25 Man Raiding Reality Check

We have been fully transitioned to 25 man raids for a while now and it really is much more fun and rewarding to kill a new hard mode boss on 25 but once in a while the conversation still comes back to what we could be doing if we just ran 10s. DREAM Paragon posted a comparison a while back (http://www.paragon.fi/articles/10-vs-25-comparison) and pretty much confirmed what we already knew from our own experience. We’ve done 6/7 in 10 and 5/7 in 25. Let me tell me you, Baleroc hard mode 25 is a cluster fuck. Not only that but simply keeping up with the recruiting for 25s can be painful. The management of a 25 man guild obviously takes much more time and effort as well.

Nesingwary is a small server with a very tiny pool of raiders to pick from. Inevitably we are going to have to take on some folks that might not have the gear yet or might be lacking in the experience in hard modes that we would like to have but we take them on with the hopes that they will prove to be worth the effort. Yes, it means a few more wipes and may take a bit longer to down something new but our options are limited.

You might think a server transfer would solve the issues but that in and of itself would open up even more challenges. Most guilds I’ve known that moved servers wound up collapsing in a very short amount of time due to key players not moving over and being unable to find the recruits they were certain were just sitting there waiting for a good home. Not to mention I run guild full of altoholics and it would cost everyone waaaay too much to transfer the co-dependent little bastards! A better option for us is to recruit off server and bring them to us. They are hard to find though and it’s a commitment to pay the real life money to do it. We’ve had success but it’s dicey.

The other suggestion that periodically comes up when people get frustrated with progression is to go back to 10s. The trouble with that is we have recruited for 25s. I stare at the roster and all the duplicates of certain classes and have no way to decide which really great mage to cut or which DK I would want to do without; we have 3 very good healing priests, 3 locks, 3 hunters…I like them all and they do well. Who could I possibly evict from raiding with us? Things would have to get very, very bad for us to go back to strictly 10s. I care too much about the folks that raid here. And did I mention how much more exciting it is to get 25 hard modes down?

Right now we’re in a pretty good spot. We have 27-30 for each raid so emergency RL stuff is largely covered but that doesn’t mean I get to stop looking for good people! I’m concerned about folks that have been raiding non-stop since December and don’t want them to burn out and maybe make rash decisions about the game before the final patch hits. I worry about people needing to make changes due to new jobs or family situations. There’s always the possibility that some of the new folks will flake out and disappear (no, no, you know that NEVER happens!). Mostly, I just worry. The odd thing is….I actually care about the people behind the toons in Heroic and want them to be happy and doing well in RL too. That means if they need a break, they get a break. And I figure out a way to cover it.

On the upside, we’ve been around for two and half years and have been raiding consistently the whole time. We’re talking about who are rolling monks for MoP and working the PTR for Deathwing. Something tells me we will be around for a while yet and will make it through all the challenges and frustrations of progression in a 25 man guild on a backwater server…somehow.

A Good Night for Heroic

Our warlock got Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest but we all got the fun of watching trade chat explode! We were the first Alliance guild on the server to have a member complete the quest chain so there was much excitement over the change in the sky over the cathedral. It truly was a group effort and I'm happy as can be we got the first one for Alliance.



We are also now 5/7 hardmodes on 25 and 6/7 on 10. We kinda cheated one week while we were heavily recruiting and did a 25 with a mix of mains and alts and then took a progression team in on mains for 10 man. It was better than not raiding and/or doing no progression at all!

The LONG awaited Stupid Awards are BACK!!!

The I’ll Save You Award! of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The resto druid who, frustrated by confusion on meteors on Ragnaros, says to the raid…”Okay, everyone, stand back, I’ve got this…let me show you how it’s done!”
And then his moonfire misses three times and he wipes the raid.
He will NEVER live that one down. At least once per raid someone says….”Stand back! I got this!”


The Well It’s Still Plate Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

Not one but two pallies who managed to attempt boss fights in the right spec and wrong armor. Healing in tank spec….not so much.


The It’s a Hole…I Had to Go In Award of the Week goes to….

The hunter who wandered off during the Alysrazor assignments and fell into a hole behind Major Domo. And then was followed by no less than nine raiders who also had to see the hole. Yes, folks, there are a lot of confused virgins in WoW.


The But Isn’t Bad Luck? Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The lock and hunter who suicided in lava….just because no one died on the trash to Ragnaros.


The 1, 2, 3…WTF Comes Next? Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The many raiders who can’t count to 8 and find their ways to the right transition adds on Ragnaros.
Especially the raider who said (seriously), “But I don’t see a number on them.”
Really? Really.


The Hiding the Evidence Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

Shammie: What gets blood out of carpet?
Me: Cold water.
Me: Wait…What? Are you ok? How much blood? Pools or drops?
Shammie: Pools.
Me: Cold water, blot don’t scrub, then soap. Wait, are you ok?
Shammie: Yeah, there’s just blood everywhere from my foot.

Foot surgery, not supposed to get it wet, got it wet, blood everywhere. Followed by a picture with the caption “My mom is going to kill me”.
We’re pretty sure he covering up a murder.


The Blonde Rogues Have More Fun Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

“i hate when i think i'm stealtehd but i'm not
it's bad p. much all the time
in pvp OR in a dungeon
oh i'm just gonna go sap this OMFG AGGGH”


The Raid > Safety Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The warrior who raided through a major flood and police banging on his door saying he had to evacuate because we were on a progression fight. I finally called raid to get him out safely and he waded out with water up to his ass holding his computer over his head. Now THAT is dedication.

Yellow On Top

Time for another Rogue guest post!


Hello everyone...

So my cohort and fellow badass Bre, aka the Enforcer, is currently away on top secret rogue training that will allow her to shiv you in your sleep, thus I am here to let you guys know that there is some serious shit going on that needs to end. I'm going to cover some things in this little post that maybe you should watch out for, or you'll find yourself on the end of one of my tricks pulls dumping a mob or twenty on you....ya dig?

So here are some things you can do that will be good:

- Show up on time and be ready to raid.

- Make sure you have all the things you need for raid night.

- Don't needlessly chatter in vent during boss fights.

- Don't ninja AFK unless you're super good at it, like me, or you're a ninja. Either way....you probably just shouldn't do it.

- USE THE EFFING CALENDAR. (P.S. this would make your GM pretty happy)

- CLICK THE LIGHTWELL OR I SWEAR I'LL SHANK YOU.

Here are some things you're doing that are BAD:

- You're standing in all kinds of bad. If its something that looks like fire...don't stand in it. If it is something that looks dark and menacing, don't stand in it. If its shooting out of a mobs mouth/ass....DON'T STAND IN IT.

- I know that I said don't stand in things right above, HOWEVER, if its shiney, and blue, green, white, and or another "pretty" color. It is probably from your healers, stop running out of that shit and get some heals. HELP YOUR HEALERS HELP YOU.

- If the raid leader says spread out...spread out. Don't stand there and hold each others hands like you're in first grade, spread the hell out. If the raid leader says group up, get nut to butt and get packed in there. We're all friends, ACT LIKE IT.

- DPS: How about you stop focusing on your meters and instead worry about all that damage you are taking. You're draining healer mana, I personally like it when healers can you know, heal the TANKS or other people that are SUPPOSED to take damage. Healers going oom from stupid makes my tricks finger get itchy.

- Hey, those lava lines on Rhyolith...move away from them....actually screw that, those things suck period. Do your best.

- If you pick up a feather before myself, Bre, or a healer, I swear I'll find the teddy bear you still sleep with and remove its head from its body...I'll do it...I promise.

Now this is only a brief example of things you should and shouldn't do. I understand common sense usually flies right out a raiders ass when they get to raiding, but please use a little. It will help us all out a ton, and it will cause me from having to start taking blood pressure medicine again....that shit ain't cheap.

So please, do your jobs so that I don't have to hurt/maim/harass/punt/kick/slap/shank or whatever twisted thing I decide to do to you for doing bad things. I want to be a nice guy, I swear I do...mostly.

Now go hold your blankey,

Scynus

Pretend Raiders and How to Spot Them

Pretend Raiders…..


Let game time lapse and don’t have a plan to update it before the next raid

Bitch about reading strategies and doing homework

Think iLevel trumps skill

Think they don’t need to farm for rep items

Decide a “date” is a priority on a Tuesday

Log on when it’s convenient for THEM and don’t give a rat’s ass about the other 24 people in raid

Ignore the calendar like I put it there for my amusement

Have to go AFK for dinner/take out the trash/mom/dad/anything but sex they are willing to stream live

Think welfare epics say they have skill

Go AFK during trash

Go AFK during boss assignments

You play a huntard

Think that farming mats for raiding means getting Doritos and diet coke for the night

Space out during boss assignments

Think that their DPS is more important than moving out of bad, also, everything is the healers, and or tanks fault.

Tell you they have to deal with raccoons in the attic and never, ever come back….ever…like 3 months later….I’m worried….

Get grounded

Break up with their girlfriend and “need time”

Get scared away by a trial run for an application and DC for 3 days

Think that reviewing the bosses is looking over loot tables so you know what you want

Can’t tell you what is BiS for their main spec

Think trash is srs bzns (can you say FACEPULL TRASH INTO NEAT LITTLE PILES FTW???)

Things That Make Me Want to Kick a Gnome

I haven’t had a really good bitching post in ages. Blame the 10s we were doing; there’s much less to bitch about in 10s overall. Lucky for readers though we are in full 25 man mode again!

10 Things That Make Me Want to Kick a Gnome

1. Being physically present while mentally absent during boss assignments. (You were here…you were typing in raid chat…you hit “yes” to the ready check asking if you were here…WHY are you asking 2 seconds before the pull what you are supposed to do?!?!!?)

2. Random D/Cs, lag, storms, bad PCs, bad routers, dead mics, etc. (Yes, I know a bunch of it is beyond your control but it still pisses me off.)

3. Feather whores. Bird boss: rogues first x 3 each, healers next x 1 each, THEN THE DAMN FEATHER WHORES OF DPS x 1 each. (Don’t make me call your name again….seriously, don’t.)

4. Doubting my decisions regarding additions to the raid team…fed by main/main spec change requests and really, really dumb questions in vent and gchat.

5. Daggers. They were nonexistent in Wrath and now the damn things drop every week. They make lovely shards though.

6. Asking any of the following questions on a Raid Day:
a. Are we raiding today? (Is it a Raid Day?)
b. What time are we raiding? (What time do we always raid?)
c. Can I bring my alt? (Are you high?)

7. Raiders that stand in bad. Firelands is full of traps, fire, more fire, fire from volcanoes, fire from birds, fire in circles, swaths, patches and lynxes. Did I mention fire?


8. Long drawn out wipes. If we call for a wipe go stand in fire. It is the only time I will praise you for the behavior you so very much love.

9. Random moments brought to you by the Stupid Debuff. Mistakes happen. The trouble is if every person in the raid makes one mistake per boss that results in us not killing the boss and you multiply that by 25… /headdesk


10. Raiders that don’t show up randomly, raiders that are late, raiders that leave early. (Kill me now.)

And now for a change!

Things I love:

1. My officers…they really are the best. I’m pretty damn lucky to have a group as dedicated and focused as they are. They really make my life much easier!

2. So very many of our raiders who do a damn good job, accept being sat graciously, and are really invested in the overall success of the guild as a whole.

3. Beth’liac…for finally dropping my tanky weapon!

Goofy Raid Stuff

See that HP? See it?? I WANT TO KEEP IT!!!! Baleroc is fun!

We've had Rhyolith down for a while on 10 but this was our first 25 man kill. So much death. So very much death. But I lived! Pally bubble FTW.

Seriously..............?

Happy Firelands! New Dead Bosses! Yay!

Heroic is 2 years old! (And they haven't committed me yet!)

We held a fishing competition and a Naked Gnome Race for prizes! One lucky lock got Vial of the Sands and now flys around Stormwind saying, "I'm a dragon!"


And Happy Birthday, Heroic, we got the server first kill on Beth'tilac! (Last thing you want to hear on the fight is the tank saying, "Oh, shit." in vent!

Next night, big, bad dogs dead. Nifty trick to change it so the boss(es) are untauntable.

Heroic is Recruiting!

"Heroic is recruiting exceptional raiders for 25 mans. We have raided successfully and consistently for 2 years and are seeking serious raiders without commitment issues or drama. 12/12 reg, 4/13 hard modes, Raid M-Th 7:15-11. Pst for info!"

OMG I’m tired of recruiting. It feels like all I’ve done for 2 years. LOL. We have the folks at the moment to do regular 25s a couple nights a week but desperately need more solid raiders for 25 man progression. Nesingwary is CST and about 2 ½ years old…still marked off and on as a new player server but yet no free transfers in, go figure. If you have the skills and desire to do 25 man progression raiding please come on over! Make a toon and whisper anyone with the Heroic tag or contact me through the blog.

Our biggest needs right now are for a Holy Paladin, Resto Druid, Boomkin, and Ret Pally but we could absorb any well-played class!

Please, save me from the endless grind of recruiting!

Raid Update

Ok, Heroic Halfus is down and I neglected to mention it because it was so uneventful and easy.

However…I HATE Heroic Chimaeron! Seriously, HATE. 300k thank you and we wiped. It’s too much like Al’Akir in that random dumb luck plays a roll. We have the heals, we have the DPS, and we so very much have the tank dance down…but frankly, dumb luck that gives the Feud Tank 4 breaks is just wrong! Done bitching now. Talk to you when he’s dead.

Dead Nefarian!

Woot! Finally Nefarian is dead!





It took way longer to kill him than it should have based on how easily he went down last night. LOL, isn’t that the way it always goes? In the end it was determined that what killed us the most were the following things:


Information Overload: Waaaaaaaaaaay too many strategies out there and everyone’s friend has a piece of advice. We changed the strategy too many times to try different things and should have just stuck with what was working from the beginning. (Unfortunately, we didn’t realize it would for…oh, say, a couple of weeks.) Really, people, we love you and appreciate your advice but now please go fishing or something.


Bad Group Dynamic: The team wasn’t really feeling like a team lately. We finally had to let go of one of our healers and replace him. He just didn’t fit in and folks were not happy raiders. The new shammie is a vast improvement in sooooo many ways but most importantly he just seems to fit.


Mood: We remembered we are here to have fun while killing big things and that it’s GOOD to laugh at the stupid that happens. (See BGD above LOL)

In the end we did it this way: 1 Paladin tank (Me!) on Nef 1 DK tank on Ony then adds (yes, I know what everyone says about pallys being the ones that should be kiting them but frankly he’s a better add tank than I am. I admit. So bite me.) 2 Resto Druids, one on me and one on raid 1 Resto Shaman on the DK tank A mage, warlock, warrior, hunter, and rogue as DPS


We pushed two crackles in P1, none in P2 and then blew him to bits in P3


During P1 Nef and Ony were on opposite sides of the room with their heads towards the 2 pillars in the back. The adds were kited but the hunter with frosty novas and rings when in place by the mage. We put them on Nef’s ass by the pillar closest to the door.


For P3 I kept Nef in the middle of the room and just spun him as needed to make sure our DK didn’t get tail swiped. There was also a degree of hyperventilating starting when he got to 12% but I’m pretty sure that’s optional.


So, that was that. We have our weird looking ghosty birds now! Yay! On to serious hard mode work!

Nefarian

Phase 1:

Electric crap!

Tail Lash!

Crackle!

Shit the Turtle is down again.

Rinse and Repeat



Phase 2:

OMGOMGOMGOMGWEAREALLGOINGTODIEINTERRUPT!



Phase 3:

Yeah, uh huh, THAT's why all the adds have to be in one spot.

Let's try it again....


/tar Nefarian

/cast Headdesk

Pandora's Box

I’ve finally opened Pandora’s Box. Yes, yes I did it. I made the decision to extend the lockout on Nefarian.

To be fair, I sent my raiders mail and asked their thoughts, I talked with them in vent, I listened to every concern and viewpoint. But, frankly, the best night of the week to take on anything really challenging us is Tuesday. That’s the one night I know I have everyone I need there with the flexibility to move raiders in and out as we need to. Other nights I know our paladin healer works or our hunter may have a conflict or real life crap may come up but Tuesday is obligation free for my team.

While I understand there is still loot to be had we’ve had crap luck with drops for the things we really need and wind up sharding a pretty big chunk of it. Valor points really shouldn’t be an issue for all but one of them given how long we’ve been at this. And, honestly, I’m bored as hell running the same farm content over and over when we should be tackling heroic modes by now.

The plan is this: go in Tuesday with fresh minds and go right to Nefarian without stopping anywhere else. If, IF, it turns out that it really is a gear issue (which I sooooooooooooooo do not believe) then we can stop, drop raid, and do it again with the farm bosses. I think we just need to go in and have our best all on at one time with no distractions.

Wish us luck!

Revenge is Mine

For the first few years I never really PVPed much on Lark unless I had to for some specific trinket, mount or to regain a loot piñata boss. Being a prot pally in a BG means it takes a lot to kill me but OMG it takes a long time to kill them too. (Makes me a great flag carrier though!) PVP was a means to an end and something to do because I had to. I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about until I started doing PVP on several of my alts…then I was hooked.

I always hated playing melee classes and having to run around chasing whatever I wanted to kill. (Probably another reason Lark goes holy in BGs now.) My casters are fun to PVP with but what I really love is healing in BGs. 3 priests (YES! I DO need 3 priests dammit!), a shaman, 2 driuds and a different pally (because one pally is just not enough) who has never been anything but holy for more than 5 minutes all healed their way through countless hours of PVP and many levels of experience. I feel content whenever I get an alt to level 10 and head to the AH to buy whatever I can to prolong their doomed little lives and queue them up for the first time.

But then, one day, on my resto druid I got pissed. Really pissed. I was singled out as a healer within a minute of every BG I was in that day and spent most of my time waiting to rez. Over and over and over my little Rockett tried to live through 5, 6, 7 players beating her face. And the worst were the rogues. The rogues have always been the worst…always….

So I started a rogue.

For revenge.

With no intention of questing or doing anything other than being AS ANNOYING AS HUMANLY FUCKING POSSIBLE IN BGS!

She’s now a level 44 worgen so she has the racial sprint as well as the rogue sprint and is geared to the teeth in PVP gear, dungeon drops (I <3 my guildes for run-throughs!), and BOA gear. I giggle maniacally every time I kill a healer…or just repeated sap them for fun. Every heal I interrupt makes me giddy. Every BG we win because the healers can’t heal gives me a warm feeling in my cold little rogue heart.

I love my rogue. Revenge is mine.

Actual Paladin Tank Stuff Complete with Strategy Tweaks!

I know I don’t usually talk much about tanking, talenting or strategies but we’ve tweaked a few things in our raids - and I’ve tweaked a few things in my spec for different fights - so I thought I’d break with tradition! (You’re very excited now, aren’t you?)

If I don’t mention a strategy change we’re probably doing what everyone else is. As for DPS and heals we’ve used every bizarre, theoretically unworkable combination you can think of for a 10 man but we build the raid with the following:

Always -
Rogue
Warlock
Resto Druid
Pally tank (Yeah, I know, I said I heal sometimes but I really haven’t had to for a while.)
DK tank (on 2 tank fights otherwise he is DPS)

Rotating in and out based on the fight (or RL stuff) -
Holy/Disc Priest
Warrior (DPS)
Kitty (And occasional bear)
Hunter (Usually there)
Resto Shaman (Sometimes DPS)
Resto Druid #2 (Sometimes chicken)
Resto Druid #3 (Sometimes a Shaman)
Warlock #2
Mages #1-3


Blackwing Descent

Magmaw - Paladin tank on boss, DK tank on worms. DK just kites the little buggers around and no one kills them. As long as they move out of the way periodically we’ve had no issues.

Tron Dudes - Single tank FTW. The reason behind single tanking is simple - the healers like it. If I am able to hit the Tron Dude beating on me I can squeeze in a few self-heals. If the Tron Dude just wails on me and I can’t hit him…well healers have to work harder…add in a second tank and, well, you get the picture.

Achemedes - Meh, standard strategy as far as I know.

Chimaeron - I respec to ensure I have full points in Eternal Glory and Guarded by the light as well as Divine Guardian for this one. I use Holy Radiance while we are grouped up for Feud. I also pop Divine Guardian on the third Feud. The first time we got him to 20% (the largely unhealable, untauntable phase) I expected him to make a mad dash to nomnom on the healers but instead he stayed on our DK tank, then me, then he was dead. No worries on that one.

Maloriak - I always have points in Grand Crusader for the Avenger’s Shield refresh but in this fight it’s particularly handy. Our rogue interrupts the Storms and I handle the add releases while our DK tank kites the adds. I keep points in the Divine Guardian for the last phase and blow through pretty much every cooldown I have at that time.

Nefarion - I’ll let you know next week!



Bastion of Twilight

Halfus Wyrmbreaker - For this one I generally take Halfus myself first and bubble taunt off the first set of stacks of the healing debuff when applicable. This is one fight I really like having a Holy Paladin in for so he can Hand of Protection the DK tank when it’s his turn. I can do it but we’ve had a few times where my tank partner is too far away. Obviously we change strategies depending on which dragon combo we have but we haven’t ever killed all three. Just burn the first two and burn the boss. We start this one on hard mode this week so I’ll let you know how it goes!

Valiona & Therlion - Pretty standard

Twilight Ascendant Council - DK tank with ranged, me with melee, our warlock switches targets to keep them even if needed. DK tank on Ignacious for interrupts, me on Feludious for round one. Round two is DK tank on Arion and me on Terrastra. If it’s going to put melee too close to the wrong buff if I move him then I just pop a CD and eat the Quake/Thundershock.

Cho’gall - This is another fight I make sure I’m specced into as many healing boosts as possible. We two healed this with two resto druids (They cried a lot and begged for a “tank healer” and MCs suck with only two but they are more amazing than they think they are and we did just fine!) Our DK tank takes Cho’gall first and I cast Hand of Salvation on him immediately. His D&D works very well for the adds and as he can cast it ranged he doesn’t build stacks. HoS is up for the third taunt from him as well. Our DK tank is the recipient of many, many of my Word of Glorys (Word of Glories? Looks weird…) on this fight.



Throne of Four Winds

Conclave of Wind - What is there to say about this, really? Hard mode this week should be interesting!

Al’Akir - Not much to this one once everyone gets the movement and timing down. I make sure I have Hand of Protection ready for a healer in phase 3 and use Holy Radiance as we fly down to the base. Cooldowns are your friend in phase 3 LOL.



So, that’s all I can think of at the moment. Please feel free to post anything you may do that differs from the usual strategies!

And if anyone has found a sound strategy for Heroic Halfus and/or Conclave let me know!

Stupid Awards of the Week ***Epic-holy-crap-I-haven't-done-them-in-Cata Edition***

(Names have been badly smudged to protect the guilty)

The Paranoid Huntard Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The hunter who wouldn’t go near Al’akir’s platform until she was completely buffed and ready to go for fear she would accidentally pull him. Needless to say we spent every night we were on him making her more paranoid by dropping Jeeves, guild banks and cauldrons near the boss!




The But It’s Not A Green Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The same hunter who did many attempts (key word: attempts) on the now-PVP-boss-loot-piñata when we were all fresh 85s while in PVP gear. It took a while. We also found out what she wears to raid in. (Start noticing a theme here...)






The Where’s Jeeves? Award of the Week goes to….

The resto druid with broken gear who was obsessing over healing meters….

The Wait, Wasn’t I on a Taxi? Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The guild master, who shall remain nameless, who decided to multi-task while on route to Throne of Winds. 4 words: Dead. Feralas. Rez sickness. /facepalm

The Naked Raider Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The kitty who died (and led to a wipe on Al’akir by dying early on)…who then informed us that although he hit “yes” on the ready check he had just run naked out of the shower. He plays Dance, Dance Revolution as well as WoW…. Go ahead. Picture it. Just go ahead.

The Huntards Have Competition Award of the Week goes to….

The Locktard after a wipe who was also obsessing over meters…





The OMG His Hit Box is HUGE! Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

So very many people who hit Magmaw instead of the trash in front of him so very many times.




The I WANT TO LIVE Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The resto druid who told the tanks that if they wanted to live they would call out tank swaps on Cho’gall…despite the DBM warning and GIANT FREAKING LASER BEAMS from his eyes at Fury. For the rest of the raid each tank called out “I want to live!” every time they taunted.




The WTF Happened to My Threat? Award of the Week goes to….

/drumroll

The DK tank who couldn’t get aggro on Cho’gall. We wiped. Come to find out he had a chat bar open. So much for keybinds.

Raiding Challenges

I find myself in the middle of a series of GM/Raid Leader dilemmas. I’ve been working a lot lately and had some RL issues come up that have limited “real” play time to raids unless it’s my day off. I do log on every day to check in but haven’t even had the energy to run randoms most days I work. Needless to say this means when I log I am bombarded with whispers and NEEDS!


Healing Issues!

Raiding is not going badly but neither are we moving as fast as most of us would like. I’m sure many GMs and raiders can relate when I say that a fair amount of our issues stem from heals. The ones I’ve needed for progression haven’t always been available and some of the ones we counted on in Wrath are either gone, DPS, or struggling.

Right now I have one very, very good resto druid who has done well enough to hit the top 100 in world rankings on certain fights but (BUT!) she has a very needy husband (God, I loathe wow-couples!) which brings me to…

A pally healer who wants to tank or DPS - anything but heal - and is trying to persuade me that he has actually changed his mind (again) and wants nothing more than to be a healadin in raids…but he doesn’t. I know this, he knows this, his wife knows this. He is also one of those extremely annoying types who relentlessly whisper you when they get sat and feel that even though they haven’t put in the time or work that others have should be in on every raid. He also feels entitled to loot he hasn’t earned. Good times.

Another remarkably good resto druid who just went back to school and missed a week due to no computer…he is supposed to be back for raid tonight. Fingers crossed.

Another pally healer who does well and is much more low maintenance than the other but changed his main from a DK for Cata and is still learning the more subtle nuances of the class. He is also fire challenged at times which isn’t good for most Cata fights.

A shammie whose attendance got flakier and flakier before he finally left because it “wasn’t fun anymore”. ‘Nough said.

A priest who got a late start raiding (we knew well ahead of time that she just HAD to go to Hawaii) and is still searching for the right balance that will make her competitive in Cata. She’s doing tons of research but is feeling pretty beat up by the changes right now. (Don’t even get her started on Smite!)

And then there’s me. I’ve healed more in the short time Cata has been out than in the entire Wrath expansion but I’m needed as a tank and it’s much harder for me to effectively make in-fight calls while healing.

The light at the end of the tunnel right now is a 3rd resto druid (soon to be resto shammie perhaps?) who has returned to Heroic after being very disappointed by Horde grass. He is one of the best healers I’ve ever seen in any class he chooses but don’t tell him I said so or I’ll never hear the end of it.

So, this week I will be largely ignoring most advice on which specific healing classes I “should” have for fights and bringing in the best damn players I have on!


Ego Issues!

Another thorn in my side is the lack of accurate self evaluation that some raiders are capable of performing. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about…raiders that think they are better than they actually are and won’t truly HEAR otherwise.

I have a lot respect for players that are still finding the right way to play their class/spec in Cata and are willing to respect, research, spend hours on training dummies, ask others for advice and understand completely that as much as I may like them personally and am happy to let them try out what they’ve been working on while we do farm bosses I can’t bring them in on a boss that is a DPS race or super healing intensive. These are the players that more likely than not whisper me first and offer to sit when they look at where they are for the night.

What I have a hell of a lot less respect for are the players that deny they stand in bad or make lame excuses for poor DPS or healing. I have logs and recount and watch the raid. I know what they are doing and not doing.

Most often these are the people that go all emo on me when I sit them and despite the number of times I’ve talked with them about performance and raid awareness issues they refuse to see they have a problem. And OMG do they like to send me whispers!!!

And don’t get me started on attendance…don’t tell me you were here on time when you weren’t. I track it. I know.

I know that this week, in order to make a big dent in progression and get back on top, I’m going to have to bring in the best raiders and only the best raiders for all but the easiest bosses just so I can be assured we are moving at top speed. My concern is this may lead to gquits and it will certainly lead to disappointment. I keep telling myself that we are a progression oriented raiding guild and we have to do what we have to do. Best case scenario…the ones that get sat that think they are all that may make a more honest evaluation of their performance. Yeah…not likely.


Second Group Issues!

The plan was to have two 10 man teams running by now so everyone who was interested in and capable of raiding would have a spot. It was a good plan. We liked the plan. The plan has not happened.

The person who was going to own the second group and raid lead is tied up with RL and wants to simply participate when it happens and no one else has stepped up to take ownership. We also really don’t have the healers for it at the moment and I’m not sure we even have enough DPS. So right now I have a few geared players with nowhere to go. I can’t possibly fit them all in the ongoing group and until someone steps up to run it and makes an assessment of what we need for it I don’t even know where to begin with recruiting. Yes, in theory, I could make that assessment myself but let’s go back to the first thing I stated about work and real life and time! Besides, if it’s going to be successful as an independent raid then it really needs to be built by that team.

Basically I’m at a loss for words right now when they ask me when it is starting. I have no idea. Anyone want to run a 10 man group?



So that’s the long overdue, very wordy explanation of what’s been going on in my world lately!

It's Also True.

Dear Guildies,

We are once again #1 for Alliance progression on the server. Keep it up and don't stand in bad.


Love,

Lark

It's True.

Dear Guildies,

Standing in bad is bad.


Love,

Lark