The recent Echoes of Doom patch & events have created a lot of excitement for my little band of friends in our little alt-guild. Before the patch, most of us were off on our merry little dailies, on various "main raiders" in various raiding guilds or leveling alts. At first the patch seemed to drive us further apart with folks running to the far corners of the old world seeking achievements. Then we started to come back together to farm old-world instances and re-do heroics. The Headless Horseman boss, the plague & the invasion all helped to drive us back into instances and re-equip long-forgotten Argent Dawn trinkets.
This excitement (and some serious dps increases) made us hungry for more. So, 7 of us ran over to Kara on a rag-tag group of Alts & mains to see if we could down Attumen and get at the event boss for the quest.
I know what you're thinking. Why not grab 3 more? This, again, is our little group of friends who've known each other for years. Our group time is for getting away from PUGs and guild politics. It's "us" time.
Our group consisted of:
Kara-Level Geared Feral Tank
Crafted-epics DPS Warrior/OT <---New Raider. He's Cherry!
Mint green Ret Pally/OT
T4 Enhancement Shaman/backup healer
T5 Frost Mage
New Epics Hunter Alt
T5 Geared Resto Druid
Attumen went down easy-sauce. It was so easy for my feral druid, that I hardly noticed that I was tanking both of them. We moved up into the servants quarters and after a "learning pull" we regrouped and downed the event boss easily. Well, since we're right across the hall, let's go kill Moroes. We should be able to get him, right? Why, in fact, we pwned him. I tanked him and all the adds, while a fury warrior picked off a mob one at a time for the group to kill. I built a high enough threat on Moroes that I put my back to him and fought the adds, thus avoiding blinding until I had to hit him one last time. Only lost one player when he blinded me and we ripped him a new one. So, hi on this achievement (but so late for a Thursday night) we called it and scheduled to return 10AM Saturday morning to see what else we could kill. And what happened Saturday? Fear the BEAR!!! RAWR! We mowed our way through Maiden & the Oz fights. We took a short break to lounge on the terrace and swat this gnat named Nightbane. What a wuss! We took a 5 min bio to make the rest of the instance think it was harder, thus preserving Nightbane's last shred of dignity.
We found Curator lacking and pwnd him accordingly. Illhoof slew one of our numbers and we just kept coming. It was cake. We moved on.
Our first real challenge came at Shade. And even with the "mistake" we nearly won. Rinse-repeat...one dead badge dispenser. On to Chess...
Amazingly, the with only 7 players, Chess event proved difficult. We lost the first attempt. We had to move more pawns into position and make some adjustments. It's still "free" loot! Running out of time, we rushed up the stairs, ganked Prince Malchezaar and called it "lunch."
Wait, what about Netherspite? Pah! His loot table sucks. Let's go try some bosses in ZA instead.
And so, after a break for afternoon chores and meals, we regrouped and killed 3 ZA bosses.
It was truly an experience. As someone who loves raiding, but grew tired of the drama of raiding, this was fun. We're grearing up and getting to know our abilities under the new system. We're seeing stuff "alone" without getting friends and guildies to slum with us on our alts. It was just great.
Showing posts with label Guild Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guild Life. Show all posts
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Coping with RL
In RL, I've been really sick...living on the couch and getting my WoW fix by reading the forums on my ancient laptop. I've not had the energy to work on writing up my UI updates or to even log on to do dailies. Then it hit me, there's something blog-worthy here and I don't have to strain my medication-hazed brain to write about it. What am I talking about? Coping with real life in a raiding guild.
In order to survive, serious raiding guilds have to create requirements. Our business is downing bosses and it requires a full complement of employees. Guilds tackle this problem differently. At one extreme we have ultra hard-core guilds who require players to devote all of their free-time to WoW. How extreme can these guilds be? I have a friend who was once kicked from a raid because his latency was too high. In these guilds, joy is derived only from conquest. Kang, that time-traveling warlord from Marvel Comics, would be proud. At the other extreme, we have the casual guild that raids. I was in one of those once, I'm not sure they've ever downed Gruul. That's not good business. Kang would recommend wiping them from the face of Outland!
My guild takes a different approach. Leadership stuffs the roster with WoW-addicts (like myself) who have RL issues that keep them from being able to play night after night. We are all, deep-down, hard-core players, but we have jobs, children, health issues, pending nuptials....You get the idea.
This enables members to go on week-long business conferences or take their S.O. out for dinner without jeopardizing their membership or the balance of the raid. As a guild, we still have requirements about raiding 2 nights a week. We still expect members to show up, but understands and accepts real-life. That's not to say that folks can make excuses night after night and expect to retain membership. And they certainly can't disappear for several weeks and expect to come back as if nothing has happened. Communication and dedication to the guild are still required.
This is the perfect kind of place for me and for many of our members. I couldn't stand the lackadaisical approach to raiding from my previous guild, but RL keeps me from being able to commit to the hard-core standards of a 4-5 night a week raiding guild. Simply-put, QSS represents a welcome and needed balance that keeps the game fresh and enjoyable for me.
On a personal note: I have a RL philosophy of "in all things balance" and I strive to obtain it throughout my life.
There are, of course, downsides to this approach. I have identified two connected issues as the biggest.
Progression & Gear: At our core, our most dedicated and regular members are geared higher than our actual progression. I've got my "all purple" set with 2-pieces of T5, crafted belt, and 70% of the best gear available before Black Temple and Mount Hyjal. From a gear standpoint, I should have been downing stuff in Mount Hyjal 2 months ago. The problem here is the ever-shifting make-up of the raid and the significant amount of drops needed to gear up and teach everybody the bosses. This was felt most on Vashj and is no doubt the #1 reason why we didn't down Kael before 2.4 hit. And when a regular, like myself, who has been involved in the first-time kills of 8/9 of our last bosses out of the mix for 3 weeks, it hurts the dynamics of the guild. (And makes Beroth a frustrated hunter!)
Organizing & Managing Raiders: Because of our structure, we are forever needing new recruits (who are not under-geared n00bs), we are forever planning raids based on the dynamic of the sign-ups and we are forever being nagged by our raid coordinator about light sign-ups for this night or that. It's painful on our leadership. It's painful on our members when we have to "indoctrinate" a new recruit or show a regular an old boss for the first time because she doesn't usually play on a Tuesday.
To manage these two issues, a really smart leadership structure was developed. We have what I like to call "the One" structure (this is a Babylon 5 reference.) We have the "one" who is the guild leader. She manages the day-to-day and keeps everyone in line. We have the "one" who is raid coordinator. He is in charge of personnel planning and deciding where we are going. We have the "one" who is raid leader. He's the field general. Each of them have very different personalities.
The other coping mechanism is our forums. We have regularly updated kill threads and strategy guides posted by our raid leader. These guides include links to videos and boss guides, but they also include details about how "we" do it. This helps our players a lot. No two guilds are alike and as a guild we learned we had to think outside the box to achieve.
The final coping mechanism is class rotation. Leadership has a preferred mix of players. Ours likes to have 2-3 hunters in the raids. We have 4 active hunters. We've worked out a rotation of "preferred" nights. Each class does this and it helps immensely when the nightly draft happens. If I sign up for Wednesdays, I expect to be drafter because it's my preferred night. BUT, if I sign up for Tuesday, I expect to be wait-listed.
Well, there you have it. Not my best piece of writing and it took longer than usual to do. I hope it gives you some ideas about your guild dynamics. No, QSS is far from perfect. But for me it's home. I can't wait to get back!
In order to survive, serious raiding guilds have to create requirements. Our business is downing bosses and it requires a full complement of employees. Guilds tackle this problem differently. At one extreme we have ultra hard-core guilds who require players to devote all of their free-time to WoW. How extreme can these guilds be? I have a friend who was once kicked from a raid because his latency was too high. In these guilds, joy is derived only from conquest. Kang, that time-traveling warlord from Marvel Comics, would be proud. At the other extreme, we have the casual guild that raids. I was in one of those once, I'm not sure they've ever downed Gruul. That's not good business. Kang would recommend wiping them from the face of Outland!
My guild takes a different approach. Leadership stuffs the roster with WoW-addicts (like myself) who have RL issues that keep them from being able to play night after night. We are all, deep-down, hard-core players, but we have jobs, children, health issues, pending nuptials....You get the idea.
This enables members to go on week-long business conferences or take their S.O. out for dinner without jeopardizing their membership or the balance of the raid. As a guild, we still have requirements about raiding 2 nights a week. We still expect members to show up, but understands and accepts real-life. That's not to say that folks can make excuses night after night and expect to retain membership. And they certainly can't disappear for several weeks and expect to come back as if nothing has happened. Communication and dedication to the guild are still required.
This is the perfect kind of place for me and for many of our members. I couldn't stand the lackadaisical approach to raiding from my previous guild, but RL keeps me from being able to commit to the hard-core standards of a 4-5 night a week raiding guild. Simply-put, QSS represents a welcome and needed balance that keeps the game fresh and enjoyable for me.
On a personal note: I have a RL philosophy of "in all things balance" and I strive to obtain it throughout my life.
There are, of course, downsides to this approach. I have identified two connected issues as the biggest.
Progression & Gear: At our core, our most dedicated and regular members are geared higher than our actual progression. I've got my "all purple" set with 2-pieces of T5, crafted belt, and 70% of the best gear available before Black Temple and Mount Hyjal. From a gear standpoint, I should have been downing stuff in Mount Hyjal 2 months ago. The problem here is the ever-shifting make-up of the raid and the significant amount of drops needed to gear up and teach everybody the bosses. This was felt most on Vashj and is no doubt the #1 reason why we didn't down Kael before 2.4 hit. And when a regular, like myself, who has been involved in the first-time kills of 8/9 of our last bosses out of the mix for 3 weeks, it hurts the dynamics of the guild. (And makes Beroth a frustrated hunter!)
Organizing & Managing Raiders: Because of our structure, we are forever needing new recruits (who are not under-geared n00bs), we are forever planning raids based on the dynamic of the sign-ups and we are forever being nagged by our raid coordinator about light sign-ups for this night or that. It's painful on our leadership. It's painful on our members when we have to "indoctrinate" a new recruit or show a regular an old boss for the first time because she doesn't usually play on a Tuesday.
To manage these two issues, a really smart leadership structure was developed. We have what I like to call "the One" structure (this is a Babylon 5 reference.) We have the "one" who is the guild leader. She manages the day-to-day and keeps everyone in line. We have the "one" who is raid coordinator. He is in charge of personnel planning and deciding where we are going. We have the "one" who is raid leader. He's the field general. Each of them have very different personalities.
The other coping mechanism is our forums. We have regularly updated kill threads and strategy guides posted by our raid leader. These guides include links to videos and boss guides, but they also include details about how "we" do it. This helps our players a lot. No two guilds are alike and as a guild we learned we had to think outside the box to achieve.
The final coping mechanism is class rotation. Leadership has a preferred mix of players. Ours likes to have 2-3 hunters in the raids. We have 4 active hunters. We've worked out a rotation of "preferred" nights. Each class does this and it helps immensely when the nightly draft happens. If I sign up for Wednesdays, I expect to be drafter because it's my preferred night. BUT, if I sign up for Tuesday, I expect to be wait-listed.
Well, there you have it. Not my best piece of writing and it took longer than usual to do. I hope it gives you some ideas about your guild dynamics. No, QSS is far from perfect. But for me it's home. I can't wait to get back!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Hold the Line
Beroth & Tribalrog on the South StairsVashj attempts continue and are getting better all the time. I've slowly migrated to working the South Stairs with help from Shallas (rogue who floats across the South & East zones) and a healer. Tonight, it was our Resto-Shaman's turn. He admitted to being nervous, but I only had to pop one health stone in phase 2 all night.
I'm proud to say that in two nights of working the zone, I don't think a single elemental has gotten past us. This isn't all about me. I'm "alone" for 60-70% of the time, but Shallas sweeps every now and then to take some pressure off me and people up top help out when the tainted spawns in my zone. Slowly the guild is learning the whole fight. We had several pulls into phase 3 over the last 2 nights.
Sure, I wish she was dead already. But man it'll feel like we accomplished something when she finally drops.
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 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.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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.
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