First a bit of background. I'm a social member of a fairly serious raiding guild (at the time of this story - start of 4.3 patch - the main team was 6/7 HM in Firelands) but I raid with a much more casual raid team. We only raid 2 nights a week and we downed Ragnaros on normal mode the final reset of patch 4.2.
Now shortly after 4.3 started I had an opportunity to go on an Alt run with the majority of the people from the main team. The thing I found though, was that even though these guys were almost all better geared than my usual team, and unquestionably more skilled, for me it felt significantly more chaotic. I didn't understand all the strategies admittedly as there were slightly different from what my usual team used but even straightforward fights, when I had very impressive healers on my back, it felt like my health yo - yo 'ed a lot more. This was farm content so we didn't have any major hiccups but still it felt like something was missing.
What does this mean in practice? Was the main team slacking as this was just an Alt run? Is my casual team secretly super bad a$$?
Possibly, but I think it is something more simple than this. When you do something with the same people week after week, you get to know them. Know how they play. Know what the other person is going to do. You almost certainly couldn't list it, or repeat what you know but you know. When a tank moves, the healer anticipates where he'll go. When the boss gets shifted the DPSers know where he'll end up. You couldn't learn it from a video or a strategy guide but you'll learn it fundamentally by doing it. And doing it the same with the same people.
A good stable team is worth more than gear and "skill". Once the gear and skill gets good enough you can "power" through, but you won't be as efficient or clean as with a well established team.
Now shortly after 4.3 started I had an opportunity to go on an Alt run with the majority of the people from the main team. The thing I found though, was that even though these guys were almost all better geared than my usual team, and unquestionably more skilled, for me it felt significantly more chaotic. I didn't understand all the strategies admittedly as there were slightly different from what my usual team used but even straightforward fights, when I had very impressive healers on my back, it felt like my health yo - yo 'ed a lot more. This was farm content so we didn't have any major hiccups but still it felt like something was missing.
What does this mean in practice? Was the main team slacking as this was just an Alt run? Is my casual team secretly super bad a$$?
Possibly, but I think it is something more simple than this. When you do something with the same people week after week, you get to know them. Know how they play. Know what the other person is going to do. You almost certainly couldn't list it, or repeat what you know but you know. When a tank moves, the healer anticipates where he'll go. When the boss gets shifted the DPSers know where he'll end up. You couldn't learn it from a video or a strategy guide but you'll learn it fundamentally by doing it. And doing it the same with the same people.
A good stable team is worth more than gear and "skill". Once the gear and skill gets good enough you can "power" through, but you won't be as efficient or clean as with a well established team.
I don't know what particular run you are referring to but keep in mind that people might have been playing "outside of their role" as well.
ReplyDeleteLike if Virmagnus was on his shaman or so, obviously healing isn't going to be as crisp as it is with seasoned raidhealers.