I've been playing this game almost since launch (I came in right after the Maraudon patch, for those who remember those days.) In the course of that time, I've been a part of four different raiding guilds. I've also had to deal with pretty much every possible problem that comes along as a part of said guilds.
I've had to deal with pissy guild leaders, prima donna officers, attention whores, lackluster performance, overzealous raiders, and the often inevitable implosion/disintigration of the guild. A lot of this comes about because of the annonimity of the Internet, where people can be jerks in ways they wouldn't face-to-face.
But we put up with it, because we want raid content. We wanted to kill Ragnaros. We wanted to farm Nefarian. We wanted phat lootz, like Ashkandi and Tier pieces and whatever else.
TBC changed the dynamic somewhat by lowering the maximum raid size from 40 to 25. Fewer people to get pissy about raiding, the more stable guilds would be. Less dead weight, etc. Well, things didn't really change all that much, so now in Wrath, you're going to be able to raid with as few as 10 in every raid instance.
We've been putting this concept to the test in Ordo by hitting TBC 10-man content with our little guild. We don't have 10. We have 8, and one of them is still leveling to 70. Technically, we're tearing through Kara and ZA with only 7.
And we're kicking serious ass. Our first run last week cleared Kara of all bosses save Netherspite (and he is so not worth it.) We also took out 3 of the initial bosses in ZA. Last night, we repeated our success, clearing Kara through Shade with only a single wipe due to a botched Curator pull.
On average, we're not overgeared with Tier 6 equipment. We have some folks with that stuff, but we also have virgin 70s with instance blues and AH greens. One of our real advantages is years of raid experience. We know these fights. We know how to beat them. And the potency given to every class in the 3.0.2 patch doesn't hurt.
We're hoping to carry this over into Wrath. Can we take Naxx with only 7 or 8? Who knows? But I'm eager to try.
Friday, November 7, 2008
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I've not been at it nearly as long, only about a year and a half. And I like the way the game is going. It started out as just a way to stay in touch with friends while living, literally, on the other side of the world. The game was kind of fun, but it was also pretty limiting. I was working 7 days a week and my schedule never really lined up with my friends. So, even though I was in a "Friends & Family" guild I couldn't even hit instances. It got to the point where I even founded my own guild (Night Shift of Thorium Brotherhood). But after several months I still hadn't gotten a character to Outland (except having hearths set to Grand Shattrath Station). However, a change in my schedule to working only in the afternoon coincided with Ordo's Project Alt Force and my focus swung from post-college friends on TB to my old college buddies (and a couple of new faces) on Garona. Mardigillian shot through levels quickly with the rest of the Alt force, eventually pulling ahead (due to massive amounts of rest and not raiding with a main).
But that was the hitch I wasn't raiding or PvPing there was a lot of content and gear that just wasn't accessible. A n00b with a fury warrior and 500ms latency (on a really good night) wasn't apt to earn himself a spot in a raiding guild. Not that I really had the time or inclination to devote myself to guild drama. I did manage to get into PvP--guildmates (particularly LRNs and Druidboy) walk me through my first few explaining what I should do instead of your typically BG coach ("OMG, u guys suxor, f*in' newbs, etc"). That made all the difference.
Now I'm actually getting to raid. And while I'm not shining quite as much as I did in 5-mans, it feels like I'm contributing. I think part of the lesser shine is that while warriors did get some much needed love in 3.0.2, other classes got just as much or more. (Okay, pallies needed it even more than us warriors, but hunters? A two week old hunter is doing a greater percentage of the DpS than I am--without counting his pet, which is usually doing as much or slightly less than me).
But hey, I'm raiding. I'm getting phat lootz. ("Phat" is in this thing's spellcheck, but "spellcheck" isn't? I weep.) There is very little content that isn't accessible to me.
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