Thank You

To Warriors:
Thank you for standing in front of me and letting things hit you.
Thank you for shouldering the massive repair bills that come with your job.
Thank you for preventing my death.
Thank you for being ready to offtank in the click of a macro.
Thank you for Execute spam.
Thank you for MS.
Thank you for wanting to be my partner in arenas.
Thank you for appreciating my heals.
Thank you for appreciating when I tank so you can dps.
Thank you for spec'ing prot when you don't want to so that we can get the raid off the ground.
Thank you for being living CC.
Thank you for not giving up even when people won't take you to instances because you "should be a tank."
Thank you for explaining silly things to a druid who doesn't know any better.

To Shamans:
Thank you for every single totem.
Thank you for Brain Heals.
Thank you for Ankh and saving us from having to run back when the trash could respawn any second.
Thank you for Heroism and a shorter GCD.
Thank you for your Heroic-saving Earth Elemental.
Thank you for Earth Shield.
Thank you for putting up with having to reorder your totems everytime you're in a new raid or placed in a new group.
Thank you for watching your dps so you do not pull aggro.

To Druids:
Thank you for boosting my HoTs with yours.
Thank you for giving the melee more crit, and allowing them to heal when they crit.
Thank you for Faerie Fire on the mobs so the melee can ignore more armor.
Thank you for covering all the bases with your group buff.
Thank you for the extra threat from Thorns.
Thank you for tanking when you are called to and dpsing when necessary, even if you don't want to.
Thank you for carrying around six sets of gear.
Thank you for your spell crit aura.
Thank you for Insect Swarm and the reduced chance for the mob to hit the tank.
Thank you for not giving up and proving that Moonkins are viable.
Thank you for being mobile healers.
Thank you for Rebirth.
Thank you for Innervate.

To Rogues:
Thank you for your outstanding dps.
Thank you for checking who is next on the threat list before you vanish.
Thank you for equipping different poisons for different encounters.
Thank you for well-timed kicks.
Thank you for stunlocking casters.
Thank you for Sap.
Thank you for Blind.
Thank you for unlocking everything.
Thank you for understanding that the feral druids and fury warriors need your gear too.
Thank you for slighting your own dps to improve others'.
Thank you for being ready to stealth ahead to mark mobs.

To Paladins:
Thank you for killing yourself to save another and to keep us from wiping.
Thank you for not needing any CC.
Thank you for BoP.
Thank you for not BoPing the tank.
Thank you for Flash Heal.
Thank you for never giving up on Retribution.
Thank you for Flash of Light spam.
Thank you for Holy Shock.
Thank you for Lay on Hands.
Thank you for putting up with having to change the Blessing on hybrid specs eight times over.
Thank you for being quick to sort out who casts what Blessing.
Thank you for Blessing of Salvation on the dps.
Thank you for knowing which aura to use in which encounter.
Thank you for being ready to off-heal when called upon.

To Warlocks:
Thank you for drain-tanking.
Thank you for Imp buffs.
Thank you for sending your demon out to attack and then recalling it multiple times so that I can hear all its funny sayings.
Thank you for Healthstones.
Thank you for Soulstones.
Thank you for telling me when you are Life Tapping.
Thank you for summoning people who get lost or left behind.
Thank you for Soul Shattering when you have too much threat.
Thank you for controlled fearing.
Thank you for Seduce.
Thank you for changing your curses based on encounter and group composition.

To Mages:
Thank you for catering every raid.
Thank you for Intellect buff.
Thank you for AoE.
Thank you for Portals at the end of every raid.
Thank you for Portal games at the end of every raid.
Thank you for tanking in Gruul's.
Thank you for letting the Moonkins roll on your gear.
Thank you for Sheeping.
Thank you for re-Sheeping when someone hits it on accident.
Thank you for saving yourself with Ice Block.
Thank you for Spell-Stealing that nasty buff the mob had.

To Hunters:
Thank you for controlling your pet.
Thank you for rezzing your pet before raid buffs are handing out.
Thank you for Chain-Trapping.
Thank you for MQoSRDPS.
Thank you for Expose Weakness.
Thank you for spending so much money on ammo.
Thank you for fun pet names.
Thank you for Aspect of the Pack.
Thank you for knowing when to shut AotP off.
Thank you for kiting mobs.
Thank you for your Boomstick.
Thank you for Misdirecting the appropriate target.
Thank you for Feign Death and Jumper Cables.

To Priests:
Thank you for Fortitude buffs.
Thank you for Shadow Resist.
Thank you for Spirit and Healing buffs.
Thank you for letting me roll on your cloth.
Thank you for healing even after you're dead.
Thank you for being a mana battery.
Thank you for politely inquiring if you can have an Innervate.
Thank you for understanding if I cannot give it to you.
Thank you for Mind Control.
Thank you for Fear Ward.
Thank you for Shackle.
Thank you for Pain Suppression.
Thank you for Shield.

Who do you want to say "Thank you" to?

Spoke Too Soon!

So, what I said in a previous post about not being able to break 1700 +healing?

Bwahaha. BWAHAHAHAHA.

+1701, baby, with the addition of the Vindicator's Pendant of Salvation neck and just getting up the nerve to dump 220g+ on gemming it plus regemming my greens until just. over. the. mark.

Mmmm...delicious, delicious 1701 +heals.

Excuse me, I'm now going to go collapse for a few hours. Apparantly zomgjustafewmorearenagames is not a substitution for a full night's rest. 40 arena games done so far, though, and more to go today.

/glee

No Man's Land

So, I have been guildless for all of five days. I have, within those five days, received two ninja guildinvites (as in they were popped on me without warning), two invites into guilds of my friends, and one invite from a level 51. Now I know why I saw a level 70 running around with the tag Stop Ginviting Me.

That being said, I've still been curious as to what sort of "market" is available for when I jump back into the game (i.e. when I have a set schedule to my life so I know what I can commit to). And I've discovered something very awkward.

There is a huge, expansive "No Man's Land" of recruitment. It seems to me that most guilds want either: Someone to help them start Karazhan, start a second Karazhan group, or head into Gruul's.

Or: Someone with Vashj and Kael experience to help progression through Hyjal, BT and then Sunwell.

And those that are recruiting for about my level or a bit above don't want my class.

My experience to date has been full clears of Karazhan, full Gruul's, full Mag, Lurker and ZA up to Dragonhawk. I don't know the Hydross fight, or Leo or Tidewalker, and I've never even seen Lootreaver. I'm not exactly "green" but I'm not ready to stroll into BT and wave at Illybeans, either.

Guilds look for some basic things when they want applicants. Besides maturity, playtimes, class, etc, it generally boils down to: Skill, Knowledge and Gear.

I can feel mildly confident in my skill. Though I'm newer to 25's, I've demonstrated my ability to think on my feet (except for a screw-up here and there) and to keep my groups alive, as well as myself.

However, that's only one third of the issue, isn't it?

My gear isn't bad. I have a couple green gems I have not replaced yet, as to me it's hard to justify spending 50g a pop for +2 healing and +1 spirit. I'm not exalted with the aldor, so I'm missing my very nice shoulder enchant. This is something that is difficult to excuse when applying for a guild as a healer. I have two pieces of PvP gear; this is often frowned upon. However, it was either those or a blue cloak and a green belt of +healing *shudder*. All of it is enchanted, and is the best I have been able to get so far. But, I don't have full tier 4. I haven't managed to break 1700 +healing yet (I could if I got exalted with Aldor, so that isn't a good excuse). I am, basically, not at the gear level people want.

Next is knowledge. I don't have it when it goes past Lurker. I can't come into a raid and expect them to explain all the bosses for me. I do read the WoWwiki articles and the strats, but there's a difference in reading strategies and hearing them from people who have actually been there and experiencing them for yourself. I don't have the experience, and it's unlikely I will get it unless a major guild on my server has a crisis moment and needs a stand-in healer.

I continue to do raids with the other guild my old guild had teamed up with, so if they ever traverse past Lurker I can get some more experience. I have another friend who has been trying to get me to group with the guild he raids with, but lately he's been rather unlucky in that he whispers me when I'm already in the middle of something.

My options are there, they're just much, much slimmer than anticipated. It seems they are:

• Server transfer once I find a guild looking for someone my experience range.
  
• Go back down to a Kara guild, raid Kara endlessly for badges, and either hope they progress or wait until I have enough badges to purchase every single set of druid gear.
  
• Find a guild that likes me enough or needs me badly enough to power me through raids to get up to their level.
  

Of course, this all hinges on me getting a stable schedule over the summer, so who knows? This may not be anything to worry about at all, because I'll be too busy working.

I Did What Last Night?

Because nobody can explain an adventure as well as Team Ratshag, I'll have to let Palintera tell about what we did last night that her mother can't know about. She's so cute.

As it is, I'm still stiff and sore, so I'm just gonna sit back, relax, listen to a story, and watch her squirm in embarrassment.

Though she may have left that part out.

Decisions, Decisions...

While I already had my opinion on the matter, it's come to my attention that not everyone shares this opinion. I'm willing to forgive the fact that this is blasphemy and explore these other ideas.

The topic of the day: PUGs and Guildies.

Now, I'm no longer in a guild. So, I PUG or do things with old guildies who still love me. Twice, on two seperate days, right in a row, however, I was removed from a PUG by the group leader to make way for their guildy.

The first was a hopeful ZA clear that just needed a healer. They explained their guildmate had better gear and had wanted to go. I said cool, no big deal, guildies come first, and left the raid. I then went to ZG with some fun people and played with the raptor guy and Gahz'ranka. No mount or tome, but I did get this cool Primal Hakkari Tabard that I lack the rep to turn in.

The next day it was a heroic Slave Pens run (not the daily), which I was removed from not five seconds after joining, with a whispered apology about a mix-up and a guildy wanting to go. Once again, no big deal.

Now, how I see it is that, no matter my reaction, I was not getting to go in this group. Had I thrown a fit or freaked out, all I would have done was made myself look bad. And honestly, in both groups, I had not gone anywhere, bought anything or gone out of my way before I had been removed, so I had not been inconvenienced in the slightest. I didn't need Cenarion Rep; I'm Exalted. And running Raids with PUGs isn't the most fun, I know. So, not a problem in any sense.

I've also been in the position before of having to decide if we keep the PUG we just picked up or lose them in favor of a guildmate. It's a hard decision, especially when it comes to raids. It's even more difficult for the person who has to tell the PUG "sorry, we can't take you" and deal with the lashback. So, understanding that, my feathers weren't ruffled in the slightest.

Of course, this does not mean I advocate elitist mentalities or other such insulting behavior. I simply understand the problem that can arise from inviting a PUG over a guildmate. Heck, I've seen problems arise when one guildmate is invited over another!

I've always thought Guildies Come First.

I was a little surprised that when I mentioned it off-hand to my friend that he became a tad bit miffed. He said he would never ditch someone he had already invited, as it was the guildmate's fault for not speaking up sooner, or being not being online, or what have you. I can see this side of the argument, especially if you're trying to teach your raiders the consequences of not showing up when they sign up.

Still, in the end, pitching a fit won't change anything, and it is a difficult decision. People also apolgize much more profusely about it if you swear it's okay. Apparantly, being perfectly fine with being removed from a group invokes more guilt than if you had bit back.

A Toast to Young Dreamers

[17:47] Armond: a quest with a 10 minute timer
[17:48] Armond: and I have six more minutes of res sickness
[17:48] Armond: I CAN DO THIS

Discovered!

I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. I'd shared my blog tentatively with a few people from my old guild, and they liked it. I hadn't counted on them caring enough to share it with others!

It's not that I'm not proud of my blog. I've put time and effort into it to make it look nice and for it to be helpful. Or, at the very least, entertaining. It just doesn't come up in conversation much.

Still. It caught me off guard last night when my friend Clabik told me jokingly over Vent that I should "blog about this." Now, we were just doing a little AB, and it was late for me, so there was not much to say past:

I TOTALLY CALLED IT.

We took back stables (you can see this ended well, if we have to take back stables), and I'm stealthed by the flag. A horde shows up by the stables graveyard, and my friends go "zomg hordes!" and take off running. I remind them, quite gently, that you fight on the flag, and if the horde do not have the courtesy to oblige, you ignore them. This apparantly did not register. I do not budge from the flag, and then I hear "oshi-" as soon as I see two red dots appear on my track humanoids coming around the back of the stables for the flag.

I CALLED IT.

And for Clabik: there. I blogged about it.

I'll see what I can do about Lare's request that the internet hears about his greatness at some point in which our schedules actually coincide, so that I'll have something to say other than "Lare is awesome. Let Lare tank for you. He needs the phat epix, for he was once an Arms Warrior, and a badass one at that. Lare is sexy."

There, Lare, I wrote about you, too.

And speaking of Arms warriors...

Any Arms warrior that can top the dps charts on Lurker against ranged dps that can go all out with no regards to threat is a god amongst players.