Woot! Seeing Double!

So, our second team got Madness down on Heroic tonight and I’m feeling all kinds of proud Mama! That's two in one week for our guild! They did it on their own without borrowing anyone from my team - despite many offers - and they should feel very good about the kill. They overcame attendance issues and core changes and teaching new raiders the fights week over week.

Lately, there’s been an ongoing thread of conversation amongst many of us who have been around for years regarding whether or not we could, would, or would even want to survive in another guild and the answer has been a resounding “NO”. Most of us would slit our wrists (or more likely just quit the game) if we had to put up the epeens and BS of the kids in other guilds. We couldn’t possibly deal with the lack of flexibility that comes with knowing one anothers’ life situations and being kind about them. And OMG would we snap with the racist, hate filled crap that most raiding guilds tolerate!

With a new expansion coming, as a GM, I always have to look at the roster and wonder what we need to recruit, who will move on to “greener pastures” and who will be reliable. For the first time I think we are set before it ever launches. Barring any real life emergencies or changes we are well set to have content down fast in one team and then two. Gives me happy warms fuzzies.

So, fingers crossed I didn’t just jinx myself, go go Heroic in MoP!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Heroic!

Yes, yes, I’m back. It’s been several months since I updated the blog for a number of reasons.  First, I realized my posts were becoming repetitive in a bitter sort of way and second I couldn’t seem to come up with anything different. I’m going to do better and be different.

In a real quick “Here’s where our story left off” scene…

Heroic transferred servers (oh, yes we did!) and did some 25s and some 10s and are now 8/8 hardmode on 10 man. Yeah, yeah, 10 man is easier; I know this but holy shit it’s hard to recruit for 25 mans when you’re serious now days.  Not only did we server transfer we faction transferred and went Horde all in one fell swoop. Apparently there are many guildies that love Heroic because we had about 18 raiders pay to transfer and many with several alts.

At this point we are farming Heroic Deathwing with no less than 9 more weeks to get everyone in the group that initially killed him their mounts. Including those that were on standby by but got us to that point.  With my historically bad rolls I’ll be the last one begging the group to do it just one more time!

The reality of the situation is we realize that had we just accepted the raiding situation as is we would have downed DW a long a time ago but we were stubborn and persisted in trying 25s long after it was realistic.  Meh, you live and learn. Most of us still think 25s are far more interesting and challenging but it’s far too easy to change guilds now days when things don’t go your way.

Today is Heroic’s 3^rd birthday. That means I have officially been GM for 3 years. And I’m still here!

It’s been rough, then easy, then rough, then omgwhatwereyouthinking hard, then back to somewhat easy again. There are a few things I’d like to point out to anyone thinking of starting a raiding guild.

So here it goes….

 If you are thinking of starting a raiding guild:

 DO listen to the people you trust…they will be the ones who stick around and have your back when things go to hell. And they will go to hell to at some point. I would have quit a long time ago without my “core”.

 DON’T give access or rank to people just because they join with many other players. Guild mergers/acquisitions need to be well thought through ahead of time.

Unless you know and like both players and have had a what-if conversation with both players don’t invite wow couples. One goes emo they both go emo; one can’t be there neither can be there. There are a few exceptions but ONLY if you establish this ahead of time. I <3 the one couple I have found that doesn’t depend on both being there!

 DON”T think you will get “uberleet” players. Just don’t. The competition is too high. If you aren’t an 8/8 hm guild at this point then take your well meaning energy and apply it to a guild that might want you as an officer.

Just don’t. Unless you are willing to see guild leadership as second job that you not paid for, that sucks up unimaginable amounts of time, that makes you sleep less while you worry about how you will find a hunter/tank/healer/etc, just don’t do it. Unless you want to create one and then sell me your level 15 bank when it folds.

 Here’s the thing: you need to not only love the game to be successful but you need to invest in your members. That means they have my cell number. They know my name.  They come to me with game related things but they also come to me with real life situations and ask for advice, understanding, and compassion. If you can’t or won’t invest in your guild then you will never be more than the guy trolling trade chat advertising that you have 936 members and are looking for more.

 And on that note, Happy Birthday, Heroic!!!

I’m still here.

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???)