That's not god, that's your tank. And he's angry.

That title has absolutely nothing to do with this post. But it's catchy. So it's staying.

If you've been following me on Twitter, or reading the blog, you might have noticed that the majority of my WoW time has been spent on alts lately, and not on raiding.

There's a reason for that unfortunately.

My computer is, and always has been, a complete and total pile of crap. Ever want to see what 25 man raids look like on 2 fps? Yeah, didn't think so.

Since the launch of Wrath, I've been able to overcompensate for my computer being so terrible by knowing my class and role backwards and forwards, spending hours reading and watching vids about the encounter, and doing what I can to overgear the fights.

As Resurgence treks further and further into 25 Icecrown however, it's been getting more and more apparent that my plan is no longer working. I remember looking at the healing reports from a Blood Queen attempt and being so disgusted and angry that I just had to walk away from my computer.

Ya know the times where you're just so freaking tired of something that you want to cry? Yeah, that's been these past several weeks. Tuesday I logged on before the raid and I thought 'I hope I end up waitlisted tonight'. When you're beginning to dread raiding, something's wrong.

I'm a good raider, and I personally think I'm a pretty damn good healer. But sometimes there's things that you just can't control.

So until I'm able to afford an upgraded computer, I've decided to step back from progression 25 man raiding. Unfortunately, with how our 10s are currently set up, that means I'm likely to not be included in the progression 10 raids as well. It sucks, I'm not happy, and I've tried everything else I can think of, but that's the way it is.

To clarify, I'm not leaving the game. I'm not going to quit blogging. I'm not stopping raiding. Things will just be different.

So, without raiding, it looks like I'm going to be spending a good bit of time on my alts, both on Stonemaul and the dabbling I've done on Feathermoon. I've also got a few achievements I'd like to finish up on Khiow, and hoping to finally get the Guardian of Cenarius on Khilana. I'm still going to kill Arthas before Cata, it'll just be a bit further down the road than I'd like. But yeah, this will be a few months of leveling.

=(

*kicks computer*

LF Guild: Let's App!

Before we get going, if you haven't, check out my first post about joining a guild here. That covers some details of what exactly may be looked at on your character, and so some things you can do BEFORE applying to improve your chances.

First, make sure that you've read the guild's rules. Spend some time poking around their website for any other information that's available. In addition to being very very important information, these may also give you a heads up if the guild is right for you. Speak with an officer or other long term guild member if you have any questions.

Make sure that you are geared appropriately for the content that they are working on. If you're a fresh 80, don't app to a guild that's progressing through 25ToGC. You're going to do nothing but embarrass yourself and frustrate the members of that raiding team. *Occasionally, you'll come across a guild that is so desperate to find a certain class or spec that they're willing to take the time to gear them up. If you're lucky enough to find such a need, be prepared to work your butt off and earn your place. However, NEVER assume this is the case unless it's explicitly stated.*

Now, to the fun part =D

Copy the application questions and paste them into a word processor of your choice. It helps to answer them all here, and then once you're finished, submit it through whatever process you were asked to. If it's a fill in the blank webform, just paste your answers in. If you were asked to e-mail the finished app to an officer, paste the entire thing (questions and answers).

Treat your guild application like a job application. Remember, you're trying to show them that you would be a valuable member for their raiding team.

Fill out each and every question completely. If there's a question that you are unable to answer, at least explain why. Remember, more detail is better than less.

8) We require full personal buffs for progression raids. What consumables (flasks, potions, stat foods) do you use in raids?

Yes

This, is a bad answer. Good answer to the same question?

8) We require full personal buffs for progression raids. What consumables (flasks, potions, stat foods) do you use in raids?

I use Flask of the Frost Wyrm, warlock firestone, Fel Armor, Fish Feast (if one isn't provided then Firecracker Salmon)

Make it a priority to log out in your raiding gear and spec. If you apply to a high end raiding guild as a mage, and constantly log out in your PvP gear, they're eventually going to tire of trying to catch you at the right time and just move on to the next applicant.

Be honest! Most questions on your app have ways of being verified, and lies can get very very nasty when the truth comes out.


One very common question is about guild histories. Here, you want to be honest, but not gossipy. If you left your previous guild because you and the GM got into a screaming fight in vent, a good way to word your reasoning for leaving might be "Unresolvable difference of opinion with leadership." If you're specifically asked for more info, then provide it, but keep things polite. A general guideline, try to keep it something that would not destroy your relationships with any former guild mates if they were to see it.  Showing that you can treat everyone with respect, even those you don't get along with, can be a good plus for any applicant.

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you probably have come across some of my posts about the very ugly implosion of Narrschkeit. Even though there were hard feelings on both side after I finally left, I did my very best in my app to not talk shit about them.

With Khiow, only former guild was Narrschkeit. It essentially came down to the fact that my goals for the raiding group and guild at a whole were very different from most of the other officers and a large chunk of the raiders. 

 Another common question is in regards to references/guild members that can vouch for you. Read such a question very very carefully. If it is simply asking if there is anyone that has run with you before, feel free to list anyone that you remember. However, most forms will ask for someone that can provide a reference. Just like a job application, they're looking for someone that can tell them honest, but good things about you. Always always always ask before putting a player's name down.

For example, Resurgence recently had an app where the player put down several names in his 'Vouch For Me' question, and at least 2 of those commented on the thread stating that the only times they had ever run with the app they were absolutely terrible and had an awful attitude. Didn't do much for his odds methinks =\

Now, you've answered all the questions, spellchecked the entire form, proofread it for any stupid typos. You're almost ready to send in your totally awesome application of doom.

WAIT!

Are you in a guild right now? Unless it's just a bank guild, there's something you should consider. It's always going to depend on the specific situation, but if you want to do your best not to burn your bridges, I believe it's a very good idea to speak with your guild leader or another officer before submitting an application elsewhere. Do your best to speak with a very reasonable and level headed player when at all possible. Let them know basically why you no longer wish to be in your current guild, tell them that you have been looking and you're planning to apply to a different guild, and explain that you are letting them know so that they have some info on what's happening and can start making any preparations they need to.

For example, if you're the main tank of your 25m guild, that raiding team needs as much advanced notice as possible to start shuffling players and gear in order to have someone ready to fill that vital role once you are no longer there.

 Now, your turn! What are some things you've run into as an applicant or as a guild member that can help/hurt in the application process?

Update and teh Alcohol

Biggest news is I finally left my guild... I really like many of the people in , and that's one of the reasons I left quite a few alts including my 80 DK in guild. I spent about a week really researching other raiding guilds on our server, and several caught my eye. 

Last Sunday a friend in   asked me to come heal their 10m Ulduar alt run. Apparently they've been low on trees, and I made a pretty good impression, as the GM contacted my friend a few days later and asked him to convince me to apply. Made me a very very happy tree, especially as that was my first choice guild. Of course, the pressure's really on now, especially as I don't have a single piece of gear above Ulduar 10, and they're working on Uld 25 HM and ToGC 25. 


In other news...

< Raiding Guild > LFM! Have tabard.

Or, how Faction Changes are going to affect you.

So, you log on today, and notice that several of your raiders seem to have vanished into the night. Your efforts at tracking them down prove fruitless, and eventually you give up after crying yourself to sleep at night for a week.

You, in the back. Stop with the snickering.

/cough

As I was saying, one day, you are happily frolicking through the Argent Tournament, ready to do roll some faces in jousting, when all of a sudden you come across a name that looks vaguely familiar. Scratch that, VERY familiar. Why does this gnome seem to be so similar to that orc that disappeared a few days back?

Oh, right... He must have Faction Changed. Punt him. Now.

LF Guild: How To, and How Not To

The main parts of this are something I wrote up for our officers so they had some info on things I checked when receiving an application for our guild. However, for the sake of my blog audience (as small as that might be currently ^.^), I went back and added info for players that are on the other side of the process and applying to a new guild.



As the semi-official 'recruiting officer' for Narrischkeit, I get to see the applications before anyone else, and I'm often the first to respond once I've posted the app in our forum. As such, I've tried to make things easier for me, and created a list of sites that I go through that do most of the work for me =)

These tips are directed towards those applying for semi-casual -> hardcore raiding guilds. If you're applying to a social guild, or just joining a group of friends that you know, then some of this information will not apply to you.

Before filling out any application, read all info about the guild that you can find. Above all, make sure that you have read their policies, raiding schedule, and the steps for application. For example, don't post your application on their Recruiting forum when the directions state to PM it to an officer.

And So for Something Strangely Similar...

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you yet more guild leadership posts. Because you all care, right?

I've got 2 other druid/raidy posts that are done except for editing, but after reading back over them, I realized that my stress and attitude of the past few weeks is showing through, and I'm not satisfied with they way they are currently. So instead, I'm going to go back to my favorite topic lately.

My goal with this is not to drag out my guild's dirty laundry. Narrischkeit has a great group of people, many of them my close friends, and I don't believe that anyone deliberately went out of their way to cause issues for us.

However, I am hoping that by discussing what I believe to be our mistakes as of late, other guilds can take the warning and hopefully prevent a fallout such as we're currently experiencing.

Looking back now, I think I can identify the point where bad things began to happen.

We were in the middle of a 10m Malygos attempt, when a shaman made a comment about our guild leader (Fah) needing more health to reach the recommended # for the encounter. While the comment could have been worded a bit better, it was clear to most that he was intending it to be as a word of advice for Fah, and a heads up for we healers. Instead, Fah took it to be an insult directed at him, exchanged a few nasty comments, and kicked the shaman from the raid. Our raid leader invited the shaman back, Fah kicked him again, and then removed the shaman from the guild. The raid leader, who had been RL for us throughout LK raiding, gquit on the spot.

Lessons to learn:
1.Communication. If any of the main three involved had taken the time to really try and discuss this, I believe that the incident would have been resolved without anyone leaving the raid or the guild.

2.Authority. Too many cooks spoil the pot. I am a fan of only a select few people having raid assist. As a lock, I don't think that Fah needed or should have had assist at that time. Having too many people with authority over a raid leads to confusion and conflicting orders.

3.Organization. All guilds need a set of policies. If we had anything in place regarding raid control or guild removal, even if the incident had continued in the same way it did, I feel that the guild members' impressions would have been less that a fit had been thrown, and more that a decision had been rationally reached.

As we were suddenly without a raid leader, the GM (Fah) stepped up to fill those shoes. Raids were still going well, though we began to have some issues with scheduling, as he would typically only place raids on the calendar the day of, giving some not enough time to make plans to be there and resulting in attendance trouble.

I started helping out by organizing the raids for him, and then being a raid assistant. At the time, I hoped that I could help out for a short period while the officers got their stuff together and found a permanent person as a RL. Instead, I soon found myself as a new officer, and unfortunately still one of the few that was contributing in a major way to the guild.

I shortly became the main RL. Along with the typical problems someone would find in that job, I also began having trouble with various guild members, especially officers, trying to control certain parts (or all) of my raids. Instead of speaking with them, I simply assumed that was part of how this guild ran their raids, and that I needed to just deal with it.

Lessons:
1.Organization. Things going a bit lopsided after having a RL leave is one thing, but the officers and GM that were already in place should have stepped up and made whatever changes were needed to keep things happy and happening. A 25 man raiding structure should never fall to pieces because of the loss or absence of a single person.

2.Responsibility. I've always strongly felt that all raiders, especially officers, should have to answer for their responsibilities. Many of ours were not (and still aren't) being an officer in more than name. I believe part of that is due to them having no need for quite a while, but also in part due to the fact that most of them are close real life friends to the GM. As such, I feel that he doesn't like to assert his authority over most of the officers unless absolutely needed.

3.Communication. We should have communicated with the officers as soon as things started getting rough in raids. I should have spoken up about the trouble I was having with people in my runs. Instead, bad feelings and confusion started to spread throughout our raiders.

Summer hit, and with it, we started loosing raiders. We went from a 25 man raiding guild to a 10 man raiding guild in the space of a few short weeks. Due to some real world issues, I had to mostly leave the game for about a month. Things got worse, but a few officers and raiders got together and set up a good 10m group, and we've been smashing our way through Ulduar. Unfortunately, as most raiders want 25m runs, we've continued to lose members.

An officer meeting was called, and some things were ironed out, including various policies and roles for certain officers. Unfortunately, many of those have not been enforced, and a majority of our officer core does not seem to take their responsibilities seriously.

Things began coming to a boiling point when two of our officers decided to apply to one of the top raiding guilds on our server. They spoke with our main raid leader and myself beforehand, and were planning to speak with the GM as soon as he was available that evening. Unfortunately, a guild member that was close to both the officers and the GM called Fah to inform him of their application. He logged into Vent during the raid that evening, and started in on one of those that was likely leaving. The next morning, 5 of our core raiders, including 3 officers, had quit the guild.

Lessons:
1.Communication. The officers should have talked to Fah before applying, and let him know that it was likely that they would be no longer in guild soon. Fah should have controlled his temper and discussed it with them in a reasonable way.

2.Responsibility. We have a couple of officers that are working their asses off to keep this guild alive, but many more that do nothing. As we currently have 11 of officer rank or higher, that is a very large chunk of our admin group that is not currently putting forth the time or effort needed to save our guild.

TL;DR

Keep communication lines open and friendly between all members of the guild. Much drama can be solved or prevented by taking the time to politely talk to someone.

No matter the size of your guild, like every other organization out there, some basic policies and procedures need to be set down and enforced. It'll be unnecessary 80% of the time, but for the remaining 10%, it may save your bacon.

Authority should be respected, but not feared. The admin in your guild have the job of keeping things together and moving, and guild members should keep that in mind. However, keep in mind who is the head honcho in each situation, and listen to them above all.

Take responsibility for your role in a guild. Whether you're a normal raider, an officer, or a GM, you have a job to do, and you should do it to the best of your ability.

And finally, act as soon as you start seeing problems. Putting a problem behind your back just lets it grow quicker, and with less warning. Speak with your officers, GM, or other guild admin as soon as you start seeing trouble. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Things are still going downhill, though some of us are still fighting tooth and nail to save Narrischkeit. We'll see what happens =)

Progression

For as long as I can remember, progression means bigger numbers. You didn't do TK until you had cleared Kara.

However, with LK, that seems it may have changed some... We've been progressing through Naxx 25, and doing very well, but attendance has pretty well halted raids for about a month now. So instead of clearing 2-3 wings in Heroic Naxx, we go and kill 10m Razorscale.

Officers are stressed, raiders that show up are getting disappointing, and those that don't show are annoyed because we are starting Ulduar without them.

But I'm thinking... Why does progression have to be through 25s? We don't have the numbers right now willing to put forth the time and effort, and if we can get a 10 together to go learn Ulduar, why not?

Just some food for thought, mostly my own.

Perhaps time to poke the GL though...

Guild Leadership

We've recently begun running 25's, and are seeing the growing pains I think =(

Needing to actually design a loot system, restructure guild ranks and leadership, blah blah blah.

This is actually not a situation I've been in previously, as I've raided either with 10 mans, or with 25s that were already well established. And surprisingly, it seems I may be getting pushed in the way of leadership, maybe even healing lead.

*gulp*

So I've spent my week leveling alts while browsing info on other healing classes, hoping to actually have some of the knowledge that I'll be needing.

With 3.1 just around the corner though, I have the feeling that a lot of these new cool changes are going to need to be re-done.

Bleh.

Home with the family for a few days, maybe things will look less overwhelming on the other side.