Starting to apply to raiding guilds; should I respec?

[Calm]

Title says it all. I'm looking to join a raid guild, and I'm interested in if I shoud respec. I play TG fury, and to be frank, I don't feel to great about my DPS right now. My crit just isn't there to make things work, so my enrage uptime isn't the best. I know gladiator is all the rage, and arms is pretty decent in the lower geared areas. As a new raider, I'm not sure what my responsibilities are as a raider in this regard.

So, my question, essentially, is if as a DPS warrior you owe it to your raid team to switch to a spec that's going to give you better DPS or if you can/should just play a spec you enjoy. I'm particularly interested in hearing any Raid Leader or Recruitment officer opinions. Thanks!

[Keyboard Champion]

Play what you enjoy. Are you playing the game for yourself or to please others?

[Ooglar]

For most raiding guilds out there, playing what you're comfortable with will take your far. If you can execute your rotations without having to think much about it, you can focus more on raid mechanics and awareness. That being said, I would become comfortable with all specs. This way you can start to maximize your DPS and become a more versatile player. A raid leader will always be looking for someone who is looking to continue to improve their game.

[Gandrake]

Play what you enjoy. Are you playing the game for yourself or to please others?

Play what you enjoy in LFR

Raiding is a team effort and in any team that is even remotely serious about making progress, they want boss kills and people on the team to be making a reasonable contribution. Doing good DPS is not something special, it is expected of you. Being able to do that, and extend on raid nights, helping other members of the raid stay caught up, having exceptional attendance, a great attitude, and going above and beyond to be prepared for a raid encounter are what sells you.

Raiding isn't just about you, it's also about 9-19 other players on the team. Don't waste anybody's time. You can't really even call yourself a raider until you know you love raiding no matter how much your class gets shit on. That, no matter how bad your day was, that you sit down to play wow and pushing the limits of your class and trying to find a way to win, is relaxing. Or, at least, entertaining. Fun, as it were.

you're not going to get into any raid guild that actually wants to do anything relevant by being a huge slacker

[Warriorsarri]

If you're in a progress oriented guild I would recommend that you play what's strongest for progression. If you're in a more laid back or casual guild, or if you're done with progression play whatever rocks your boat. For instance, I played Arms for over a year in SoO after I was done with progression. Was it the strongest of our two specs? No, but it was what I found to be the most fun, and often when you're having fun playing you'll also be able to perform at a higher level.

[klogaroth]

The ideal situation is that you can demonstrate that you can play all specs. Even tanking.

Even if you never use them, being able to play all specs available to your class is very valuable, as it means that you are already prepared to play whatever is the spec of choice at any given time.

And being able to fill in as a backup tank is sometimes handy. If nothing else tanking will get you quicker dungeon groups for gearing.

As others have said though it depends what sort of guild you're looking for.
It's perfectly possible to clear all the content as any spec, but to clear it faster you need to be flexible.

[blackblade]

So, my question, essentially, is if as a DPS warrior you owe it to your raid team to switch to a spec that's going to give you better DPS or if you can/should just play a spec you enjoy. I'm particularly interested in hearing any Raid Leader or Recruitment officer opinions. Thanks!

Are you expecting cutting edge progression? Heroic? Normal?

Generally speaking, the guilds who aim lower have lower requirements. The guilds who aim higher will have significantly more specific requirements.

I know in the case of our guild, we're looking strictly for ranged dps. We're not too picky in terms of skill level, but we have more melee than we know what to do with.

[McBrainiac]

Play what you enjoy in LFR

Raiding is a team effort and in any team that is even remotely serious about making progress, they want boss kills and people on the team to be making a reasonable contribution. Doing good DPS is not something special, it is expected of you. Being able to do that, and extend on raid nights, helping other members of the raid stay caught up, having exceptional attendance, a great attitude, and going above and beyond to be prepared for a raid encounter are what sells you.

Raiding isn't just about you, it's also about 9-19 other players on the team. Don't waste anybody's time. You can't really even call yourself a raider until you know you love raiding no matter how much your class gets shit on. That, no matter how bad your day was, that you sit down to play wow and pushing the limits of your class and trying to find a way to win, is relaxing. Or, at least, entertaining. Fun, as it were.

you're not going to get into any raid guild that actually wants to do anything relevant by being a huge slacker

This x 100

I can't tell you how many times I played a spec that was not my favorite or rerolled mains mid-tier in order to fill the needs of my team. But, like you said...I don't raid for myself, I raid for the team. Doing what is best for all >>>>>>>> doing what you like the most. If that isn't the mindset you have when raiding progression, you should probably stick with less challenging content.

[Deleted]

Play what you enjoy in LFR

Raiding is a team effort and in any team that is even remotely serious about making progress, they want boss kills and people on the team to be making a reasonable contribution. Doing good DPS is not something special, it is expected of you. Being able to do that, and extend on raid nights, helping other members of the raid stay caught up, having exceptional attendance, a great attitude, and going above and beyond to be prepared for a raid encounter are what sells you.

Raiding isn't just about you, it's also about 9-19 other players on the team. Don't waste anybody's time. You can't really even call yourself a raider until you know you love raiding no matter how much your class gets shit on. That, no matter how bad your day was, that you sit down to play wow and pushing the limits of your class and trying to find a way to win, is relaxing. Or, at least, entertaining. Fun, as it were.

you're not going to get into any raid guild that actually wants to do anything relevant by being a huge slacker

The above is the difference between a guild that just faffs about and a guild that wants to actually progress. It doesn't even need to be heroic progress, but simply do normals in a timely and respectable fashion. Guilds that fall short are the ones that can beat their heads on one boss for days before finally getting a kill. The rest clear the raids and either push more difficult modes or just wait for next week.

It might sound like a lot, but it really is not. It is not a second job or marriage, but simple dedication, like you would give any hobby that you really care about; be it collecting butterflies, building models, or playing going horse riding.

[Phrev]

In my opinion it would be a little more common courtesy to switch and help the team by contributing more DPS than playing what you're comfortable with. As long as you are present and doing something that affects other people, I would say you should be contributing as much as you can. TG Fury looks awesome, but that 4k or whatever more DPS you contribute is a little cooler in my eyes.

[Griffeth]

Here is my opinion, both as the AGM, Raid Leader and one of the two recruitment officers:

A lot of it is going to depend on what level you want to raid at. if your raid team is going to raid normals until they feel they have the gear to hit heroics, then farm heroics until they feel they have the gear to go to Mythic then playing what you are comfortable with is key. Being able to keep steady DPS while playing mechanics is going to be the #1 contribution to raids, and normal modes will not require much of a gear check.

If you are jumping right into Heroics or right into Mythics out of the gate, then you are going to need to play what is the best for your class (be that best DPS, Best healing or best tank spec). You will need to squeeze every bit of optimization out of your character when getting into those fights and you will need to learn it fast.

Our DPS warrior wanted to go fury for the longest time. Then I did a run with him where he was fury and I was glad spec, and beat him on every fight for DPS (same gear level). He is now playing Glad and we are set to jump right into heroic fights.