I haven't been posting.
I know I haven't been posting.
I wasn't really having much fun, so I think I just needed a reason to be excited again.
The WotLK Beta is a start, but I was still looking for something more...
In my last few posts, I was complaining about my guild's slow, painful demise. Well we finally took the guild out back, and shot it. Is A Pinch Better is no more, thankfully. A small group of us remained, so we needed a place to store the crap we stole, umm I mean liberated, from the Pinch Guild Bank. I still had control of a guild with a gbank on an alt so we decided to take that guild tag.
At the same time, a small group of friends from the Molten Core days had slowly returned to Cho'gall. I had no idea because I was playing a Warrior alt, and I barely added anyone to my friends list. It wasn't until I had to log on Sinker to transfer people to the new guild that I found some of my old friends.
They needed a guild as well. To paraphrase Jake and Elwood, "We decided to put the band back together."
The guild, Scum, has been reincarnated.
The best thing is that this isn't Scum in name only. This is a large chunk of the core that leveled up together after Cho'gall went live. We took on Zul'Gurub and eventually merged into another guild for Molten Core. Now we get to do 10 person raids and PVP arena, and I couldn't be happier.
Some people say you can never go home again. Well in World of Warcraft, that isn't always true.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Rudderless
I think I have switched to WotLK preparation mode. I lack direction and focus, except when talking about where I want to be once the expansion is released. I am focusing on Alts, and my 70s are looking to gear up for leveling. I don't think I'm the only person thinking this way.
My guild also lacks direction. We raid every once and a while, but most people are doing their own thing. Many people have left, and I've been happy to see most go. I just want our guild to get trimmed down to a nice core group of players. If I get my way, then the players that remain will be the ones that actually have jobs and families. I want the players that understand that sometimes you can't play because your kid is sick or you got called into work. Basically, I want to play with other adults, or at least kids that understand that the game isn't everything.
Blizzard's choice to make all raid instances in 10 or 25 person flavors is a godsend for my friends and me. When we heard that, all thoughts of 25 raiding were tossed out the window. We will only be doing 10 mans in the expansion, and we are very excited about it. I'm even crossing my fingers that a couple old guild members will return to the fold once they have seen all the BC raid content.
The switch to two separate raid progression paths also has me thinking about the role of alts in a small guild. I think it is important for players to be flexible about the roles they can play. Right now, I can be a tank or a healer. Granted, most of the time I need to bring my tank, but every once and a while a healer is needed more. I just like the idea of having options, because a casual guild will still probably run the first couple 10 mans for a long time. Nothing like doing same old content with a new class to spice things up.
For WotLK, I am going to add a third 70 to my collection (well technically fourth, but I don't count the Alliance Mage anymore). Right now, I am focused on my level 30 Undead Warrior. I see this character being more about Arena PVP, and less about raiding. Then I can focus my Druid towards getting the best tanking gear available, and not worry about much PVP.
I think it is a good plan, but I'll still probably let the wind take me wherever it goes.
My guild also lacks direction. We raid every once and a while, but most people are doing their own thing. Many people have left, and I've been happy to see most go. I just want our guild to get trimmed down to a nice core group of players. If I get my way, then the players that remain will be the ones that actually have jobs and families. I want the players that understand that sometimes you can't play because your kid is sick or you got called into work. Basically, I want to play with other adults, or at least kids that understand that the game isn't everything.
Blizzard's choice to make all raid instances in 10 or 25 person flavors is a godsend for my friends and me. When we heard that, all thoughts of 25 raiding were tossed out the window. We will only be doing 10 mans in the expansion, and we are very excited about it. I'm even crossing my fingers that a couple old guild members will return to the fold once they have seen all the BC raid content.
The switch to two separate raid progression paths also has me thinking about the role of alts in a small guild. I think it is important for players to be flexible about the roles they can play. Right now, I can be a tank or a healer. Granted, most of the time I need to bring my tank, but every once and a while a healer is needed more. I just like the idea of having options, because a casual guild will still probably run the first couple 10 mans for a long time. Nothing like doing same old content with a new class to spice things up.
For WotLK, I am going to add a third 70 to my collection (well technically fourth, but I don't count the Alliance Mage anymore). Right now, I am focused on my level 30 Undead Warrior. I see this character being more about Arena PVP, and less about raiding. Then I can focus my Druid towards getting the best tanking gear available, and not worry about much PVP.
I think it is a good plan, but I'll still probably let the wind take me wherever it goes.
Monday, April 21, 2008
When Your Guild Has "The Talk"
Exactly one week ago, my guild ran into a major obstacle. Many guilds reach a breaking point, and that time has come for the good people in "Is A Pinch Better". Last Monday, we had a guild meeting to discuss the future of the guild, and the type of conversation I like to dub "The Talk".
Our story is just like one you have probably heard already. One of the longtime officers decides to leave the guild to experience more endgame content. Naturally, this comes as a shock to most of his friends and sends the Guild Leader into panic mode. The purpose of the guild is questioned, and everyone has their own idea of how the guild should operate. Some reactionary decisions are made, and others use this incident as an excuse to push their own agenda forward. Some people get a /gkick, and others head for the door on their own.
Sound familiar? I think I have had four or five of these meetings during my WoW career, and they never have quite the same results.
The test comes after "The Talk" has ended. Does the guild change for the better or for the worse? The guild may not change much at all. "Is A Pinch Better" has made some minor improvements, but overall not much has changed. The Guild Leader quickly returned to MIA status, and a second longtime officer left the guild yesterday.
On the brighter side, our main Warrior tank has started organizing a weekly Kara and ZA raid. The officers decided to try an ingame calendar mod, and thankfully people are actually using it. They won't go to our guild forums, but they will install and update another mod. Wonders never cease.
We still are not a true "Raiding Guild", and I doubt we ever will be one. More people are going to leave, but my hope is that we will keep a solid core to go into the next expansion. Our biggest test will be 25 person content. There are still people that want to do Guild Gruul's Lair raids. We don't have the people, but we would obviously be able to pick up 10-12 puggies. If these future raids fail, will the guild finally break apart?
Our story is just like one you have probably heard already. One of the longtime officers decides to leave the guild to experience more endgame content. Naturally, this comes as a shock to most of his friends and sends the Guild Leader into panic mode. The purpose of the guild is questioned, and everyone has their own idea of how the guild should operate. Some reactionary decisions are made, and others use this incident as an excuse to push their own agenda forward. Some people get a /gkick, and others head for the door on their own.
Sound familiar? I think I have had four or five of these meetings during my WoW career, and they never have quite the same results.
The test comes after "The Talk" has ended. Does the guild change for the better or for the worse? The guild may not change much at all. "Is A Pinch Better" has made some minor improvements, but overall not much has changed. The Guild Leader quickly returned to MIA status, and a second longtime officer left the guild yesterday.
On the brighter side, our main Warrior tank has started organizing a weekly Kara and ZA raid. The officers decided to try an ingame calendar mod, and thankfully people are actually using it. They won't go to our guild forums, but they will install and update another mod. Wonders never cease.
We still are not a true "Raiding Guild", and I doubt we ever will be one. More people are going to leave, but my hope is that we will keep a solid core to go into the next expansion. Our biggest test will be 25 person content. There are still people that want to do Guild Gruul's Lair raids. We don't have the people, but we would obviously be able to pick up 10-12 puggies. If these future raids fail, will the guild finally break apart?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Past Week In Review
Patch 2.4
Hooray for new dailies!! My bank account was looking a little weak right before the patch hit, so I welcomed daily quests that I hadn't done dozens and dozens and dozens of times before. There is a nice mix of combat and non combat quests, and I can blow through about a dozen quests in an hour and a half. You can also get Badges of Justice from the Shattered Sun Supplies, which is always very helpful (especially when you hate running Heroics).
Magister's Terrace
I have only ran the new 5 person instance one time, and I was very frustrated with the instance. Can I please have more 5 pack pulls of all casters please? KTHX! I feel like I took way too much damage in the instance on normal difficultly. I have decent gear. I could easily tank in SSC or TK, so I shouldn't have problems in a normal 5 person dungeon. Oh well, I need to run it with some guildies. I had to PUG it out, and I think I went through like 9 different people to get through the whole place. It is well designed, but right now the risk is too high for the practically nonexistent rewards.
Karazhan Update
My Sunday Night Kara group failed to materialize this week. We had FOUR people show up including myself. I knew it was going to happen, but I was still disappointed. I really want to have a group of guildies to run with, but too many people would rather PUG it out. I can't really blame them, because it isn't like we will get a full clear in with the guild group. Oh well, I probably won't schedule a run this week. I'm going to wait for our MIA Guild Leader to return before planning another run (that is another very long story for another time).
Despite the guild problems, I did see a full Kara clear this weekend. I ran the front half on Saturday with my Shaman, and picked up three healing mail items. I helped the other guild group on Sunday with finishing the back half of Kara. No loot dropped, but it was a good time.
Hooray for new dailies!! My bank account was looking a little weak right before the patch hit, so I welcomed daily quests that I hadn't done dozens and dozens and dozens of times before. There is a nice mix of combat and non combat quests, and I can blow through about a dozen quests in an hour and a half. You can also get Badges of Justice from the Shattered Sun Supplies, which is always very helpful (especially when you hate running Heroics).
Magister's Terrace
I have only ran the new 5 person instance one time, and I was very frustrated with the instance. Can I please have more 5 pack pulls of all casters please? KTHX! I feel like I took way too much damage in the instance on normal difficultly. I have decent gear. I could easily tank in SSC or TK, so I shouldn't have problems in a normal 5 person dungeon. Oh well, I need to run it with some guildies. I had to PUG it out, and I think I went through like 9 different people to get through the whole place. It is well designed, but right now the risk is too high for the practically nonexistent rewards.
Karazhan Update
My Sunday Night Kara group failed to materialize this week. We had FOUR people show up including myself. I knew it was going to happen, but I was still disappointed. I really want to have a group of guildies to run with, but too many people would rather PUG it out. I can't really blame them, because it isn't like we will get a full clear in with the guild group. Oh well, I probably won't schedule a run this week. I'm going to wait for our MIA Guild Leader to return before planning another run (that is another very long story for another time).
Despite the guild problems, I did see a full Kara clear this weekend. I ran the front half on Saturday with my Shaman, and picked up three healing mail items. I helped the other guild group on Sunday with finishing the back half of Kara. No loot dropped, but it was a good time.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Moving Beyond Karazhan?
My guild attempts to run two Kara groups a week. I say "attempts" because we actually only have 15-16 reliable raiders. Occasionally we will bring in someone new, but for the most part, we have to use LFG to fill out our raids.
Our core group of raiders is also a mixed bunch. We have several players that no longer need any gear from Kara, but we also have newer players that still need lots of items. I've been trying to shift the newer players into my Sunday night group. Sadly, I still cannot get a consistent 10 players to show up for my raids. I am always missing a tank or a couple healers. We then have to look for pick up players, and I pray that the guild won't look like amateurs when someone pulls Maiden early (which happened twice last week).
I've been wondering if it is all worth it. One of the big problems I've seen is the ease at which people can PUG Kara. Several times now, I've had key players opt to PUG Kara because they may not make the Sunday run. Sometimes the same players end up logging in while the Sunday raid is underway (which is always infuriating). It is easier to put your personal needs ahead of the needs of the guild.
Maybe I should let them PUG it out? Maybe I should throw in the towel and let people do what they want. My guild is very casual, so it is always difficult to organize and bring people together. Maybe I should focus on my personal goals for once, and get the best of the guild together to run Zul'Aman on Sundays?
We have enough players ready to start working on ZA. Maybe if we start making progress, then other players will get their act together to join us in ZA. With ZA we can be more selective about people's gear and basically put a stop to the free rides. If people realize they need Kara gear to do ZA, then maybe there will be more interest in organized runs...
Of course, that would bring us back to Kara, not move us beyond... /sigh
Our core group of raiders is also a mixed bunch. We have several players that no longer need any gear from Kara, but we also have newer players that still need lots of items. I've been trying to shift the newer players into my Sunday night group. Sadly, I still cannot get a consistent 10 players to show up for my raids. I am always missing a tank or a couple healers. We then have to look for pick up players, and I pray that the guild won't look like amateurs when someone pulls Maiden early (which happened twice last week).
I've been wondering if it is all worth it. One of the big problems I've seen is the ease at which people can PUG Kara. Several times now, I've had key players opt to PUG Kara because they may not make the Sunday run. Sometimes the same players end up logging in while the Sunday raid is underway (which is always infuriating). It is easier to put your personal needs ahead of the needs of the guild.
Maybe I should let them PUG it out? Maybe I should throw in the towel and let people do what they want. My guild is very casual, so it is always difficult to organize and bring people together. Maybe I should focus on my personal goals for once, and get the best of the guild together to run Zul'Aman on Sundays?
We have enough players ready to start working on ZA. Maybe if we start making progress, then other players will get their act together to join us in ZA. With ZA we can be more selective about people's gear and basically put a stop to the free rides. If people realize they need Kara gear to do ZA, then maybe there will be more interest in organized runs...
Of course, that would bring us back to Kara, not move us beyond... /sigh
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sorry
I had disabled comments during my blog's inactive period. I was getting way too much spam. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn them back on after I started to post again. Sorry about that.
I have now turned comments back on. :)
I have now turned comments back on. :)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Grounder
This is my Level 70 Shaman, Grounder. I kind of leveled this character to 70 on accident. I started this character before the release of The Burning Crusade. I was playing my Alliance Mage at the time, but I missed playing Horde side. I created Grounder as a diversion until the Expansion was released. Once BC was out, the character was left to rest in an inn somewhere on Kalimdor.Flash forward to Patch 2.3, and I wanted to run the new content in Dustwallow Marsh. Low and behold, my Shaman was level 37. I started playing her again, and really enjoyed the streamlined leveling process. I enjoyed it so much, that I took my alt all the way to Outland.
Along the way I tried all three talent trees. I found enhancement to be a bit boring, but it was efficient for leveling. I switched to Restoration for a few levels in my early 60s, and leveled by running some instances. Once I decided to make the final push to 70, I went elemental because I had more caster gear than enhancement items. I really enjoyed elemental, but at 69, I went back to Resto for good.
Since I hit 70, I have been working to improve my gear. I had a goal of breaking +1000 healing, then I would start running Karazhan. I got keyed and hit my goal on Saturday. Late Sunday evening, I found myself starting my Kara healing career on Nightbane. I died on the first rain of bones, but used an Ankh and stayed in the fight until the end. It was the most excitement I had in Kara in a long time. I got really nervous when I realized the group I joined was comprised of Death Wish alts (Death Wish is the top raiding guild on Cho'gall and one of the top guilds in the country). I had a couple more noob moments, but I was very happy when the MT complimented the healing on the Prince fight. I don't think we let him drop below 75%.
My Shaman's adventures are just beginning, so you will hear more about her in the future.
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