Critical Mass for Raiding Guilds
Published by Alinden under Raiding, World of Warcraft on February 7, 2008This has probably been written about before, but it’s something that I have just witnessed recently so I thought I’d relate my experiences.
I firmly believe that raiding guilds have a “Critical Mass” they have to reach, and maintain, in order to survive. This critical mass is related to the number of consistent raiders they have. Drop below the magic number for too long and the guild will bleed raiders and eventually die.
There can be a number of causes that initiate the bleeding process, such as real life events affecting raider availability and/or dissatisfaction of one sort or another. Generally it involves one or more raiders no longer being available to raid, followed by other raiders considering their options because there simply aren’t the raiders (or specific classes/roles) required to run a raid. The key thing here is that the guild really has to be in a position to survive if it happens.
What’s the magic number? This is difficult to answer because it will depend on the guild and the server environment. For example, if recruiting is not an issue on your server, then the number can be lower. If your guild has a solid core of raiders, those that signup and turn up for every scheduled raid, then the number can be lower. What I can say is that the magic number is rarely 10/25, and even if it is now that won’t always be the case. Real life issues like work, sickness, relationships, sports and unexpected events affect us all. My guess is that roughly 20% of a guild’s raiding force is affected by such things on a weekly basis.
So, is the number then 12/30? No, I don’t think so. My current feeling is that a 10-man raiding guild needs 14-15 consistent raiders, and a 25-man raiding guild needs 32-35. The reason for this is to provide a buffer so the guild can take the hit of losing a few raiders without appearing to be imploding and therefore provoking the whole rats versus sinking ship thingy.
Another point I want to make here is that it is almost certainly too late to be thinking about contingency plans when the shit hits the fan. There are a couple of stop-gap measures that may buy some time, like dropping back to two 10-man raids, or doing heroics instead, but my opinion is that these options have a very short lifespan. For the raiders of a 25-man raiding guild I would say 10-man raids hold very little appeal, and the content is very limited. On top of that, friendships and loyalty will only go so far.
Personally, I advocate keeping the numbers higher (but not excessive) and rotating raiders through scheduled raids. If necessary, expand the raiding schedule so that everyone gets a slot in 75% of the raids. Some guilds wildly over-subscribe, and others barely make the numbers. Both of these situations can lead to a high turnover in raiders and place the guild in a high risk situation. Neither of these scenarios does anything to help progression.