Project Lore

Since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King I've had the unfortunate experience of being a part of four separate guilds.  In my WoW career that makes a total of six, one for vanilla, one for The Burning Crusade and a 400% increase for Wrath.  I joined each of these guilds with at least one high ranking member knowing that I will only raid once, maybe twice a week.  Raiding once or twice a week means I'm not considered a staple raider.  Yet, all but one of the guilds accepted me because I am a "good" raider.  What exactly does that mean? Here's my criteria for being a good raider, in order of importance from most important to least important:

• Accountability - Being accountable is important in raiding, but also real life.  When you say you'll be somewhere, you are there.  When you fail, you take the blame and make sure it doesn't happen again.  When you raid, you have any and all required goods - potions, full durability, gems, enchants and glyphs.
• Listening - There's a reason for the guild ranks.  In an ideal world *cough* the GM and officers are the most knowledgeable members in the guild.  They run it, and the raids, because they know the ins and outs of the game and the encounters.  A good raider will listen to these directions and politely interject if they have a differing opinion or another idea.  They will also grow to respect and trust the skills of other members.
• Technology - A good raider doesn't need a beast of computing, but they need a capable system with a dependable Internet connection (hearkens back to accountability). UI mods fall into this category as well.  Knowing which ones help you the most, don't kill your system and properly configuring them can be an exercise in frustration, but it's an exercise that is expected of you.
• Don't Be A Douche - Pretty self explanatory (I hope).  A healthy raider realizes that they are in a group with 9 to 24 other people.  They realize these other avatars are controlled by other human beings that have feelings, emotions and their own hang-ups.  The setting requires attention, concentration and coordination.  Don't break it by constantly saying your mom jokes, telling people they are "teh gay" or lambasting them for dropping the ball (unless it's a recurring issue, then tough love is acceptable).
• Class/Encounter Knowledge - Knowing your class is good.  Knowing an encounter is important.  Knowing these aren't mutually exclusive skillsets is another thing entirely.  Recognizing how skills and abilities of your class can make the encounter easier is the "skill" that many people are after (ie popping Cloak of Shadows to drop a DoT save healing time and mana, and cleansing time/mana).  Being adaptable to changing conditions - getting a loose mob off a healer even if you may die from it - is another sought after trait.
• The Extra Mile - Missing some of the above criteria?  Then make up for it by going the extra mile when you head into a raid.  Bring extra pots to help healers, level up that cooking so you can drop feasts, fish for feast materials, make sure to have a repair bot (less useful since Patch 3.1), help with guild funding (the in-game bank and IRL expenses), be open to respeccing to fill in holes or make yourself available for heroic farming.
• Enjoy It - Only raid if you enjoy it, otherwise you'll drag people down.

There's no way that every raid leader has the same notion of a good raider.  It's safe to say that the best of them realize that DPS and healing output aren't the only measure of skill.  Don't get me wrong, they are important, but by my standards there's a lot more to raiding than raw output. I'll take the 4.5K DPSing, generous, level-headed player in mediocre gear who's on time and prepared at 7:30PM over 7K DPSing prima donna any day.  What's your criteria?