Raid mentality

An interesting article linked by WoWInsider today caught my attention.

In it, the author offers his views on why he thinks fear and humiliation are viable tools for raid leaders, much like that tyrant teacher you lived in fear of way back in primary school.

Although I'm in a fairly similar position to the author's (I've seen more of the harder bosses in TK, SSC, Hyjal, BT and ZA by joining PuGs than with my guild), I don't believe that calling people out for their mistakes is necessary.

The reason I believe this is because I view WoW, and the raiding environment in particular, as a huge Montessori classroom, where people learn from each other, and teach each other. As with any class, the high achievers will rise to the top quickly... and when they reach the limit of what their class - or guild - can do, these people have a choice - stay and try to "teach" the rest of their guild to L2P, or /gquit and apply to a guild where they can continue to learn.

Sure, some guilds will have a class bully; someone who likes to dominate and push others around. Sometimes, it even works well for that guild. However, if raiders are ambitious and capable, they'll KNOW they've made a mistake in a raid, and take steps to correct it themselves... no humiliation required.

Happily for me, my guild is devoid of tyrant raid leaders. They do call people out now and then, but more often than not it's to poke fun at them rather than directly telling them off, and those people probably deserved it anyway. I don't think I'd enjoy raiding as much if we did have someone yelling at me constantly - I yell at myself often enough when I make mistakes, so I damn well don't need it from anyone else!