yourself adequately. Learning the boss fight mechanics before going to the raid is incredibly important. Raid leaders don't get paid or compensated by your guild or Blizzard – they are volunteers. Expecting your raid leader to spoon feed you raiding instructions is childish and unnecessary. All you need to do is load up your web browser and visit one of many websites with vast amounts of information on raid boss fights.
You refuse to learn from your mistakes. Everyone messes up from time to time, and that's perfectly okay as long as you use it as an opportunity to learn. However, if you continue to make the same mistakes over and over – standing in fire, not interrupting or dispelling, not using crowd control, attacking the wrong mob, and the list goes on – then trying to progress in raids is going to be futile. Similarly, it is important that anyone who does make a mistake is held accountable and expected to learn from it.
You lack the patience required to make progress. If you expect every boss to go down on the first attempt, raiding is definitely not for you! Sometimes you'll spend hours wiping on a boss while learning the strategy. If you don't have the right mindset for this, you're going to become aggravated and it won't do the group any good. If the thought of wiping several times makes your head spin, perhaps it's time to find a different activity to participate in. Progression raiding requires a lot of patience!
