In my time playing World of Warcraft, behind the controls of my warlock, as well as my paladin and death knight, I’ve played many roles in raids of all shapes and sizes.

I’ve whacked things, I’ve cursed things, taunted and mended.

And on the other side of the screen I was the officer, the DPS lead, the unquestioning follower and finally… The raid leader.

Now, prior to my ascent to “fearless leader,” I was the player who stared at trade and guild chat, only jumping into a group when I was scheduled to, or when I saw those familiar words: “lf2m, ranged dps, pst!”

I was uncertain I had the patience, game knowledge, and skills to compile a raid, even a pug. But… upon deciding to return to the raiding community pre-Firelands, I had no group, but I had real life friends, and old raiding buddies who needed a home, and I was a common tie. So I got brave!

The result was wonderful and eternally memorable.

Hater Raid

While, to this day, I am still exceptionally proud of myself for rising to a challenge I previously never saw myself conquering, I know that my raid’s success came from within.

A good raid is more than just a good leader. It takes a group of people that are inspired, themselves. People who, in turn, inspire their leader to seek success for the group as a whole.

I found that group. 9 amazing and hilariously fun (and talented) people who made Firelands my favorite raid of all time. They inspired me to make this:

And then there were 10

Much of my group will be reassembling for Mists of Pandaria, and I will be taking up the helm once again. This brought the discussion of a larger raid to the table. You know… the eternal conflict of what size the “perfect raid” would be. Some petition for 15 mans, where others prefer the challenge of 25.

In my eyes, no size could be more perfect than 10. Each 25 man I’ve been a part of has been contained (and sometimes uncontained) chaos. From a leader’s perspective, maintaining control and forward motion amongst that many people can be a challenge. I feel that the closeness is lost among the numbers.

Any less would leave a few out.

But with 10… you make true friends, you have each others backs. With 10, you can truly stop and appreciate the little things.

What do you think? Can that same experience be had within a larger raid? What raid size do you find most perfect for you?

Until next time.