The following is a rambling rant about my embarrassment over my failed attempt to kite the striders on Vashj last night.
Our guild has been working on learning the Vashj fight for a few weeks now. Based on our group make-up, our hunter class lead stepped up and became the Strider Kiter.
Don't bother with comments about using this class or that class. I've heard it all before. We simply had a gap in our list of properly-geared, properly-experienced & properly willing players. But I digress...
Poortyr stepped up and that says a lot about him. He did an admirable job, but he rode a very difficult line with aggro management. We had a hell of a time putting enough DPS into the thing while keeping from drawing aggro. Still, he tried really hard and I was impressed.
Last night, he wasn't in the raid. Our raid leader asked for another volunteer and I accepted. What followed were 3 disastrous pulls. I can kite something, anything (as long as I can keep it at range) all night long if I have to. Hell, I could make the strider follow me anywhere I wanted. The problem was that I couldn't seem to hold aggro and folks were clearly starting to get frustrated.
What went so wrong? *Sigh!* Where do I begin?
Well firstly, I was apparently getting the Blessing of Salvation buff on some pulls. Nobody ever puts that on me. I never EVER even noticed it until it was mentioned via a whisper. I'm a hunter. Only on rare occasions do I ever want salvation. I prefer to Feign my way out of it. This is my fault for not noticing it. I was ready to kick myself!
I needed practice. There was no way I was going to learn to gen more threat without serious practice and adjustments. It's really frustrating to be the linchpin in a process and having to learn as you go. Ever wipe & ever loooong ass run is a long time for 24 other people to have to wait for you to learn something. In the back of my mind, I knew that Poortyr did a much better job right out of the gate. He learns faster than me and has more experience. He's a better player than me. (There, I said it!) I couldn't step in and pick up right where he left off no matter how much I wanted to. I needed time that I didn't have. *SIGH!!!*
Even after learning to combine kiting (no problem) with threat gen (problem), there was no way I could be certain I would succeed. I've read on the forums where people claim that hunters can kite her, but never any details about gear, dps or talent specs. What if I needed to be a survival hunter or a marksman? What if my spec is fine but my shot rotation wasn't? What if it was just me? Maybe I'm just not good enough? I felt like I was letting the team down.
Even more frustrating was the knowledge that I was sucking at my job and wasn't doing a job I was more suited for...stair duty. My dps was completely wasted on those pulls. I can actually tell on our web stats page where I went from kiter to stair duty. I went from 12-14th to top 6.
It was before the 4th pull when I was "removed" from kiting. Yes, my ego was bruised a little. But, I felt good because I didn't back down from the challenge. Our Elemental Shaman got put on kiting duty and from what I could tell, did an excellent job. We did a few more pulls, but still didn't get to phase #4. Still, everyone saw improvement.
The experiment is over. I'm glad it's done. I wish I could have gen'ed more threat. I don't know if I'd ever want to try again. But, I definitely know my limitations now.
Note: the even harder part was what happened next. We were rewarded for our hard work on Vashj by going to Mags. He's farm for us, but we have some new folk who could use his gear. Unfortunately, I've never done the cube clicking and I was a clicker. We wiped the first attempt. I know that my click was out of sync with the others. I couldn't tell if this was my fault alone, (someone clicked early and I clicked late) but I was the only person to fess up to a "mistake" when our raid leader asked who screwed up. So, I got the flack.
Basically, the whole night felt like I was front and center showing off all my imperfections and it sucked. Sigh...then we dropped Gruul really fast to see if he would drop anything useful, but still my trinket didn't drop!
What a shit-ass night for me!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Understanding the Potential for Guild Drama
A *sigh* really long time ago, I was a freshman in college. My football-player/wrestling-team roommate -- To know me is to know how bad that pairing was -- comes home from his Jr Philosophy 101 class having achieved an actual intellectual epiphany. He tells me that belief constitutes reality. His example was the idea of the earth being flat. So many people believed it that it might as well be true. This moment of intellectual clarity snowballed into into a serious discussion about paradigm shifts.
What does this have to do with raiding guilds? Wait for it...
Raider "years" are like dog-years on some kind of exponential curve on HGH. Every week is like 3 or 4 years and sometimes things speed up even more. Because they happen really, really fast, everything gets really intense. Worse still, our time is short. We are hurdling to the next patch & soon the next expansion. There's this overwhelming need to achieve NOW!!!
Actually, it reminds me of High School....only I like raiding!
Emotions run high. Sometimes people do things we just don't like. Sometimes bosses don't drop as fast as we want. Much like water molecules places under pressure & heated, we get frantic and need to explode from time to time.
Small little dramas play out on guild forums, in Vent or in /guild chat on a weekly basis. Sometimes several things crop up at the same time. Because of this hyper-stimulated reality, any of these little things can become big things quickly. Worse still, observant individuals can see these separate occurrences and draw the conclusion that there's full-blown "guild drama." Those members then share their concern with other members and then suddenly false assumptions become the reality. Is perceived drama real drama? If enough people believe so, then yes...the world might as well be flat!
You were wondering how I was going to tie all that together!
To put it another way...
On any given day anyone can log on or read the forums and have their own little Chicken Little moment. The key to surviving and not becoming Chicken Little is to learn to not sweat the small stuff. What constitutes the small stuff? Here are some examples:
Small Stuff #1: The Awkward Breakup - We had a member leave this week for a first-tier guild. Some members question the way he did it. I wasn't too pleased either, but I thought about my own "bad" exit from my previous guild. To bad-mouth him would be to give into my own hypocrisy. He took his shot at running with the "big boys" and got it. Good for him. We lost a dissatisfied member. Good for us. In the fullness or raider-time, this was a blip. It was a non-event. Who knows what the face of a guild will look like in a few months. This is small stuff
Small Stuff #2: The Slighted Member - A guildie wrote a really frustrated sounding post this week about not getting respect or support. Take this with the recent departure and Chicken Little says, "The guild is falling!" Certainly, this is a problem. Steps need to be taken to help this member if we can, but this too is still small stuff.
Small Stuff #3: Mods - This is my own personal story. Another member still refuses to use Void Reaver Alarm. The mod only works right if everyone uses it. In other words, this other player is hurting me. It feels selfish and I wanted to quit the raid the other night because of it. Leadership is aware of this. They will deal with it. There's nothing more for me to do. I can't control him or them. I can only do what I think is right. This is small stuff. No really, small stuff...gotta keep telling myself that! Small stuff!
Look back at these stories. See how easily any one of them can become a drama in the hyper-fast world of a raiding guild? Imagine if they all happened in the same week. Imagine looking at tomorrow's sign-ups for Vashj pulls and worrying that it might get canceled. Think how easily any one of us can lose perspective in the face of all that.
Actually, sign-ups are light for Sunday's pull...Wait, all that stuff was this week.
OMG!!! THE GUILD IS FALLING!!! THE GUILD IS FALLING!!! ;-)
The lesson here is that perception may be reality, but it's a clouded one full of misunderstandings and lost tempers. Learning to look past the little things allows us to change our prospect and stay focused. Knowing how to acknowledge that we are over-stimulated and thus extra-sensitive keeps us from doing stupid things like starting potential flame wars from passive aggressive posts. The goal is to have fun and slay monsters. The second we forget one, we generally fail at the other.
Seriously, some psychology post-doc should do a study on effects of being in a raiding guild.
What does this have to do with raiding guilds? Wait for it...
Raider "years" are like dog-years on some kind of exponential curve on HGH. Every week is like 3 or 4 years and sometimes things speed up even more. Because they happen really, really fast, everything gets really intense. Worse still, our time is short. We are hurdling to the next patch & soon the next expansion. There's this overwhelming need to achieve NOW!!!
Actually, it reminds me of High School....only I like raiding!
Emotions run high. Sometimes people do things we just don't like. Sometimes bosses don't drop as fast as we want. Much like water molecules places under pressure & heated, we get frantic and need to explode from time to time.
Small little dramas play out on guild forums, in Vent or in /guild chat on a weekly basis. Sometimes several things crop up at the same time. Because of this hyper-stimulated reality, any of these little things can become big things quickly. Worse still, observant individuals can see these separate occurrences and draw the conclusion that there's full-blown "guild drama." Those members then share their concern with other members and then suddenly false assumptions become the reality. Is perceived drama real drama? If enough people believe so, then yes...the world might as well be flat!
You were wondering how I was going to tie all that together!
To put it another way...
On any given day anyone can log on or read the forums and have their own little Chicken Little moment. The key to surviving and not becoming Chicken Little is to learn to not sweat the small stuff. What constitutes the small stuff? Here are some examples:
Small Stuff #1: The Awkward Breakup - We had a member leave this week for a first-tier guild. Some members question the way he did it. I wasn't too pleased either, but I thought about my own "bad" exit from my previous guild. To bad-mouth him would be to give into my own hypocrisy. He took his shot at running with the "big boys" and got it. Good for him. We lost a dissatisfied member. Good for us. In the fullness or raider-time, this was a blip. It was a non-event. Who knows what the face of a guild will look like in a few months. This is small stuff
Small Stuff #2: The Slighted Member - A guildie wrote a really frustrated sounding post this week about not getting respect or support. Take this with the recent departure and Chicken Little says, "The guild is falling!" Certainly, this is a problem. Steps need to be taken to help this member if we can, but this too is still small stuff.
Small Stuff #3: Mods - This is my own personal story. Another member still refuses to use Void Reaver Alarm. The mod only works right if everyone uses it. In other words, this other player is hurting me. It feels selfish and I wanted to quit the raid the other night because of it. Leadership is aware of this. They will deal with it. There's nothing more for me to do. I can't control him or them. I can only do what I think is right. This is small stuff. No really, small stuff...gotta keep telling myself that! Small stuff!
Look back at these stories. See how easily any one of them can become a drama in the hyper-fast world of a raiding guild? Imagine if they all happened in the same week. Imagine looking at tomorrow's sign-ups for Vashj pulls and worrying that it might get canceled. Think how easily any one of us can lose perspective in the face of all that.
Actually, sign-ups are light for Sunday's pull...Wait, all that stuff was this week.
OMG!!! THE GUILD IS FALLING!!! THE GUILD IS FALLING!!! ;-)
The lesson here is that perception may be reality, but it's a clouded one full of misunderstandings and lost tempers. Learning to look past the little things allows us to change our prospect and stay focused. Knowing how to acknowledge that we are over-stimulated and thus extra-sensitive keeps us from doing stupid things like starting potential flame wars from passive aggressive posts. The goal is to have fun and slay monsters. The second we forget one, we generally fail at the other.
Seriously, some psychology post-doc should do a study on effects of being in a raiding guild.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ignore Stupid - The Personal Journal of a Bank Alt
Today, we delve into the life and times of Narah, my bank-alt.
Hi I'm Narah the "failed" experiment. I hit level 10 and like a cold slap in the face, LRNs stopped playing me. I'm not sure why he stopped. I've got hot cans and a great rack! Is he the only heterosexual male who actually prefers male toons? Seriously, that's so lame. What's wrong with him?
Anyway, after months of living in cyber-limbo worrying that I would be deleted and replaced by some skeevy gnome or a hairy dwarf, poof! I'm back! At first, I'm so like "Where are we going?" But then I was sorry I asked because guess where I ended up? Ironforge! Instead of being replaced by a hairy dwarf, I'm shopping with them?!? Actually, I think I'm developing a thing for short men, rawr!
OK, where was I...Ironforge, right!
So, you may ask, why Ironforge? I know I did!...loudly, often and until I got tired and looked for a Starbucks...
Turns out that instead of a life of adventure, I've been turned into a supply-whore. Actually, not as bad as it sounds. Seriously! On one hand, I'll never see the world. On the other hand, I'll never have to pick up spider ichor! BLEH!
Also, I'm a professional shopper! Wahoo! Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought it too! Neiman Marcus here I come! Baby needs a new pair of shoes...I mean, Beroth totally needs an extreme makeover! Yeah, not so much. Turns out I spend most of my day talking with Auctioneer Lympkin. After work, we like to grab some banana bread from Myra and then see if we can get men buy us drinks at the Stonefire Tavern. Watch out for the Dwarven Stout, it'll put hair on your chest! Really, you don't want to get your boobs waxed it's...painful!
Wow, talk about diarrhea of the mouth! I'm soooooo sorry. I'm supposed to be giving you suggestions about living as a bank alt/personal shopper!
The reason I didn't get booted off to cyber-oblivion is that having a bank alt is a serious must for raiders. Note: It's not that he doesn't like my curves; he just doesn't want to play a priest. Go fig! I'm so easy..wait, I mean, I make things so easy! I'm not one of those sluts...I mean night-elves! Woah! Gotta focus...
Think of it this way, I'm like having an extra bag at every mailbox. I also allow you to run your utility addons like Auctioneer. The value of doing your Auctions here with me, instead of out on your main is that I protect your raider from dreaded addon bloating! There's nothing worse than starting a Tidewalker pull and feeling bloated! Or so I'm told. I'm not going near him unless someone gives him a couple bottles of Beano!
A bank-alt is also great for the dreaded "stock-pile." After a while, even the minimalist end-gamer acquires too much crap. The obsessed player might have 3 or more every-day toons. Someone's got to keep them organized and focused. That's where I come in. Not only am I a personal shopper, I'm an office manager! I keep this ship afloat. See, you thought I was just a bubble-head, but I'm more like "Legally Blond" only with short red hair and no way I'm wearing that much pink!
So, here are my survival tips for surviving the mean streets.
- First off, a girl can never have too many bags. Make sure that sugar-daddy of yours sets you up right!
- Don't let him undress you as make you dance all day for coin. It might sound fun at first, but it's really degrading. Let those night-elf witches do the dancing! You're here to shop! I got myself a nice White Traditional Hanbok from Lisbeth's place in Stormwind. It turns heads without saying "Look at me, I'm a slut!"
- Learn to report spammers and slap that ignore button hard! Seriously, those bastards should be sent to the third ring of hell or Molten Core. I can do it faster than you can say, "Amex or Visa?"
- Start your day off right. Fire up Auctioneer do a scan. It goes something like this, "Yo Lym! What's hot today!" Then you buy low and sell high! Those shirts on Wallstreet got nothing on us girls in the trenches of Ironlag!
- Always shop in the most accessible places like Ironforge or Undercity. Seriously, too much running around and you can get big calves. There's a reason why Darnassus and Thunder Bluff are empty. They are like really bad Outlet Malls....too far away and with bad prices.
- Unless you want to go all Carry, turn off General Chat. Seriously, it'll rot your brain. Heck, I'd turn off Trade for all the morons there, but you never know when a sweet deal will crop up. Just try not to pay attention to the dorks that yell all the time. They are Trolls. The first time you yell back you end up in a shouting match and they win. The second someone yells more than 4 or 5 times in a row, give em the ignore-slap! Speaking of a full ignore box, I just delete the spammer names after a while to free space. No reason to grab another addon. Addon management is too much like work as it is.
Wow, have I wasted this much time? Goodness, I've got to go see what the prices are like for Heavy Knothide Leather. If I don't sell this stuff soon, Beroth will let Relan* start shopping. That moron might know how to wield a sword, but that doesn't mean he's ready for the auction house!
Seeyabye!
*Relan is my "abandoned" warrior. I gave him a tux & a big-ass samuari sword. Now, he carries excess Leatherworking mats for me.
Hi I'm Narah the "failed" experiment. I hit level 10 and like a cold slap in the face, LRNs stopped playing me. I'm not sure why he stopped. I've got hot cans and a great rack! Is he the only heterosexual male who actually prefers male toons? Seriously, that's so lame. What's wrong with him?
Anyway, after months of living in cyber-limbo worrying that I would be deleted and replaced by some skeevy gnome or a hairy dwarf, poof! I'm back! At first, I'm so like "Where are we going?" But then I was sorry I asked because guess where I ended up? Ironforge! Instead of being replaced by a hairy dwarf, I'm shopping with them?!? Actually, I think I'm developing a thing for short men, rawr!
OK, where was I...Ironforge, right!
So, you may ask, why Ironforge? I know I did!...loudly, often and until I got tired and looked for a Starbucks...
Turns out that instead of a life of adventure, I've been turned into a supply-whore. Actually, not as bad as it sounds. Seriously! On one hand, I'll never see the world. On the other hand, I'll never have to pick up spider ichor! BLEH!
Also, I'm a professional shopper! Wahoo! Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought it too! Neiman Marcus here I come! Baby needs a new pair of shoes...I mean, Beroth totally needs an extreme makeover! Yeah, not so much. Turns out I spend most of my day talking with Auctioneer Lympkin. After work, we like to grab some banana bread from Myra and then see if we can get men buy us drinks at the Stonefire Tavern. Watch out for the Dwarven Stout, it'll put hair on your chest! Really, you don't want to get your boobs waxed it's...painful!
Wow, talk about diarrhea of the mouth! I'm soooooo sorry. I'm supposed to be giving you suggestions about living as a bank alt/personal shopper!
The reason I didn't get booted off to cyber-oblivion is that having a bank alt is a serious must for raiders. Note: It's not that he doesn't like my curves; he just doesn't want to play a priest. Go fig! I'm so easy..wait, I mean, I make things so easy! I'm not one of those sluts...I mean night-elves! Woah! Gotta focus...
Think of it this way, I'm like having an extra bag at every mailbox. I also allow you to run your utility addons like Auctioneer. The value of doing your Auctions here with me, instead of out on your main is that I protect your raider from dreaded addon bloating! There's nothing worse than starting a Tidewalker pull and feeling bloated! Or so I'm told. I'm not going near him unless someone gives him a couple bottles of Beano!
A bank-alt is also great for the dreaded "stock-pile." After a while, even the minimalist end-gamer acquires too much crap. The obsessed player might have 3 or more every-day toons. Someone's got to keep them organized and focused. That's where I come in. Not only am I a personal shopper, I'm an office manager! I keep this ship afloat. See, you thought I was just a bubble-head, but I'm more like "Legally Blond" only with short red hair and no way I'm wearing that much pink!
So, here are my survival tips for surviving the mean streets.
- First off, a girl can never have too many bags. Make sure that sugar-daddy of yours sets you up right!
- Don't let him undress you as make you dance all day for coin. It might sound fun at first, but it's really degrading. Let those night-elf witches do the dancing! You're here to shop! I got myself a nice White Traditional Hanbok from Lisbeth's place in Stormwind. It turns heads without saying "Look at me, I'm a slut!"
- Learn to report spammers and slap that ignore button hard! Seriously, those bastards should be sent to the third ring of hell or Molten Core. I can do it faster than you can say, "Amex or Visa?"
- Start your day off right. Fire up Auctioneer do a scan. It goes something like this, "Yo Lym! What's hot today!" Then you buy low and sell high! Those shirts on Wallstreet got nothing on us girls in the trenches of Ironlag!
- Always shop in the most accessible places like Ironforge or Undercity. Seriously, too much running around and you can get big calves. There's a reason why Darnassus and Thunder Bluff are empty. They are like really bad Outlet Malls....too far away and with bad prices.
- Unless you want to go all Carry, turn off General Chat. Seriously, it'll rot your brain. Heck, I'd turn off Trade for all the morons there, but you never know when a sweet deal will crop up. Just try not to pay attention to the dorks that yell all the time. They are Trolls. The first time you yell back you end up in a shouting match and they win. The second someone yells more than 4 or 5 times in a row, give em the ignore-slap! Speaking of a full ignore box, I just delete the spammer names after a while to free space. No reason to grab another addon. Addon management is too much like work as it is.
Wow, have I wasted this much time? Goodness, I've got to go see what the prices are like for Heavy Knothide Leather. If I don't sell this stuff soon, Beroth will let Relan* start shopping. That moron might know how to wield a sword, but that doesn't mean he's ready for the auction house!
Seeyabye!
*Relan is my "abandoned" warrior. I gave him a tux & a big-ass samuari sword. Now, he carries excess Leatherworking mats for me.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Another Successful Operation Alt Squad Run
I keep forgetting to take the damn screen shots!
Saturday's operation took us deep into the heart of Uldaman. We were a bit over-level since everyone quested during the week. The new leveling rules just make it so easy that I dinged 2 times while writing this sentence.
Once again, we AE cleared the place and did it in near record fashion. It was just plain sick how powerful we are. We discussed hitting Maraudon next week to "stretch" ourselves, but I don't think it will help. Everyone will probably be over level 45 by then and Maraudon looks like it's been nerf'ed a bit. Our first real tests may not happen until we start hitting Black Rock or Dire Maul. The trouble is quests. I want everyone to have the quests, but everyone has different amounts of time. If we all prep for Maraudon, but are over-level again then we should go straight to BRD for the challenge. But if we prep for BRD and someone isn't up to it, then we have to go to Maraudon. The answer may be to get started early enough to check everyone's level and do the pre-quests together.
Next time, I promise some zany screen shots of our mages bouncing through the fight casting Arcane Blast or something.
Saturday's operation took us deep into the heart of Uldaman. We were a bit over-level since everyone quested during the week. The new leveling rules just make it so easy that I dinged 2 times while writing this sentence.
Once again, we AE cleared the place and did it in near record fashion. It was just plain sick how powerful we are. We discussed hitting Maraudon next week to "stretch" ourselves, but I don't think it will help. Everyone will probably be over level 45 by then and Maraudon looks like it's been nerf'ed a bit. Our first real tests may not happen until we start hitting Black Rock or Dire Maul. The trouble is quests. I want everyone to have the quests, but everyone has different amounts of time. If we all prep for Maraudon, but are over-level again then we should go straight to BRD for the challenge. But if we prep for BRD and someone isn't up to it, then we have to go to Maraudon. The answer may be to get started early enough to check everyone's level and do the pre-quests together.
Next time, I promise some zany screen shots of our mages bouncing through the fight casting Arcane Blast or something.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Winning Always Makes It Better
I'm a basketball fan. I have been since my father would take me on the Broad Street Subway to the old Spectrum to see Dr J battle the likes of Magic Johnson & Larry Bird. (Yes, I'm that old.)
When Allen Iverson was with the Sixers there was always controversy, except when they were winning. Ah, when A.I. & the Sixers won together, there was no talk about practice,...
"PRACTICE!?! We're talkin' about practice?"
...there were no discussions about Larry Brown not liking A.I., and nobody cared if one of his so-called friends borrowed the Bentley and got caught with drugs. The simple life lesson I learned here is that winning always makes it better!
Tonight, there were no frustrated players. Why? We 1-shot Leo, 2-shot Karathress and got Lady Vashj to phase 3. That's right, we didn't get her down, but we got over the major hump. We saw the 3rd phase and we saw what we need to do to go the distance.
Any frustrations that anyone had last week about sign-ups or recruiting were gone tonight because we kicked ass and took names.
Leadership even discussed forgoing TK pulls this week so we could pound on Vashj some more. Nobody complained. Everyone is hungry for her blood. Tonights raid had the same feeling and electricity that we had just before we dropped Void Reaver & Tidewalker. On both bosses, we turned a corner and then suddenly -- almost unexpectedly -- succeeded. I felt that way on our second pull. The corner was turned. I suddenly knew how to increase my dps. I suddenly saw less adds appearing. All 4 cores were used. Yes, we promptly wiped, but that's not the point!
We can do it. We've got the muscle. We've got the teamwork. The when may still be in question, but I believe now.
Who knows, maybe Friday will be the day!
When Allen Iverson was with the Sixers there was always controversy, except when they were winning. Ah, when A.I. & the Sixers won together, there was no talk about practice,...
"PRACTICE!?! We're talkin' about practice?"
...there were no discussions about Larry Brown not liking A.I., and nobody cared if one of his so-called friends borrowed the Bentley and got caught with drugs. The simple life lesson I learned here is that winning always makes it better!
Tonight, there were no frustrated players. Why? We 1-shot Leo, 2-shot Karathress and got Lady Vashj to phase 3. That's right, we didn't get her down, but we got over the major hump. We saw the 3rd phase and we saw what we need to do to go the distance.
Any frustrations that anyone had last week about sign-ups or recruiting were gone tonight because we kicked ass and took names.
Leadership even discussed forgoing TK pulls this week so we could pound on Vashj some more. Nobody complained. Everyone is hungry for her blood. Tonights raid had the same feeling and electricity that we had just before we dropped Void Reaver & Tidewalker. On both bosses, we turned a corner and then suddenly -- almost unexpectedly -- succeeded. I felt that way on our second pull. The corner was turned. I suddenly knew how to increase my dps. I suddenly saw less adds appearing. All 4 cores were used. Yes, we promptly wiped, but that's not the point!
We can do it. We've got the muscle. We've got the teamwork. The when may still be in question, but I believe now.
Who knows, maybe Friday will be the day!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Did We Lose Perspective?
I'm torn here because I don't want this post to look or sound like the airing of dirty laundry. I realized, however, that this is exactly the kind of issue that guilds deal with and that it's the continuation of the story for those who read about our guild's development. And so, I press forward...
I'm in a great guild. I've got great leaders. We've got great members. This weekend things got a little haywire and I'm not sure what to think.
I was sick most of this weekend and had to delist from the raids. I just can't run. Well, it couldn't come at a worse time for QSS. A lot of people were absent this weekend. Sunday's Vashj pulls were canceled. Tonight's pulls are ongoing, but it took some work putting together the group.
Forum posts from leadership came out expressing frustration with sign-ups and a mention of potential recruitment were made. The unintended tone of the message was that "we" the absent were to blame and that we would be replaced if we can't shape up. Heated discussion ensued.
For the record, I don't think that this was the intent of the message. I think this was the earnest desires of leadership coming through. They are committed to progression. They are committed to being "hardcore" about raiding.
Two schools of thought grew out of the discussion.
School #1 in the discussion were those frustrated at the lost opportunity that this weekend created. Having 5/6 SCC & 3/4 TK bosses cleared w/ 2.5 nights of raiding remaining for pure progression is a raider's wet dream. Having Sunday canceled and Monday put together on a shoestring is a progression raider's nightmare. Frustration is natural. The posts from this group were from leadership & the most hardcore of us.
To be honest, if I weren't sick this weekend, I would probably have been from this camp.
School #2 in the discussion was the backlash from the people who felt like this was no big deal and that leadership was over-excited about nothing. We've been the "new" QSS for less than 2 months now. We've had a new raiding schedule for two weeks. This is just an adjustment period. These posters, in many ways, over-reacted to the apparent over-reaction of the first school.
I found myself agreeing with these posts, but I wasn't sure if it was my personal guilt for missing the raids or because they were right.
My takeaway was that they were both right. I felt like the frustrated people were right to be annoyed and were even right to consider further recruitment. I also felt like the second school was generally correct in their assessment that this was an odd weekend and that we all need to give things time to solidify.
My second takeaway was much less profound, included some expletives and generally had to do with people needing to step back and gain some perspective.
I was confident that the discussion had been resolved. Leadership would consider recruitment over the next few weeks. Players would consider their overall time commitment. I personally resolved myself to consider changing my personal schedule to help the guild. I also resolved myself to not get sick again...yeah, that'll happen.
Except then, I see this: Que Sera Sera is Recruiting. I was surprised. Not by the fact that it was done, but by the speed at which the event occurred. Is recruitment right for the guild? Won't it cause even more signup issues? How big can we get before loyal, hardworking members get pushed out for new recruits who simply have better schedules and maybe fit the slot a tad better? How hardcore are we?
I think this weekend may have been more telling than the guild split on that front. We may have graduated to hardcore. If so, there are some truths that QSS leadership & members must face and deal with.
The truths about being in a hardcore raiding guild are simple. If you aren't leadership, you are akin to an employee. There are benefits (raids, free enchants, network of helpful people) but you must be productive. Failure to show up for work, even with a good excuse, hurts the bottom line. The company will only show you as much loyalty as your productivity demands. You won't necessarily be "fired" from your guild for going on vacation or skipping a few weeks for a deadline at your other job (the one you actually get paid for) but there's nothing stopping it.
I'm not saying this will happen to QSS. I'm not even saying I disapprove if it does. I am saying that I am cautiously optimistic about the next steps for this guild both for our members and for my own raiding.
P.S. I still stand by my earlier comments about QSS being great. So, if you've got the skills, take a hard look at the post on Karthis' site.
I'm in a great guild. I've got great leaders. We've got great members. This weekend things got a little haywire and I'm not sure what to think.
I was sick most of this weekend and had to delist from the raids. I just can't run. Well, it couldn't come at a worse time for QSS. A lot of people were absent this weekend. Sunday's Vashj pulls were canceled. Tonight's pulls are ongoing, but it took some work putting together the group.
Forum posts from leadership came out expressing frustration with sign-ups and a mention of potential recruitment were made. The unintended tone of the message was that "we" the absent were to blame and that we would be replaced if we can't shape up. Heated discussion ensued.
For the record, I don't think that this was the intent of the message. I think this was the earnest desires of leadership coming through. They are committed to progression. They are committed to being "hardcore" about raiding.
Two schools of thought grew out of the discussion.
School #1 in the discussion were those frustrated at the lost opportunity that this weekend created. Having 5/6 SCC & 3/4 TK bosses cleared w/ 2.5 nights of raiding remaining for pure progression is a raider's wet dream. Having Sunday canceled and Monday put together on a shoestring is a progression raider's nightmare. Frustration is natural. The posts from this group were from leadership & the most hardcore of us.
To be honest, if I weren't sick this weekend, I would probably have been from this camp.
School #2 in the discussion was the backlash from the people who felt like this was no big deal and that leadership was over-excited about nothing. We've been the "new" QSS for less than 2 months now. We've had a new raiding schedule for two weeks. This is just an adjustment period. These posters, in many ways, over-reacted to the apparent over-reaction of the first school.
I found myself agreeing with these posts, but I wasn't sure if it was my personal guilt for missing the raids or because they were right.
My takeaway was that they were both right. I felt like the frustrated people were right to be annoyed and were even right to consider further recruitment. I also felt like the second school was generally correct in their assessment that this was an odd weekend and that we all need to give things time to solidify.
My second takeaway was much less profound, included some expletives and generally had to do with people needing to step back and gain some perspective.
I was confident that the discussion had been resolved. Leadership would consider recruitment over the next few weeks. Players would consider their overall time commitment. I personally resolved myself to consider changing my personal schedule to help the guild. I also resolved myself to not get sick again...yeah, that'll happen.
Except then, I see this: Que Sera Sera is Recruiting. I was surprised. Not by the fact that it was done, but by the speed at which the event occurred. Is recruitment right for the guild? Won't it cause even more signup issues? How big can we get before loyal, hardworking members get pushed out for new recruits who simply have better schedules and maybe fit the slot a tad better? How hardcore are we?
I think this weekend may have been more telling than the guild split on that front. We may have graduated to hardcore. If so, there are some truths that QSS leadership & members must face and deal with.
The truths about being in a hardcore raiding guild are simple. If you aren't leadership, you are akin to an employee. There are benefits (raids, free enchants, network of helpful people) but you must be productive. Failure to show up for work, even with a good excuse, hurts the bottom line. The company will only show you as much loyalty as your productivity demands. You won't necessarily be "fired" from your guild for going on vacation or skipping a few weeks for a deadline at your other job (the one you actually get paid for) but there's nothing stopping it.
I'm not saying this will happen to QSS. I'm not even saying I disapprove if it does. I am saying that I am cautiously optimistic about the next steps for this guild both for our members and for my own raiding.
P.S. I still stand by my earlier comments about QSS being great. So, if you've got the skills, take a hard look at the post on Karthis' site.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Grin and Bear It
As previously mentioned, my collection of WoW-playing RL friends rolled up some Alts recently. We're hitting old instances together and it's been a complete blast. On Saturday, we did Scarlet Monastery twice to accommodate everyone. Both pulls were done AE and both were complete clears in about 2 hours each. It was, to say the least, a blast. One of the best parts was being able to group with our friend living over-seas. (Thus the reason for the second "late night" run.)
Each of us is trying something new. Each of us is "stretching" a little in our new roles. My wife -- a full-time raid healer -- is playing a frost mage. I'm bear tanking.
For a long time, we've had tank issues. Various members of our group have been "stuck" doing it. Heck, I remember in PBC, I would often pet-tank several instances. It was never pretty, but we often got the job done.
Since, Scarlet Monastery is my first real tanking experience, I thought I would talk about the trip. First off, as a beastmaster hunter I know a little more about tanking than the average ranged player. Which is to say, I don't know much. BUT, I do farm leather by letting my pet collect 2-4 mobs at once and then taking them down one-by-one.
Here's what I've learned from my experience.
1) Swipe is your best friend. It seems like whole pulls can be done with just using swipe. During AoE pulls, I discovered that shifting my position and tabbing through the targets, allows me to put swipes on more than 3 mobs. It's not full-proof, but it helps.
2) Using Growl too soon or on the wrong mob doesn't do shit. Target of target is a lifeline. In a group, it's good to have party target frames to help find the mob that pulled off.
3) You can't keep all the mobs in a 4-6 mob AoE pull. The trick seems to be to keep as many as you can, and do your best to grab back 1 or 2 when they start beating on the mages. Eventually, a mage or warlock will die. Oh well! As long as it wasn't the healer and the party didn't wipe, it was probably still a good pull.
4) Thanks to Karthis, I've learned when/how to use charge. I was charging to open pulls when I first started. Reading his post recently, I saved it to grab the stray spellcasters OR save my healer.
Anyway, I'm interested to see what future levels hold. Deep down, I'm still a hunter. Still, it's a great change of pace. I can't imagine ever switching to druid, but who knows.
Each of us is trying something new. Each of us is "stretching" a little in our new roles. My wife -- a full-time raid healer -- is playing a frost mage. I'm bear tanking.
For a long time, we've had tank issues. Various members of our group have been "stuck" doing it. Heck, I remember in PBC, I would often pet-tank several instances. It was never pretty, but we often got the job done.
Since, Scarlet Monastery is my first real tanking experience, I thought I would talk about the trip. First off, as a beastmaster hunter I know a little more about tanking than the average ranged player. Which is to say, I don't know much. BUT, I do farm leather by letting my pet collect 2-4 mobs at once and then taking them down one-by-one.
Here's what I've learned from my experience.
1) Swipe is your best friend. It seems like whole pulls can be done with just using swipe. During AoE pulls, I discovered that shifting my position and tabbing through the targets, allows me to put swipes on more than 3 mobs. It's not full-proof, but it helps.
2) Using Growl too soon or on the wrong mob doesn't do shit. Target of target is a lifeline. In a group, it's good to have party target frames to help find the mob that pulled off.
3) You can't keep all the mobs in a 4-6 mob AoE pull. The trick seems to be to keep as many as you can, and do your best to grab back 1 or 2 when they start beating on the mages. Eventually, a mage or warlock will die. Oh well! As long as it wasn't the healer and the party didn't wipe, it was probably still a good pull.
4) Thanks to Karthis, I've learned when/how to use charge. I was charging to open pulls when I first started. Reading his post recently, I saved it to grab the stray spellcasters OR save my healer.
Anyway, I'm interested to see what future levels hold. Deep down, I'm still a hunter. Still, it's a great change of pace. I can't imagine ever switching to druid, but who knows.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The First Time Ever I Saw Her Face
Here's two screen shots from our first visit to Lady Vashj...
And so it begins
How many things can you find wrong in this screen shot?
Besides the fact that I'm dead!
And so it begins
How many things can you find wrong in this screen shot?Besides the fact that I'm dead!
Guild Loyalty
TKC recently commented on my recent post Building A Raiding Guild: View from the Cheap Seats. Now, Dear Abby I am not, but I felt a plea for help in this comment. So, here we go...
The guild I am in is having a similar problem. We are a small guild and consider ourselves to be a 'casual' raiding guild. The core of the guild is solid but the problem is that it is just not big enough to progress. We have troubles filling out 10 man raids. We can't get more people because we can't progress. We can't progress because we don't have enough people.
So an idea was hatched to get the core people into a bigger guild (one in which we know a lot of the people) and leave the current guild a social/leveling guild. I, for one, am for this idea. However, there could be a problem for me. It has to do with my real life schedule. I can't raid on weeknights because that is when I work. If we try to move into a bigger guild I may not get the invite due to an inability to do weeknight raids.
So I am kind of stuck. I want to show some loyalty to the guild. I wouldn't be where I am without them. On the other hand, I might have to find myself a late night guild if I don't get the invite to the bigger guild.
Oh well. Any ideas?
This is tough situation. It's more than just a question of guild management but personal needs. And that's got to be where my response has to focus. So, here's the question for TKC and for the rest of you: Why do you play?
Do you play for the social aspect, the challenge of end-game raiding, PvP, or a little of all of them? No answer is right or wrong.
You see, at some strange place, potentially bordering on unhealthy, rests the game of WoW. How much time a person can and should invest in it is a personal decision. The ramifications of that decision can mean the difference between a healthy social life or a healthy set of raid gear. Again, no answer is right or wrong.
Your little guild placed progression over the social aspect when it decided to join up with the larger raiding guild. The decision to honor social relationships remained, but it was not the core focus. If it's OK for them, why isn't it OK for you? I see no reason why you can't honor your social relationships and join a different raiding guild that fits your needs.
Again, the question: Why do you play? If your primary objective is social, then keep your tune in the social guild and learn to PvP or something. If your primary objective is to raid then you need to find a new raiding guild that fits your schedule. If your little guild is really worth the loyalty you've shown, then they should even be helping you find a better fit.
I hope this post helps. Good luck!
The guild I am in is having a similar problem. We are a small guild and consider ourselves to be a 'casual' raiding guild. The core of the guild is solid but the problem is that it is just not big enough to progress. We have troubles filling out 10 man raids. We can't get more people because we can't progress. We can't progress because we don't have enough people.
So an idea was hatched to get the core people into a bigger guild (one in which we know a lot of the people) and leave the current guild a social/leveling guild. I, for one, am for this idea. However, there could be a problem for me. It has to do with my real life schedule. I can't raid on weeknights because that is when I work. If we try to move into a bigger guild I may not get the invite due to an inability to do weeknight raids.
So I am kind of stuck. I want to show some loyalty to the guild. I wouldn't be where I am without them. On the other hand, I might have to find myself a late night guild if I don't get the invite to the bigger guild.
Oh well. Any ideas?
This is tough situation. It's more than just a question of guild management but personal needs. And that's got to be where my response has to focus. So, here's the question for TKC and for the rest of you: Why do you play?
Do you play for the social aspect, the challenge of end-game raiding, PvP, or a little of all of them? No answer is right or wrong.
You see, at some strange place, potentially bordering on unhealthy, rests the game of WoW. How much time a person can and should invest in it is a personal decision. The ramifications of that decision can mean the difference between a healthy social life or a healthy set of raid gear. Again, no answer is right or wrong.
Your little guild placed progression over the social aspect when it decided to join up with the larger raiding guild. The decision to honor social relationships remained, but it was not the core focus. If it's OK for them, why isn't it OK for you? I see no reason why you can't honor your social relationships and join a different raiding guild that fits your needs.
Again, the question: Why do you play? If your primary objective is social, then keep your tune in the social guild and learn to PvP or something. If your primary objective is to raid then you need to find a new raiding guild that fits your schedule. If your little guild is really worth the loyalty you've shown, then they should even be helping you find a better fit.
I hope this post helps. Good luck!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Welcome to the Plateau
And no, I'm not talking about that over-farmed spot in Nagrand with all the elementals....
I'm talking about the kind of plateau you hit when you're studying music or losing weight. These are moments when you've been going strong and then suddenly level-off for a while. Sometimes you see them coming. Sometimes they happen quick. Often it can be frustratingly unexpected. You know what I'm talking about...
You've dropped 5lbs every week for 2 months and then suddenly you can't drop another pound no matter what you do. Heck, you catch yourself gaining a pound or two back. It's disheartening. It's frustrating. It's confusing. What's going wrong? The answer? Maybe nothing.
In the case of weight loss, you've simply hit the point where the "easy" pounds have all dropped away. The body has adjusted to your diet. You can probably keep dropping weight, but at a slower pace. You may spend a few weeks gaining weight. It happens.
And no, I'm clearly not talking about weight loss here. This week QSS hit the plateau. We've been taking down one or two new bosses a week for over a month now. But this week, we struggled with some of our most recent kills. They aren't "farm" content yet. In fact, there were at least two nights this week that were downright painful.
It's easy to lose prospective when this kind of thing happens. I blew my cool about preparation & downloading mods on a guild-forum post. Karthis wrote a very stern post about evaluating performance. Did we go too far? Again, maybe.
The truth is that this seems completely natural. As you know, we are not a "lean" raiding guild. Every raid has a slightly different mix of players. We all know each other by now and play well together, but there are going to be nights where things don't click or someone is still learning a fight.
So, it might take a few weeks where we have to struggle with A'lar & Karath. We may even backslide a bit on other stuff. Maybe we're further from Lady Vashj than we think. That's not just raiding, that's life. We'll get off this plateau soon enough.
I'm talking about the kind of plateau you hit when you're studying music or losing weight. These are moments when you've been going strong and then suddenly level-off for a while. Sometimes you see them coming. Sometimes they happen quick. Often it can be frustratingly unexpected. You know what I'm talking about...
You've dropped 5lbs every week for 2 months and then suddenly you can't drop another pound no matter what you do. Heck, you catch yourself gaining a pound or two back. It's disheartening. It's frustrating. It's confusing. What's going wrong? The answer? Maybe nothing.
In the case of weight loss, you've simply hit the point where the "easy" pounds have all dropped away. The body has adjusted to your diet. You can probably keep dropping weight, but at a slower pace. You may spend a few weeks gaining weight. It happens.
And no, I'm clearly not talking about weight loss here. This week QSS hit the plateau. We've been taking down one or two new bosses a week for over a month now. But this week, we struggled with some of our most recent kills. They aren't "farm" content yet. In fact, there were at least two nights this week that were downright painful.
It's easy to lose prospective when this kind of thing happens. I blew my cool about preparation & downloading mods on a guild-forum post. Karthis wrote a very stern post about evaluating performance. Did we go too far? Again, maybe.
The truth is that this seems completely natural. As you know, we are not a "lean" raiding guild. Every raid has a slightly different mix of players. We all know each other by now and play well together, but there are going to be nights where things don't click or someone is still learning a fight.
So, it might take a few weeks where we have to struggle with A'lar & Karath. We may even backslide a bit on other stuff. Maybe we're further from Lady Vashj than we think. That's not just raiding, that's life. We'll get off this plateau soon enough.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Building A Raiding Guild: View from the Cheap Seats
Head over to Karthis' site and read Building a Raiding Guild and then come back to me when you're done.
As most of my readership knows, I'm a member of Karthis' guild. Heck, most of you found me from his blog. The following is the view from the cheap seats.
I joined back in Oct. At the time, I had a painful separation from my previous guild. They were "casual" raiders too. It wasn't going well. It was an awesome group of people, but they were lost. They wanted to progress, but not change. There's a lesson there.
Because I was a class rep and a raid coordinator who "took" 4 other raiders with me, it was a messy break-up. All told, three of us were officers. We saw the writing on the walls. No progression to be had here! It was painful because I was close to the guild leader and we've never spoken since. Since we had friends in QSS, we decided to give it a go. I'm glad we did.
Note: I never want to be "leadership" again!
As a group we came in "middle of the pack." Yet, for some reason our crew seemed to be an infusion for them. The guild's two main hunters were feeling burned out and were losing motivation. Too many huntard apps and not enough respect. The three (and later 4) of us clicked perfectly. Game on!
Not long after we joined, bosses started to drop. QSS was on a roll and we were along for the ride.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in QSS was good but admittedly confusing. It was clear in guild-chat that there were two camps of people: The serious end-gamer & the casual player. I'll be honest here. The end-gamers did not give our casual players enough time or respect. The casual players were completely clueless about how frustrating they made things for the end-gamers. It was a bad mix at times, but it was also a fun place to be. For all the troubles, we were a good casual guild that raided. It was what I was looking for at the time.
Then Karthis came along and changed the entire flavor of the guild. I was very concerned. I was finally making friends and understanding the clicks. People were going to be kicked out of the guild. I didn't think that was right. I was scared that I had joined a new guild just to see it fall apart around me.
Thankfully, the guild split has come and gone. Instead of falling apart, QSS is thriving. Since the beginning of December, we've cleared 11 new bosses. We're planning a "first look" pull on Vashj and folks are actively working on their Black Temple attunements. We are getting "noticed." Real raiders are app'ing with us. Not bad for a guild that was struggling to get by Lurker at the beginning of November!
This is what Karthis and the rest of our leadership have accomplished for us. They realized what "we" wanted and changed to get it. They learned the lesson that my previous guild failed to grasp.
This is the part where I very respectfully point out some of the negatives to Karthis' great experiment as a warning to those of you out there thinking about trying it.
From the prospective of someone who stayed and feels generally respected by leadership, I'm ecstatic about the decision to split the guild. If I may sound extra harsh for a second, from a raider's prospective, "those people" were dead weight. How much do I think about the "sister guild?" Well, that's the thing...
There's nothing that tells me that we did right by Serenity. I wouldn't notice they even existed if it weren't for the fact that I joined the joint chat channel. I only did that to be a team player. And on the joint channel, what do I see? I see the guild leader and people from QSS who are making a show of support. I don't know that I've ever seen actual members on that channel, but I know they exist!
The other day, I was doing a stack of previously ignored quests in Netherstorm. I saw a few members of Serenity running around too. They weren't on the channel. I didn't know them. Sadly, I felt no compulsion to even acknowledge their existence. Frankly, they were just competition for my kills.
Again, this is not to say that Serenity can't or won't work. I've known the guild leader for a while now. He's great people. He and his wife are perfect to lead a social guild. I'm not privy to "management" decisions. Joint-guild Karazhan runs might actually happen. They may be a huge success for Serenity & for QSS member Alts. I just don't see the inter-guild "marketing" to prove it. The chat channel has become one more thing on my window to ignore.
At the end of the day, leadership made the best decision to advance us as a raiding guild. But before trying it, ask yourselves what you want your guild to be. Realize that you will hurt people's feelings. Know that the whole sister-guild thing could take more work than you realize. Know that you could split the guild and still not succeed.
Note: I mentioned the part about being glad I'm not leadership, right?
Finally, an extra thank you and an apology to Karthis. I didn't warn him this was coming. I hope he doesn't feel that I was questioning his decisions. I love what he's doing to QSS. It's totally working. I just hope the same can be said for Serenity.
As most of my readership knows, I'm a member of Karthis' guild. Heck, most of you found me from his blog. The following is the view from the cheap seats.
I joined back in Oct. At the time, I had a painful separation from my previous guild. They were "casual" raiders too. It wasn't going well. It was an awesome group of people, but they were lost. They wanted to progress, but not change. There's a lesson there.
Because I was a class rep and a raid coordinator who "took" 4 other raiders with me, it was a messy break-up. All told, three of us were officers. We saw the writing on the walls. No progression to be had here! It was painful because I was close to the guild leader and we've never spoken since. Since we had friends in QSS, we decided to give it a go. I'm glad we did.
Note: I never want to be "leadership" again!
As a group we came in "middle of the pack." Yet, for some reason our crew seemed to be an infusion for them. The guild's two main hunters were feeling burned out and were losing motivation. Too many huntard apps and not enough respect. The three (and later 4) of us clicked perfectly. Game on!
Not long after we joined, bosses started to drop. QSS was on a roll and we were along for the ride.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in QSS was good but admittedly confusing. It was clear in guild-chat that there were two camps of people: The serious end-gamer & the casual player. I'll be honest here. The end-gamers did not give our casual players enough time or respect. The casual players were completely clueless about how frustrating they made things for the end-gamers. It was a bad mix at times, but it was also a fun place to be. For all the troubles, we were a good casual guild that raided. It was what I was looking for at the time.
Then Karthis came along and changed the entire flavor of the guild. I was very concerned. I was finally making friends and understanding the clicks. People were going to be kicked out of the guild. I didn't think that was right. I was scared that I had joined a new guild just to see it fall apart around me.
Thankfully, the guild split has come and gone. Instead of falling apart, QSS is thriving. Since the beginning of December, we've cleared 11 new bosses. We're planning a "first look" pull on Vashj and folks are actively working on their Black Temple attunements. We are getting "noticed." Real raiders are app'ing with us. Not bad for a guild that was struggling to get by Lurker at the beginning of November!
This is what Karthis and the rest of our leadership have accomplished for us. They realized what "we" wanted and changed to get it. They learned the lesson that my previous guild failed to grasp.
This is the part where I very respectfully point out some of the negatives to Karthis' great experiment as a warning to those of you out there thinking about trying it.
From the prospective of someone who stayed and feels generally respected by leadership, I'm ecstatic about the decision to split the guild. If I may sound extra harsh for a second, from a raider's prospective, "those people" were dead weight. How much do I think about the "sister guild?" Well, that's the thing...
There's nothing that tells me that we did right by Serenity. I wouldn't notice they even existed if it weren't for the fact that I joined the joint chat channel. I only did that to be a team player. And on the joint channel, what do I see? I see the guild leader and people from QSS who are making a show of support. I don't know that I've ever seen actual members on that channel, but I know they exist!
The other day, I was doing a stack of previously ignored quests in Netherstorm. I saw a few members of Serenity running around too. They weren't on the channel. I didn't know them. Sadly, I felt no compulsion to even acknowledge their existence. Frankly, they were just competition for my kills.
Again, this is not to say that Serenity can't or won't work. I've known the guild leader for a while now. He's great people. He and his wife are perfect to lead a social guild. I'm not privy to "management" decisions. Joint-guild Karazhan runs might actually happen. They may be a huge success for Serenity & for QSS member Alts. I just don't see the inter-guild "marketing" to prove it. The chat channel has become one more thing on my window to ignore.
At the end of the day, leadership made the best decision to advance us as a raiding guild. But before trying it, ask yourselves what you want your guild to be. Realize that you will hurt people's feelings. Know that the whole sister-guild thing could take more work than you realize. Know that you could split the guild and still not succeed.
Note: I mentioned the part about being glad I'm not leadership, right?
Finally, an extra thank you and an apology to Karthis. I didn't warn him this was coming. I hope he doesn't feel that I was questioning his decisions. I love what he's doing to QSS. It's totally working. I just hope the same can be said for Serenity.
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