First of all: i apologize if some things i'll say sound harsh. It isn't my intent to lash out, but to bring attention to things that are being left unsaid time and time again, even though i know it's not only on my mind.

Most of you probably noticed, that i left in a hurry yesterday. That wasn't because i was tired (i was, but i would've stayed for as long as i could concentrate), but because i was angry. Not at anyone in particular, but at the whole situation which is a puzzle of many small things.

We're a casual guild raidgroup, i think everyone agrees with me on that point. That's absolutely fine and i wouldn't want it any other way. Casual means for most people, that we're not as obsessive over max dps as hardcore raidgroups and don't min/max as hard as those groups.
Now what it doesn't mean, and that's what i get the impression of sometimes, is that no preparation is necessary at all aside from watching a guide. They are mostly small things, but those small things can and do snowball really quickly.

1. Be.On.Time
First things first, i don't speak about things like kids not wanting to sleep, emergencies or things you have no control over. Those are perfectly fine.
There are many times though, (it got better at the patch) in which 3/4 of the group has to wait for someone and has not update on why he/she isn't there at all. Please, PLEASE set an alarm to around 15 minutes before raidbegin, if you tend to forget time and if you're gonna be late, tell kai or whoever is there at the time, so the group isn't left hanging. It's really terrible if you don't know if someone will still show up or not. If you should act and search a replacement or have to expect that the person will show up in a few minutes.

2. Be prepared
I think we got the drill for bufffood down now, so that's the smaller part. Preparation (in a casual group too!) is also: stay up to date with your skill rotation/priority list, keep your gear updated, meld it, watch the guide and take notes of the parts that are difficult.
For skill rotations/priority lists: even if we don't max things, there is almost always a threshold in a fight. Be it a dps check like the whole of a9s is, or phase skipping like soar.
DPS tend to get higher naturally as players get used to the mechanics, but we're still struggling in places we shouldn't be and that frustrates not only me, but otheres as well. So my request would be, that everyone researches and practices their rotations.
I know that we have good players in this raid and i don't want to see you guys being frustrated about things like that anymore. It's difficult to watch and i know many have difficulty speaking about it out of fear that the other one takes the critique the wrong way. But without critique everyone assumes that everything is ok on that part and we're getting stuck, like we did in a9s.
>>>>>>>Just be aware, that if someone criticizes you about something raid related, that it's not aimed at you personally, but just to help you getting aware of it, so you can work on it. <<<<<<<

3. Concentrate
We all like to talk and joke to loosen things up in the raid, which is fine… outside of a fight. Infight the only ones who speak should be the raidlead and players who need to announce things, like the meteor tethers at Zurvan or emergencies during the fight. Please leave the banter out, since it really breaks concentration. I almost always mess up my opener in some way, when there's still talking when the fight starts, so that isn't pulled out of nowhere.
If you, for whatever reason, know that you probably can't concentrate during the raid, don't force yourself to participate! It may seem noble at first, but it really isn't:

- You won't have fun like usual, maybe even beating yourself over your screwups, since you know you can do it without thinking usually.
- You messing up, because of that maybe snowballs into wipes, which frustrates you more.
- The group gets frustrated too
- The mood goes south
- Bad mood = bad raid performance

Even a canceled raid is better than two hours of wiping on things, we all know we can do in our sleep if everyone is 100% there. It's not a bad things to say that you just can't do it today.

This got really long, but i had to get that off my chest. I hope no one takes it the wrong way, since it isn't meant to make someone or the raid look bad, but to help us improve as a group, so we can have more fun and clear things better.