Coordination, and reasonable vs. unreasonable expectations

Playing the AH was a great learning experience.  You can count on competition and changes, but the only thing to prevent your success is your RL/work/home schedules, and your game schedules i.e. raiding.  Largely its a solo enterprise to go out and undertake the challenges.  Its a great way to stay active in the game and not be active in group activities (raiding)

Coordinating the attendance of 10 players to raid is a challenge.  10 players that have similar enough schedules to commit to the group times and being online at the sime time with connections, computers, addons and consumables ready to go... thats the hardest part of raiding, the rest is just patience, practice and trial and error.  Patience is a tough barrier.  Practice and continued wipes is another one...  but thats the only way you get the coordination...  Well, that comes to the second point on this post...

Expectations... I feel a continued need to recruit and find alternates as one thing or another upsets people with their need to be part of the "core" team.  But success is not built around the core team, its built around the Core team, and alternates.  Rolling players in to get them the experience with the group means some one else has to sit out.  Now, I have to set the expectation to have them available though...  at least at some point, but still allow the freedom to go pug stuff to keep up with the main group.  that part seems fair and reasonable, as well as group contribution and encounter knowledge and familiarity...  The contribution part is where I having my biggest hurdles.  I set the standard and the expectation to the group that participation in the guild website forum is not optional to maintain consideration.  Its a defining element to sorta weed out those that will contribute to the group and those that just want to sit back and cruise..  There are a lot of good reasons to set the expectation, but it still seems hard to get the participation up to par from everyone.  So, now, good raiders that show up are on the chopping block for continued consideration to participate in the raid.  So if I cut them and fail to make a raid, then piss off the other 7 peeps that do, over this failure of 3 players...  I am sorta cutting off my own left hand.  its not like I did not let them know the expectation, or failed to inform anyone of the results to fail... Its just a hard line to cross... Recruit more players and replace em.  take them off the main roster and bench em... That's what I have to do.. Maintain the standard, or fail... Either way its a tough play... Now after server resets, and work, more recruiting...

best wishes to all, thanks for stopping by