James is a bad leader and I don't want to be like him

So, anatomy of a bad Mara run . . .

First, guildie asks if I will go. I know this guildie [a 48 druid] and I know better, but . . . hey . . . it's Mara and I the Master of Mara. He PUGs two . . . a 50 priest and a 46 warrior. I won't run Mara without a good priest . . . and prefer a second warrior. When it comes to Druids . . . I seldom have any use.

First thing that happens is I say 'wait' and they charge ahead . . . pulling not only the mob, but the pat. While I'm trying to sort out aggro and keep folks alive a three headed pat eats our priest from behind. After that . . . it is me another warrior and a cat fighting three crocs, a hydra and what seems like a dozen stone figures. A minute or two later . . . I'm the only one left standing.

I get naked [as is my custom] and kill myself. I'm the only one with the rod to port directly into the middle of Mara so I have to leave. Besides, I have to show them the way to the purple gate and back to the port.

Back at the purple gate, I tell them to follow and don't worry about mobs. I'll aggro and we'll just run to the pad. They of course stop and fight everything. If I were Twink I'd have given a lecture right there, but I'm not. I prefer leadership by the example of the death of others.

Anyway, back in Mara once more. I explain about pats . . . as I had before, but this time I type slower. They listen and learn better. We make it through three mobs and are now facing the first pat since our wipe. I pick the spot and pull . . . and we do a great jorb.

BUT . . .

Pats reset in instances and we had been out so long one had spawned behind us. So, now we're standing in the middle of two stone pats. It is hard to see through the dust, but damn we have a good priest . . . a great healer. And damn, we have a good warrior [not me . . . that goes without saying] and . . . well . . . we have a druid too.

We fight our way through and when we get done I give all compliments. The healer gives them back saying most bitch about her style of healing . . . that she doesn't even start until folks are below fifty.

I tell her what Twink taught me . . . better all alive at 1% then 1 alive at 100%. She knows her stuff and I know that, because I've run with a damned good priest often. I have learned to totally love the priest class . . . as a companion to a warrior.

We take everything out to the first boss with precision. Then our druid . . our leader . . . the one who formed the group . . . well . .. bails.

So, it two warriors and a priest, but I'm the only one above 50 and I know Mara . . . and we don't have the muscle. I ask if they want to try and they say they want to try . . . so, try we will. So, I start thinking . . . not something I really have to do much of . . . or I have to, but I don't. I drop the two-hander for the axe and board.

I start giving VERY clear orders. And we hit the first mob that I know we cannot take . . . and we take'em. We hit the second mob I know we cannot take . . . and we take'em. Four more times and we are standing at the edge of the bitch . . . sorry, the princess.

By this point, I have so much confidence in these toons. They fight above their level. They know their class. They have come through hell to stand here . . . and want more.

We hit her and it is all working. It is a long and arduous battle . . . and she is getting ready to go down. We've been feared several times. We've had to race to save the priest several times. We've had to give up aggro back and forth trying to stay alive . . . and she is going down . . .

Then I fall and am shocked. I didn't drop my pot. I didn't eat my root. I was so busy watching them, I didn't watch myself . . . and in that, I let them down. I, as the leader, had not led properly in the end because I didn't use resources that were available to me.

So close . . .