The problem with having raiders + spares is that inevitably people have to sit out. But how do you decide what is a fair system for sitting out?
You can't run a 10 man without spares. Without spares we can't have days off from raiding when real life intereferes with our raiding schedule. Now that we have spare tanks and healers, we haven't really missed much raiding because we're missing one or the other.
So in our current raiding roster we have:
Tanks - Raked, Asys (Backups: Sevrus's monk, Lushnek's monk)
Healers - Navimie, Biship, Soultouched (Backups: Lushnek, Moopie's shaman)
Melee DPS - Roshii, Moopie
Ranged DPS - Azadelta, Sevros, Luxypie, Souglyy, Sabrehawk (Backup: Xynzelle)
You can see, looking at that, it's the DPS who have to be sat out for raids, usually. But how do we make it fair?
When we do DKP, we have been including everyone who attended the raid, even those who sat out. So for turning up, you get included in a raid so that's one incentive. Not that I really care about DKP since I'm happy to pass healer loot for those scrub pallies and priests and when leather caster loot drops, me and Lush are pretty easy about sorting loot between ourselves. Much like Aza and Sev, who have a good agreement between each other regarding lock loot.
I usually take the stance of volunteers to sit out going first, and then deciding on raid buffs. Sabre, Luxy and Sev are frequently volunteering to sit out, so then we have to figure out how to do buffs after that.
However, though I had been taking account of people who actually SAT out, maybe I should be looking at people who sit out for non-farm bosses. Sitting out for Jin'rokh is probably not as equal as sitting out for Megaera or Durumu.
Shab had suggested a regular sitting out roster - that way people could plan their days "off" and go do something else. The reason I didn't like that option is that people might not log on at all - and then we end up short. Often its not bad if Lush, Moo or I sit out because we will be hanging around online still in case we're needed. Luxy too, is usually easy to find because she will be online. Aza usually goes to watch a movie or read a book, Bish goes to sleep, Sev goes to play other games, Sabre logs off, and Roshii and Souglyy are usually online somewhere too (though often Roshii will log off).
Another way to decide is to look at what things people need from a boss. Everyone knows Roshii wants daggers from Megaera, and some people still need early Tier.
However, this Wednesday, it's a new boss, and it's a relatively easy one. Primordius (or as Arvash called it, Lootsaurok) is supposed to be easy so we will get to see it for ourselves how easy it is (and try for the achievement). It is also State of Origin night (East coast rugby league, teams from New South Wales vs the state of Queensland play)- which means Raked will be missing again, and we'll need a tank. Souglyy said she'd be watching too but she usually turns up to raid anyway.
As I was trying to figure out who was going to raid, I had a cute conversation with Luxy, which I thought was cute!
Navi: Luxy, are you going to watch State of Origin on Wednesday?
Luxy: Umm, I don't even know what sport that is!
Navi: What! OMG, you're a Queenslander!
Luxy: So, no I won't be watching it.
Navi: Yay that means you can raid!
So I have to make sure Luxy and Moo get a spot for raid tonight. I wonder who else is going to not turn up?
You can't run a 10 man without spares. Without spares we can't have days off from raiding when real life intereferes with our raiding schedule. Now that we have spare tanks and healers, we haven't really missed much raiding because we're missing one or the other.
So in our current raiding roster we have:
Tanks - Raked, Asys (Backups: Sevrus's monk, Lushnek's monk)
Healers - Navimie, Biship, Soultouched (Backups: Lushnek, Moopie's shaman)
Melee DPS - Roshii, Moopie
Ranged DPS - Azadelta, Sevros, Luxypie, Souglyy, Sabrehawk (Backup: Xynzelle)
You can see, looking at that, it's the DPS who have to be sat out for raids, usually. But how do we make it fair?
When we do DKP, we have been including everyone who attended the raid, even those who sat out. So for turning up, you get included in a raid so that's one incentive. Not that I really care about DKP since I'm happy to pass healer loot for those scrub pallies and priests and when leather caster loot drops, me and Lush are pretty easy about sorting loot between ourselves. Much like Aza and Sev, who have a good agreement between each other regarding lock loot.
I usually take the stance of volunteers to sit out going first, and then deciding on raid buffs. Sabre, Luxy and Sev are frequently volunteering to sit out, so then we have to figure out how to do buffs after that.
However, though I had been taking account of people who actually SAT out, maybe I should be looking at people who sit out for non-farm bosses. Sitting out for Jin'rokh is probably not as equal as sitting out for Megaera or Durumu.
Shab had suggested a regular sitting out roster - that way people could plan their days "off" and go do something else. The reason I didn't like that option is that people might not log on at all - and then we end up short. Often its not bad if Lush, Moo or I sit out because we will be hanging around online still in case we're needed. Luxy too, is usually easy to find because she will be online. Aza usually goes to watch a movie or read a book, Bish goes to sleep, Sev goes to play other games, Sabre logs off, and Roshii and Souglyy are usually online somewhere too (though often Roshii will log off).
Another way to decide is to look at what things people need from a boss. Everyone knows Roshii wants daggers from Megaera, and some people still need early Tier.
However, this Wednesday, it's a new boss, and it's a relatively easy one. Primordius (or as Arvash called it, Lootsaurok) is supposed to be easy so we will get to see it for ourselves how easy it is (and try for the achievement). It is also State of Origin night (East coast rugby league, teams from New South Wales vs the state of Queensland play)- which means Raked will be missing again, and we'll need a tank. Souglyy said she'd be watching too but she usually turns up to raid anyway.
As I was trying to figure out who was going to raid, I had a cute conversation with Luxy, which I thought was cute!
Navi: Luxy, are you going to watch State of Origin on Wednesday?
Luxy: Umm, I don't even know what sport that is!
Navi: What! OMG, you're a Queenslander!
Luxy: So, no I won't be watching it.
Navi: Yay that means you can raid!
So I have to make sure Luxy and Moo get a spot for raid tonight. I wonder who else is going to not turn up?