Respect to the Hat

 

'Stand back luv, I'm in charge...'

Wearing The Hat, at least of late, is not commanding the same deal of respect as it once did.

That little crown next to your portrait, it used to mean you were the Raid or Party Leader. It meant you were looked at as the person to take the helm and steer your fellow adventurers to a successful instance experience. You were the one they would expect to know what to do, and if things went wrong you would be looked on to arbitrate and take the tough calls. Since Blizzard renamed the five man crown wearer as the 'Dungeon Guide' however, things seem to have gone a bit Pete Tong.
 
It's becoming very hard to work out who's really in charge. There are some who would argue that this is a good thing, giving anyone the ability to kick people if they go AFK for long periods of time or if they are Generally Stupid. Knowing the Instances backwards also helps, as let's face it we could all do most of the five mans in our sleep. The problem begins to manifest iteself as this attitude filters through to the 10 and 25 man PuGs for the instances with the Lewts that Start Fights. I'm hearing stories from Guildies of groups which seem, at least some of the time, to be propelled by mob rule. It started me thinking, what makes a decent Group to begin with? Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that you have five well geared people who know how to play and can bring the right qualities to an Instance. What is the dividing line between Suck and Win?

I feel, when all is said and done, it comes down to Respecting the Hat.

You can factor in communication, teamplay, moments of brilliance, selflessness... all those qualities come into play, especially as you move up to the bigger numbers of people. However, if the person leading you can't be fair, if they won't enforce the loot rules you all know exist (or in the case of PuG's ignore rolls and give the loot to your mates, or even yourself) it's just not going to happen. Having the Hat is serious business. I don't think enough people who begin raids consider this, especially in the PuG battlefield.

Last night I watched Hat Respect work in both 10 and 25 man situations, in both Guild and via a PuG. The VoA PuG worked as well as it did I think because the Hat Wearer was sensible enough to recruit his tanks and healers well before he began inviting the DPS. The Loot Rules were broadcast at the start, and the one person who didn't like them left before we'd engaged trash. He seeded the raid with no more than two of each class (or in the case of the druids and pallies of each spec). It began life as clearly an effort to be fair to as many people as possible. The DPS was stellar (as a happy bonus) with the top 10 (myself included \o/) not dipping below 6.5k. So really, it was never going to be a bad experience... but how was that achieved? Simple, the Guy with the Hat made sensible decisions and he was clear of his intentions from the outset. He set the rules. As a result, I find myself with a great deal of respect for him and the way he made it happen.

In our ICC10 last night we were given the task of dispatching the Rotten Frost Giant for the optional Weekly Quest. Boy, is he an annoying pain in the behind. However he was no match for the Guild's collective thinking and clever use of instance furniture. Last night made me feel proud to be GM, and to wear the Hat, as I watched 10 people work out the problem of dealing with his multiple (very annoying) abilities. For the record we split into groups of three leaving a single tank to biff the boss. When one person in the three was infected by the Deadly Mutation, someone else (not a healer if we had one in the group) would run out of the infection range and wait for the defubb to clear. That way we could make sure we could infect each other and never have an issue with the immunity timer. I made a conscious effort to pick a team that I knew would work well together, and to make sure as many people as possible who'd not had an ICC run lately got a chance at some Frosties. I think if you wear the hat you need to consider a lot of things to make sure the Instance works for as many people as possible. In the end last night I think we managed only a handful of DE's. People were happily passing loot to each other, there was never an atmosphere, even when we were struggling. It was possibly one of the best raids I've been a part of for some time.

There is another side to Wearing the Hat, especially in the Guild situation. Last night someone objected to not being picked, and to the choice of people I decided to take as a result. There have been an increasing number of incidents like this in the last few weeks, and it pains me greatly. We don't have enough people for 25 man ICC, so this means, at some point, some people will be disappointed. Some think the answer to this is to make a fuss, or even that if they come up with a clever enough theory they can argue themselves back into the running. I am grateful for those people who understand that if we ran the same 10 people though the instance every week we wouldn't have the Guild we currently reside in, but still people won't Respect the Hat. I've been called some pretty nasty things in the many years I've done the job of picking raids. People have tried to bribe me, they've threatened me... all because of a bunch of pixels. Such is the pull of this game.

When it comes down to it, someone has to make the call. It helps as a result if the person wearing the Hat when they do so is treated properly, that people understand that if you decide to take the job you should really be afforded some genuine gravitas for doing so. Blizzard's choice to remame the Leader as a Dungeon Guide in 5 man could be the start of a slippery slope, you know. We NEED Respect to the Hat, whatever size of party, because if if begins to wane it's going to send a signal to the PuGgers that you don't need to be nice to win, you just need to shout the loudest. Raid Leaders and GM's, you know what you need to do. Keep the Sanctity of Leadershop intact! Earn your places, and remember that with The Small Pointy Crown comes great responsibility. Save your power trips for your first person shooters.

Everyone should give Respect to the Hat.