Slow days…are slow.

*yawwwwn*

So, my guild has gone 8/8 regular mode. We’re not the “Hard modes must be done!!!” kind of crowd, so what’s there to do to fill the WoW time? No, we haven’t given up on Dragon Soul, there are plenty of things to still do there including getting our Rogue his legendary. But the question remains, short of continuing to beat ourselves against the same content over and over again…what is there to do?

Well, for one…ALL the previous content!!! Sure some of the much older content from Vanilla and BC is completely solo-able, but most Wrath raid content is not, nor are Tiers 11 or 12. And to be perfectly honest, there are some nice rewards for players out there to be had.

1. Transmog Gear: There is gear a plenty available that is absolutely stunning to look at. I am especially fond of anything from Ulduar. I happen to be particular about Mimiron’s Repeater.
2. Achievement Points, Mounts, and Titles OH MY!: Now, I know not everyone cares about APs, but I am a total achievement lover! They are there for the taking. Additionally many meta achievements still carry various titles and mounts upon completion. Including the beautiful Ulduar proto-drakes.
3. BiS gear: No, Ulduar and ICC do not have usable items, but heroic modes for T11 and T12 could in fact still provide upgrades or even BiS items based on class & spec.
4. Development: Some of the encounters can be difficult to still over come even if out-geared/leveled. They can be great opportunities to allow some folks to use alts, try out a new spec, or a new roll. Want to see if that Holy Pally really can tank in Prot…run them as MT in BoT or BWD before heading to DS.
5. PvP: Doing guild BGs can be a lot of fun, especially with having a more organized team.
6. FUN!: Seriously. Its fun to sometimes kick back and beat the snot out of some of these old instances. Our 10 man had about 45 min left in raid, so we knocked out Naxx40, MC, and BWL in quick order. MC was particularly fun where essentially 2 people ran to each boss and then we all met up at Rag. I think MC took us 10, maybe 15 min in total. it.was.fun!

I know, not all of these kinds of things are everyone’s cup of tea, but if you give some of them a fair chance you may find them enjoyable…more so than you’d have thought. You’ll notice I did not suggest leveling an alt. At this point, most players have had more than enough opportunity to level additional toons and classes. While getting a 5 man guild group together to Dungeon run can be fun, I really was focusing on what your raid team can do in lieu of the same raid zone over and over again.

What will you be doing with your raid group once you’ve completed your benchmark for progression?

I will repeat myself once more…

Why? Because it bears repeating…

IT IS NOT A SPRINT! (see, I really am repeating myself)

Going 7/8 or 8/8 in the first night or week is not an invitation to do Heroic modes. You probably have not garnered enough of the newest gear to be ready to conquer the hard modes; additionally you may not have had enough experience with the newest raid mechanics to have committed to muscle memory and be ready for additional obstacles you will face in that hard mode.

No no…I am not saying you can’t attempt it. Go for it. But there are 2 inherent issues that you may face in your sprint to the finish line of Cataclysmic content…

1. If you AREN’T ready, you will find yourself banging your head against the wall. Head banging leads to burnout. Don’t be surprised if that burnout happens more readily as well. Folks may not be as inclined to killing themselves during the holiday season, nor for the final tier of content given that the next XPac is probably a considerable ways away still.
2. If said XPac is in fact still quite some time off, you may find yourself all too quickly “bored”.

Again, I always find myself reminding folks…Blizzard is not creating the next Mount Everest like life challenge for you to overcome. They are selling a product! They want this to last and provide as much bang for the buck as they are able. I have also heard and felt the pangs of “Its too easy!!” Well, that makes sense, it allows for the greatest scope of accessibility for the user base. Don’t look at the game through your “player” eyes…put on a pair of “business” goggles. What they have done makes total sense in so many ways, whether we like it or not.

Now, the argument back I hear consistently is the following: “Well, if they continue like this, I will be unhappy, and I will quit playing. SEE…they need to do it the way I like or they will lose people.” The problem with this perspective is that first off, its been said every major content release, and players always come back. Secondly, and 10 million players they are still far and away the leader of the pack. They have the clout and data to take the chance that YOU will be p.o.’d about the Raid Finder being too easy (or whatever your flavor of complaint is).

Its NOT perfect, don’t get me wrong. I am not trumpeting 4.3 as the greatest content ever, nor do I think Blizzard can do no wrong. I simply feel this new content has so far been fun. The dungeons are a welcome change from the Trollroics. I love the lore that has been laced in (I will admit I am a total sucker for the Lore based part of the game…I LURVS IT!).

My advice…pace yourself. Get folks geared up, spend a few weeks in the normals. Go back and get some of the older tier heroic modes done too. Take your time! There is no extra reward for being first. In fact, if you finish the content today or finish it 3 months from now…there’s really no difference beyond being able to say you did it first. If bragging rights are that important to you, go for it. Honestly, its in my nice to have list…not my must haves.

3/8 on the first night.

I’ll take it and be quite pleased with it, tyvm. Grats to the raid team and those who won items. Two screen shots below, Morchok despawned before we grabbed a shot. How has everyone else faired on the first night? Are you all feeling this content is good, bad, or otherwise?

Firelands Nerf comments…

I don’t like saying something that someone else has already stated well enough. So, let me suggest you read these 2 articles instead of me blabbering like a blithering idiot.

Mory has a nice take on Firelands nerfs here.
Lyraat has a different viewpoint here. (bonus, he also has his class feedback comments in the same article)

So, why these 2 in particular? Well, one – hunter friends. And Hunters ALWAYS stick together! ALWAYS! But, two – they have contrasting viewpoints if you really read into the tone. Mory is a progression raider in a 25 man progression guild. Lyraat is casual raider in a 10 man raiding guild. (if either of you feel I am miss-representing – let me know)

This is an important distinction as to how players feel about incoming “nerfs”! One views it as “TOO SOON” the other sees the opportunity to prep for the next challenge.

Let me say….NEITHER IS WRONG! AT ALL! They are both right. But this folks…this right here…is the rock/hard place Blizzard finds itself in. As always no matter which they choose, they are wrong in someone’s eyes. They can’t win. I do pity them…seriously, I do pity Blizzard in this regard.

So give those 2 articles a read, and definitely keep reading them both! Totally worth the brain power.

Q

The story of 3 raiders, who do you choose?

We play with all kinds of players in this game. Some choose to PvP exclusively, others raid only, and still others just run heroics casually and work on achievements. Individuality is a big part of WoW and Blizzard has done an excellent job at trying to appease various levels/styles of game play. Bravo for that Blizz.

So, here is the story of 3 raiders in any average guild…we all know these 3 people.

• Mememe – the greatest ever Hunter anyone has ever seen. Just ask him.
  Mememe is good. He is actually very good at his role and class. Asks for very little. Doesn’t throw fits of rage or anything when he doesn’t get something like a new helm. He’s a good enough person, not overly mean or anything. BUT…always a “but” right…Mememe farms BOE’s to sell. Mememe rarely runs alts or lesser geared players through anything. Mememe does not come to the fun raids (farm raids, achievement raids, etc). Mememe constantly explains how awesome he is, he performs and doesn’t disappoint in progression…but that other side of “guild life” is lacking.
• IamtheAWESOME – plays a DK and knows everything about what everyone else SHOULD do with their toon.
  Constantly grates and annoys by telling everyone else what to do when and how. Consummate expert on everything….everything except their own damn toon! In defense, he doesn’t overtly ruin the raid by causing a wipe, but doesn’t help or add to it by very much if at all. Completely expendable from a player stand point. Always willing to level or gear one of his 93 other toons. Ask him to leave the raid for any reason and be prepared to get a whole lot of lip as to justifying why he didn’t or did do what you are pointing out. “Hey, you have the lowest dps, I need to swap you out.” “WOAH! My cat was humping the radiator in the other room and a twig broke outside…wasn’t my fault!!!”
• Thenewguy – new guy in the guild playing his warrior.
  Truly happy to be here, wants to help any way he can. No arguments, no drama, no fuss. Super flexible…tank? sure. DPS, fine by me. Admits his own flaws and asks what he can do differently to improve. Wants to raid if he can, but doesn’t want to push anyone out. “I’m always here for fill if you want me…just ask!” Gear drops…”Give it to that person for off-spec, they are a main raider, not me” Selfless. Ask him to step out for someone else, “Sure, thanks for inviting me guys, had a blast!” Will pvp, raid, achievement run, gear any and all other guildies if he can help!

Who do you like? Me, I will take raider 3…give me 9 or 24 of them and I would have the happiest guild/raid ever. No drama, no problems; just a solid group all willing to help one another and have fun!

I know this is total fantasy “pie in the sky” type stuff. I know this is blasphemy from the eyes of the top end guilds and raiders in the world. None of the above 3 are bad people per say, nor are they necessarily the greatest ever.

I am at the point in my game play where success is not measured by progression or gear scores…its in drama & fun. As in how little drama there is, and how much fun we’re having. I want to enjoy my time in game, I want to play alongside people I wouldn’t mind having a drink with too. This game is coming to a close all too soon, and I would like to have some friendships that last to the next digital adventure or even into the real world from all of this.

Anyone agreeing with this or am I totally on an island here? Hello? Wow…its freaking dark in here, and that’s a really loud echo. HEEEELLLLLOOOOOO??!??!

It’s never fair…

So, one of the sticking points with some guild members as of late is our loot distribution method. When we ran 25’s we used DKP, now that we are on 10’s its Loot Council. Some of the raiders call it QCouncil because I run it. Most feel I am absolutely fair about it. I follow an old school thought process of Tanks and Healers first, DPS second, Off Specs third. That’s nothing new there, and I think I am on solid ground (please let me know if you disagree). The next thing I look at is contribution; performance, attendance, etc. Are you a liability to the raid or a benefit? Do you do your job without prodding or do you need multiple reminders as to what to do? Typical thought process there to I think. Lastly, need. I am more apt to give a tier token to the one who has 3/5 and will benefit from the 4 piece, as opposed to the one at 2/5 tier pieces. A 346 – 359, or 353 – 378 upgrade is better than a side grade or slight upgrade. Best in slot items are always a concern as well, wanting to ensure an item that is BiS for one class but not another is considered.

Here’s the issue…loot distribution is NEVER FAIR. Ever. Ever. Ever. Seriously, no matter how fair you make it, someone always feels shafted from their perspective and as a result feels slighted. You hope they see the big picture, but often times they won’t.

The one thing I truly hate is rolling. I hate ROLLING! Why you ask? Hunter A has been waiting for a drop for 3 months. Always performing, always there, patiently waiting. Hunter B joins the guild and comes on a run. “ZOMG BiS RANGED WEAPON DROPS!…roll!” Hunter A rolls a 32, Hunter B rolls a 98. Was that fair? Really, was it? And all of us long time raiders have experienced such a thing.

There are a lot of loot methods available: DKP, EPGP, Loot Council, Suicide Kings (my personal favorite for 40 mans), and the list goes on. If you are in a guild and do not like their method, you are free to start your own guild and do it your way. No one is tied to where they are and everything is “at-will” employment.

For those who feel “Loot Council” is horrible…understand this. If you do not get an item, it doesn’t mean you are hated. It means the decision was made that someone else was the priority. If player A gets something on boss kill one, and then again on boss kill two it does not mean they are the Raid Leaders favorite. Big picture…the next time those items drop, they won’t need them! Items drop off a table…they will drop again, just be patient. And if the raid is progressing, even if you have gotten nothing – THE RAID IS PROGRESSING! That’s the ultimate goal, not your personal iLevel rating.

Have other people had this issue? Have you all also felt the pains of griping, complaining, and finding your name burned in effigy? What do you do as a GM, RL, or Officer? Would you just jettison them from your guild or allow them to stew?

It’s a “teaching opportunity” to be sure, but what happens if they won’t learn?

Q

Updates from the Molten Front…

So we added a new tank to our Raid roster. I guess he worked out well since we had our first Firelands boss kill last night downing Shannox. When we started over at the beginning of July I told people, “We will evaluate everyone for the month of July. No one is safe, everyone should put their best foot forward.” Well, people tend to make your decisions for you. Our raid roster has pared down from the potential of 18-20 players to really only a solid core of 8-10 with the necessary fillers/subs that round it out to 13-15.

These things always work themselves out if just given a little time. One person rages over not getting an item, then you lose that person and his 2 buddies. Another person suddenly has a schedule issue with work or real life conflicts, gone. Another has computer issues, yet another suddenly doesn’t want to raid anymore – server transfer later – gone.

People tend to make your decision for you, if you merely give them the TIME to show you what their made of – petulance, immaturity, laziness, discontent, ill-temper, boredom, cancerous. These are the negatives of course, its not always a bad thing that people leave. Sometimes its easier to let them walk away than have them stew and tensions build over disagreements in philosophy. While some show their bad side, others show their good, even great side! They step up. They make it through the 30+ wipes on one boss still smiling on the other end, ready for attempt 31, 32, 33, so on and so forth.

THAT is where the good stuff happens. Those are the people that begin to gel. Our fellow raiding hunter and I are now in lock step. If the Drone on Beth needs extra dps, she sees me jump on it to throw up a bunch of dots and soak up some Focus; I KNOW she has the Spiderlings in hand for a few seconds for me to help on the Drone. I don’t have to worry about which pet she pulls from her stable overlapping a buff…we know which ones to bring out automatically. We are gelling now. That’s a good thing. I see our healing core doing that too, and I hope it continues throughout the raiders we have remaining.

Some of the bad things from the good people – Old habits. Its ok for a healer to have full mana at the end of a fight if no one died and they managed their mana consumption/regeneration well. People should not be dying on aggro/threat pulls….they should know how to manage it properly. It’s not an AOE fest through Naxx or some BC instance. Drop the bad habits, and let’s improve even more.

And the nicest thing for this Hunter…I got a Lava Bolt Crossbow last night. FINALLY! I refused to buy one. So many friends were trying to farm one and never could get one…I got one. 

So that’s a 378 bow, T12 gloves, 378 belt, 378 cloak, 378 bracers, and 378 2H. Not too shabby. T12 2 piece is coming tonight, unless I see a helm/shoulders for 4pc T11, which is still worthwhile. We’ll see. I’m patient.

P.S. I can’t WAIT for Blizzcon!!!!! AMIRIGHT?!?

Q

Guild drama & conflicts – Can’t we just get along?

So, why do guilds break up? Certainly many reasons can contribute collectively to a guild’s break up and eventual demise, but none is more deadly than – personality conflicts. I have a number of social/WoW friends in a progression guild. They have recently been hit with a “guild destroying” type event. Do I think they will collapse, NO! They are good people and will more than likely find the right replacements, but it does bring to light the primary issue we all face within the game – each other!

Their GM has a simple philosophy and a correct one: You don’t have to be friends, just play nice together and work towards the common goal of progression (I’m paraphrasing here). Admirable though this is, let’s examine it in more detail.

The notion of “I don’t have to like you, to work with you” is not new. The military has had this perspective forever! Liking someone’s ideals, values, religion, race, creed, or how they put on their pants means nothing when you are both in that trench with bullets firing at you and your lives in one another’s hands. I spent 8 years in the US Army, my wife the same. We saw racism and politics yes…but when the stakes got high – read: lives on the line – none of it mattered. We hear stories and read books like those by Stephen Ambrose about groups like Easy Company 506^th Regiment: Band of Brothers. Men who despite any differences, formed a lifetime bond due to the extraordinary circumstances they went through together. In the end, the differences shed away and only the commonalities remain. Athletes on teams share similar experiences through the “Head long into battle” bonding that can happen. Same can be said for the private sector where I may not see eye-to-eye with a colleague, but we can in fact find a way to get the job done.

Many feel this applies to those playing MMOs like WoW…here’s the kicker, there are no lives on the line. We are not dependent on one another for a paycheck, benefits, or livelihood. There is no real ultimate goal like a championship or true glory (i.e. Sports championships are not always about substantive reward but are nonetheless tangible). In the end, gaming success supplies one with really only one thing: bragging rights. Some think this is enough? We work together, we kill some Dragons, we all get to brag…but not so fast! We all PAY to do this, and this has a curious affect on one’s mindset. We are all customers paying no more or less than anyone else. So why do it “their way”? Why not YOUR way!!!

We face this all the time. Sometimes it boils to a fight and parting of ways. Other times it leads to a tense situation, but eventual understanding and hopefully stronger bond between opposing viewpoints.

I certainly wish the latter for my friends in the aforementioned guild; a stronger bond between those remaining, and hopefully stable foundation for them going forward. To the GM: if I can help in any way, you need only ask.

For those going through such conflicts, please try to understand the differing viewpoints and focus on the commonalities. I know…sappy sappy sappy. But sappy as this all seems, these are the foundations for real life, not just for in a game. If you can master working together toward a common goal no matter your differences within WoW, you are on solid ground to do so in Real Life as you move through your education and career. Its important folks…REALLY important! People may watch and laugh at movies like Horrible Bosses and Office Space; but many of us will tell you – IT’S REAL! There really are situations like those that you may face and it’s better to be prepared for them, then not.

Find the common ground. Look for ways to move forward and not backward. Easier said than done? – certainly, but worth far more than any loot or gold that is dropped by any boss.

Q

5 Traits in a Guild Leader at the Bossy Pally

Good read over at The Bossy Pally, Ophelle nails what a good leader should actually practice and emulate; not just in-game folks, in real life too!!! The quick list…

1- Communicates Well and Regularly
2- Sets Clear Expectations
3- Honesty and/or Integrity
4- Knows How to Say No
5- Enthusiasm

You should definitely head over and read the full article!!! http://bossypally.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/the-5-traits-i-want-in-a-leader/

Love letters…You’ve Got Mail!

So I got a love letter in-game this weekend!!! I kicked a few people out of the guild, and a somewhat expected response was a love letter. It was exactly what you could imagine, “You suck, you are the problem, its all your fault, everyone hates you, no one likes you, no one thinks you are good, you need to leave, quit, get out, get away.” Yadda yadda yadda. So, the letter was from an unguilded toon that was never a member of my guild. I am assuming its an alt of someone who was in fact kicked by me. So a quick look at the 3 I kicked…

1. Young new member (yes young in age). He was chatty, very very very VERY chatty. I found him annoying, but tolerable. He was not insulting or anything, and I think was more guilty of trying too hard to make people like him more than anything else. However, I was getting tells constantly, “I can’t stand this kid!” “Please remove him!” “Hey, just an fyi, he blows. He can’t play for squat.” Well, I felt bad in a way, but if you have an overwhelming number of folks wanting him gone, your hand is played for you. /gkick
2. Buddy who I have not seen on before (joined within the last week or so) starts asking how long server transfers take. I ask why he wants to know? He won’t answer insisting someone just tell him how long it takes. I suggest to him that since none of us work at Blizz doing server transfers, it might be prudent to go onto the WoW website and look for FAQs regarding transfers and I bet his answer will be there from the experts. He recoils and says to effect “Just tell me how long! I want to move a toon here from another server” Yeah, right…I almost believe that. Within a few more pokes and prods he admits he is transferring as soon as he can and wants it to go through right away to get off our server. /gkick
3. Now the same fool who my previous post was in regards to jumps into gchat with all he wanted to do was get information! I respond with, “Says the same guy that told his guild how he hates the server and can’t wait to transfer.” He of course insists the Server and Guild are not the same…so even with a few days of some level of reflection he still does not get it. You can’t say you hate all dogs, but love German Shepherds. You can’t tell me you hate the entire server but love us…we are a part of the server!!! /gkick

I asked folks in guild if they new the toon name…no one did. I did some research and found their guild history and matched additional names that corresponded and narrowed it down to a reasonable conclusion. Numerous people defended me in g-chat, so I felt a little bit of love from folks which was nice.

Here’s the point: Disagreeing on the direction, tact, tone, rules, etc that your RL, GM, officers put forth is fine; however, ensure you are doing the mature thing to have a conversation regarding said disagreement. In other words, get together and discuss it. No screaming & yelling. DISCUSSION!

Hey, I don’t like the way you speak to us, can you maybe turn it down a notch!
Oh, I didn’t realize that; I certainly can!

We aren’t making any progress, what the heck is going on?
We’re analyzing the raids and trying to figure it out now. Do you have some suggestions on what we can change?
Yes actually, let’s start with this…

I am not even going to get into the obvious things like speak civilly, use your main to speak (not some alt that no one knows), and be sure to give some practical information and constructive criticism not just “we hate you”. Everyone wants to get better, and no one has all the right answers in their back pocket. Collaboration is the key. Benjamin Franklin said it perfectly, “We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” The strongest and best foundation is and will always be that of solidarity. Sappy? Perhaps. But very true.

Work together toward one common goal and you will have success. Continue to fight amongst yourselves casting blame, taking credit, and disparaging character; you will assuredly fail. I told my new raid team who may not be the best players, but are for the most part good people who I am beginning to enjoy playing along side…”TRUST! Simply trust us that we are guiding our raid team to a point of success. If you have suggestions or see things that need correcting, let us know. Myself and the co-raid leader Tank are here to help everyone have success. Trust us!” Trust is the hardest thing to establish, but the most powerful tool in building a cohesive team.

Sappy? Perhaps. But very true.

Q