Said it before and will always say it; skill > gear.

If an applicant shows that they have done raiding at different levels, can perform exceptionally well (be it BWL, AQ40, Kara, TK, etc.) and shows evidence of it (meters, WWS and such are not conclusive enough) both in achievements/kills, time put in and what has been looted, then you can be fairly certain the person knows how to play his class. All that is lacking is the gear to perform at higher levels.

That said, if possible, take applicants for a trial run and see how they do. If they are a server transfer applicant, then that'll require a lot of time investigating his/her background and history. Sounds time-consuming but better to save both your time and his/her money. Will discuss more Saturday.

Yea it's always risky to recruit undergeared people, same as it is recruiting ebayed toons (who in their right mind would? "Look at his armory, gear will overcome any skill deficiency"). It's difficult but that's down to how you would screen and be willing to accommodate the person into your guild and raid plans.

If you're in Kara, taking all greens would be acceptable imo. Going to TK/SSC, you'd expect all blues at the very least. Going BT/Hyjal, then you need epix. Standards go up as you raid higher tiers so there're still requirements in place and need to be met. Doesn't need to have the gear equivalent of what you are raiding, can always be a tier or two below.

In the end, it's down to you, your call; do you have the time and patience to take him through what is required to bring him up to par gear-wise? Will your guild be receptive to the idea? Will your raiders be willing to pass on loot that are minor upgrades for them but are "I've-waited-forever-to-drop" loot when it's a bigger upgrade for the newbie?

Pros and cons, it's how you want to weigh it in the end. To me, it's like football..you either find a gem of a player in the end or you end up with trash so to speak

This post has been edited by Odinn: Jun 4 2008, 10:05 AM

If you're in BT and you're taking in blue/green geared people into your raid, I'd think it's very questionable too. You should be able to judge for yourself if a person was given a chance and that he would justify his opportunity given. Of course BT can't be taken lightly with green/blue gears. At least TK/SSC or badge gears, no tier skipping.

Killing the last boss in any instance is not the "all clear signal" to start the next instance.

If you think your raid is ready for the next step, you can move on without clearing your current instance. Either you're wise or foolhardy, that's up to you to show.

It's normal that instances have gear checks; BWL has Vael, AQ40 has Fangkriss (iirc), Naxx has Patchwerk, etc. So DPS is crucial as well as stated above; the quicker the kill, the easier it is on everyone else from class roles to time spent moving/adjusting/reacting. I wouldn't put any role above the other in terms of tank>heal>dps. All are important and can't have too much imbalance; super tank, mediocre healer, weak dps etc.

Right, Princess, forgot her name. I only looked forward to twin emps and cthun which was a bish to get to

I would go along with this. Although it's very rare any raid will accept undergeared dps simply because low dps = large room for error. The longer a fight drags on, the more the chances of a mistake happening. Kill fast, less mistake to cover up, less effort spent compensating.

But if a raid is willing/desperate, they can always take undergeared dps at their risk. Of course when you hit certain fights where DPS is required, then you'd hit a cockblock.

I don't know about the rest but I never said "good dps can carry bad tanks & healers." So if you are referring " u guys chose to say the other way round" as everyone who has participated thus far in this thread, I'd appreciate not generalising this. I for one know that assuming only leads to the saying, "an a$$ out of u and me".