This is to all the raid leaders out there *taps on the screen* I have a situation for you and would like your input.
Scenario: You are in a raid that has wiped twice.
Healer in raid channel: I rock the heals! I’m at the top of the chart.
Healer in healer channel: Hmm what is my assignment? I am I suppose to heal the raid or am I assigned to a tank.
Heal Lead: You are assigned to the tank that keeps dying.
Healer: Oh! Well I’ve been healing the raid and rocking it.
This happened this week. I’m not saying it happened to me or if it happened to a group I am good friends with. All I’m saying is it happened.
How would you as the Raid Lead handle knowing this healer twice ignored the announcement of assignments and healed whoever they wanted. Would you do anything at all? Would you take it up with them in private? Would you make it a public display since it caused the entire raid to wipe twice? And of course…why?
Lenelie's Voice 
As the raid and healing leader, I would tell them publically in the healing channel.
If they continue to not follow their assigned targets, I remove them from the raid immediately.
I would definitely apologize and say something to the raid. Usually, after every wipe I try to outline the cause of death so everyone knows what happened. I know if I was a raider, I’d want to know what happened, and more importantly, what measures were being taken to stop that method of dying from happening again (if it was possible).
I’d take it up with them in private. While they were clearly doing the wrong thing, I’m a firm believer in the first (and sometimes second) criticism being done through whispers. I’d be diplomatic, and just say ‘look, I know that you are the top of the meter, but the tank really isn’t getting enough healers. I know that you can keep that tank up if you focus on him – you have shown how much you can heal.”. If they are a meter whore they clearly have at least a smidge of ego (and don’t understand healing meters full stop), and appealing to that ego will probably be more successful than telling him off. If it continues, I would totally be giving them a dressing down in raid chat.
Of course, I would also announce the healing assignments in raid chat, and ask in raid chat if there was any confusion as to who was healing who. Emphasise the importance of following healing assignments, and how healing, more than anything else in some cases, is all about team work.
It’s a shame that you have a healer who really doesn’t know how to stick to their assignment. If they refuse to follow assignments, I would consider finding yourself another healer for the long term. That sort of behaviour is juvenile and ridiculous.
I haven’t been a Raid Lead yet, but if any member of the raid group is actively ignoring their assignment, I’d like to think I’d speak to them after the first incident, and bench them for the night after the second. As a healer, you’ve got a specific job to focus on. If you’re tank healing, raid healing is an “oh, my tank’s OK, I’ll help out” thing. Heal meters aren’t DPS meters, and “rocking the charts” is useless if the raid wipes.
(Assuming the person’s acting in good faith, which is probably the only way this gets resolved with a gkick.) I don’t think someone would exclaim in raid-chat about their performance if they didn’t think they were doing well. I’d recommend telling them what metrics they need to go by, and how the healing meters aren’t it.
If you can get this person to understand that they’re going to be judged by how well they execute their assignment versus their position on meters, this gets fixed easily. Two points to add on to that: first, they should probably understand that no one actually pays attention to the healers unless something goes wrong, so no one cares about their meter placement. Second, you could deemphasize meters as a whole (while emphasizing analytics like World of Logs), but that likely involves yelling at DPS to stop linking them every boss fight which the Healer Lead may not be in a position to do.
As to public/private, wipes happen all the time. Getting on about how Player X caused the wipes is just going to turn a bad night in Ulduar into either a circular firing squad or a fight about why one person gets called out for “causing wipes” and why someone else doesn’t. Rarely is a wipe actually caused by one action by one player and getting your raid/guild into the habit of seeing them that way is asking for trouble.
I’m an officer in my guild, and also a class leader- its my job to confront players like this and let them know what they’re doing isn’t what they should be doing.
Never EVER call them out in public. You have to ask yourself- who is this helping? Calling someone out in public does nothing but create negative feelings like guilt, animosity, humiliation. These are factors you do NOT want in your guild, especially not voluntarily.
Take them aside after the raid in vent or whispers. You never want to have the attitude of ‘You’re a terrible player, you suck, fix it.’
You want to come to them as a solution, not a problem. From the sounds of his attitude, he has no idea he did anything wrong.
He did a great job healing the raid, but the entire raid depends on his healing keeping the tank alive (among other things). If he can keep the tank up, that will *truly* be stellar, and he can brag about the meters all he wants (not ideal, but thats another problem for another day).
You give him praise, a goal, direction, and he walks away from it with a better understanding of his role in the raid with positive feelings towards you, the raid, and the game. Everyone wins 🙂
Following instructions isn’t a suggestion, it’s a requirement.
Yes, there’s wiggle room. If your target is doing fine, feel free to cross heal as needed. If your target is dying and you’re trying to do your assignment, that’s fine (just a sign that the assignment itself needs to be modified).
However, #1 rule of raiding is that whole “no I in team” thing. Also, since this is more of a guild/raid problem than healing specifically (either not paying attention or not following assigns) it should have the same consequences as if anyone else (dps) had done it. The checklist I would clear before making a final decision:
– Is this a continuing problem (or a one-time thing)? This matters primarily because it provides context. Everyone’s had that off-night where they’ve whoopsed on something and hit the wrong target, or missed assigns when they go out. He asked what his assignment was after the wipes, so it’s possible it’s a “not paying attention” problem more than a “meters chasing” problem.
– Is Healer a class which usually does raid healing? Somewhat related to the point above, a holy priest (for example) may assume he doesn’t need to pay as close attention to assigns because he’s always on the same assign (raid healing) anyway. Again, this speaks more to a paying attention issue.
– Does the guild culture allow call-outs? Because sometimes the pressure of 24 people is more effective than the pressure of one. Many people shy away from this because it’s “not nice” (though my guild has changed multiple guild notes to “ass puller” where humor overwrites some of the meanness. but that’s our sense of humor…)
– Is the healing roster robust enough that something can actually be done about this if needed? Because if the alternative is recruiting, it sometimes restricts what people are willing to do…
And the potential consequences I can think of (again, I advocate this being handled in the same way it is for anyone else, not healer specific):
Being benched from {#} raid nights
DKP docked
Calling out
Paying the raid’s repair bills for the wipes he was responsible for
“It’s not you, it’s me… I just think we need to see other raid groups” (booting)
Okay, for not paying attention: Everyone’s had that wipe that was their fault because their mind just wasn’t on the job. Unfortunately, healers just by their nature are more obvious when this happens. This, however, was twice (both two wipes and twice ignoring healing assigns). And not due to an “I was trying but failed/fucked up” mistake. Just fixing the problem isn’t enough, they do need a talking-to. I’m not saying huge punishment time, but the RL/GL need to drag him aside and warn him that if that sort of thing happens again, there will be consequences. So, yeah, I’d suggest more of a warning of future consequences, more than specifically consequences themselves… unless it’s again more a frequent problem than you’ve mentioned, in which case the sit-down should have happened a while ago XD.
For ignoring assigns: What do you do with that DPS who doesn’t follow the skull, picks their own target and ends up a smear on the floor? If you’re in a pug with him, you mock him in guild and add him to your “don’t group” list. It doesn’t matter if they hit 8k DPS before they died, they still aren’t someone who is actually useful to keep around. This usually happens in raids as well; the ones who can’t follow targets find themselves benched first. Were it me, they would get the “we’re benching you for {#} raids because you’re not following assignments. If this continues, you’ll be benched permanently.”
And, of course, the answer to his “I’ve been rocking the meter raid healing” comment is “Of course you were. Everyone was taking damage because your actual assignment died.”
I would, given the healer channel, re-announce assignments, and then say that one of the other functions of a healing meter is the ability to tell who can heal their particular assignment. And that you value “follows instructions” over “is a meter chasing diva” (though you might pick a slightly less … emotionally loaded name for the latter).
I would also whisper the healer in question and say that while I know that it’s really fun to top the meters, it’s even more fun to kill bosses and get loot, and that it’s /very/ important that the tank not die. Therefore, it’s very important that they heal their assignment, even if it means ignoring the other assignments.
If you’ve already had both of these conversations, and the player STILL is not healing their assignment, change the assignments for that raid session, post raid have a discussion among officers, and – in my opinion – have a strong talk with the healer that includes benching them for a night or two to figure out why they raid. If they raid to top meters, they should be playing DPS, and if they’re not willing to let go of that and heal where they’re assigned, they’re not a contributing member of the raid (just like a tank that constantly pulls aggro off other tanks and tries to tank out more than they can handle and dies a lot is not a contributing member of the raid).
I would not, however, make a public, raid wide display. It only serves to get peoples emotions running, leading to huffing, drama, and flouncing – none of which are conducive to actually killing bosses.
Heh – and that got rather long. I may end up turning the response into a separate blog post of my own, if you don’t mind!
Even though I’m missing some context here (has it happened before? how often do you raid with him/her? same guild? pug?). If it is a pug the solution is easy, throw him under the bus in raid chat or kick em out and find another.
Since you are posting, I figure it wasn’t as easy as that. If it is your guild and it is the first time it has happened, change the healing assignments – switch the tank healer to someone who is paying attention, then take it up with the individual in private. If the individual has been counseled before on the matter, throw them under the bus in healer chat, let the other healers handle it after that.
Sounds like he/she wasn’t paying attention to the assignments, which was may have been made even easier because they liked being at the top of the meters. Although, the two may be completely unrelated, they may not have understood fully their assignment and subsequently raid healed – then got on top of the meter and said “hey cool! look at that”. Hence imho the private counseling paired with the subtle public flogging of changing his assignment would be in order.
Cheers.
-V
I’d change the healing assignments. The following week, if possible, have them heal the tank again.
If they choose not to, you need to ask this person in private why they aren’t keeping the raid from wiping. Ask them why they feel it isn’t important to heal the tank.
I would not make it public if you can help it. It depends on the person. Public embarrassment is sometimes not necessary when that person knows if it’s him/her doing it… but if they keep not following directions… yeah.
First, remind him to heal keep his primary target healed and all others second. If he continues to let his assignment die, then publicly ask if there’s difficulty in keeping said tank alive and if need be reassign your healers and avoid inviting said healer again until they change their attitude.
I like to ask because honestly since I am not a healer leader my view of the situation is skewed. It is difficult sitting back and assuming that someone’s behavior is being taken care of especially if they repeat this behavior over many raids.
The heal lead announces the assignments twice in channel and then asks if we are good with our assignments and if there are any changes or questions so I feel like they are doing their best on making sure we know what we are doing.
@Jov ironically it is someone that on previous raids pitched fits in healer channel when asked to raid heal saying they are an MT healer only (no they are not a disc priest or paladin which I would understand) and then this last raid seemed to randomly decide to flip her stance and raid heal. The healer had said before they have problem just healing their assignment.
Ultimately I am stuck trusting that the heal lead sat this person down and had some sort of conversation about the problem. Since it won’t be public even in the heal channel there is no way to know it happened. My problem is their continued behavior makes it appear it doesn’t happen, that or they just ignore it assuming that as a healer they are indispensable.
Thank you all for responding btw as well it is nice to see it from a raid leaer’s POV.
That’s also partially why I have some of these discussion in public. I’m a strong proponent of accountability and humility. I want players that understand I’m not out to get them and that when they get called out, they know what can be done to resolve it. This helps lessen the chances of other people making the same mistake or error as well.
People that get hurt because they were called out in a raid don’t last very long. I specifically look for players who are able to take the punches they may get. It’s a very business like approach. I will only take exception to the play of players. I will never take offense to them personally. It’s a very methodical standpoint and very deliberate. There is a level of “mental toughness” required. And if a player is going to start crying when they were singled out for not doing their job properly, then that’s not a player I want to raid with. I don’t want someone who’s going to cry and ask for an ego stroking. I want a player who is going to nod, understand the error they made, and resolve it so it won’t happen again.
Hmm… what’s the bigger issue? That the healer was healing the wrong person or that the healer had no idea (and apparently didn’t care to ask before the encounter) who he/she was suppose to be healing?
There is a significant lack of personal accountability here. Either by virtue of the individual or through the cultivation of a lazy raid environment.
Heya Pookster,
I think it depends very highly on your raid culture. I have only done some 5 mans with your guild, but most of them seem like they are a bit more on the hard core side. In my ulduar 25, it’s business. We are in the business of taking out Ulduar. That’s what we do. We are there first and foremost to be successfull and break content. We call out ANYONE who is screwing up and we do it publicly so there is no question of the issue or words said or correction for the issue. I find that the wispers and gobbledygook just flares the “he said she said” and if they cant take the heat…they belong elswehere in the first place. Yes, I have been on the recieving end of that. (Crashes on Vejaxx…I was seriously screwing up.) When I get called out for screwing up I don’t cry though, I do better because its what I am there for.
I know there will be people who say that is just too serious for a video game, but I take things seriously when other people are depending on me to do the job right. Video game or not your actions have consequences for others around you. That person displayed a poor attitude for a raid environment. If you dont know your raid assignment, and it was posted in a chat you can scroll through, you are not doing your job and you are being lazy and ineffective. Poor attitudes wipe raids, generate retarded rapair bills, and generally make for a bad raid experience.
Ulduar is definitevely a step up from Naxx. Naxx can generally be done goofing off and having fun. Ulduar may be like that someday, but that is not the case as of yet. Once or twice is a mistake. Mistakes happen. If it happens more than that, IMO, its time to inform the individual that their sevices are no longer required and they may want to go back to Naxx…where fun is a surviveable and not paying attention is an affordable luxury.
Just my 2 cents
-Bael
@Doxa- I definately think there has been a change in the raid environment and could be a mixture of the two for sure.