To Raid or not to Raid

Lets chat about raiding for a minute. What to do in a raid? What is most important in a raid? How do you handle certain situations? What is your goal in a raid? These are all viable questions that can help determine the outcome of any "run".
Everyone has a role in a raid, whether it's DPS, Tanking, Healing, or something in between. Now to figure out what you are going to do is simple and it's determined by class. Lets face it we all know a priest can't tank. Lets talk about roles real quick. Warriors are tanks by design, Mages-Hunters-Rogues-Warlocks are pure dps and CC, Priests are healers, and then there is the hybrid classes, which are Druid's-Pally's-shamans. A druid can do any of the 3 main categories just by switching their form, a pally can tank-OT-heal, and Shamans can do DPS and Heal. So now that you know your class roll there are a few small things to consider as far as spec goes. Talent points can determine what type of Subclass you are, such as protection tank or arms/fury tank or druids can go either feral, resto, or balanced which would mean feral-dps/tank, resto-healer, and balanced-caster. I would suggest maybe trying each spec out at 70,which may cost some gold, but you will achieve a better sense of understanding for your class roll and may make the game a little more fun.
So now you know your class roll in a raid. /cheer
The best thing before entering the instance is to do a check as far as your roll in the run, ie a pally can heal but be OT at certain situations, and it is very important to know ahead of time and not finding out after a wipe.
*Que a black and white 1950's film strip for school
DPS-"what happened? Why did we wipe?"
Tank-"well the pally was supposed to pick up OT when we got one to many mobs."
Pally-"I thought I was healing... you never said anything about OT'ing....."
Tank-"Golly gee-wiz I just assumed you knew that"

See now if they had talked about rolls in the beginning everyone would have been on the same page. Now that doesn't mean every group or raid does this, but it has happened once in a while. Also make sure everyone int he group knows which target symbol is theirs, this could cause a wipe if people get confused on which one is for them.

Also before a run, make sure you are repaired and have empty bag slots available (everyone is guilty of that one), but it does help the party out alot. Perhaps the lead in group can flash a message across the screen that said repair and restock before you make it here.
Determine the loot rules ahead of time so there is no downtime in trying to figure out who gets what. Always have pots and bandages in stock.

So now the rest is up to skill and luck and you should down the run in no time at all.

Another big thing I noticed and am guilty of is the damage meter. As a DPS'r I strive to be number 1 on that list and would stop at nothing to get there including pulling from the tank, which could cause a wipe as well. This is not good. Now I turn of damage meter and just play by skill and need for the run, which I tend now to live a little longer. People that want to top the DM list tend to lose sight or focus on the group itself and may cause a wipe or not, but is that a risk you want to take?? personally I would rather play my roll to the fullest and focus on the boss/mob at hand and get the purple at the end instead of balls to the wall DPS and someone die early.
These pointers may help in future situations or they may not, that is up to you. By no means am I telling anyone how to play, you play the way you want to and strive for what you want and don't let anyone stop you, it's your game that you pay/play. Just have fun.