Officers’ Quarters: A guild-issued carry permit

Getting carried for gear by a progression guild sounds like a dream come true for most players, and most players would happily accept it. But today’s question is from a player who feels guilty about the process. Should this person continue down the carry path — or take a shortcut and transfer a geared character, but also abandon their old guild?

As I address this, I’m going to make several assumptions that I want to get out of the way:

1. The guild knows that you have a geared character on the Alliance side. If they don’t, they may feel misled. It’s important to be honest about that kind of thing up front, and I’m assuming you were.
2. You’re an important asset to your Alliance-side guild, but they are not a progression-oriented group, or substantially less so than the one you’re raiding with on the Horde side now.
3. You’re motivated to become a progression raider and willing to let members of your new guild guide you in becoming a solid raider for them.

First of all, the fact that you’re concerned about the carrying at all speaks well for you. Some players would take it without question, even expect it, and not think about how it might affect the guild that’s carrying them. This says to me that you’re a guild-first rather than me-first type of player, and that’s why you’re uncomfortable with the situation. You feel like you’re putting yourself ahead of the good of this guild, and you don’t like it.

Carry on

Keep in mind that players like yourself are valuable to guilds. Guilds want to have players who are willing to put the guild first. Your friend probably sees that in you, which is why he/she recommended you. Right now with so many rosters depleted from the Warlords to Legion content gap, guilds need more warm bodies and don’t mind gearing them when they know they have a quality player.

For guilds that have been farming Heroic Hellfire Citadel for months, their gear allows them to make that content very simple. Mine is in that position and we have been carrying players for a while now. It makes the fights take a little longer than usual, but aside from the occasional Archimonde attempt, we don’t run into problems with some less-than-able bodies. Don’t feel like you’re holding them back because your DPS is low.

The one way you can and will hold them back, however, is if you fail at important mechanics. It’s possible to wipe the raid on certain fights if you don’t know what you’re doing. Hogging the Eye versus Iskar while raid members go soaring off into space is a prime example. So is blowing up the raid versus Xhul’horac or not stacking on the tank for your “suicide group” duty in the last phase of Archimonde. You need to do your utmost to execute the encounters properly, which has nothing to do with gear. If you cause wipes this way, it wastes the guild’s time and they’re going to start wondering whether you’re worth it.

Making the switch

Switching factions with your main Warrior may be a shortcut to skip the gearing process — and yes the legendary ring quest line is a nuisance gigantic hassle to complete on multiple characters. But will that leave your Alliance guild without a main tank? I’m not saying you can’t switch.

You should do what makes you happy in WoW — it’s your subscription fee and your time, after all. It seems to me like being patient and letting them carry you for a little while will allow you to have your cake and eat it, too. Just be honest with yourself: With the prospect of serious progression raiding on the table, do you still want to raid with your Alliance guild? It’s no mark against you if you’re ready to take the next step and get more serious about raiding. Your old guild will understand that, even if they may be disappointed in the short term.

As for tanking with your new Horde guild, that may be a ways off. Progression guilds usually have established tanks. If one of them wants to retire from the position, there may be an opening for you. They may also ask you to fill in for the tanks when one of them is absent. Definitely let your raid leader know that you prefer tanking — they won’t be sad to hear that, since most players prefer to DPS. However, until you hear otherwise, you should assume you’ll be DPSing their raids. Can you handle that? Or would you be happier tanking with your Alliance guild, even if they aren’t as progressed? These are questions that I can’t answer. You need to self-assess and decide where you will find the most fulfillment in the game.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

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/salute