My guild/raid group constantly reminds one another that we're here for fun and there should always be a mutual respect amongst ourselves. If it means dredging up the "List of Infamous (but Hilarious) Raid Moments" for a good laugh, then we'll do it! Stuff like that reminds us that we've been through worse, that we've seen each other at our virtual best and worst, and, at the end, we're still here fighting the good fight. If it means all nine other raiders-- including my husband-- ganging up on me so I'll finally stop making puns about something, we'll do it! We agreed that anything said seriously should be constructive in some way, even if it's just pointing out what killed whom and the sort. There's a serious level of group-thinking that goes on sometimes where we're all thinking out loud over Vent and/or raid chat.

And yeah, there are some nights where someone has had a bad day at work or whatnot and raiding just isn't viable because the right attitude isn't there. One person can affect the whole group and, so long as it's not consistently happening, everyone's entitled to their occasional "bad day." Some members of the team have been raiding together since BC; the current team as a whole has been together, largely, since Wrath. I think a lot of it comes with putting the people behind the characters first, and everything else second.

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