How important is it to play your best on a raid?

It is funny. Nowhere at all did I mention my current guild in my OP. But I am glad people like Babbleblade are quick to "read between the lines" and assume I am calling out 53 people in the raid's I attend.

The original thought behind this thread was reading about a magician in another guild who uses an air pet on raids because of "personal preference" even though s/he knew that it wasn't theoretically the best pet to use. It was in reference to an individual in that same thread who stated that s/he did not care what others did (paraphrasing). And it was me reminiscing about raids that I have attended in the 13 years I have been playing EQ, about players who were continuously overachieving... and some who continuously underachieved. And finally it was me thinking out loud about the title of the thread....

How important is it to play your best on a raid?

I was in a guild that had an older man, who had some physical limitations but could still perform some core basic roles, that played an enchanter. This enchanter never casted a spell on a raid. He never casted an aura in group. He never responded to group chat requests. He was on the raid event, and we all had to hope that this enchanter did not get an emote because if he did, the raid was going to wipe. Even though he had some physical limitations, he still could have done more for his group/raid than just standing in a corner waiting for loot. He could have played an aura... he could have casted a DD spell every now and then... he could have casted clarity. He did play his enchanter in the group game, so we knew he could do *something*. This player just chose not to do anything on a raid.

I was in a guild that had an elderly man with very slow reflexes who played a rogue. This player basically turned attack on, tried to move his rogue behind a mob, and then would hit several AA hotkeys. He obviously was not on the top of parses; however for his skill set and talents, he was making a concerted effort to at least try. Sure he did not hit the right AA burn hotkeys in order, and yes he was not dragging every corpse after a raid wipe... but he was at his computer, trying.

Both players are not "optimal" players who are finishing at the top of their respective classes. But in one situation, a player is not trying at all.... whereas the other player is trying. He may not be at maximum productivity with his rogue... but he is giving 100% that he can given his situation.

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts. It was more of a thought provoking question than anything. And thanks to you Babbleblade for proving, yet again, your abilities and skills and talents.