Well, in the name of full disclosure, we’re at least talking about it.
Our GL put up an interest post on our guildsite yesterday. Now the challenge is to get our high-levels to log in and read it. 
I’m definitely interested. I might even admit to a wee bit of excitement at the prospect of tackling Kara–generated mostly from the great (and sometimes not-so-great) stories I’ve read on my favorite blogs. The more I play my Priest and Hunter, the more comfortable I am with their roles, and the more confident I’ve become in my skill (*sigh* although you wouldn’t have seen much skill last night in Old Hillsbrad, but that’s another article).
However, I will admit to a bit of trepidation or unease. More because we haven’t talked about raiding specifically, than for any other reason, I’m unsure whether the rest of my guildies understand how much different it will be from doing 5-man instances. I have a lot of questions running around in my mind–questions that may not even be that important in the long run. But in case any of you more experienced raiders want to comment, here are some of my concerns:
- Will people be comfortable about tweaking their templates for raiding? Is it even necessary to have an optimal raid template? (I think some things are necessary, such as minimum unbuffed armor levels; spell, ranged, and melee +hit/+crit ratings; unbuffed/buffed health and mana levels.)
- What about add-ons? Will those who have resisted or refused to use add-ons, be willing to at least install a threat meter? Or, is a threat meter really necessary, since Blizzard hasn’t seen fit to include on in the stock UI?
- How much time are people willing to invest outside the game to do research on their template, their gear, and their role in a raid? Or will we simply "learn by doing"–even if that learning may be quite painful at times?
- We have quite a few folks with more than one level 70 character (12 or 13, I think)–but not enough people for two raid groups. Can we avoid guild drama arising from people having to raid with other than their own "first choice" of raider? (I’d prefer to raid with my BM Hunter, but I already recognize–with only 3 healers in the guild–that Osprey is probably going to be my raider. My only problem with that is Cartographer’s occasional smartass "Blame the Priest" blurb in the middle of the screen as users of that add-on run back to the instance after a wipe. I much prefer the "Blame Canada" option.)
- And what of the two or three people not on "the first team" (assuming everyone with a 70 wants to raid)? Are we, as a group, mature enough to ensure first, that those people don’t feel "second-class" and can we effectively do those things we must do to keep them active and interested as qualified backups?
I am an eternal optimist, although I’m also somewhat of a pragmatist. I think we can "git ‘er dun" but I also recognize we aren’t going to be breaching the Kara portal in a couple weeks–or months. But it should be a hoot! As Tati, our GL, said in her post, "WE ARE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" But damn! we’ll have fun doing it!
1. If you want things to go smoothly… yes, your raiders will need to go for raid specs (this epcially applies to healers and tanks) your DPS and tanks will need to be hit capped. I think the templates for the tanks are the most important… you can’t have a tank getting critted in there… it just won’t fly. Raiding is a group effort and each person is going to need to give up a few things that make soloing easier in order to make raiding easier. Some might fight this, but it will make raiding much easier if everyone is geared/specced for raiding
2. I think there are only 2 types of addons that fall under the “necessary” category. Threat meter (I recomend Omen and not KTM, ask me why if you wanna know) and a raid UI, it helps if everyone has the same one and they can be turned off when not in the raid so it won’t affect play later. The threat meters really are necessary, if nothing else then the tank will know when he’s about to loose aggro.
3. This one can go either way. I’d say your raid leader needs to spend some time researching strats, but others can get away with listening to the RL if they don’t have the time. I do think it’s better if everyone is familiar with the fights tho. Most will be curious about things and want to know, some will be ok with being spoon fed the information.
4. There might be some drama, but if you can manage make it understood that the raid won’t happen at all if they don’t use the character that is needed, most will go along. Your guild should also do it’s best to rotate people in so they get a chance to raid with their favorites
5. My best recomendation there is to rotate people in and out. What we do is roatate in based on loot need. If there is another player signed up that night that needs loot we’ll swap them out and both players will get DKP. The other thing you can do, when you get a second group together don’t make them 1 and 2 or A and B. Use colors or some other and split your best players between the groups so each has a good chance at progression. If you don’t have enough for a second group scheduling issues will also usually take care of themselves. We have about 17 raiders and usually only 11 or so are available on any given night.
I hope that helps!
Wow…great stuff, Gala–thanks!
I already have Omen, and while I’m the only person in the guild who currently has a threat meter (that I’m aware of), I really like it, especially as a hunter. Even when soloing (or especially when soloing?), it’s very useful to tell me when to ease up, maybe toss a Mend Pet, or just FD so I don’t have to try to wave my big blue axe around. 
Galadria’s hit most of it. But I’ll add my 2.3 cents anyway (exchange rate went up).
2. If you’re going to get an addon purely for raiding, it must be a threat meter of some sort. It is absolutely essential. There is no negotiation. No ifs, ands, or buts. The only time they can get away without downloading one is when Blizzard releases one within the WoW Client at some point. Remember that threat meters can be hidden as long as they continue broadcasting.
3. That’s a cointoss. Many of the bosses in Kara you can get away with by learning from example. But it helps to do a bit of homework and research. Just knowing the abilities that bosses do would be a huge asset. But don’t spend half an hour explaining encounters. Give them a fast 5 minute overview about the major parts, then start the encounter and have them learn by example. I don’t know about you, but I’m a visual learner. If I can SEE what’s being done to me, I can act accordingly.
4. Drama can be always be avoided with maturity and understanding on both sides of the coin. As it’s the first raid, it should be made clear that the best characters be brought in and used.
5. Ah, the group 2 problem. Expect a future blog post on that topic coming soon =)
* Template Tweaking – I think there are some minimums. I would suggest that someone who wants to heal Kara and has only +500 healing need to gear more. But the absolute best way I’ve found to get people to make the adjustments they need to? Compare them to others. A mage who hasn’t done any work on cranking up spell damage with gear and spec is going to show up far lower in comparison to one who has. Gently showing folks the output from WowWebStats or even a damage meter can work wonders.
* Add-ons. If you don’t show up on my threat meters, I call a halt to the raid while you go download. Just that simple. Threat meters are not only for you…they are for the folks you’re raiding with as well. It would be particularly bad if a tank didn’t have one. For any class that CAN decurse (cleanse, etc.) you need a good way to see other groups than your own. About the only classes I can think of that absolutely would have NO need for better raid frames is a rogue. Even hunters may be called on to misdirect. Warriors intervene, etc.
* Outside time. What we recommend here is reading a few good blogs that are class specific. Even if someone puts in an hour a week spread out over days, they’ll be better. There is also going to be outside time investment in just being prepared for the raid. I need about 2-3 hours a week of time to farm and get myself ready for a raid. If you raid more than a few times a week, your time will go up.
* Raid attendance. At least in my guild people with more than one alt who CAN attend seem to take the “best for the raid” attitude. And if you bring a character that’s best for raid one week, you get first shot at bringing the alt you WANTED to bring the next raid.
* Backups – If the backups can fulfill a think about giving them priority on “the next” raid and letting someone who went last time sit out as backup. And to some degree, much as I hate it, Karazhan almost makes you do some microscopic raid composition adjustment as you attempt different encounters throughout the raid.
I wish you luck and less drama than some have had. Raiding should be fun. When it stops being fun altogethr for me, I intend to give it up. So far it hasn’t happened.