Exit Strategy

When LOKI was raiding T4, T5 was around. And when we progressed through T5, T6 was around. What kept our guild healthy and moving, was having a clear exit strategy for the current dungeon.

Now, I know from blogs and trade chat and realm forums - that there are still guilds running (and progressing) though Naxx/EoE. I want to highlight the very real risk that these same people will be running the same content months from now, when the next expansion comes out - just as people raided Kara right up till Wrath release (and not for lack of talented or able players)

If your someone in a guild not raiding top tier content - what is your exit plan for your current tier? What are the conditions that have to be met before you move on, and what will your transition look like?

If you set a goal like "when we're ready", you'll never move on. Progression is hard, and wiping will make people not dedicated claim that they aren't ready - as if more iLevel will help them avoid standing in things. Waiting for everyone to have all the gear they want will lead to ruin - some pieces will never drop, and the people that got what they wanted will eventually get sick of repeating content for other people's drops, and move on - creating a cycle of people joining, getting geared, and leaving (while the guild's dedicated members are stuck).

LOKI has made it our policy to kill an instances final boss three times, and move on. After Vashj died three times, we left SSC, never to return. Same for Kael/TK. Same for Archimonde/Hyjal. Mostly the Same in T7 for KT/Malygos/OS3.

Now, this may seem a little harsh to you. Very few people got the sweet lootz they wanted. Three may not be the number you have/choose. What is important, was that we had a set number, and stuck to it. No one wondered when we'd get on to fresh content, and we never lost someone who got tired of "the same" content during those three weeks. It also went to support our ideal that you don't need loot to progress - just better play. We look at loot as a bonus that comes with progressing - NOT progressing as a means to loot.

When developing an exit strategy - there are tons of decisions to make, and no single right way. Some of the many factors in ours...

- We only require our raiders to be unsaved/available to our current progression instance (Ulduar-25)
- We spent official raid time on only our progression tier.
- We may alternate weeks of skipping skipable bosses in with weeks of going straight to progression bosses/achievements, at my digression (the default being to skip bosses).
- All other content (T7-10/25man, T8-10man) is not officially guild run, and can be done on off nights informally, with PuGs, ect.

So I'll ask again. What is your guild's exit strategy? If you don't have a clear one - where do you think that will lead? I would suggest that your guild form one ASAP, lest you be forced into developing a personal exit strategy of your own...