A different shade of casual
Before my horrific database loss, I had an excellent post on the line between different types of [PvE] players. .
In WoW there are 3 main categories of people you will encounter. There is Casual, Hardcore, and a group that tries to ride the middle, I’ll refer to them as the Semi-Casuals, as they often refer to themselves.
There are many subcategories in these groups, but for the most part there mostly the same. The one I’ll disect today is the Semi-Casual.
Futher in this post I’ll refer to the two opposite ends of the Semi-Casual group as Raiders and Casuals. I’ve been a part of multiple guilds that claimed to be Semi-Casual. All have had a serious flaw in their raiding structure. I think I’m getting a head of myself.
A Semi-Casual raiding guild is generally one that wants to raid a couple times a week, however with the determination and focus of a Hardcore guild.
That said they are usually built of a core of raiders that truely follow the ideals of the guild. They flask for farm content, bring full consumables, and research to push their class.
However, with the ease of WotLK raids (and was also prevalent in BC 25 man raids) it’s not an east task to fill a raid with 25 of these players. What usually is the case is that 10-15 players of this guild are raiders while the other half are true casuals.
I don’t mean to sound condescending here, however I’m a little obvious as to which side of the arguement I’m on.
The casual half of the guild, could be a little more effective in their time management. They don’t spend much time investing in their character. Either farming for crafted gear, running heroics for drops, rep, or emblems, or a multitude of other things that are prime examples of a persons effort.
This is a bit of a blurry line. Some people know they need work. They know where the drops come from. They just might have a hectic work or school schedule and not have the time to run things. Although I wish this was always the case, it unfortunately isn’t usually.
Most people come into this game with a big ambition, and little more motivation than that. They think that “raid guilds = epix” and that they’ll be able to come in and snag some of that uber loot. They don’t realize that these raid guilds are built on the shoulders of people that read strategy guides, watch videos, farm for gear, and take that extra step to be the best they can.
When they see the term “Semi-Casual” they think they’ve found a perfect home.
However there is a lot of tension in these kinds of guilds. They usually have to recruit a few of the casuals to fill the gaps in the raiding roster. The raiders aide of the guild will feel a sense of resentment as they put money in for flasks, food, and repairs. While the other half shows up a few minutes before the raid and holds their hands open to catch any loot they can.
As you can see, I’m personally against Semi-Casual guilds. It comes down to the old saying “shit or get off the pot”. You need to stand up and push yourself and your guild to reach it’s highest potential.
A common objection is that you can’t have a serious raiding guild without a lot of time invested. As I said earlier in my post, it comes down to time management. Effectively utilizing your time, your guilds time, and your raids time can allow you to accomplish all your goals and have time to spare.
I normally would break off into a how to on time management however I’m going to save that for my next post! :)
