Every now and then, the guild I’m in gets players who don’t quite exactly uh help with our progression.  In the past, we’ve had players who planned to raid with gear that had absolutely no gems and enchants on any of their items. We’ve had ones who ditched scheduled raids to join other raids. And sometimes we get the ones who simply have no idea what they’re doing.

When asking “why?” the usual response is “I thought this was a casual guild.”

Doh. Well, yes, we do consider ourselves to be a casual guild but that’s not something we represent. That’s okay, I’ve learned my lesson. Not everybody has the same definition for a casual. Some people define a casual guild as one that’s not strict on spec and gear requirements, or to raid as they please.

Here’s a list of the qualities I favor in my casual guild:

• Fun: We only run two nights a week, three hours per night. With that kind of raid schedule, we can still clear new bosses without having that icky feeling of being burnt out.  Although, I have to admit, there were a few Cata bosses we dealt with that almost made me want to bang my head on the keyboard. But overall, it’s still fun and I love the challenge.
• Staying positive: I love that none of our core raiders are assholes, ’cause nothing’s worse than having a know-it-all who does nothing but insult other players for messing up. Players who make mistakes during a fight are not and should not be belittled or punished in any way.  The problem should be pointed out to improve/correct, not to ridicule.
• Raid absences are A-OK: We generally have a full-time job, school and family to tend to, thus real life situations may sometimes conflict with raid. Should that occur, the player(s) either inform an officer about it or mark themselves out in the calendar. No DKP deductions. No penalties. However we do not tolerate players who abuse that privilege by–for example–leaving your scheduled raid for a “better” raid to benefit yourself.
• Simple loot: Speaking of DKP, we actually don’t use it, our loot system instead is MS > OS rolls because for one, we are a 10-man raid–it’s clearly a lot more simple than 25.  And Most importantly, every gear that has been handed out to the players has benefited the guild–so I don’t see the point of changing our loot system any time soon.
• Patience: We have two new recruits, a healer and a ranged dps. One of them is a bit behind in gear and both are generally unfamiliar with the new bosses, but every time we raid we still include them.  With time and patience, both of them will learn and improve, and eventually catch up.

…meanwhile focusing on progression! Most people would assume that lazy and bad players would only end up in casual guilds, but I believe we have a guild made up of quality players who know how to play their class and understand the game mechanics without the pressures of being in a hardcore guild.