As you all (those reading this) know, I have a very large dislike for actually talking on vent. Last night we wiped in the last %s (one time at a painful 1%) on Zul'Jin after some rather odd behavior with threat on omen (jas getting aggro after being dead for half the final phase was very very weird).

My question : can a raid leader "lead" while not using their mic? I would like to believe so, but last night that confidence was rocked when nuit stepped out and i was left in de facto charge of Lava Crab for the last two bosses. My instructions and warnings were unheeded or lost, and small catfights broke out after the second wipe. Would this have been avoided if I had actually used my microphone and steered things in a more positive/controlled direction? I don't know. I find it very hard to use my push to talk button while actively using both hands to tank, and I've never ever ever been a fan of leaving my mic open or on sound activate, as somehow or other you'd all get blasted with very un-epatricklike venting of swear words.

My ideal raid is one in which vent is quiet, controlled, and only used for actual necessary commands (the cores on vashj, the tank positions for RoS) ( I don't view bloodboils as being vent necessary, because honestly, if you can't count to three and know which group you're in, fail)

Vent to me has become a cluttered mess of jumbled unfocused stories, random chatter and a smattering of necessary commands/informative suggestions. the cleanest kill I've ever seen was weds teron, where vent was actually SILENT. that's right, nobody talked, we all focused and 24 man'd a BT raid boss. If vent and our raid attitude were like that every night, I feel like we'd be a lot more progressed, but where does the line between excelling at this game by being focused and having fun shooting the shit with your e-friends on vent get drawn? Can you do both? no idea.

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