Healing in a Raid Environment - Don't Suck

Wow. It's been a while.

*waves frantically at the air as a plume of dust and debris explodes into the air after seating herself*

Well then.

I'm gonna whine. Feel free to move on :)

My guild's current healer roster includes 3 Holy Priests (one is a recent returnee who we haven't seen since BC), two Resto Druids, one Disc Priest (c'est moi!), and one Resto Shaman.

The Shaman and Disc Priest are extremely reliable attendees. The two Druids are relatively reliable - we usually have both of them, it's interesting when we've only got one, and it's a little scary when neither (rarely) are able to attend. Of the 2 Holy Priests we've had for more than a couple of months, one attends very occasionally while the other attends relatively often. I cannot speak for the returnee.

This is about one of our Holy Priests. I feel the need to whine about this, I apologize. I speak from the perspective of a fellow Priest, so at the very least I'm pretty familiar with cast times and spell abilities. I understand what our mobility is like, generally speaking, though I'm not sure what her Haste looks like.

That said: this Priest is incapable of being mobile during fights. Which means that this Priest has issues getting out of the fire, or the slime, or the void, or whatever the bad stuff is. I find myself out-healing/bubbling this Holy Priest when she doesn't die. This Priest is also incapable of reading healing assignments (particularly when asked to DPS for a single encounter), and listening to fight explanations (as evidenced by, when asked for questions regarding the just finished explanation, a question that basically boils down to : Could you repeat everything you just said?).

It drives me nuts. I think to myself, "Were you watching TV while they were explaining the fight?" or "The healing assignments are still on your screen, and your name is listed."

Now I'll admit that occasionally, when I had a Holy offspec, I'd check with the heal lead about which spec I was healing in. In the end, I realized that my assignment was based on the knowledge that I was in Disc spec, and I was basically allowed to use my Holy offspec on fights that *I* deemed appropriate for said Holy spec, but other wise it was expected that I was in Disc and my healing would be determined thusly. So I understand how switching between specs can be a bit questionable PRIOR to heal assignments being posted. But immediately after heal assignments are posted, 75% of the time during runs where you've been asked to DPS for one fight (and one fight only, consistently), gets old. It gets really old.

We're a relatively forgiving guild. So long as you're not dragging us down, we'll let you come along and carry you through some nice gear. We won't think you're super cute when you giggle and use the "I'm a girl!" card in vent as an excuse for not performing well - at least, those of the guys who don't think they have a chance to get into your pants won't. At least one of your fellow female healers will feel alienated.

Our other veteran Holy Priest is decent. She dies a good bit (not an outrageous number, but you know when she does because, well, you have the blue angel of "Aw, crap..." hovering about), but then again, when she's "ON," she's really quite an integral part of the healer system. She doesn't flirt around, she doesn't talk on Vent much at all, she doesn't attempt to buddy up with anyone besides the people she already knows IRL - but best of all, she doesn't make excuses. She listens to explanations, notices her assignments, and does her thing. I *like* her. And not even in a patronizing, "I'm better than you, but you meet my basic standards," sort of way. Maybe it's because she's not trying to create a personality online. Maybe it's just because she's so low profile and manages to not do anything that pushes my buttons - I like unobtrusive competence.

Perhaps part of my bias goes back to the early days when this bumbling, not so great Holy Priest had recently joined the guild and, in tells after an explanation, complained about the length of time taken, and called all of the preparation "retarded." Having buffs, knowing what to look out for during the fight, and being ready to do your job to the best of your ability seemed not to be something she was interested in. And that just lit my fuse.

Why would you join a progression minded guild if you're not interested in putting forth the effort to assist and participate in that progression? Progression isn't about gear. It's about challenging yourself and overcoming new obstacles. If you want the satisfaction of steamrolling Ulduar, ToC, or even ICC 10 (or just the first 4 or 7 bosses in ICC 25) and getting every conceivable piece of gear from them before moving on to the harder stuff, this is not the guild for you. If you just want gear but don't want to expend the effort, time, and emotional turmoil involved in progression raiding, this is not the guild for you. If this is not the way that you enjoy playing the raiding game... this is not the guild for you.

It's alright if this is not the guild for you. We won't take offense that you don't enjoy this sort of thing. Will you take offense when you realize that we've noticed how you don't quite fit in?