tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17643141868234912652024-03-08T07:09:50.235-08:00Slash Guild Chat: A Guild Leader's RamblingsSteelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-9077473329466690362012-10-07T00:04:00.000-07:002012-10-07T00:04:06.299-07:00Yeah I want to raid….. Wait…. there's and application???
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Well I made it to
90.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took some doing I have to say,
many people raced through but I took a slightly steadier approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distracted by things such as farming and pet
battles and alts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non the less I got
there and it's really good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
much to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly I'm referring to
things to actually do in game but there is plenty still to do in guild also.</div>
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<br /></div>
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With a number now at
90 and working their way through the gearing up process its time to start
getting the raid teams together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this
end I have opened up the raid application process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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The way I work
recruitment in Virtue is that I will let anyone join our guild, if they are a
plank they will get kicked though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
means that you need to have some way of sifting out the raiders and making sure
they are able to do basic things like navigate to a forum to look up tactics
etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Firstly the members
of the raid team have additional rules to adhear to. They are below:</div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="1"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">All Raid members must
complete an application </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="2"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">All Raiding Members must be
able to listen to Ventrillo (Talking is not required) </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="3"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">All Raid Members must be able
to understand and communicate in English</span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="4"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Raids will be scheduled using
the in game calendar - Check regularly and respond </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Raid team members that
confirm for a raid must not 'no show' without good reason. Post on forums
if you can't make it </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Always be ready on time for
the raid, out side the instance with Buff Food and Flasks if a cauldron is
not available that night. </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Always be prepared for the
bosses we will face - Read tactics and Watch Video's before the raid. The
RL will make a post before we go to face new bosses – Read it all! </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">All gear must be properly
enchanted and gemmed - if you need guidance ask your class leader or RL </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Raid members must not PuG
raids, that are current content. If your unsure as the GM or Officer. </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Raid Members, and Raid
Reserves, will always get preferential treatment when selecting teams
(even alts for alt runs) </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">You must not go to the other
teams raid on your Main unless your team has finished raiding for a week
(you may go on an alt)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">If you do not wish to take
your alt to the other teams raid then the other teams Raid Leader must not
pressure you to do so – no is a perfectly acceptable answer. </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="13"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">All raiders must have 2
professions, levelled that benefit their main role, Ideally these will be
production professions for the primary stat boost, secondary professions
are acceptable though. </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="14"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">In Raids formal breaks will
be announced, so don't drink too much, or get a catheter fitted- this is
so we don't have brb's between every wipe </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="15"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Don't spam raid chat, or
general chat in the instance </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Don't argue over Vent </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="17"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">All Raiders must have DBM </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="18"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Raiders must responded to the
Invites at least 48 Hours before the raid (they go in the calendar a week
in advance) </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Raiders must Confirm or
Decline the raid invite (or post on the forum) at least 3 Hours before the
raid </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">DPS must Double Pot when
fighting raid bosses. Tanks should do the same. Healers Should use at
least one at their discretion as to whether the first one is worth it at
the start </span></li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
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Pretty basic rules
to get people working together properly and maximise the small amount of time
that we have to raid together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having
Ventrilo, Reading tactics, enchanting gear, not pugging all standard in any
raid team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As we are to have 2
raid teams I'm hoping that alts can fill in the others raid teams when needed,
however I don't want anyone to feel pressured and end up burning out., hence
12. Two Professions is new one, we've had some people come along without levelled
professions and they can make a difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Equivalent of 640 Primary stat (depending on prof) for the 2 professions
makes a difference when scaled up to the whole team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I think it a worthy addition. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Formal breaks is
just required for a bit of discipline in wipe recovery so people are always
running back, instead of brbing all the time.</div>
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Responding to
invites in time is always a challenge, so I put in in here and I've actually
increased the amount of time they need to respond before the raid, this is so
that we'll know ahead of time whether we need to be getting some fill ins for a
particular raid.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Double potting -
similar to the professions, we have little time in the raid so everything we
can do to help should be done. Even if it means a little grinding for the
raiders outside of the raids.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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To support the rules
raid team members must complete and application to get on the team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also allows for the officers to give
them feedback on such things are addons professions reforging etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talents used to be in there also but that
will be less important these days.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It's not a
complicated app here it is:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="1"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Which Character do you wish
to raid on?</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">What is your main spec? </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="3"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">What is your offspec? </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="4"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">What Addons do you currently
use? </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Have you got Ventrillo? If
not you will need to get it. </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Post a Screenshot of your UI:
</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">What Raids have you
undertaken before? </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">Would you be willing/able to
Raid lead if required? </span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="9"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Have you read the Rules and
Understood them?</span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="10"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What's you professions and what level are
they?</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">What days can you raid on?</span></li>
</ol>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="12"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Put a link to your Armory
Page here please:</span></li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
First 3 question are
self explanatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ask them what addons
they are using as you'd be surprised how many people think they can show up
with out a encounter helper like DBM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
though it's in the raid rules, simmerly with the Ventrilo thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People still want to come along with out
listening capability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The screenshot I
nicked from a guild I applied to along time ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it's a really good way of seeing how
other people see the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again we can
help with feedback on some addon's people may find of use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Previous raids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always good to have an idea of someone
experience in raids and whether they have the ability to step in for the raid
leaders if required.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Have they read and
understood the raid rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
deal breaker, if they say no they don't get in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course everyone says yes, but once I have it in Black and White they can't
show up to a raid without flasks and food, for example,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>saying they didn't know it was required and
then the epgp bat can be applied fairly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Days? We're still
deciding on days and we have 2 team raiding different days so good to know
where people can go.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Amory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A handy link for the officers to review the
candidate.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So there you have
the raid application process for our raid teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully this goes someway to explaining why
your GM/ Raid leader has all these rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are there to benefit you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
body want to hang out with they guy that's not pulling their weight and having
clear rules allows the officers to correct peoples actions fairly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I say communication is key and once
something is written down people can't say they didn't know. (If they can't
make their way to a forum, that's their own look out!) </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Quick recruitment
update.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had a number of new people join
the guild this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure how many
of them are raiders but obviously the above will help, still more required to flesh
out those 2 teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A number of new level
90 Dings including myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
officers are there now, which is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still looking to fill the social officer role and the recruitment
officer role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully we'll find some
suitable people soon.</div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-65927981191597437932012-09-30T02:09:00.000-07:002012-09-30T02:09:23.618-07:00Mist of Pandaria the first 5 days
<br />
<br /><div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
First impression…..
It's BIG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean really big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm currently level 88 and have only gone
through 2 Questing Zones and the very start of a third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those being of course Jade Forest, Valley of
the Four Winds and Krasarang Wilds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
with only 2 level's left and 4.75 Zones still to cover I can safely say that
it's big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly as far as questing
goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It's big in other
ways also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sheer amount of things to
do is impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even before the end
game there are Pet Battles, and I have planted my first crops, cooking has also
taken on a new mini game of sorts with the Way of the XXX, having to level each
of the 5 Sub cooking profession separately and yet joined, leading to hunting
out a variety of different food from different sources, and of course there are
the standard 5 Man dungeons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At end game
there will be the standard daily quests and Heroics and Raids, but also
scenarios and challenge mode dungeons, as well as all the above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having spent the summer playing SWTOR where
all you could do at end game was jump on the gear treadmill I have to say I'm
very pleased.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The 2 instances I've
done with the guild have been pretty easy, but they are only normals and each
only taking around 15 Minutes to complete means that they are easy to jump in
and out of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does mean that levelling
only though instances will get tired very quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's OK though because as I have already
mentioned there are plenty of quests to get your teeth in to of varying
quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some epic story arcs and some
additional Optional 'find me 5 hooves of the hooverbeast'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So you can dip into them or not as you heart desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being OCD like myself my poor warrior will be
completing them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking of
completionism this brings me onto my next topic.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Gotta</span> catch them all!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pet Battle system is again another way
for you to be in game and playing with your guild mates with out having to be
grinding through dungeons raids and quests, this is similar to mining in eve online,
which is essentially an AFK sport, but it does mean that you can sit there and
chat to you Guild (corp) Mates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Personally I knew I'd be a sucker for it having prior to the expansion
managed to get unique 150 pets and the celestial dragon that goes with it……
completionist you see currently my journal tells me I have 361 pets although
they are not all unique. Pet battles is not flawless, I'd like to be able to
team up with another player for instance, for some 2v2 or more action,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but I'm sure they will develop it over time
and it's a very entertaining way whiling away a few minutes or hours if you
prefer,.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm sure I'll loose hours to
it.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
First personal
impressions out of the way lets get down to the guild business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I write this on Sunday morning we have 5
level 90's Gratz to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Special
mention to Sledgehammer who blasted through and got to 90 in 48 Hours or less
to become our guild first level 90.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
our dungeon challenges are complete for the week and I'm sure Scenario's and
challenge mode dungeons will follow as people get in to the level 90 content
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above all there is a nice buzz
around the guild with people hooking up and enjoying the game together
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I still don't think
anyone reads the Guild Message of the day and people are still not following
the guild on Twitter, but you know one thing at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recruitment has taken a bit of a dive but I'm
not surprised by that particularly, again once everyone is 90 I'm sure people
will start getting their heads into what they where they want to be, and we
already have a raid team outlined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Having said that I did manage to cajole and old friend from TBC days to
join us, we spent many hours doing in Shattered Halls runs together back in the
day for the Champion of the Naaru Title, so it's good to have him in the fold
and right now I can't understand why he hasn't been before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Update on the guild
pub.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm thinking so far that the Lazy
Turnip in Valley of the Four Winds has got to be a shoe in, the music in there
is crazy, and even has some beds upstairs for us to fall in to after having too
many Pandarian Beers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if your down
that way on hellfire pop in and you may see a drunk Worgan propping up the bar
(beacause you can't stit on the stools!)</div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-86726540593054132802012-09-23T00:28:00.000-07:002012-09-23T00:28:56.988-07:00Officers Club
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As the run up to the
launch of Mists continues, and given the importance of communication (see last
blog post for more on that)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it
would be a good idea to get my officers together and get some actions happening.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In my guild I don't
like to make people officers just for anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a lot of effort that goes into leading a guild and I figure if
you want some authority in the guild you may as well contribute to running it
in a meaningful way and take some of the load off me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I implemented this when I first set up the
guild, however I could probably have done a better job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aim this time is to make a much more
collaborative leadership team that won't mean that the guild dies if I decide
to take another break from the game for whatever reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To that end I have assigned the following
jobs to the current officers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In case I
haven't mentioned this before we are aiming to make 2 10 Man raid teams for MoP
content. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br />
<b>Raid Leader</b> - I will lead 1 of the raid teams which means we need someone else
to lead the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This person will be
responsible for building recruitment, scheduling, Calling tactics, picking the
rosta and all manner of other things that come with raid leading. Including
making some posts about tactics for new bosses. I imagine that will be shared
between myself and the other RL.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Raid Assistants X2</b> –
for each team the raid leader will have an assistant, a Sargent major if you
like, someone to keep the troops in line during the raid, also to deal with
EPGP be master looter as well as ensuring to post World of Logs for each raid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World of Logs is an out of game raid analysis
tool that allows for post raid reflection and is handy in troubleshooting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may speak more about this in future posts.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Chief Financial
Officer (CFO</b> )– Responsible for the Guild Bank – deciding when we need a new tab
deciding what to keep in it and what to get rid off, what permissions to give
each rank of person in the guild, including how much guild repairs to give
everyone and also for selling stuff from raids and keeping the balance nice and
healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Annoyingly the functionality
for assigning permissions to the GB and the respective guild ranks can only be
done by the GM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would be nice if I could
just assign him the power but hey-ho.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Social Media Officer</b>
– Responsible for setting up Facebook and Twitter pages and also running them
and getting guild members to follow them. Ensuring that there are guild tweets
and FB messages to keep our troops informed, working with the Raid Leaders and
Community officer on what messages need to go up there, and also ensuring our
forums are kept tidy with irrelevant post deleted or archived. Also ensuring
that we are following some good and interesting people that talk about the WOW
in order to keep everyone up to date on what's going on with things like the
weeks news and latest patches and all manner of information about the
game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My girlfriend was kind enough to
take on this job and has set up our twitter feed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>@VirtueHellfire if your interested I'll be
using it to post messages and communication to my guild hopefully pointing them
to the forum, which I'm sure they'll be unable to click on the link since
navigation to a forum is beyond most wow players it seems (again see last post
for more on that).</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm also looking to
find officers to do the below jobs also:</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Community and Social
Events Officer</b> – Ideally a non raider so they can focus on things to do out
side of the raid. Achievement runs, Mount Runs, As well as just keeping the
guild friendly and a nice buzz.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Recruitment Officer</b>
– I would expect this person to work closely with the raid leaders about there
requirements and also with the community officer about what sort of social
people we want in the guild and the social media officer about what messages we
need to get out there for recruitment. So they will be responsible for barking
in trade, keeping post on our forum up to date about our recruitment, and also
making posts on the WOW realm forums to try and get people in that way. Also
for setting the expectations of new guild members and to be a point of contact
for them if they any questions about the guild answered. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
With the lack of the
Community and Recruitment officers the other officers need to pick up these
jobs in the mean time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The essence of
this weeks meeting fit in to categories below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Recruitment </b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Some of the officers
already have recruitment macro's but I asked the rest to get them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like a variety of macro's to get peoples
attention therefore I asked everyone to write their own and to pay attention to
if any one is whispering them following posting it, if not Change it.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Building Community</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Pulling a group of
people together out of trade chat and any other means is always challenging
trying to build a community spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Especially at the moment when we are not raiding regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One way to get to know your fellow guildies
is to do shared activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I've
asked me officers to be champions of co-op play - always ask people to join
them in whatever your doing, scenario's, dungeons, anything!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Also I can't be
expected to come up with all the ideas myself and again I'm trying to build a
collaboration here to I've asked them to be creative - have a think about ways
to get people interested in doing things and get them scheduled and promoted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Communication is Key
and all the information people could want to know about our guild is on the
website so I asked them to know where things are themselves, post informative
and valuable post and direct people there when they have questions.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Another idea I had
was to designate a little corner of the world as Virtues, who's know if Blizz
will ever do player housing but in the mean time there should ba a nice quiet
place that we can all hang out in and maybe all try to get back to at the end of
the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me at the moment I like the
Shady Lady in Stormwind,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I have
designated this our unofficial Guild Pub for the moment until we get in to
Pandaria where upon I'm hoping we can find a convenient corner there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your on Hellfire come on down there you
may see me or one of my plethora of alts at the bar.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Raids </b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Gave the chaps just
a bit of an update here, we currently have enough raiders for one full team, we
therefore need to recruit all roles and classes for the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideally I'd like to do this before we start
raiding as I'm keen to avoid a A team and B Team Mentality and have taken great
pains to never refer to the 2 teams in such a way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan is to go for the first raid a month
after launch thereby allowing everyone to enjoy the content and also get a few
more people in the guild who have returned for the new Expansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Raid Leader</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I requested the
other Raid Leader started looking for good vids of the raids - I suggested
Yoggs Cast and Learn to Raid as a starter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also Icy Veins is an excellent resource.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Myself and the other RL will probably divvy up the tactics posts
therefore I requested he look at the type of post I have done previously and
try to replicate that style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That style
being - a link to a Video, a link to the tactics on Ivy Veins and then a super
boiled down version for quick reference.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Raid Assistants</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In order to assist
the RL's the RA's need to get a few things done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly Get addons, Raid Buff Status a handy
in game head up to if people have all the buffs they should, have eaten and are
generally ready to pull the boss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EPGP
(Dkp reloaded), for use in distributing the loots about and making it
fair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are other systems out there
but this has always struck me as the fairest as the amount of effort you put in
to the guild has a direct effect on the amount of loot you get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Also I requested the
get set up on World of Logs - a simple task but it needs doing.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Chief Financial
Officer</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Again to try and get
some community together and to keep the GB full of cash for repairs I asked our CFO to undertake
a guild lottery.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The premise would
work like this, we charge some cash for tickets, which is mailed to the CFO in
game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CFO makes a post with a list
of numbers and assign names to those numbers based on the amount of tickets someone
has purchased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a designated time and
place we all meet, (down the guild pub perhaps) form a raid group and the CFO
does a /roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who ever has that number
assigned on the forum post gets 50% of the ticket taking and 50% goes in to the
GB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There other officers suggested that
we could offer other prizes from the GB also, for maybe 2nd or 3rd place, which
sounded sensible to me so I have left it with our CFO to do something about it.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So with a couple of
outstanding points all the guild infrastructure is back and should be working
correctly soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing we need
now is recruitment which is still being a challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully after Tuesday this will be
easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your on Hellfire EU and want
to join us then let us know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also if you
are anywhere in the EU and just want to raid with us then with the new
Battletag system that maybe possible also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As an aside the
Theramore Scenario launched this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have to say I was rather disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I'm hoping that the other scenarios and 'different ways to play the
game' pet battles, Farming, challenge modes and the rest are not such a let
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-33569812901851612312012-09-14T23:55:00.002-07:002012-09-14T23:55:32.023-07:00Communication is Key
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
We are well and
truly back, it's been a couple of weeks since my last blog but I'm just finding
my feet with this and have not committed to a regular schedule at the
moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially as things are still
quiet on server.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Recruitment is going
pretty well I have added at least 8-10 new players to the guild in the last
fortnight, not bad for a pretty dead server.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I'm expecting the next week to kick off being a week before launch and
the week after launch to be good also with many players returning hopefully to
find as I did that their guild is a bit dead, and looking for a new one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully many of my old guild mates will
also return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Having been away I
had forgotten the inherent laziness of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In leadership of my guild I think it's important to be fair,
consistent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and upfront with people, to
that end I put all the guild rules up on the website along with posts about
what the guild is about, I keep the forum sections clearly labelled so it's
easy to know where to look for things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Forum sections we
have:</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Guild Scope and
Rules</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Announcements</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Discussion</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Raids & Raid
Rules</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
MoP Preparation</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Gear</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
PVP</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Social Events</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Vice - Our Hordeside
sister guild</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Ok so not
particularly a small list but you don't have to be interested in all of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance if you want to join
the guild to raid then maybe check out the Raid and Raid Rules forum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
But no people can't
be bothered to tab out of the game a look at a forum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't mind so much if some one is
responding to my barking in trade, maybe your speaking to a number of people
about their guild, maybe you just want to talk to a real person in the guild
and get an idea about them first hand before deciding to join, fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally I'd never join a guild without
having a look at their forum, but that's just me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
What really annoys
me is when people have joined the guild and you have to bully them into
registering and answer each and everyone of their questions over and over again
when all the info is on the website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These are the same people that are always surprised when they miss out
on things because they didn't know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take
an active role in getting involved then.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Communication in a
guild is a nightmare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really there is
nothing that you can guarantee that people are going to see, or pay attention
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guild message of the day I'm
sure must get lost in the addon log-on spam that most players will get these
days and it's sadly lacking in functionality and character length anyway
(actually I've just logged on and realised that it doesn't appear until all the
spam is gone, so it's just lazy, ignorance then!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would be nice if the default UI gave and
option to copy and paste a link<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>URL from
it, I have an addon that does this but some won't.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would be nice if it were a bit more
prominent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Star Wars had a pop up when
you logged on that you had to click close, this is not the most elegant
solution, and you can easily find yourself clicking it away without looking,
especially if you were logging multiple alts, it did become something of an
annoyance - maybe only pop up once a day or when it's changed?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There's also the
guild calendar - more notification functionality on this would be of use
also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little question mark in the top
right hand corner is not nearly obvious enough for lazy tunnel visioned players
who want everything on a platter for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Some sort mail all
accounts in guild option would be excellent, the tech must be there I've seen
it with receiving pets and stuff from Blizz (they now only come to the first
char I log on to, or possibly all until I open it). That would be an excellent
way of directing your lazy guildies to actually understand what is happening in
guild and get involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
All of these things
are surmountable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance in our
guild, guildies only get out of the lowest rank and access to GB repairs if
they register on the forum (which is also explained in another forum post, so
they would know that if they went there), You can keep telling people to check
the GMOTD though the day in /g to get people to look at it, although that sort
of defeats the point, you may as well tell each player individually, a raid
application to join the raid team also, forces them to go the website, aswel as
ensuring that your raid team can at least work a web bowser and type coherent
sentences, (well their name a least).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
managed to harangue my old guildies into frequently checking the website and
the GMOTD, so it's a culture thing, but when you are in a heavy recruitment
phase like we are now big banners pointing the newbies to how things work in
your guild would be a large boon.</div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-7264705469540599862012-09-01T00:24:00.000-07:002012-09-01T00:27:58.705-07:00Holding Pattern<br />
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It's Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 5.0.4 Patch hit on Wednesday, so I've
been trying to wrap my head around all that has changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the pre Mists of Pandaria patch
brining with it pretty much everything but the new MoP content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So talent changes, spell changes, UI changes,
all of that stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Of course this means
broken add ons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some add on writers are
kind enough to use the beta to write their changes and so release them the day
of the patch, some can't or don't either due to not being sure if the live is
going to be exactly the same as the beta or simply not having the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm not sure if anyone makes a living out of
writing add ons but many are written by players who just found one day they
like to be able to do this or that, therefore I'm not griping about the lack of
updated add ons I surely couldn't write on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, a quick mention of one that I miss more than any others - Powa
aura's, please Mr Writer update it I love it so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'll write a full blog about add ons and
probably power aura's will need one of it's own, I find it that useful.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Over the past couple
of days, there has been little point in doing anything in game, given that
everything is just going to be zero'd come 25 Sept, and we'll be replacing all
those hard earned raid epics with greens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you fully kitted out in Heroic DS gear then you may get to 86 or 87
before you have to replace but you'll be replacing with quest gear or dungeon
drops, so what's the point hammering away at content that is months old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Having said that I'm
quite enjoying some new experiences in WOW and playing just for fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main thing I have been doing is PVP, as a
paladin healer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years I've been a big
fan of tanking PVE content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However
during the break I played Star Wars: The Old Republic, for a couple of
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The PVP in SWTOR is one of the
things they did get right, I may write a full comparison about SWTOR and WOW
someday but not right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway
through this rather convoluted route I found myself quite enjoying PVP and so
I've decided to respec my old retri spec into a Healer and give healing in WOW
a go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did this a few months back and
jumped on every so often to give it a go and see if it kindled my passion for
the game again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed it but not
enough to get back in full time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I'm
back and giving it some more gas though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Firstly the Pali healer in this halfway house, between expansions,
situation seems a bit over powered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm
lasting a long time with 4 - 5 Players trying to beat the crap out of me, and
my gear is much less than average, mostly consisting still of crafted blue PVP
items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br />
This maybe to do with the new resilience changes that have been implemented,
giving everyone a base 30% resilience and then whatever gear they have on top
of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so I like the change if it
increases 'Time to kill' one of the main things that made SWTOR so compelling
was the long time to kill people in PVP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope WOW is taking some of this and this remains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't think that Healers should be able to
last forever with 4-5 people on them but a longer time to kill will definitely
be a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether all this will
last when people are at 90 and have arena gear with lots of PVP power (a new
stat that increase your power in PVP only) on it remains to be seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully me and my Girlfriend can get some
Arena going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a Hunter and we've
steer away from arena in the past due to the limitations on hunters with
minimum range, but that also has been removed from game now, so here's hoping.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The guild remains
quiet, as we are in this holding pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An old officer of mine and Real Life mate, has gone to the dark side and
is playing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EVE, I've known for a long
time that he wasn't going to return he made this official last night with his
blog, he is truly lost to the black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
shame cos he got me into WOW in the first place, but there you have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come the expansion recruitment will have to
start in anger and I'm sure it will as many people return , some to dead guilds
some deciding what they want to do with Panda's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch this space…..</div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764314186823491265.post-7311780552930746682012-08-28T12:55:00.000-07:002012-08-28T12:55:32.965-07:00Back in the World (of Warcraft)
<br />
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feels like I've been away for years, although
it's closer to 4 Months since I frequented Azeroth's hallowed pixels.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
Whilst I've been
gone several things have happened:</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<li>I've all but
forgotten how to play World of Warcraft</li>
<li>My guild has stopped
raiding entirely</li>
<li>Many of the people I
know have left the guild including an officer</li>
<li>The remaining
officers in my absence have recruited some social members</li>
<li>The forums have
become an archive of a time when things happened in guild, with old and
outdated posts showing the guild for what it is: a (nearly) dead guild.</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
None of this is
surprising, I spent most of Cataclysm building the guild from nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were just 4 friends when we began, through
a mixture of spamming /2 and forum posts and running instances we finally
carved out a raid team in a little corner of our server where we had some of
the best times we all ever had in game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With very little drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
when we lost 3 of our main healers just after conquering the first heroic boss
in Dragonsoul, there were some tough decisions to be made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I myself was feeling WOW burn out I had ever
felt in my 7 years playing the game, the summer was looming over us, the
content was old, and the grind to recruit, train and gear up and entire healing
squad was too much for me at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
kept running casual raids with the people we could muster up but we did not
recruit the level of players in healers roles that would have been required for
further progression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead largely
having to rely on offspec's and alts to put a team through normal
Dragonsoul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So as the weeks turned into
months and there was still no word on Mists of Pandaria's release date people
stopped showing up and raids got cancelled and eventually I called it quits and
informed the guild that I wouldn't be scheduling or leading raids anymore, they
of course were free to do so and should do if they wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was on sabbatical.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
And so I have
returned to find things not entirely as I left them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is entirely fair, people are paying
money to pay the game and they have the right to move on if they are not
getting what they want out of their guild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It does leave me with a challenge on my hands though, and some
questions:</div>
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<br /></div>
<ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<li>Am I up for building
a guild again?</li>
<li>Am I up for raid
leading and raiding on a regular basis again?</li>
<li>Will any of the
member s that left have had such a good time when in our guild that they will
come back?</li>
<li>How will I ensure
that if I want to take a breather again that the guild doesn't fall apart
again?</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm sure the answer
to the first 2 is yes, the third is I hope so and the last one I have plans for
also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
To that end I have
gotten stuck in and sorted out our forums, cleaned out some of the old and
obsolete stuff, old raid tactics, posts from members no longer in the guild and
generally any thing that was irrelevant when building from the bare bones
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have made some post, making
what we all about easy for people to find so we can point the people in /2 to
an easy to use guide to what they can expect from us, even made a post about
new officers and as I'm typing this managed to promote an old member who has
returned in to one of the vacancies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
so it begins…...again.</div>
Steelmanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07556760165055509084noreply@blogger.com0