Off Nights « Rawrcast

Off Nights. Everyone has them, no one likes them. Maybe your girlfriend just dumped you or you picked up the flu but there are just some nights when your play is not up to snuff. Here’s a personal story of one of my off nights.

The Context
I’d taken a few days off of WOW to build up some credit at the girlfriend store (dinner and a movie buys you some quality play time) and was chomping at the bit to get back in and play. I checked the raid calendar for the night and saw that my guild had several raids scheduled for that night (Onxyia, TOTC 25, and TOTC 10) and I had signed up for them all. Perfect.

The Fail
I made my way to Onyxia first with my bags brimming with consumables and soul shards, excited to be back in the mix. Things began smoothly enough. My DPS was solid, my rotation was natural and free flowing and the vent conversation was casual (Famous raid leader quote of the night, “DPS go right and mumble grumble…”). As Onyxia took off for Phase 2, my mind started to wander (work, girlfriend, etc). When I came too, I took a Deep Breath square in the face.

The Fail Continues
Chalking my failure up to an honest if somewhat sloppy mistake, I made my way to Icecrown for the second leg of our raid. And the failure continued. I found myself slow to DPS the Kobolds during Gormok, standing too close to other players during Acidmaw, and (wait for it) getting charged by Icehowl. My reaction time was a half step off and my situational awareness seemed to have been left behind in Onyxia’s Lair. I was dumbstruck. I’d done every one of these encounters several times before and never had any trouble (other than figuring which loot to roll on). Why was tonight different?

The Solution
The raid took a quick five minute break and I used the time to collect myself. I splashed some water on my face, took a step outside to get some fresh air and resolved to commit no more errors (maybe my DPS would suffer a bit but I was determined to avoid any more costly mistakes). Once I sat back down, the rest of the night went smoothly. I dodged Icehowl in the 10 man, spaced appropriately on Acidmaw, CC’d effectively on Faction Champions and deftly switched my auras on Twins. The old Plectical was back.

The Mr. Rogers Lesson
Everyone has nights where something is just a little off. The key is to respond quickly and adjust your gameplay accordingly (pay extra close attention to raid warnings, eliminate any possible distractions, etc). And above all, remember that these embarrassing moments are a part of raiding, so don’t beat yourself up.