Officers betting against the raid
by Adam Holisky 
Jun 8th 2008 at 8:00PM
After the 20th Supremus kill the game can get a tad boring. There's no doubt about it. Raiders know well that you have to spice things up to keep it fun. One way to do that is to have a lively bunch of people you raid with. With them things can get "interesting" at times. The fellow officers and I in my guild have decided to make things interesting by betting on the number of people that will die during Supremus.For some reason Supremus always manages to kill a few too many people. Not too many that we can't one-shot him, but enough that it makes you scratch your head. No one dies on Illidan, Council, etc... but Supremus? Run for the hills!
So to keep the fight interesting someone picks a number, say nine. That number is "the line." Myself and a couple others will take under the line, and a couple others will take over. If less then nine people die, each of us gets 20g. If more than nine die the other folks get 20g each.
Is betting against the raid like this a good thing?
From the standpoint of keeping the game and its mundane grinding fun and interesting, the answer is yes – it is a good thing. Without these and similar things to do during the farm content I have a feeling that I'd no longer be raiding as much as I do.
From the standpoint of leadership, I have to admit, it is a questionable activity. We want to (almost always) maintain a positive face to the membership and keep our misgivings private. It's important to keep a level head and an optimistic outlook. Betting that more than nine people are going to die probably isn't exactly putting our best foot forward.
However with that said, I think in the end it's a harmless joke amongst over worked officers. And since we're still getting Supremus down in one attempt, no harm is done in the long run. And it's not like we're intentionally letting our members die (except for that one warrior that I've bribed the healers not to heal...more on that tomorrow).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
James Jun 8th 2008 8:15PM
"Ethics of Raiding" serious business
Gordon W Jun 8th 2008 8:18PM
Wow, slow news day?
Seriously though, I don't see the harm in this although I'd probably risk 5 times as much and bribe people to die during the raid.
Starbeast Jun 8th 2008 8:34PM
Please, do me a favor. For one month, avoid these words.
"Wow, slow news day?"
I'm tired of hearing it. I kinda liked this article, and I have several of the others I hear this on. Yes, there's one blogger I don't like. I don't remember who it is, because I've intentionally forgotten. However, if I don't agree with them, I just vote their followup comments down. Please try to find nice things to say.
dart Jun 8th 2008 9:55PM
It's always a slow news day when Adam tries to increase his post count.
The Chi Jun 8th 2008 8:25PM
Why do you think Pete Rose was banned from baseball? Betting on something that you have control over can lead to extremely poor decisions, especially for healers that can choose not to heal as well as they could. Plus, if you're bored of raiding do something else... Or, omg...take someone else who wouldn't normally get to go to get some gear! Imagine doing something nice for others..
makishima Jun 9th 2008 1:18PM
While your point is valid, its also mute. Why would a healer decide to intentionally not heal well so that they can win a lousy 20g? Cause they cant make that much in 10 minutes doing dailies? And beside that if they decided not to heal as well people would notice or check something like WWS and see that they were below average that fight and probably have words with said healer. The whole point is to have fun with it, not try to win.
makishima Jun 9th 2008 1:20PM
The valid part of your argument I was referring too was telling them to do something else or take someone who may not normally get to come to that fight. I just realized that the first sentence of that last post might not make sense :P
SBKT Jun 8th 2008 8:22PM
That gives me an idea
In the raids I'll eventually be doing, I'm going to get precise. My plan is to pick a person, a lower level one most of the time if it's Pre-BC (I mean, c'mon, the stuff is older, we won't need pure 70 firepower), and set a durability line. We could make pots on what their durability will be by the end. Start small or something, I guess.
It'd be kind of fun.
"What's your durability at right now?" "87%" "Crap, I bet on 72%" *maniacal laughter from another raid member*
Since it'll be a while I'll have time to refine my edition of yours.
Memzer Jun 8th 2008 8:32PM
It's fine, just don't single anybody out. I remember (quite a while ago now, lol) when we were betting on which melee player would die during an enfeeble - unfortunately when you were right they tended to take it to heart. The same goes for Archimonde, don't bet on dying players there - people are usually stressed enough on that encounter :)
Charlie Jun 8th 2008 8:40PM
I think the problem is less in the actual betting and more in the fact that its only the officers. If the whole raid were to bet on it there wouldn't be a problem.
People can get easily offended, especially if they begin to feel if the officers are a clique.
I personally have no problem with it, as I would bet with my friends all the time. But I can see how it would offend people.
Also, to the above. This is a fine article. Breakfast topic does this kind of thing everyday. Blogs are meant to stimulate discussion, not just report the news.
Telwar Jun 8th 2008 8:49PM
We bet on how many Shadow Novas it'll take to kill two or three of our guildies.
uncaringbear Jun 8th 2008 9:07PM
It seems a little bit mean to me, especially since you're betting on the performance of your fellow guildies. I would question the ethics of the people doing this, especially if it's exclusive to the officers.
Unmei Jun 8th 2008 11:54PM
In some ways I can see this as a harsh method of "We'll keep betting on your deaths until you stop dying"
Maybe those who die pay those who don't for the added flavor?
Phelanor Jun 8th 2008 10:05PM
The priests and I in my guild turned raiding into a drinking game back in the day when we had MC on farm status. Each person in your group that died equalled a drink.
Shionia Jun 8th 2008 10:21PM
This way of doing it seems tacky. How about taking that same number, and
a) giving everyone in the raid a 5 gold bonus for every non-death below the magic number (i.e., 3 less deaths than expected = 15 gold to each participant)
b) requiring a 5 gold deposit to the guild bank from each person for each death above the magic number?
Carl Q. Jun 9th 2008 9:28AM
I kinda like your "performance bonus" idea. But...
Im an hardcore raider (5 nites a week, we are in sunwell), and i think this game is pretty close to a job already.
Dont get me wrong, i have fun. Otherwise i wouldnt be playing anymore.
Adding performance bonuses would make it feel even more like a job.
On the other hand... if the guild gave me medcare and 401k...
hehe
Inscrutibob Jun 9th 2008 9:29AM
/agree, with modifications.
Make it a goal for the group to beat, rather than a zero-sum (I win = you lose) game.
I would drop the penalty for going over though. Instead, collect a token sum from each raid member before the raid.
silverpie Aug 7th 2008 3:48PM
In our guild, which is somewhat less progressed, a common variant is an offer of 10g per member if we can beat the guild record for fastest kill on the Maiden of Virtue. Missed by two seconds last week...
Wakoo Jun 8th 2008 10:49PM
#12
What on earth are you talking about?
PvE faggot? Link me your armoury so we can giggle at your season 1 welfare epics.
No matter how you look at it, PvE is what the game is based upon.
Carl Q. Jun 9th 2008 9:29AM
Don't feed the troll