Regarding the guild members, I think there's an important distinction between people who put in a lot of effort into character, and those who don't. For maximum effort, running lfr/normal on optional time to get Abro stones/Ele runes, keeping a stockpile of flasks and pots [and even augment runes], research boss fights, are enchanted and gemmed, minmax as much as possible and know their class/spec extremely well. I think that there is a certain level of tolerance for bs/silliness/etc in two categories: performance on bosses, and attitude. I think that every raider fits somewhere between these two categories, with a mix of traits from both. Usually, the players who put in more effort are among the first perspective.
Perspective One: Players who perform well but have attitudes that annoy others are seen as preferable to 'dead weight' or underperforming players who dont put effort into their character, and just show up to get carried. As long as we're killing bosses, shit talking/joke insults at a reasonable level can be seen as acceptable. Likeable people who die repeatedly to mechanics are 'holding us back', and wasting our time, leads to annoyance.
Perspective Two: Toxic attitudes ruin the experience of the raid, even if they are performing well. RL and other stuff can be seen as factors that are forgiving for player performance, and loyalty to guild is seen as more important. Casual atmosphere lets players relax and enjoy the game, not taking it too seriously to ruin the fun. Not expecting top-tier performance, since the guild focus is not set to 'maximum progression' but to keeping the raiding community together.
Most players have some mix of the two, even the officers themselves. The raid atmosphere and rules are an amalgamation of the two, leading to some confusion in how we raiders are expected to act. The rules are enforced, then they are guidelines, then they are revised again, then the cycle repeats.
Regarding performance of players...I'd like to think I perform decently well, there are some fights where my computer takes a dump [CPUGorger] and I personally think I underperform for my gear level. Now, there are a few who are in new territory the past few weeks regarding their spec or class [Jesseh trying out Assassination as an example], and are underperforming right now, if the logs are accurate. Yeah, it kinda sucks for people consistently ranking but we're not exactly a tryhard guild. We're a two-night guild that is relatively flexible. We're not really requiring people do 90%+ percentile dps, and while a few of us consistently rank like that, not everyone does, or at least not on every fight.
TBH, I feel like the new 'strict rules' are kinda killing the fun atmosphere in the raid. I know I am not the only one feeling that way. I can understand the rationale behind them, but...it's like a life-jacket that's supposed to keep people afloat, only to find it covered in diarrhea. The guild has lost a few raiders since the Xpac launched partially because we're too casual, and partially because we have had a shitty environment. There is a perceived lack of flexibility from the officers [which is somewhat true] and I can understand people leaving to try new guilds out.
To anyone who dared read this abomination of a post, if anything needs clarity, let me know.
The following is an accurate portrayal of my feelings towards you guys.
