Speaking as a raid leader, there are nights when I'm looking to help people, and there are nights when I'm looking to kill shit.

Some days, my goal is to go in and kill things. Our (small, 10-man) guild has everything but the Frostwing Halls pretty much on farm; if we spend more than an hour in Lower Spire, people get antsy.

As a raid leader looking for PUGs when not everyone can show up, I have to balance a couple things: Do they have the gear? Do they have the experience? Do they have the skill?

The first one is mostly a numbers game; relatively easy. The second one is something that's easy to determine. The third is impossible to quantify unless you've run with that person before.

So, on some nights where we're not looking to progress much, because we get started late, main tanks aren't there, etc. I might just look for someone who's done the Lower Spire. On nights where we're just shy one DPS, I'm going to look for someone who's got the experience to let us push further in.

Basically, these are the kinds of choices I have to make as a raid leader; I evaluate the mood of my raiders, try to determine the state of people, and make a call. Sometimes I'll just be looking for someone who isn't going to spend the whole time standing in fire. Sometimes, I'll be looking to move forward, and want someone who's going to help us do that.

It's not the job of a raid leader to coddle or teach new raiders things, not in a guild which has a goal of progressing. Sometimes you have to fall back to that, and that's okay, especially if you get someone who you can get a personal recommendation on. But in the general case -- the case where you're just looking to fill one spot, and you have an experienced group who want to push further than the first four -- you're going to want to take the best you can get.

That isn't to say that guilds should never go through and help new raiders. In fact, the single best way to recruit people to your guild is to take reasonably-geared people who haven't seen ICC in. Start an alt-run on Saturday afternoon, and offer to take people who are wanting to learn, have reviewed strats, etc. It's possible for a good alt group to take a new raider into ICC and make decent progress, and guilds should consider that as a form of recruitment. Many groups now will not want to do that teaching, and if you offer to, any solid raiders who come with you are going to be in a position to move up and PUG more in the future, and will be thankful to you for the opportunity.

Additionally, most guilds are not looking to shoot themselves in the foot; many will take a dedicated trial member on, even without having seen them complete as much of ICC if they'd like -- if you'd ask. Taking initiative as a new raider will always help.

Additionally, everyone has to start somewhere. Pick a friend -- possibly an experienced one, or if not, just any friend -- and start up an ICC. Pick up the knowledge with a group of people who may or may not have it, and don't put yourself into a situation where you're going to feel out of your depth on day one.

There's lots of things to do here, but I don't think that "Must know fights!" is always the wrong thing for a guild recruitment or LFM statement to ask for.