Blogaversary!

It's my blogaversary!

One year ago I made my first post on this blog. I wrote about Dalliah the Doomsayer, a boss in Arcatraz, who I thought was tough and interesting and probably I put more importance on her than necessary. Later, I wrote more and more and more and established what I hope has been a good and helpful read for all WoW players (if especially druids), with some fun and jokes and sarcasm and RP mixed in for flavor and spice.

This blog has had a wonderful year, right? RIGHT!

Enough about me, though. I would like to extend my thanks to a large number of people, without whom this likely would not have been possible, or at least would be very different and not as good as it is now.

Sharlet:
I love you. Thank you for encouraging me, always reading everything I wrote, no matter how good or bad it was, and understanding when I get all excited. You understand it's not "just a game" and have helped me out so much. Thank you and, again, I love you.

Phaelia:
You write the defining WoW blog that spurred me into creating my own. You showed me that I could do this, that people wanted this sort of information. You set a standard that, though I didn't know if I could reach it, kept me motivated to give good, helpful information anyone could use. And you're a wonderful person who is fun to talk to. Thank you.

BBB:
You were the first druid blog I ever read. You were fun, smart, helpful and full of attitude. You helped me shape my own style and be a less afraid of critics and more confident in myself as a writer and informant (and you probably never knew!). Not only that, but you welcomed me into your guild, joked with me, played with me, and we had a good time. Thank you.

BRK:
You're a riot, you know your stuff, and you were my first WoW blog. I've never gotten a hunter past level 18, and your blog makes me sorry for that fact every day. Even though Bellbell finds your tactics frustrating, through reading your blog she managed to kill a Beast Mastery hunter a level above her in Hellfire the other day. You were my first inspiration and always have been a favorite. Thank you.

Ratshag:
You probably aren't aware, but through reading your blog and playing with Palintera on Feralicious, I was able to write for Bellbell. She gained personality and dynamic because I read your blog and thought "I want to do that, too." You also showed me how I could make amazingly great friends through my blog. Thank you, and thanks for taking me out to dinner, too.

Sannhet:
Thank you for being one of the best friends and the best guild leader I've ever had, and for always encouraging me to write. You've always told me I was a great druid, even when I was screwing up as a feral in the level 40's. I'll always be one of your generals at heart. Thank you.

Harl:
Thank you for bugging me when I don't post, telling me I'm a great healer when I refused to believe you anyway, and playing on a server type you disliked so we could hang out. You've been helpful to me in so many ways, including showing me that good friendships really don't end when someone stops playing. Thank you.

There are so many people to thank...it is difficult to get them all, and a personalized list of even just names would stretch forever. To everyone in BA Chat, to every blogger who has helped me, given me advice, or listened to mine, to every person who has read my blog, whether you agreed or disagreed, to my guest posters, to my guild members and WoW friends, to those who commented, those who simply said thank you, who shared my blog, who linked to me, to those who encouraged me, who debated with me, who pushed me, prodded me, and in any way influenced my writing and gaming experience...

Thank you! You made this blogaversary possible!

An Update for the Concerned

I do not have a new computer, and will not be getting one in the forseeable future.

I do not have Wrath, and will probably not for a while longer (week or two). Wrath was released about the same time I was given, not lying, about eleven papers to write for my classes. If I downloaded Wrath, I would fail my classes.

I have not quit WoW. I am not planning on quitting anytime soon.

That being said, the times I have logged on have been depressing. Every one of my friends is over 70 and in Northrend, and all I read and hear about is the content I'm missing. The most interaction I've had with people is to run their Death Knights through Mana Tombs.

But, well, at least my Netherwing rep is climbing steadily, right? Eggs everywhere.

...

*sigh*

Indecision, Patch 3.0.2

So, I have a lot to talk about and little time. The patch came during Midterms week, and I'm still recovering. Honestly, I am a very, very tired druid that could use some time in the Emerald Dream. Perhaps a week, at the least. Unfortunately, that's not an option and I shall continue to run around like a chicken with her head cut off until Thanksgiving break.

Now, 3.0 hit and I became lost, confused and overwhelmed rather quickly. I was never in beta and my PTR kept erroring upon download, so I couldn't even muck around there. When the patch hit, I had to hit the ground running.

Pre-patch, I had used WoWHead's druid calculator to create ten or more different Resto specs. I had Dreamstate specs, levelling specs, raid healing, crit healing, mana conservation, five-man, ten-man, and all sorts of specs, both ingenious and ridiculous. And the night before the patch I sat there, going through the links, looking them over, picking through them and pretending there wasn't an exam I needed to study for (I think I aced it, though).

Then the patch came and I specced Moonkin.

The original idea was to spec Doomkin and test it out in arena with a warlock partner. However, midterms and my partner's work schedule (as well as my work schedule) cut our available time down. Then Hallow's End hit, and I'm much more concerned with getting a Squashling and Hallowed Helm than I am with playing in Arena (I lost the pet and broom twice in one run! and the helm in another! injustice!).

Spell power is just as confusing as it I thought it would be. I am in possession of over fifty different pieces of spell power gear, and no Outfitter to organize them for me. I haven't had time to download and fiddle with Closet Gnome, and I find myself hunting through my bags and manually clicking on various different pieces of gear depending on what I'm doing and what I hope to accomplish. That and the introduction of spell power has completely nerfed off-spec healing, but I suppose that's just a minor quibble.

At the moment, levelling a ret paladin (Divine Storm is gorgeous), a warlock, and a priest, combined with trying to sort Bellwether out, is just completely overwhelming. Besides that...I really miss being a healer. I imagine I'll be trading in my antlers for branches quite soon.

Though, Typhoon + Tree Mafia? Hella good times.

Meet My New/Old Friends and the Only Achievement I'm Working On

There are two new additions to the blogosphere, and one old addition who has returned with a new name!

First off, we have Spam Moonfare, a brand-new druid blog. The author of this blog contacted me via e-mail about a link exchange, and I wandered over there to check out his site. He's off to a spectacular start for people who like big reads, as the vast majority of his posts are meaty. And it's not just filler; this moonkin's got stuff to say! And I'd suggest you pay attention, or you may just be Typhoon spammed to death!

Next up we have the priest blog Starshards FTW! by my friend Bellezza. That's right, I'm not the only blogging Bell anymore (and she's even on my server! The confusion!). My blogging is apparantly a sort of communicable disease, as this would make the sixth or seventh person who has decided to start a blog, is one of my friends, and said to me something along the lines of "omg I want to blog too!" after reading some of my posts. She's off to an excellent start, and I'd encourage anyone, even if you've only slightly considered rolling a priest, to check her out.

And finally, we have Alts for One, a renamed blog by my friend Harl. This guy is harcore into the levelling of toons, and I don't even remember the final count of 70's he has. The great thing is, he's pretty knowledgeable about all of them, and take the time to do his homework. Currently, he's levelling a warrior, and odds are he's going to catch up to Bellbell in a matter of weeks.

Now, what's the only achievement I'm working on actively pre-Wrath?

Pets. Pets, pets, pets. "Shop Smart, Shop Pet...Smart" is an achievement for owning 50 pets, and with it you get what is called a Reeking Pet Carrier. And in said smelly box is a skunk, a skunk named Stinker. And ever since I first saw the little buggers roaming around Azuremyst, I have squeed and cooed and gone "that. must. be. a. pet."

And now it is and now I will have it.

I have 42 pets so far, and I have a plan for the rest (and they'll be relatively easy to get). However, there's a Dark Whelpling up on the AH for 800g I'm just...so tempted to get. So tempted. However, 800g is a lot for one pet, especially when the others will be cheaper and larger in quantity.

But, seriously...a Dark Whelpling!

/indecision

WotLK or Bust...?

At this point in time, I’m with “bust.” I feel a little on the minority side, with all the beta hype and the cheering, speculation, whining and caterwauling. Recently I typed about some things I didn’t like, but I was having a bad day and it was horribly done. Now, every time I look at beta information or hear about new talents, I’m not excited or outraged. It doesn’t even seem like the same game anymore, to be honest.

So much is changing. I understand that BC changed a lot from vanilla-WoW, but WotLK is remodeling the entire game. Removing down-ranking, switching over to spell-power, raid-wide buffs, odd categories and non-stacking, potion sickness…it’s almost as if they’re trying to make an entirely new game from the same cloth. Classes that gained usefulness and notoriety for special features are losing their uniqueness to other classes and losing their importance through randomized nerfs and buffs that change from week to week.

I understand the impermanence of the beta, but there are certain things Blizz has said they’re definitely going to change, that have been around for four years and that they’ve seemingly never bothered to work with before. They’re doing a lot of fun things, like with hunter pets, but I can’t seem to look at WotLK with hope or excitement.

Perhaps some of it is the impermanence. I can’t get interested in anything that I know might be gone or changed or revamped or whatever in days or hours or minutes. Perhaps some of it is that it is possible my class (whichever class at that time I happen to be) could be much less important to the raids, and it’s a little hard to imagine that your niche is no longer your niche. Perhaps at the core of it, it’s just me lacking too much information.

In the end, I’m not sure if I’ll play Wrath. I have a copy on reserve, so I suppose we’ll see. Though, I wonder, besides myself and perhaps one or two people I’ve talked to, is anyone else kind of…ambivalent towards, or even not looking forward to Wrath?

The Time is Now, Part Five: Overview and Reader Response

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
*~*~*

It’s been an (unfortunately) long journey to complete this series. However, it can all be summed up easily: if you want to raid in WotLK, and you want to raid in a 25-man, the time to be looking for a guild is now, hence the title. It’s better to be settled in and working with people you know than to enter the mad recruiting rush at the beginning stages of the expansion. You can find a stable environment and even find out if you want to continue raiding 25-mans when the expansion hits. Plus, 25-man experience now will give you an advantage against people trying to get out of the ten-man track.

Readers have had a lot to say about this series, and I’ve picked out some really good ones to bring to the front page and share.

First off, in reply to Part One, anonymous wrote:

one more reason: l2raid now, before wrath hits, and your fellow raiders will love you.

Right. Experience, experience, experience. Running ten man’s is much different than 25’s Learning to synergize with 24 other people, knowing different dps rotations and how your skills buff others is very important. For example, Regrowth is often necessary in tens, but mostly wasteful in 25’s.

Part Two generated a lot more, longer responses.

Anonymous also replied:

We use

http://www.wowjutsu.com/

to rank the guilds on a server. It's impartial and ranks guilds by scanning the toons for the drops they got.

Which is absolutely correct. Though, be careful, if the guild’s members haven’t been queued recently, WoWJutsu can be slow to update ranking.

Another response from Graylo of Gray Matter had this to say about recruitment:

"Most importantly, check who is recruiting. If they’re not recruiting, you need to look elsewhere."

I disagree with this. Recruitment thread let you evaluate your chances of getting an invite, but they are by no means a guarrentee or a wall to getting into a guild.

My perspective may be out of the norm since I play a moonkin, but I have two examples of why you shouldn't pay 100% attention to classes a guild is recruiting.

1) My first 25 man raiding guild wasn't recruiting a moonkin. I apped because a friend had just joined them. They weren't actively looking for a moonkin but they were interested in giving one a shot. I got in and raided with them for almost a year.

2) My new guild actively recruited a moonkin. I apped and got invited quickly. I was also told that I would be the only raiding moonkin in guild. I took a look at one of the recruiting thread they have up and it says they are still recruiting a moonkin. Maybe I should be worried, but the more likely explanation is that they didn't update the class recruitment.

When it comes down to it you should find a guild that best suits your needs, and app. Most guilds will make an exception for high quality applications. Plus you don't know what the situation is in the guild. Maybe one of the resto druids wants to go feral. Maybe they have a player that is a real pain in the ass, but they can't actively recruit in an attempt to keep the peace. Maybe they had someone leave suddenly. You never know.

Whats the worse that can happen? They turn you down and you go on to the next one.

He’s correct, and I’m sorry I discouraged people from going for it. It’s true, you never know until you try. However, I encouraged peopled to look for a guild actively recruiting, as it’s more likely you will not find yourself benched, but with a static raid spot.

Jeremy Rowland also replied:

I recently joined up with a 2/6 Sunwell guild even though my gear and BC raiding experience was a little underwhelming (I was an active raider pre-BC). A few things to add...

* Top progression guilds are almost always recruiting, even when they aren't, if you catch my drift. People come and go, issues come up in real life and players have to take a break from raiding. The best guilds on any server often get enough applicants without asking that they can simply bring someone in. Sometimes they keep an eye on the horizon and will recruit and gear up players (via farm bosses) they see as being at the top of their class, even if there's not a current spot for them on the progression bosses.

* Since this post seems directed to undergeared players with higher aspirations, it's important to stress any past experience you have at playing at the level they will be expecting. Progression guilds aren't about farming loot, they're about wiping endlessly on frustrating bosses night after night, and they don't want to bring you in just to find out you're a loot whore who only shows up on farm boss nights. But also be a little realistic, you're not gonna be useful even in Black Temple with only Kara gear and blues, and chances are guilds aren't gonna believe you've got what it takes anyway if that's the best you've done so far by now, in the era of "welfare epics".

* Be at the top of your game when you get a trial run invitation...I got a guild invite when they were impressed that I was outhealing the tier 6 players in my tier 4/5 and badge gear. It might not be fair, but a stupid mistake or two could cost you an invitation into the guild, so focus and make it the best raid you've ever done. Also, be sure to show up to at least 80-90% of raids for at least the first month and at least 60% for the first 3 months or so, to show you're serious about the commitment.

* Figure out what's really important to you. Do you want to be in the furthest progress guild on the server and top 50 in the world if it means a psychotic raid leader screaming and swearing at you every night? I chose my guild because it was the only top 5 guild on the server whose raid times I could reliably meet, but I was also ready to leave (and have before, from a guild at similar level, in the past) if it simply wasn't the place for me (fortunately they turned out to be a fantastic bunch). In the end, it's just a game, and there are other great guilds out there!!!

This is a great overall summary, with great advice! The comment about raid attendance is of utmost importance; the more they know they can depend on you, the more likely you’ll get a static raid spot through WotLK.

Part Three was the most responded to of the series, and many people had things to say! Most of it is about the logging out in PvE gear and spec.
Ithilien of Tarec’s Hunt-O-Rama wrote about a certain service called CTProfiles:

Re. the logging out in your gear - I've found it easier to post links to e.g. CTProfiles profiles in applications, rather than relying on the armory to be a) up to date b) functioning c) functioning corrently. Far too often have I looked up applicants for my previous guild only to find out their profile was 2 weeks out of date, the armory would be down or it would crash my browser.

Added bonus is that you can define multiple profiles with various talent builds/gear sets on CTProfiles allowing you to showcase secondary gear sets (FR/NR/SR gear sets for example) or alternate talent builds (allowing a hunter to show their prefered MM build for SWP while they're currently BM for BT/MH for example).

It's a bit of a hassle to set it up correctly the first time I'll admit, but the benefits (like always being available for starters) far outweigh that initial drawback.

This is a great service, despite the hassle involved in the initial setup, but it’s good to remember that when you haven’t actively applied to a guild, people will be scoping you out on armory first and foremost.

Jordan had this to say about applying to a guild:

Remember, too, whilst applying to a guild, if you happen to have caught the eye of a paladin in the guild, who happens to also be their multi-class officer and theorycrafter, you've higher chances of getting in. ;P

Of course, if you don’t know this, then it’s impossible to take advantage of. And if you were unsure, yes, he is referring to himself and me, and yes, we are together. ♥ Raiding isn’t just a fun and challenging thing to do, it’s also a way to meet the most amazing person in the world.

Mae of Electronic Escape had this advice to offer:

Those are really great suggestions!! I know for us, we look at armory when we're recruiting so logging out in your gear with everything appropriately enchanted/gemmed is really, really important!

Our guild app specifically asks for armory link, so with us, we get a little perturbed if an applicant doesn't include it. My suggestion would be if you're going to offer a link to something like CTProfiles or Sandbox, which are great, that you put your armory link on there also. If it's asked for an not given, the applications is incomplete, at least for a lot of guilds. We rely on the applications as the first sign that a potential guildie knows how to follow instructions completely. :D

Great post!!

Right on the money. Answer all questions completely. Offer extra information if you want/need to, but always give the guild exactly what they ask for!

No one’s offered a response on Part Four, so I’m either grossly mistaken or intensely correct. Either way, if people do leave important comments, this part of the post will be updated.

I’d like to thank all of you who contributed (knowingly or unknowingly) and for being patient while my life was in moving chaos!

The Time is Now, Part Four: Pros and Cons

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
*~*~*

Let’s just jump right into the nitty-gritty, shall we?

Pros
~Most guilds that survived the summer attrition and the return of many raiders to that evil place known as school have great staying power. This means, barring drama llama explosions, your guild should be around a while, including into Wrath. You should have a stable, long enduring home with a core group of loyal raiders.

~There’s a good chance they will continue to advance in content right up until the imminent release of WotLK. This means gear, bosses, experiences and, hopefully, fun. You know, that thing you’re supposed to have in a game! *gasp*

~Gear may drop like vendor grays for you. The members of Sunder who moved on have gained several T6 and T6 equivalent pieces (as well as TSunwell), many of them within their first few raids.

~Even if your guild does fall apart, you’ll gain the rep of an advanced guild and will have an easier time finding your way into another one. Experience, gear and name can go a long way into easing your application process to other guilds.

~More raid instances cleared = more achievements!

Cons
~Sunwell is hard, and if that's where you're going, watch out. If you’re not prepared to put in effort and don’t have the patience to wipe continuously, don’t put yourself through it.

~All this effort is going to count for naught when WotLK hits shelves. You may be working on KJ, but expect to never see his loots if you can’t get him down before the expansion release date announcement.

~Many large guilds that survived summer may have glutted due to the influx of characters from guilds which imploded. If you’re in that guild, it’s quite possible you’ll be seeing the bench more than the bosses.

~Raiding is expensive. Repairs, potions, elixirs, flasks, oils, gems, enchants and food all stack up to a pretty pricy bill. If you’re trying to hoard your gold for the expansion, raiding is only going to eat right through it.

If you’ve weighed the pros and cons, and it’s still largely positive for you, what’re you waiting for? Get raiding!

The Time is Now, Part Three: Getting Noticed

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
*~*~*

So you’ve found yourself a guild or two or three that you find attractive.

Now what?

Well, you want them to notice and consider you, correct? Then you have some work to do, my friend.

Dress For Success
Always, always, always log out in your gear when you are going to app to a guild. Even if you just begin to talk to some members of a guild, they’re going to look you up. And if you’re decked out in your PvP gear with a Frost Spec when you stated you raid Fire, it puts the person you’re communicating with the undesirable job of attempting to visualize the gear and talents you explain to them. Though easier on a forum to link a talent build or to explain a basic, well-known spec, if you’re just getting a feel for the leadership before you leave an application, it’s best to be wearing your full PvE gear each time you log out.

Talent builds can be explained, but gem choices, enchants and itemization decisions generally take some visual cues to give useful information to a prospective guild.

Use the Looking For Group Channel
This is a very simple trick. Open Looking For Group, click Looking For More, and pick an old-world raid, one that almost never gets any attention from anyone (AQ40 is one such raid), and park yourself in it. This should open your Looking For Group channel. Check who is soliciting for people of your class or role. Are any of them in the guilds you want to app to? If you have the time, then go with them. If you do a good job, are courteous and helpful, as well as that rare “good pug,” it can leave a good impression. It doesn’t hurt to casually ask them about their guild as you’re running, as long as the talk doesn’t distract you from casting Swiftmend at the opportune moments.

Do Organized PvP with Them
What! PvP isn’t raiding!

So what? Lots of people remember that healer who saved their butt back in EotS or that fearless defender of Stables. Just don’t fight in the roads, and do what the premade leader tells you to do. Don’t get upset or frustrated or defiant. Be calm, reasonable, rational. Seasoned raiders become foaming at the mouth frustrated quicker to PvP than a few hours of raid wipes; set yourself apart by not being one of them.

Go on Their Lower Content Raids
No one’s ever really done with Karazhan, and many people can still use upgrades from Gruul’s, Mag, TK and SSC. If someone in your prospective guild runs that sort of content regularly, and it is open to all comers, see about joining up. You are getting your name out there. You want to show up ready, repaired, with all your consumables, reagents and in a PvE spec. Remember, you’re getting your name out there, so always make sure you’re making a good impression.

When you can, be on Vent. It’s always good to hear how a guild interacts with its members and with its PUGs.

Apply to the Guild
Of course, this seems like a no-brainer. If you want to be in a guild, you apply, right? Remember that I said to always log out in PvE gear; well, now it would be best to log out in your PvE spec. Prospective guilds will want to see how your talents interact with your gear, and are likely unwilling to do the calculations themselves.

In general, look at past applications, follow all directions and take more than five minutes to fill it out. Be courteous, responsive, and explain anything you feel you may be lacking. Use any “other information” slots to your full benefit. Do you run old world raids? Do you have six gear sets? Do you have that ultra-rare pattern no one can seem to find? Let them know.

Do not trash players, your old guild or specs. You never know who is reading.

For a more in-depth look into applying to a guild, I urge you to check out Chick GM’s series on applying to guilds. She explains what to do, what not to do, and gives several examples of good and bad applications, recruitment, interviews and the initiation period.

Now, all you can do is wait, and, if you’ve done your homework, you should be seeing at least one acceptance!

The Time is Now, Part Two: Finding a Guild

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
*~*~*

So, you’ve decided you want to join a 25-man raiding guild before the expansion, but you’re not sure how to go about it. You’ve geared yourself up as best you can with badge gear, content available to you, rep grinds and crafting. You know your class and how to play it, you just need the guild to get you into content. You have several resources available to you on your quest.

Realm Forums
Yes, a majority of the players avoid the official WoW forums like the plague due to the high percentage of trolling, nonsense, drama and keyloggers. However, it is one of the most valuable assets in your search for a guild.

Most servers have a Guild Progression thread, and they’re generally well-maintained by the player who starts them. They can detail everything from simply progression to also listing guild leaders of the main guilds and websites in which to contact them. This is the simplest, most straight-forward description of a guild. It doesn’t tell you much about a guild past how far they’ve been able to come pre-expansion, but that’s a great place to start.

After that, check the rest of the forum. Look at @ threads (like @playername and @guildname) about the guilds in the area you’re looking for. Take what people say with a grain of salt, but look at how the members of various guilds conduct themselves. Do they respond to abuse in a way you agree with? Do they make abuse threads? What are players in the same tier of progression saying about guilds and members of those guilds they’re not in? Basically, do you want to be associated with a guild or players that has stigma or creates stigma?

Most importantly, check who is recruiting. If they’re not recruiting, you need to look elsewhere.

It’s your choice, of course, and different people look for different things. But it’s important research, if you’re able to stomach the forums for that long.

Guild Recruitment Forums
If you’re on a low pop server, or are willing to transfer, the guild recruitment (Alliance and Horde) forums is also a good place to find a guild in your range. If you’re unwilling to do the work to read all the posts (and there are quite a lot), you can often post your own character and what you expect from a guild (raiding times, nights, attendance requirements, loot system, raiding expectations for WotLK, etc.) and guild leaders/recruitment officers will often reply.

However, don’t expect many personalized responses, as the guild recruitment forums is too big and there are too many hopefuls for a player to use their time to personally respond to everyone. However, they will leave form descriptions and contact information so you can check them out on your own time.

If you find some you like, check out their realm forums. Do the same search within theirs you did on your own. It’s perhaps even more crucial to check their server size and how many guilds of the appropriate level there are available on that server. If you end up transferring but not liking your guild, it’s good to know what other options are open to you.

The Level One Alt
Whether you’re looking at a new server or scoping out your own, creating a level one alt and heading to a main city can be helpful. Once you’re in a main city, ask in trade (the most commonly spammed and open channel) questions about the raiding guilds on the server. Anything from questions about progression, to who is the best-geared rogue, if anyone has the legendary bow, who is recruiting, or who is breaking up.

The responses you get will be interesting. Some will be ridiculous, like the level 45 rogue claiming to be the best-geared on the server. However, you’ll see how members of various guilds talk about themselves and others, and you’ll get a general feel for a new server. Do you want to be in a guild that openly trashes other guilds, or who doesn’t defend itself in trade, or who does defend itself? Do you want one that doesn’t have the best geared (insert your class here) so you can be of a more comparable level or do you want one with the best geared (your class here) so you have less loot competition?

If you’re so inclined, take notes. Who has a trash mouth, who spams trade, who provides helpful information, and who talks completely different to an anonymous level one alt than they do to you on your 70 may be important to remember. Note what guilds they’re in. You may notice a trend, or you may find that a guild has a wide variety of attitudes within it. No matter who you prefer to raid with, you should find a group of people who suit your attitude.

While you’re in trade, take note of the high level crafters and what guilds they’re in, as well as who is selling bear mounts, Hearts of Darkness, Marks of the Illidari, Sunmotes and epic boe patterns. It’s nice to be in a guild that has enough HoD’s to get you your SR set right off, and who have enough people with the epic patterns that they’re able to sell them. Most high level guilds have a crafter with everything you need, but it’s good to know who is actively in the market. Guilds selling bear mounts can generally blow through ZA with no problem, and may be willing to take you in for your own (and gear upgrades, where applicable).

Your Friends
Ask around your circle of friends on your server. You can often find out more “insider” information about various guilds and players in guilds. This way you can find out who had to bug out Archimonde to get their kills (and haven’t killed him since the fix) or what bosses a guild is stuck on. You can find out things like their loot policies and flubs, how DKP is accumulated or who is on the loot council. Perhaps a known Skettis Tree ninja is in one guild, or in another guild is the only crafter of such-and-such an epic item. Maybe every member of X guild is on every Horde guild KOS list.

Though your friends and other players can be perhaps the best sources of information outside of being in the guild itself, they can also be biased (perhaps Friend Y got kicked out of Guild Z), have misinformation, or be blowing things out of proportion. They may also simply be passing on second-hand information and not actually know what they’re talking about.

Take all the information in, keep a grain of salt handy, and learn all you can.

Guild Websites
If you’ve found a guild or two you wish to join, check their guild websites. Read their charters (if they have one), see their loot system, check their roster (especially those members who are your same class and spec), and look over their forums. If you have access, look at their sign-ups. It may be important to check how much of a waitlist they have for raids and which ones have the best turn-out. It’s good to know, also, which raids are required and which have no penalty for absence. It can also be helpful to know how long the guild has been around to check for stability. If it doesn’t look like it’s going to survive the expansion, it won’t be worth your time.

Read whatever part of the forums you can access. See what threads are available, what people talk about, and how the guild interacts on its website. Also check which forums and threads are locked from your view. What the guild chooses to share about itself and what it keeps from the public can be very telling.

Whether or not you’re ready to apply to a guild, check their application forums, if they have one. Check how active it is, what classes and specs they’re recruiting, if it is well-maintained, frequently updated, and if applications are responded to promptly. If they have a denied/accepted applications forum, read it. This is a gold mine. You can see who was accepted and who was denied. If it’s not stated why they were denied, check them out and see how you’re different from the applicant, and if you can spot any potential problems with their application.

It seems like a lot of work, but not everything is necessary to find a good guild. However, a combination of these tactics should work to give you some options to find your guild.

The Time is Now, Part One: Why Join Before the Expansion?

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
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With Wrath of the Lich King coming around soon, you may think it’s too late to join a raiding guild. However, due to the summer months, now is prime time to find a great one.

In the summer, many static members of raids have vacation time or burn out, and positions open up in guilds on almost every server. There are more guilds needing members than there are free agents. No matter your experience, even if you’re just decked out in some Kara purples and badge gear, there is at least a T5 guild who could use you. Many will train you and gear you up, desperate to see content before WotLK makes it obsolete.

But why should you join now? You know the expansion is going to quickly replace your epics, isn’t it? Do you want to put in the time to raid before the expansion?

Well, it all depends on your goals for the expansion. Do you want to raid in WotLK, and do you want to do it “hardcore”? Hardcore being 25-man raiding, that is. When WotLK drops, there will be two choices for every raid group: the 10-man and the 25-man, and the 25-man will be tougher with better rewards. If that’s your thing, and you’re not in a “hardcore” raiding guild at the moment, it might be worth looking into.

You might be wondering why now, if WotLK is in beta and it seems like a lot of work for nothing. Well, if anything in the game seems like work, you should avoid it, so this is probably not for you. However, if it’s something you have held any interest in, it’s worth a try.

Why, though?

To begin with, a lot of raiding guilds will want to be ready at 80 as soon as possible to get into the raids. They’ll want to get into new content as soon as their raiders are leveled and geared enough to take advantage of it.

Recruiting in the beginning stages of WotLK will be a mess. It will be harder to discern what stats, gear and specs people need to have, old players will be returning, new players will be drawn in by the lure of a shiny new game and Recruit-A-Friend, and everyone will be rushing to 80 as fast as possible. So many people will also reach 80 at the same time and be at the same level of gear, it will be difficult to stand out in the crowd.

However, if you’re already in a guild before the expansion, you can skip the need to apply at 80 and can go directly into raiding. Your guild will know that you’re reliable, always bring your consumables and/or know how to take direction (along with many other essential or social qualities). You’ll already be on the inside, so you won’t have to fight through tons of hopeful new 80’s who want into a guild with a reputation for advancement.

There will also be such an influx of guilds wishing to take advantage of the 10-man raids, it will be harder to find a guild that wants to delve into the 25’s. If the guild is established by the coming of the expansion as having the man-power, consistency and will to do 25-mans, there is a better chance that they will continue to do so in the expansion. And if they do fall apart, you will have valuable 25's experience which can set you apart from other fresh 80's.

If for no other reason, it will give you something to do until the expansion comes out and Illidan is being killed by a group of five 80’s, right?

Two Things, and They're Bad

Two things right now I disagree with. Two things right now either aren't good enough or are just bad ideas. The first would be the cosmetic feral glyphs in WotLK, and the second would be the Recruit-A-Friend nonsense.

Yes, nonsense.

Anyway, I think I'll start with the first.

I'll admit, I'm not at the fore-front of WotLK knowledge. I don't really have the time right now to do an intense amount of research on druid changes and glyphs and DK's and all the other things coming out in the expansion. And I actually don't want to know too much about it. It's a roller coaster of changes and ups and downs with the beta, so I'm not too concerned with it until it becomes final.

However, I do read Bear's blog and he very recently talked about a red lynx glyph. I am actually not excited about this. My attitude is, basically, not impressed. If you have to use up a glyph spot for these polar bear or lynx glyphs, then you're not making your druid the best it can be, stat-, dps- and tanking-wise, if you use a cosmetic glyph. It would become the equivalent of leaving one of your sockets in your gear empty right now. I could not, in good conscience as a healer, sacrifice my utility to give myself green or blue leaves when I could be putting out a better HPS.

The other issue I have with this is it is doing almost nothing to deal with the deindividuation of druids. Except now, instead of the same purple bear and the same brown bear, you can be the same purple bear, the same brown bear or the same white bear. You can be the same purple cat, same brown cat or same red cat. It's not fixing it. It's not really doing anything but advertising that you're willing to sacrifice stats for cosmetics. It isn't really "unique"! Every single bear with the polar bear glyph will be the same polar bear.

It's like giving everyone at a Catholic school the choice between a blue uniform or a brown uniform. You have a choice in how you look, but blues are going to look like every other blue, and browns are going to be like every other brown.

Moving onto the other issue.

Recruit-A-Friend is what I like to call a Bad Idea. Not a Bad Idea in theory, but definitely in practice. Mostly because it only benefits the gifter and not the recipient in the long run.

If someone is just starting out in the game, allowing them to triple their experience right off the bat isn't good. If they decide they dislike their chosen character, they then need to pick another, and level three times as slowly. And in tripling experience, much of the old content is completely skippable. This sounds great to a veteran player, but in essence is very bad for a new player. Unless they only plan on ever levelling and playing one character, they're essentially lost.

Basically, any person brought to the game through Recruit-a-Friend will, on the non-tripled alt, be likely lost, confused, frustrated with the levelling speed, and unfamiliar with many zones, dungeons and quests (slowing them even further).

EDIT: I need to rewrite this post, but feel free to keep giving me information about glyphs and Recruit-A-Friend and such. It's obvious I need to do some more homework (damn the recruit-a-friend site being down while I was in first draft!), but I'm still not convinced these aren't "bad" or, at least, "not good enough" sorts of things. :)

Guest Post: Aura and You

Today's post is brought to you by Zeffy of Six Branch Tree!

Hello my name is Zeffy from the Misha server!

I like most you other trees have been drooling over the new talents that are coming with WotLK later this year. I have been reading what everyone has been getting excited about, and it has surprised me that this has not come up much. I am speaking about the aura we have while in ToL.

In Burning Crusade we gain these benefits while in ToL



25% of spirit bonus healing to all party members, speed and mana cost down by 20%

In WotLK this form will take on a bit of a change.



The line that I would like to talk about is in the third yellow one. Notice how it says party and RAID members? This is HUGE and does not seem to be causing much of a buzz.

I am just starting to experience end game BC so most of this is coming from speculation. I noticed just this past Saturday as I was finishing up the Kara run with the guild that my aura was not affecting members in the other group. To me this seemed like a waste. We speced this way to maximize our healing, and if the Aura was only acting like a buff to the four others in our group. That means during a raid anywhere between 5-20 people are not gaining the buff of increased healing received. From a purely physical stand point this does not make seem to follow any sort of logic. How can an Aura just go, Him? no screw him, he is not in my group so I will not benefit him, but will travel halfway across the map to get that guy!

I was placed in the same group as another Resto Druid and I noticed something interesting as well, our Aura's stacked! this means that the other three people in our group were getting two + healing buffs! I have never seen my Lifebloom so powerful, I don't think I even casted one Rejuvenation on a fellow party member.

Now imagine endgame of WotLK and your guild is on a 25 man, wouldn't you want at least four trees with you, allowing for four stacks of the aura to build up on the raid? The amount of + healing received would be HUGE! Stick a Shadow Priest in with the other four druids and you will have an insanely mana efficient healing brigade. And now that trees can cast all healing spells in this form, you can divvy up the healing assignments, lets say three trees dedicated to HoT's and the other in charge of any long cast time healing such as Healing Touch or Regrowth. This group would be nicknamed of course HoT Domination (patent pending).

Ohh I can not wait for WotLK to come out, but until then i will be reading up as much as I can, and performing /drool at just about every single opportunity

-Zeffy


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Bellwether is on vacation from the twenty-fourth to the fourth, and appreciates your patience in answering all your comments and e-mails. Please enjoy these pre-scheduled posts and guest bloggers in the meantime!

New Talent Trees: I am SO Excited

So, Wowhead put up the new talent trees (as I'm sure everyone is aware of by now), and I've been playing with them. I've had very little internet time as of late, which is why I feel a bit tardy to the party, but I have to say:

Wow.

A lot of this stuff is crazy. I can see Moonkins becoming actual vital parts of raids instead of the liability lots of raiding guilds see them as. Still no talented threat dump, but perhaps a trainable one will appear. Otherwise, I can see it still being difficult to get them into raids without gimping their dps at times to keep from pulling aggro. There's also a sort of odd jump for them in the Restoration tree if they want "Master Shapeshifter" - They'll need to take a few points in either a distinctly feral or distinctly resto talent to get there, which isn't optimal at all. I can plainly see a few "PvP" talents, such as "Owlkin Frenzy" which works off the player taking damage.

Ferals are getting scary. Looking at what they can do, I can't imagine there will be too much Arena QQ. The ability to remove all loss of control effects on your character and be immune to them for the duration of "Berserk"? Adding an infected wound, being able to hit up to three targets with Maul and Mangle, being refunded energy for a miss on a finishing move...just intense, imo.

The Restoration tree does not disappoint either. Especially with one certain thing I noticed...


There is no longer any movement impairment effect in the Tree of Life tooltip.

HUZZAH!

There's a little blip in the talent progression: If you take Imp MotW and Nature's Focus, then Subtlety and Natural Shapehifter, followed by Intensity and Master Shapeshifter, and then take Improved Rejuvenation, you are left needing one talent point in something to progress further down the talent tree. Since ToL still doesn't have Healing Touch available to it, there's a question as to where you put this free-floating point.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the talent "Replenish" was the Reliquary of Souls fight, with the Essence of Anger. The tank in that fight has to dump their mana/rage as fast as possible, as Anger does an attack which burns it from them and gives them a high amount of damage. If there are any fights where this occurs, having the "Replenish" talent could actually be a detriment. Though, of course, I'm sure these situations would probably be few in number.

Overall, I'm excited to try each and every one of these trees when WotLK comes out, and I can't wait until I'm healing with a Flourish.

/drool