The Game Should Change for ME

I get really tired of seeing the phrase "I pay my $15, I should get __________." There is a sense of entitlement that comes with paying money, the idea that "the customer is always right." If something is wrong, then it should be changed to suit you and should keep changing until you are happy. Because, seriously, you're the customer! There's no way what makes you happy could be a bad thing, right?

I touched (very) briefly upon this in the podcast I participated in a few weeks ago, but there are some things that are not Blizzard's job to fix, but are rather self-created problems that people need to take responsibility for fixing on their own, and not try to make Blizzard create policies and mechanics that fix them for you.

The obvious one that I am going to focus on is social control in guilds. This came up in the podcast, how some see the raid lockout change as an attempt to remove social pressures within guilds to run 10 mans and 25 mans, to gear up alts, to do this or that above and beyond the simple prospect of bringing your main to raids with proper consumables and gear. This creates a great amount of pressure upon an individual to do a large amount of playing they may or may not wish to do. By changing around the raid structure, Blizzard will possibly eliminate this sort of pressure.

In actuality, it is Blizzard treating its players like children. Don't think so? Let me explain.

The idea that all guilds have these same pressures is, of course, a sweeping generalization. With millions of players across the world, there are a myriad of guilds out there, and they are always recruiting. When you find a guild that is doing what you want to do, and you find the social pressures to not be of your liking, it is not time for the game to change for you to remove those social pressures. It is time for you, as an individual, to weigh the pros and the cons and decide, for yourself, if the pros outweigh the cons, and, if not, to find a new guild with pressures you can live with.

But what about being in a guild with people for forever! They're my friends, I can't just abandon them because I'm unhappy!

1. If they are your friends, they will want you to be where you are happy.
2. If they are your friends, and the pressures they are putting on you make you miserable, you should be able to have a frank and honest discussion about what is troubling you and try to fix it so that you do not have to leave.
3. If they are your friends, and you are not a jerk about it, you should still be able to remain friends after you leave.
4. If these don't happen? They are not very good friends, or you left in a bad way (or both).

I'm on a small server and there aren't a lot of guild choices! What do I do?

1. Weigh your pros and cons. Is transferring off server or being guildless more of a con than staying in a guild where you are unhappy?
2. Can you not communicate your unhappiness to the guild leaders in a way that is not whining or accusatory, or are they hostile to your politely worded suggestions or problems?
3. Have you considered starting your own guild?
4. Was the guild always this way (i.e. is this what you signed up for), or did it change while you were a member?

You're awful preachy, Bell. What do you think about joining and leaving guilds, smarty pants?

1. Know what you're signing up for. Joining a guild only to complain about policies already in place just shows the "15 dollars" mentality. In a guild, it's not just your money. It's the money of everyone there, and your fifteen bucks pales in comparison.
2. Be reasonable. Joining a guild, especially a raiding guild, and being unhappy with having to actually work for your gear, or pay attention, or being coddled through content when that is clearly not what the guild wants to do, is unreasonable. Expecting respect and reasonable consideration of (new) issues you may have (i.e. not ones they have dealt with before and have policies already in place for) is not unreasonable. Not getting it? Then you shouldn't stick around in an abusive relationship, Bella, no matter how sparkly the vamp--er, epics, are in the sun.
3. Understand that rules change when you're working with a team. Yes, WoW is a game. Yes, you shouldn't play when it stops being totally fun. But joining a guild means it is not just about your fun anymore. What? Preposterous. No, it's true. You have to care about other people's fun, maybe to the detriment of your own. Don't like it? Don't stay.
4. Leave when you are ready to leave. If you are unhappy, explore your options, and then leave (appropriately). Making excuses, waffling about, or server transferring in the middle of the night (like a coward /cough) are all bad choices. Just do it right and do it well and do it when you're starting to get unhappy, not when you're frustrated and strung out because you've given them just one more chance ten times.
5. Be a constructive, active part in shaping your guild social dynamic Don't be a whiner, don't be a complainer, don't be a [expletive deleted]. Be a helpful guild member, who sets standards and works with others to identify, adjust and remedy problems. It is much easier to be happy when you have a hand in the process. And if you can't and this makes you unhappy? See point number 4.

When Blizzard tries to remove possible social control problems in their guilds, they treat their players like children who cannot handle their own problems or networking. Ignoring them just making new problems they'll have to handle, they are teaching their players that social control is not their responsibility, that complaining for a band-aid is more effective than working under their own power. They teach the "power" of the $15 is more effective than simply allowing their players to adapt to like adults.

I have been in a great many guilds. I have been in guilds stuck on Lich King, in casual guilds, in guilds that have achieved faction first status and then fallen apart. I have been in PvP guilds, in friends and family guilds, and been guildless. My current guild is a hardmode guild with no stringent requirements on alts or ten mans, and is top Alliance-side. I lead/co-lead raids on Saturdays for people's alts and mains without 25 man raiding guilds and am relatively successful. There are options out there; you just have to find them.

4Haelz LFM for ICC Fun Times PST

"...those who serve -- who serve wholly, unquestioningly, with utter devotion of mind and soul -- elevated to heights beyond your ken."

Interested in doing ICC 25 Hardmodes? Interested in doing them with me? Yeah, you're listening now. I can tell.

Without going too much into it, I'm in a guild called OverWhelming now, and it's a pretty kickass group of people. We're 11/12 HMs with some good progress on HM LK, and recruitment is opening up for, well, just about everything.

If you're doing so well, why do you need so much?

Well, it's getting to the point in the year where many people get busy. As well, you always lose people to Real Life and other sorts of attrition. The guild itself still runs every week, still does raid all three of its nights and has not canceled a raid in the month I have been here. They like to cycle people in and out a lot, too.

Specifically, OverWhelming is looking for Hunters, Ret Paladins and Elemental Shamans. But all are encouraged to apply. I would, however, suggest talking to one of the officers first if you are a Resto Druid, Enhance Shaman or Death Knight, as there seem to be a good amount of those who are generally reliable/dependable.

Basic Guild Information:
Guild: OverWhelming
Server: Dark Iron (US) - PvP
Faction: Alliance
Progression: 11/12 ICC 25 HMs, all Faction Firsts
Raid Times: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 4:30-9:00 PM PST (server time)
Loot System: EP/GP
Main Website----Recruitment Forums

Understand that this guild is choc-full of young adults (think 20's). Vent and guild chat will contain profanity, political incorrectness, and other "questionable" behavior. If this is not your cup of tea, I would not suggest applying. Also if your feelings are easily hurt, you have no raid awareness, or you think GearScore is an actual raiding addon, please save yourself the pain.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Obligatory disclaimer: My involvement with actual recruitment decisions is none. I will not be making any decisions on your application should you choose to apply.

How to Ace Your App

So you want to be in a serious/high-end raiding guild, eh? But there's this pesky "application process" standing in your way, filling your screen with question upon question that let the guild you're applying to know if they're worth your time.

Besides the basics, what can you do to get in, to make your application really shine?

Understanding your class is of utmost importance. Know your weaknesses, know your strengths, both mechanically and personally. Restoration Druids are obviously strong raid healers; but can you say why and how (the answer is not "spam Rejuv lololol")? Do you know what to do should you need to cover for a tank healer?

You'll often get specific questions about stats and their priority. Do you know your haste caps? Are you reaching them? You don't need to just know that high end Restoration Druids should prioritize Haste to cap, followed by Spellpower, Spirit, Mp5, Int and then Crit, you need to know why. When you want to get into an end-game raiding guild, it isn't enough to just regurgitate, you have to understand what you're saying. Reading Elitist Jerks and then memorizing the data is okay, but it doesn't really do anything for you if you can't apply it naturally and easily.

Have a reason for your glyphs, talents and gems. You may be asked about them. "Because I didn't know where else to put the points" shows a lack of understanding. It is okay to admit you're wrong; it is not okay to make up an answer that everyone can tell is bull. Why? Because you will be called on it.

The best way to show that you understand what you're doing? Throw in extras. If they ask how you would heal for Dreamwalker, give them examples of healing outside of portals and being a portal healer. If there are two strats for a fight, don't just pick one; understand your role in both. If they ask to see your keybinds, go one step further and detail which macros are which so they don't have to ask. If you use a Healbot or Grid equivalent, give them the specific mouse binds.

Possibly the most important part of the application is the general final question. It usually goes along the lines of "anything else you would like to add?" This is your chance to head off any possible questions that you either recognize as weaknesses (or undiscovered strengths) yourself, or that you have seen them ask other applicants. For instance, I applied to a top Alliance guild on the server, and they tend to ask Druid healers if they have a geared offspec during follow-up questioning after the official application is submitted. To save time for both people, I created a quick WoWHead profile of my Moonkin gear and explained my limited experience with it, as well as plans to improve. In the end, the amount of extra information I gave allowed them to almost entirely skip the forum question process and request a vent interview.

Write as much as you need to. Be clear and concise as well as thorough. Utilize everything you know about your class and its role (you know you can increase overall raid DPS by keeping Rejuv/WG on other classes, especially DKs, for Revitalize procs, right?) to impress the people whose guild you want to join. Take your time filling out an application, too. I usually write my application and then come back to it a day later to make sure it all seems right before actually posting it.

Keep all this in mind and, so long as you haven't done something to tarnish your reputation, you stand a good chance of getting into the guild you're looking at.

Good luck!

Like A Sucker Punch to the Gut

I logged in this morning to find I have no guild.

There's nothing on the guild website explaining. Nothing telling me what happened. No one's online in the guild.

No warning. No discussion. Nothing. I just have no guild.

I don't know what happened, if I was kicked by accident, if my guild just disbanded, if it was ninja'd and everything's gone...

Just a rude way to wake up on my way to finish my Pilgrim's Progress achievements.

EDIT: Apparently our GM got hacked. But my guild was hanging on by sheer willpower due to some unfortunate recent events, so it's not getting back together. A bunch of our core is transferring to Horde today, so I'm not sure what I'm doing...

EDITEDIT: We may be getting back together. If you're a member of Vigilant (the former one, not the one the trade troll has), please get in contact with me, Grym, Conrad or Blob so we can work on sorting this out.

Bell's Guide to Application Failure

There have been some applications to Vigilant in the past month or two where I've just hung my head in shame because, well...what in the world were these people thinking? It's like they took every rule for applying to a place you wish to join, chucked it out the window and decided to be a special snowflake and just, well, put us off entirely.

So, now, I'm going to illustrate to you just how to get your application rejected from a high end raiding guild. Enjoy!

Step One: Ignore the application format.
The application format is obviously just a set of guidelines. It's not really information the guild needs to know, it's just stuff we want to know and, well, you can't always get what you want. Make sure to ignore half our questions, make up your own and don't answer anything fully.

Step Two: Log out in PvP gear.
Even though it says specifically on our site to log out in your PvE gear and spec so we can inspect it and ask questions, just log out in your PvP gear and spec anyway. Or equip your fishing pole. Or wear your RP set. Anything so long as it's not what we asked for. We will be very impressed by your full Judgment set.

Step Three: Tell us your opinion of our questions.
Don't like a question? Think it's pointless? Let us know. We think it's really important for you to pick apart our application process. This doesn't reflect badly on your character at all.

Step Four: Show us your care face.
Nothing's better than reading an application going "I just dropped x profession but I'll get y profession up right away" and then watching the skill level never rise. We also enjoy reading "yeah, it's unenchanted and I'm gonna enchant it soon, I'm just being lazy right now." Be in gear two tiers behind without having even pugged ToC 10 as well. This shows us you really care and really want to be a part of a guild working on ToGC 25.

Step Five: Bother us in-game.
Your application has been up for four hours and no one's said anything yet? Make sure to send us tells, lots of tells, in-game to anyone of your class who will listen. Let us know how many views your application has had, ask us our opinions on your chances of getting in, and definitely bother us during raids. We really like this.

Step Six: Reference people we don't know.
I'm glad someone on your server recommended you to us. We don't know who that person is, really, but that's okay. You could even be making them up! Especially as no one with that name has ever been in our guild, and if they had they probably would have told you their original name. This makes it look suspiciously like your application answers were copy and pasted from another guild's application, but who cares?

Step Seven: rite liek this.
U no WoW is just a gaem so gramar & spaeling dont mater rite.

Step Eight: Lie.
Lie to us. We really like when you've misrepresented yourself on your application. It starts building that foundation of trust right away. We'll know we can count on never counting on you to be truthful, and that's important.



That's about all that has recently occurred on our application forums. The sad part is, there may be a part 2 to this somewhere down the road...

Come Play With Me!

Did you know Vigilant is recruiting?

Yep!

But recruiting what specifically? At the moment, we're recruiting Priests for healing and Mages for biscuits and AI (and, well, DPS I guess). I think we're also looking for a nice DPS Warrior to give us...Sunders? I don't know what DPS warriors do past "hit things."

Wait, Bell, why're you telling us about recruiting other classes on a blog for Resto Druids and maybe a little bit about Paladins?

Wow, you guys hypothetically ask a lot of questions.

Well, besides what we're actively recruiting, we will not turn away exceptional people who apply, even if we're not specifically looking for the class. What does this mean? It means you may spend a little time on the bench, you may not get into ToC 25 hardmodes right away, but you'll probably be seeing Ulduar (except the harder hardmodes) and normal ToC, and could even be called in to replace absent main raiders for the actually hard stuff!

So, no matter what you are, if you think you've got the stuff, head over to the guild website and apply. But! A little guild information before you go (shamelessly stolen from our recruitment threads):

Vigilant Is a Semi-Hardcore raiding guild on the Dark Iron PvP Server.
We started as a motley looking crew just before patch 3.0.1 as players who loved to raid, but came mostly from guilds who raided too long to justify the forward progress. We all wanted a fixed raid schedule of 3 days a week during normal progression, with players that had enough drive to push a few extra nights at the beginning of new content. During that 3.0.1 time, we formed a strong bond participating in server first warbears when all of us were level 70.

Our raiding progress in early LK had us with Server First 25M Sartharion, Faction First 25M: Glory of the Raider, 25M: Malygos & Related Achievements and 25M: The Twilight Zone. In Ulduar we posted Faction First 25M Hardmode XT, IC, Thorim, Vezax, 3xKnock and Mimiron. Our intention is to continue our high standard of raiding through 25M Trial of the Grand Crusader and into Icecrown.

Our progression raid times are 5:30 – 9:30 PST Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We are currently focusing on Algalon & Hard mode Anub'Arak. We also run several alt TOCs, HTOCs, Naxxes and Ulduars in 10 and 25 man flavors.

Current Content Downed:
All Pre-Ulduar Content Cleared including relevant hardmodes and achievements.
13/14 Ulduar 25 With Mim, Vezax, IC, Hodir, Thorim, XT, FL, 3x Knock Hard modes completed.
14/14 Ulduar 10 with several raid groups having their rusted protos.
5/5 Trial of the Crusader 10 and 25 man
5/5 Trial of the Grand Crusader 10 Man (Hard Modes) + Tribute to skill.
4/5 Trial of the Grand Crusader 25 Man (Hard Modes)

Loot system is Loot Council.

High Demand Classes we’re looking for:
***Mages***
DPS Warrior
Priests (Holy/Disc)

*Any* Exceptional applicant of any class is always welcome.

Our application format is easily accessible at our website: http://www.vigilantguild.com


Current Ranking: 156 US/338 World

We're all kind of (im)mature college-age kids with racy senses of humor, so if that's not your thing, don't apply.

Here's hoping I see you soon.

P.S. For the love of all that is good, if you're a Resto Druid applying, read how to gem yourself first. Please, please, please.

P.P.S. This slacker post brought to you by "Bell has her GRE test on Sunday morning and a Physiological Psychology test on Tuesday and she's TIRED." ToC 25 Hardmode Jaraxxus, Champs and Valks strats are in the works, as well as ToC 10 Anub'arak hardmode strat. Also a Power Auras post. I swear I'll get to it after I assure my future education. Pinky swear, even!

Grilled and Humbled

It's always good to get knocked down a few pegs, and what better way than to apply for the top Alliance guild on your server?

Since I was on vacation for two weeks without a schedule of events, I had plenty of time to work on my application. I spent the first week reading through their application archives, and especially any threads about Druids, both accepted and declined. I looked at what questions they asked them, how they responded and what changes were suggested. I looked at expectations and attitudes.

Was I ready to write my application then? Oh, no, I had a lot of improving to do. I spent almost 2k gold upgrading enchants, changing gems, and putting all my ducks in a row, including enchanting and gemming a Moonkin set. I reorganized my UI five times, updated all my addons, added DoTimer, and finally pushed my reputation with Hodir to exalted.

Then I wrote a novel for my application.

Where most people answered the question "Is there anything else about yourself we should know or consider?" with a sentence or two, I wrote nine "paragraphs" explaining things that might look unappealing or that they should know. For instance, my mace has a 50 Spellpower enchant, not the 63 one. I explained why I had chosen not to upgrade the enchant, while at the same time expressing my ability to do so if requested. I explained why I was still using Heroe's gloves when I had other Valorous Dreamwalker pieces, and what I was doing to try and upgrade this piece of gear. Everything from gem choice to the state of my DPS gear was examined and explained. I covered every angle I could, posted it up, and then waited for the questions to follow.

Without my experience in heroics hardmodes, there were certainly a large amount of questions, most of them exploring how I would theoretically heal heroic hardmode fights. And so I researched, wrote, edited, rewrote, agonized over, and finally posted my responses. I was given follow-up questions and I went through the same process again. And, by the second day of my post being up, I was invited into Vigilant in the "Applicant" status.

Of course, things don't stop there.

Have you ever gone from being the one compensating for others to being the one who is compensated for? I did not know the heroic versions of the fights. I was scared out of my wits, trying to pay attention and hoping I didn't screw up. Four tower Flame Leviathan I was on a motorcycle, when I was really hoping they'd stick me on a cannon so I could see the fight without being responsible for the health and control of a vehicle. After one wipe, though, I managed to kite lashers and avoid the majority of the free-standing damage when FL went down.

Razorscale was a cinch, but I floundered a bit in XT hardmode. I went to the wrong sides to drop the novas or move the light bombs into position, and we had to move from two-healing to three-healing. I was disappointed in myself, but pushed on.

Iron Council went down, Steelbreaker last, with a mix-up on the first pull causing a wipe. Heroic Kologarn dropped like a rock as well, and then Auriaya after a bit of a healing snafu, though that one I wasn't sure whose fault it was...

All in all, it was very productive and eye-opening for me, but I feel I came up a bit short in some areas. I've adjusted some keybinds and done some more reading, and all I can hope is that I improve. Applicant status means my full induction into the raid group is shaky, and because of that I have to show constant improvement.

So cross your fingers for me, and hope a glove or chest token for T8 drops...I could really use that bonus to Rejuvenation about now!

A New Republic

What a weird title.

As it is, however, I have finally joined a guild, and as they've discovered my blog, I should probably introduce them! I've made my first forays into Ulduar, and it's nice to be able to work with a solid group again. Many I've played with before from my time in Sunder, and two are the leaders of this new guild, Republic. The familiar faces, good attitude and laid-back-but-still-going-somewhere progression just fits well. Helps a lot, too, that my boyfriend joined the guild as well as their new Main Tank (generally), and I find raiding much more enjoyable with him.

In my first week of raiding with Republic, I was able to step into Heroic Ulduar and down Flame Leviathan as a siege gunner. As well, I was in for the guild first downings of Razorscale and Deconstructor. It was thrilling to see fights like Ignis and Kologarn that, though we did not down them, were new and interesting and definitely possible. No Ulduar loot yet for me, but that's to be expected when you're the newbie.

As a treat, here are the pictures of the guild firsts!

Square Peg

I don’t have a home.

Well, that’s extremely ambiguous, so let me explain. It all started with reading Bear’s post looking for new members for Sidhe Devils. I’m a member of that guild, and log on every once in a while to chat and hang out. They’re a great group and I am quite fond of them. However, something Bear said in his post made me come to a realization.

We have had a lot of good folks join that play a main character on another server, and are just joining SD to touch base once in a while and say hello. That’s always been fine with us, but those folks aren’t actually members of the community. They are friends passing through and saying hello, but they are not shaping the guild with their actions and creating the shared history the guild has together.

Don’t get me wrong. Bear is spot-on, and I don’t begrudge him saying it. The thing is, I don’t have a solid, tight-knit community, really, not anymore. I've been guildless for a while, and that's what a guild represents to me.

After Sunder split, all my friends split. I have friends in Vigilant, Fear Engine, OverWhelming, Specced for Awesome, The Dragon Reborn, Republic, Trial Expired, Kind of a Big Deal, Injustice and so many more. And that’s just Alliance-side! I’ve been invited to join a lot of guilds, but…nothing feels like home. With all my friends split up, and my inability to maintain a weekly schedule due to job and class responsibilities, I can’t choose one, not even based upon raiding availability. My schedule is a large part, possibly, of what is keeping me distant.

More than that, I'm not ready to be in a guild again. I keep joining, and they keep collapsing or friends split off and leave or they're not what I expected. I suppose it feels "safer" to not join a guild or community and therefore not be hurt when the time I invest in seeing it succeed goes down the tubes. I suppose that's a bit of a pessimistic outlook, but lately that seems to have been the more likely outcome.

Now, I have a community, per se. Wonderful friends who play with me all the time, and who love to hang out with me. They make time for me, they take me on their raids and heroics, they help me with quests and we compliment each other with our professions. The component missing is that elusive home.

But what is "home"? I don't actually know what I'm looking for. So, at this point, it's probably better for me not to be in a guild on Bellwether until I figure it out. I've been suggested a fresh start on another server, but I’ve played on Dark Iron for almost three years. I know the people. I know the community. I know the inside jokes, the forum crowd, the trade chat. I know the ninjas, the bad guilds, the good guilds, the gankers and the gank zones. I have a friends list full to the brim. I don’t want to leave. I just can’t feel confident enough to find a home if I transfer, either, when I don't know people on other PvP servers (and I have to play on a PvP server; it would kill me not to) and I don't know what I'm looking for, which is probably the most important factor.

So, how about you guys? Anyone else out there still recovering from guild-loss disappointment? Perhaps you also don't know what you want? Maybe you've recovered and would like to share how you found what you wanted?

I'm all ears! (Literally, have you seen these things? Giant purple sails!)

Stealing is Wrong...Right?

EDIT: Just so everyone is aware, what follows turned out to be an elaborate and convincing troll. The question, however, is interesting enough to continue exploring.

You ever get that question, about the guy whose wife is dying? The one where there is a doctor who has the medicine to cure her, but he won't sell it for less than a certain price, and the husband can't afford it, so he breaks in and steals it? It's at that point in the scenario where you get asked whether or not his stealing was a justifiable action.

Now, stealing is generally wrong and difficult to justify. I have never seen a justified ninja of a guild bank, and I'm not entirely sure my mind has been changed. However, this thread throws it into a new light.

Basically, a four-year guild founding member, officer and guild leader (all rolled into the same person), was passed over for a Warglaive of Azzinoth to a new, server-transferred applicant in order to complete his set and increase DPS. The guild leader, Aqua, proceeded to take 200k gold from the guild bank and gquit.

But wait, there's more to the story.

You see, the guild he's in, Casual, have been clearing Kil'Jaedan for a while. They cannot progress any farther, and therefore do not especially need an increase in DPS (the speculators in the thread value it at about an extra 200-300 DPS, or 5-10 seconds off a Brutalus kill). Their forays into BT are, on the flipside, for filling in spots in people's gear, probably to keep them busy while waiting for the expansion and for nights on which Sunwell is a cold, empty, boss-less shell.

200k, however, is a lot of gold, and would hurt an entire guild, not just those responsible for the, in my opinion, horrible call to give a two-month unknown a glaive over a 4-year vet. (For those of you wondering, the glaive was not distributed via loot council.)

What follows is a conversation with a fellow blogger and guildmate about the issue, presenting several facets and sides to the argument.

[14:31] Harl: I see petty guild drama so far... what am I looking for?
[14:31] Bellwether: Ha
[14:31] Bellwether: Well, it's kind of the scale of the drama
[14:32] Bellwether: As in, some guild thought a 2 month old app deserved a warglaive over a 4 year officer/guild leader because it would be a "complete set" and would "up dps," but this guild clears KJ every week and cannot progress any farther, so the increase in dps is obviously unnecessary.
[14:33] Harl: I dunno, it doesn't really sound like a very clear-cut issue
[14:33] Harl: and based on the behavior of the former guild leader, i have to think there was gross lack of maturity involved...
[14:34] Bellwether: Well, you have to believe he was doing something right to have a raiding guild last 4 years, be just under the top 50 in the US, and be regularly clearing KJ.
[14:36] Harl: hard to say if it was him or the people he surrounded himself with, though
[14:37] Harl: I mean, I can understand getting fed up enough to quit - I've done that myself. but to ninja the bank and whatnot? that's not what I'd expect out of a high-quality leader
[14:40] Bellwether: True enough, but it's also the scale of things. As in, 1) it's a legendary, which aren't the easiest to come by. 2) It's four years of dedication versus a server-transfer applicant who people have known for two months total. 3) As they regularly kill KJ, an increase in dps is not paramount for guild progression, as the guild can no longer progress.
[14:42] Harl: yeah, all fair points. I guess I feel that his behavior overshadows all of that, though, and puts him clearly in the wrong. you just don't *do* shit like that. esp. as someone in a leadership position
[14:43] Bellwether: (Not saying he's right in what he did)
[14:43] Bellwether: But at the same time, do you just let it go? It's truly a gigantic slap in the face by an organization you've put four years into.
[14:44] Harl: oh, I wouldn't let it go at all. I'd walk. you're right, it's absolutely a bitch-slap. but there are mature ways to deal with it and immature ways to deal with it. he chose poorly ;p
[14:46] Bellwether: He could have done worse. /gdisband? But still, "walking" doesn't really drive the point home at all. He wouldn't get anything, they wouldn't feel a sting (if they're clearing KJ and getting rogue w/ glaive applicants, they can't be hurting badly), and it'd be like they got out of a horrible decision virtually scot-free.
[14:48] Harl: I guess I disagree there. that's a desire for revenge that I hear, which is petty and non-constructive. it's not going to change anything in the end, it makes the perp look like a douche and it ends up hurting a lot of other people (other guildies) that weren't even involved in the drama.
[14:49] Bellwether: I'm still not saying he's right. But walking wouldn't fix anything. It's not, in my opinion, petty to be deeply hurt and angry about a two-month applicant being valued over four years of dedicated service and wanting some sort of restitution. Not saying he went about it the right way. I'm just saying walking wouldn't fix anything.
[14:51] Harl: I guess my point is that there isn't always a way to fix something.
[14:51] Bellwether: There should be.
[14:51] Harl: that's not how reality works
[14:51] Bellwether: Reality sucks.
[14:51] Harl: it has it's moments, true

In the end, both were in the wrong, it's true. Both could have handled it better. But a feeling of betrayal cuts deep, and I can't help but sympathize with how Aqua felt, even if I can't with how he chose to address it.

To Flame or Not to Flame...

Image from the Lackadaisy webcomic.

This is not the third part of the installment involving raiding guilds pre-expansion. I apologize! This is just a question I would like to explore and hope my readers will as well. It would be sad if no one cared enough about me to answer my question, no? /guilt trip

Once upon a forum trolling, I came across a thread on my home server about a mage looking for a T5/T6 guild. The mage was one I had met before, on a Heroic Magister's run. Due to a bad pull, this mage died to too much AoE threat on the pulls before Vexallus. Nothing I could do to heal through so much damage at once. Since everyone else survived, he wanted a rez. There were two druids in the group (me and the tank) and no out of combat rezzers. So, we declined. It was right before Vexallus; the run couldn't take more than a minute.

Much drama followed, then a group quit, nasty whispers followed by /ignore. We got a lock, went through the rest of the instance without a hitch (best Demonology lock I've had the pleasure of playing with, and a polite, helpful attitude to boot), and that was that.

Well, now they want to be in a T5/T6 guild, putting themselves out on the forums. Those are guilds that, if the time comes I have the ability to raid again, I want to be in, and I do not want to be in a raid with this person. Especially since I will not take them off ignore (though that seems almost redundant, to ignore someone ignoring me).

So, the question is: do I say something in the thread to try and warn people of his bad attitude? In the end, I really owe nothing to the guilds in question. They're not my guilds, and may never be my guilds. I could just let it slide. Perhaps the player was just having a bad day, or perhaps he's had an attitude change since then. I don't do level 1 troll alts, either, so anything I would say would be on my druid. I know I don't want to raid with someone who throws a hissy fit about a minute walk back to his corpse and threatens to leave the group if he doesn't get a rez "next time."

All in all, he wasn't a horrible mage. He was decent at his class, but he had a terribly entitled attitude and expected catering to his whims, despite any impracticalities. Is it really my business to say anything? It's on the WoW forums, not some private app on a guild website, so they've basically opened themselves up to public criticism. However, so does anyone who posts, and it's difficult to phrase a warning about someone's bad attitude without sounding like a "butt hurt QQing nub." Which could actually devolve into me having to defend my ability to heal and childish confrontations like that. Though there are plenty of people who will defend me (scrubby as I am), I don't like when things spiral out of control.

Then, of course, there's the likely possibility I would not include my signature, simply to keep the flow of people into my blog reading that thread to a minimum. It's not something I would relish, any confrontation being dragged over here.

In the end it may be best simply to hold my tongue and go on about my business. But, my faithful audience, I must ask: how would you handle it? Would you post? If you did, would it be on an alt or a main? Would you ignore it on the forums, speak to the guilds that seem interested online, or would you just ignore it all together?

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.
*~*~*

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?

Hmm, This Situation Looks Familiar

So, not too long ago, I told you about joining Sunder, I’ve been talking about my raiding, my guild firsts, my problems with an encounter…

And now it’s done.

Like many such guilds, Sunder could not overcome the summer-attendance boss. On Monday night, a mass exodus occurred with a majority of the main raiders leaving to join Overrâted, a guild progressed into Sunwell with a few static raid spots open. But only a few. Others joined merely to follow their friends or for the mere chance at getting into a raid, which was, sadly, more than Sunder was able to offer at that point.

So, what did I do?

Well, at the moment, I’m still hanging out in Sunder. I have no hard feelings for those who left, and I’m happy for those of them who are going to get to see Illidan, probably Thursday night, for the first time. A few have already been in Sunwell. That’s great for them.

My personal decision at this point…is to have none. In about a week, I will be sans-internet for about ten or more days. There’s no way to say “Yes, I would like entry, and a static raid spot, but, ah, could you wait for a few weeks for me? Yeah, thanks.” At least, no way to do it and be taken seriously.

Besides this, my step-siblings have arrived from Ireland, and it is now my weekday job to watch them from about 6am to 5pm, or, basically, whenever-they-wake-up to whenever-a-parent-gets-home. Not only that, but my new puppy requires constant supervision even though he is learning very quickly to scratch at the door when he needs to go out and not to chew on everything with an end. Most Dark Iron raiding guilds raid from around 9 PM to 1 PM my time, which was really great for me when I didn’t have to get up early, because it allowed me family time after painting walls and balancing checkbooks and perhaps a short nap. Now, however, it would only allow me maybe five hours of sleep, and certain people think that’s unhealthy for me (I do too, but don’t tell them).

So, I’m kind of stuck. I don’t want to transfer servers, really. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know people on Dark Iron, making friends, maybe enemies (but I’m not sure). You get used to a server, you know who runs good organized Battlegrounds, who the good tanks are, where the enchanters are…you know, when you get comfortable in a place? But, really, it’s the people.

I’m considering, once I get back, seeing if any of the SSC and TK level raiding guilds would like to take me in a pinch. I still need my Vial Remnant from Vashj, and I’d like to finish the BT attunement. Since I skipped the whole Tier 5 raiding scene but Lurker pre-Sunder, it’d be a great new experience for me. As a bonus, the guilds wouldn’t have to worry about me wanting to take gear from their druids, as there are few upgrades for me in that tier of raiding (past new shoulders, I suppose). It would be new experiences, meeting new people, and hopefully I could find guilds who need me on occasion and with earlier raiding times.

Who knows? Bellbell is getting antsy now that she’s got the blood flowing again, Feralicious is getting more involved with Pali, and Scary Murder Cow…er, Rums…has joined the crew. I still don’t have epic flight form, and there’s plenty more to do. I’ll have more time to get my PvP on, so, we’ll just have to see.

Will be an adventure, I’m sure.

At this time, I pause to relive an old memory…

[Trysten] Moon forgot to yell last night.
[Trysten] Its why we had to call the raid.
[Mooneth] hah
[Bellwether] Heh
[Bellwether] sorry, I'll mess up more or something next time
* Trysten nods
[Trysten] Make sure you do.
[Bellwether] You could always make something up.
[Bellwether] I've gotten yelled at for things I clearly didn't do so many times.
[Trysten] BELL, WHY WEREN'T YOU KEEPING SUNDERS UP ON THE BOSS!?
[Bellwether] I DON'T KNOW I'M SORRY MY ICE BLOCK WAS ON COOLDOWN
[Trysten] WTF DON'T BLOCK USE FEIGN FIRST
[Bellwether] BUT IF I FEIGN MY IMP WILL GET AGGRO
[Trysten] PHASE YOUR IMP BEFORE YOU HEROISM
[Bellwether] BUT WHEN WILL I BUBBLE?!
[Trysten] ONLY DURING PHASE 2 IN BETWEEN BACKSTABS
[Bellwether] Oh. Okay. I'll do that next time.

Good times.

Why so Silent, Bell?

When Summer comes along, so does the sunshine and the need to do things other than WoW. When I don't have homework to procrastinate on, playing on WoW holds a bit less appeal (if you know what I mean). However, I haven't stopped playing!

My mother's house, where I spend a lot of my weekdays, has no internet at the moment. Her current provider was giving her the run-around, so she cancelled service, and is working on getting the new service worked up. So, needless to say, weekdays if I'm on the 'net, I've just gotten home to quick jump on and prepare for a raid.

Our raids haven't gone through, much, either; Many people are finishing up college or have summer vacations and the like. I'm not disheartened or discouraged, and in fact it's giving me more time to work on my surprise and save up a little money...

...which I promptly spent on gemming my Moonkin set. With the creation of a second "ZA Bear Run" group, our first foray into Zul'Aman ended with us just short of attaining a Bear Mount, but yielded a staff and pants for my Moonkin set, as well as a tanking cloak for my Bear set, a dps chest for my Cat set, and a healing neck for my haste set. I cleaned house, I tell you. But, when no one else needs it...

Don't worry, I have a few articles in the works. I need a bit of raiding to get enthusiastic about some again, but never fear.

Bell is still here!

Sunder is Recruiting!

That's right, my guild needs people! A certain type of people, actually.

Sunder is Recruiting:

Healers: 2 Resto Shamans, 1 Resto Druid
Ranged DPS: 1 Mage, 1 Shadow Priest, 1 Warlock
Melee DPS: 1 Enhancement Shaman

So, if you're a HoT-Healer, Brain-Bouncer, Fire-Flinger, Malefic-Melter, Demon-Dancer or Totem-Twister, Sunder would like to hear from you. We play Alliance-side, Dark Iron (US), which is a PvP server.

For more information, the website is found here, the forums here, and the application forums here. Please, please, please read all of the information and follow the guidelines when submitting your application. For tips on what to do when applying to a guild, check Chick GM's blog. She has great articles on the Anatomy of an Application and Examples of Good/Bad/WTF Applications. Since she's not affiliated with Sunder, not everything is the same, but she gives many great tips.

Sunder is currently only interested in regularly working T6 content (5/5 Hyjal, 7/9 BT), so please keep that in mind when considering to apply. SSC and TK are largely ignored. Kara is still run, but only when people throw a group together.

Thank you for your time, have fun, and don't die. Too much.

Proud of your Misdeeds

Once upon a time, Bear wrote about a tree-thief. Or, as it were, several tree-thieves. I personally have never had a tree herbed from underneath me, but I have had them pulled from me before I could slam a Moonfire down on them. It's frustrating, yeah, but it's even worse when those trees are stolen out from under you after a rightful kill. Especially since they drop basically nothing until herbed.

Well, recently, Sunder got an application from a Restoration druid, and we took him to Mount Hyjal on trial. He did very well, despite having low mp5 and a weird spec. However, during conversation on Vent, one of our raiders called him by his original character name, and our shadow priest's immediate response was "Wait...he's that guy?"

That guy who ganks Skettis trees, yeah.

Well, after the run, the guild leader lets him know that our guild does not approve of this behavior and he will not be receiving, at this time, an invite to continue raiding with us. His friend in our guild speaks up and has this to say:

hey hey C___, i can assure you if [he] is accepted as a raider, i can assure you 100% that he will NOT be ninja'ing trees in skettis. From what hes told me the only real reason hes been doing it is because he couldnt find a good raiding guild, which is why I think if he gets a spot, hed obviously quit

T6 fights > primal lifes

Now, I am not an officer of Sunder, so I have no say in the recruitment decisions. But there are several reasons I think I wouldn't want him to come back.

First, he didn't defend himself. His friend did it for him. His friend is a great mage, nice guy, and an asset to our raid. I have no problem with him, just with the resto druid he's advocating.

Second, his reasons behind being an herb ninja. He's been doing it because he couldn't find a good raiding guild. T6 > Primal Lives. You know, we need Primal Lives for our SR gear. Will he be able to resist the temptation to ninja trees when he needs 13 of them for his gear set?

Will he ninja loot in Hyjal when group loot is rolling during trash waves? Will he push up DKP bids just so people will lose out, will he take his loot and run? It's a risk you take with anyone you invite new into the guild, but it's much higher with someone who has known ninja actions.

My third and final reason for really not recommending inviting him into the guild...

He changed his name to "Thnxforherbs."

Not kidding.

I'll let you all draw your own conclusions from there.

Mother Down!

Lacking SR pants and only having 24 members in the raid, along with being under-equipped with healers (we had two holy pallies, three holy priests and me), we took on Mother Shahraz for the first time tonight, and downed her after only about an hour and a half.

*happy sigh*


EDIT: I had most healing done and least overheal on the kill of Mother Shahraz. /flex

Reliquary Down!

Reliquary of the Lost was downed by Sunder on Sunday night, and I was there for it. My first guild first in my new guild! Huzzah!

Loot:
[Grips of Damnation] (Hunter), [Naturewarden's Treads] (Elemental Shaman)

Here's a quick overview of the fight:

RoS is a very interesting fight. First phase is intense, since no one can heal. Druids can't dispell the soul drain, so if you can do it, put up Insect Swarm on the boss to help it miss people. Pop Barkskin when you're fixated, and only take a Fixate once unless you're a feral druid with enough HP to take it twice. All you can do is DPS, so keep it up until Desire.

When Desire is out, keep an eye on the dps. Be aware of who has high burst damage and get HoTs up on them before Deaden is active so they have a little leeway. Don't bother minding your mana, as it's constantly being decreased and the ghosts will fill it back up at the end anyway.

Anger has to be burned and fast. You will start taking too much damage too quickly the longer he is alive. On the flip side, your tanks will have to burn through their rage/mana to keep it from burning them, so your dps will be riding your tank's tail for the whole fight. I'd advise you to save your Nature Protection Potion for when Spite falls on you instead of popping it in the beginning; if you don't get Spite you'll want your Health Potion ready to go. Pop Barkskin when you think you need it, and Tranquility is one of the most amazing group heals for this boss. Make sure you use it, especially if you're in the main tank group. Your guild should have CoH priests and resto shamans assigned to the raid for this; your HoTs cannot keep up and cannot stack fast enough. Instead, make sure all your HoTs, and I mean all of them, are on the main tank. Throw a few on yourself and others, but keep HoTs ticking.

When we downed RoS, six people remained alive (and luckily two of them were paladins), including myself. The main tank died at roughly 3% of the boss; we burned them down. The holy paladin Sharlet got the killing blow on RoS.

This is a fun, fast-paced, technical fight.

Don't kick the Deadens, rogues.

/gasp /breathe

Okay, so.

Y'all know I'm guildless right?

Well, I did apply to one guild. This guild is called Sunder, and is a higher progression guild, working on BT and Hyjal.

I killed Bloodboil with them just about four hours ago. I got focused on twice, and I died twice. I was the only one in the raid who did...I was mortified. You see, I was invited to the run after applying so they could scope me out, see if I was worth their time.

I wanted to be worth their time.

No one said anything about my Bloodboil deaths. I assume this is because they saw me pop barkskin each time, stack all my HoTs, and do everything I could to stay alive, but to no avail.

Still. Archimonde? Terrifying. He is a very, very complicated fight. Not in how many different things he does, but because if one person dies, it's hard to recover. It can also cause chain deaths, and then you need to run into the fire and kill yourself so that everyone can run back in.

Ways to impress others in Mount Hyjal, on Archimonde:
1) Do not be the first to die.
2) Carefully manage your trinket cooldowns.
3) Maintain a level head, even after three hours of wiping.
4) If you die because you messed up, learn from it.
5) Check for your tears.
6) Carry more raid consumables than the guilded healers.
7) Share your consumables with the guilded healers.
8) Check for your tears.
9) If you die to something that was honestly, completely and unavoidably not your fault, explain the situation if you are asked. Apologize even though it wasn't your fault.

I never was the first to die. I got yelled at once, and only once, because I was feared far, far away from everyone else, and was afflicted with a curse. My trinket was also on cooldown. And I lived. As soon as fear was off, I popped a health pot, a decurse, and then a piece of lock candy, threw up my heals on myself, and ran back in. I didn't complain, I didn't get upset they yelled at me.

We never downed Archimonde. It was a progression run, and people learned a lot. We were doing consistently better, and were far ahead of the enrage time. He was down to about 45% in 4 minutes; that's great.

After the run, I thanked them all for the raid invite, and left the raid. Not more than fifteen seconds later, a box popped up over my head. I had been invited into Sunder.

I accepted. I'm on two weeks trial period. If they like me by the end of it, then I'll become a real raider and start earning DKP. For now, I just gotta stick it out before I can get phat loots.

I was nervous and scared and anxious the whole run. I had read into Archimonde extensively; Bloodboil not as much. The guild I ran with was nice and put me in a stationary group. I never had to run to the back or do something other than heal the main tank.

They worked with me, waited for me to jump off the cliff about twenty times, and positioned a rezzer at the bottom for the one time I killed myself. I never died to fall damage on Archimonde; possibly due to cat form. I never even took more than 100 fall damage. I avoided fires and when I couldn't, I healed myself through it. I healed the other resto druid through hers, too, and the hunter by me. I topped off who I could and healed the tank when I could.

Despite being intimidated and terrified beyond all reason, I performed well enough to receive a guild invite.

/collapse