To Leave or Not to Leave

How do you know when it's time to leave a guild?

The last few months have been hard on guilds. While the loot in Trial of the Crusader has been very good, a large number of people have been unsatisfied with the quality of the instance as compared to Ulduar. Both the blogosphere and my guild have been rife with people quitting wow, going on wow hiatus, or leaving their guild.

In the past, nearly every move guildwise for me has been largely driven by scheduling issues. Having moved several times and changing time zones has made it difficult for me to make a previously workable schedule tenable.

On the other hand, over the past few weeks my dissatisfaction with my current guild hasn't come from scheduling issues.
Unfortunately, my unhappiness is stemming from a lack of progression. This blog is, at its core, about PVE raiding as a Death Knight. And while loot (Ah, Shadowmourne!) is important, the most important, fun, and challenging thing about raiding is killing new bosses. While some may argue that heroic modes aren't progression - and I'll admit it's not the same as an entirely new fight - I do enjoy the added challenge the hard modes bring. My guild was able to successfully enter toc as a fairly recently-formed 25-man group in a mix of T7 & T8 gear and down each boss on normal mode easily. Then, Heroic mode was unlocked, and we completely failed. Looking at guilds that were successfully completing the Northrend Beasts in TOGC we noted that their gear was considerably ahead of ours. So we did a major gear push, farming to craft the chest and bracers for everyone, and getting our 245 item level gear. Once we surpassed - by a wide margin - the gear scores of other guilds when they first killed the Beasts, we couldn't say our gear was limiting us. It was skill. People dying in flame patches. People dying to toxin. Tanks not getting toxin removed. Dps lacking. Weak heals. We started losing a good dps here, a good tank there, a good healer there - quitting wow, quitting raiding, transferring to new guild.

So, what to do? Recruit, certainly, and hope that the new people are highly skilled. What about the guildies - who are well liked - that have consistently underperformed? While some answers may seem easy, the ramifications of changes are somewhat more broad. Sitting/demoting can lead to not only one person leaving, but several more who are also unhappy.

At any rate, late last week the final night of attempts - and miserable failure - on 25 man Beasts lead me to start looking for a new guild. I've discussed with my fellow officers and they don't want me to leave, but are understanding of my concerns. I certainly don't want to leave. The schedule is not a problem. I like my fellow guildies very much. I'm well-liked and am 'top dog' so to speak in terms of my dps and being an officer. Changing guilds means throwing away my chance at Shadowmourne most likely.

But I'm here to raid. To progress. To see new challenges and progress. I don't have the time or energy to join a Vodka (now recruiting on official forums), but I expect my guild to have a decent attempts-to-bosskill ratio. My current guild may get there if they can do the hard work of recruiting skilled players and benching less-skilled ones. I hate to be disloyal and move on, but ultimately yes, this game is about er, fun.

So, if you've stuck with me thus far, reader, how are you doing? Happy with your guild? I hope so. If not, what might make you decide to leave?

Wow.com has a regular column dedicated to guild drama (Drama Llamas); if unhappy, why might you leave (or have you left guilds in the past)?
-unhappiness with leadership
-unhappiness with fellow guildies
-bored of wow
-loot issues
-kicked by guild
-lack of progression
-financial problems
-hardware issues
-real life demands
-relationship issues
-going with real life/virtual friends when they leave