You Are Not Alone

I might be happy with my new gear or the fact that we downed three bosses in Zul'Aman. I might be looking forward to my upcoming gear upgrades or that we might be able to pull ZA timed event for two bosses next time, and the sweetest staff might drop.

But none of that really matters.

In the end, I look forward to healing my favorite tank through heroics and more than gear, I'm looking forward to doing all the things together with someone, whether it be gearing up or raiding, it's about other players. It is a multiplayer game after all.

When I switched guilds recently, and old guild friend says "You are genuinely one of the nicest people I've met on WoW", I knew I've done things right. And *that* makes me truly happy.

Moving on to an related issue - in his post "Raiding is Hardly Hardcore", Matticus lists some very important characteristics of a good raider:
* A quick 30 minute buff after a player dies
* Staying quiet and doing as the raid leader says
* AFKing only when necessary and only on trash
* Showing up on time

Notice something there? None of those have anything to do with gear or how skilled one is. Every single one of these can be done if one wants (and learned, if you will).

And I say, you nailed it Matticus! If I solo/grind/quest, I can waste all the time I want. But when I'm with 9/24/n-1 others, who am I to waste their equally valuable time with: "dinner, brb 30 mins", "just a sec, I gotta put these items in auction" or "oops, I'm out of reagents" and such.

Whether you call it hardcore raiding, maturity or dedication, or how I like to play, it all comes down to one thing: selflessness. You are not alone.