I am a clinical informatics pharmacist, which means I deal with sick people all the time. Now, I deal mostly with older veterans who wouldn't play WoW. However, being in the medical field, I have a little insight on when it would be good to sign out from a raid. Here is my rules for signing out from a raid:
1) If you are on any medicine that affects ability to play - Let me give an example. If you injure your back and you are on pain medicine that makes you incredible drowsy or dizzy, don't play. You will just be a hindrance to 9 or 24 other people. Massive alcohol consumption and/or recreational drugs would be included in this.
2) If your illness changes the way you usually play - An example of this would be if you have to keep your leg up and you sit in a chair when you play. Or, if you arm is in a cast and it would affect pressing your buttons.
3) If your illness will constantly keep you from the game or AFK - Time to go disgusting. If you are constantly vomiting, sign out. If you have diarrhea, sign out. Nothing like going bio AFK between every pull.
4) If your child is sick - This is a tough one to call. Younger children tend to be more needy when they are sick. Older children tend to take care of stuff themselves. Or if they are sleeping, you may be able to play. This is more of a judgment call, but if you feel you will be pulled out to take care of your child constantly then just sign out.
5) When multiple family members are sick - If you child is sick and your wife is sick, you should probably sign out for two reasons. One, they are going to both need your attention. Second, and the bigger reason, is you are most likely next on the list to get sick.
6) When animals are sick - I know some people are going to say this is the same as family members, which I agree with. However, animals are very specific in that you have to constantly check on them. They are not like kids who will cry or complain when they are sick. They may howl or meow in pain or they could be doing it normally.
7) If you need rest or sleep - This would be especially true in a raiding guild. My guild finishes raiding at 9 PST. I live on the east coast, so that is midnight for me. If I should be sleeping or resting, I'm gonna sign out.
8) If you feel you are not mentally able to play - This is where I get into the mental illnesses. Sometimes, if you have depression or other mental illnesses, you just don't feel like playing. Those are understandable. The tough thing is when you are depressed and WoW helps take your mind off of it. Just because it helps you doesn't necessarily mean it is the best thing for you. Sometimes, you need a mental break from WoW.
9) If you are not needed - This is what kind of happened with my 10 man last night. We have so many good players in my guild that I can skip a 10 man so that I can feel better. If it is a choice between a 10 and 25 man, I will show up for a 25 man since we are trying to get people even if I'm only slightly sick. If it is a 10 man and I am even mildly sick, I will sign out.
10) When it just isn't appropriate - If you have a family relative in the hospital with a serious illness, it is just not appropriate to play WoW during that time. Your family relative needs you at their bedside. Nobody will think any less of you if you sign out because your grandmother is dying.
Just a little FYI, I am still looking for a couple more guest blog spots for next week while I'm on vacation. You can e-mail me at bigdog1862@yahoo.com and just say guest blogger in the header and I will give details. Also, since I threw it out there anyway, hit me up on RealID. Stalkers welcome, as long as they are not dangerous and want to have sex with my dead body.
5 comments:
I agree with a lot of this, some you can definitely work around like pets and kids, you may have your significant other watch them for a couple hours while you raid if.
But many times as a RL, I can tell when someone isn't doing so hot and I force them to sit out. Its not fair to them to suffer through, and its not fair to the other raiders
@Avatar
That is definitely what I believe about it. If you can and have somebody who can cover for pets and kids, it is great so you can keep raiding.
Honestly, this past week, I should have signed out of my 25 man on Tuesday. My DPS was terrible because I was feeling bad. I even did HM Marrowgar as a boomkin in my bear gear. That should have been the sign for me to go home.
I just remembered I forgot to add one. Not really post worthy, but funny.
11) If you are able to work your reproductive organs with another person, sign out.
Number 8 is especially important to me, although it isn't necessarily a break from WoW that I need as a break from raiding or the pressures of officering. Sometimes my emotional energy is all spent and I just need to not raid, even if I am otherwise available.
@Pewter
Absolutely. For the very short amount of time that I ran my own guild, after about 2 days, I wanted to not even get on in game. It was whisper this, question this, person leaving, etc. It was too much.
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