C'mon, sing along with Willie:
In the raid again,
Just can't wait to get in the raid again, The life I love is killing bosses with my friends
And I can't wait to get in the raid again.
In the raid again,
Doing instances where I've never been
Using spells that I will never use again,
And I can't wait to get in the raid again.
In the raid again,
Like a group of fresh 80s we die in the fire,
We're a LEET raid team
The final boss's death is all that we desire
And our desire,
Is in the raid again.
Just can't wait to get in the raid again,
The life I love is killing bosses with my friends
And I can't wait to get in the raid again.
We got 2 more bosses in ICC last night. We had three short pulls on Saurfang before we called it. Nevertheless, it was a great raid night. Our newest dps-er, Sebastion, the rogue, got TWO new weapons. That is totally awesome, his MH and his OH both dropped. Nobody else could use 1H dps weapons, so it was great to give them both to him. Overall, we're one boss away from being caught up with 10-man raid content. It is totally great being back home and playing with the team again!
Showing posts with label Raiding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raiding. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Casual raiding guild blues
I am anticipating disaster. This will be followed by resentment. Then the exodus will occur. It's the mmorpg casual guild Circle of Life.
When we have new content released, a lot of our guild members get back in the game. They play much more and want to do all the new content right away. MOST of these folks have not finished the old content, since they got bored with it. They have not maxxed out their gear. They have not tried the content on the PTR or followed it online. Without thinking about it, they want to get carried through content. Some of them have been grinding out their gear, pugging some raids, and getting better, but have not joined a team or formed a team of their own.
Our guild has over 200 people, on 450 characters. Most of the gulidies are real people, with real lives, family, school, work, jail time to serve, etc. They understand that if they can't attend our posted raid times, that they can try again with us next week, do other stuff or join a PuG. I encourage people to find friends within the guild to play with regularly. Make 5 man or 10 man teams. Set up their own group within the guild. Make it a community. So far, we have 2 10 man teams. So 20 people are accounted for. There will be at least a dozen more people who feel, since I am guild leader, I should find a team for them. I can't do that. I am busy with playing the game myself. Me and the other guild officers have taken a lot of time to work on our guild - decent forums, lots of encouragement, creating a safe, friendly place to play with lots of other people. I can't make a team for everybody, then make sure everybody show up every time, and when they dont show up, find somebody to fill . . .I do that on MY team.
I don't mean to be dismissive, but everybody needs to play the game for themselves. I would love for a few extra people to take the initiative of building a team. I want everybody to have fun, but I can't make them do it.
When we have new content released, a lot of our guild members get back in the game. They play much more and want to do all the new content right away. MOST of these folks have not finished the old content, since they got bored with it. They have not maxxed out their gear. They have not tried the content on the PTR or followed it online. Without thinking about it, they want to get carried through content. Some of them have been grinding out their gear, pugging some raids, and getting better, but have not joined a team or formed a team of their own.
Our guild has over 200 people, on 450 characters. Most of the gulidies are real people, with real lives, family, school, work, jail time to serve, etc. They understand that if they can't attend our posted raid times, that they can try again with us next week, do other stuff or join a PuG. I encourage people to find friends within the guild to play with regularly. Make 5 man or 10 man teams. Set up their own group within the guild. Make it a community. So far, we have 2 10 man teams. So 20 people are accounted for. There will be at least a dozen more people who feel, since I am guild leader, I should find a team for them. I can't do that. I am busy with playing the game myself. Me and the other guild officers have taken a lot of time to work on our guild - decent forums, lots of encouragement, creating a safe, friendly place to play with lots of other people. I can't make a team for everybody, then make sure everybody show up every time, and when they dont show up, find somebody to fill . . .I do that on MY team.
I don't mean to be dismissive, but everybody needs to play the game for themselves. I would love for a few extra people to take the initiative of building a team. I want everybody to have fun, but I can't make them do it.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Follow me! I know the way . . .
Well, I am lucky enough to be friends with a few of the really solid raiding guilds on my server. When the content stops being progression, these guilds sometimes need extra heals or an off-tank, or one of the classes I seem to be able to bring. There are a few great benefits when I get to pug a raid with a raiding guild:
- The tricks that they use to stay efficient can be really helpful
- Boss strats, bugs are easier to explore in game than in videos
- I tend to meet folks who have a lot of skill, and may have alts that need gear from raids below their main progression runs . . . my friends list is usually pretty solid
- I am reminded why I don't want to be in a leading edge progression guild.
When I get to just follow along, life is easy. The guys who lead the raids in realm-first-competitive guilds need to be not as nice as I want to be. They HAVE to do it, basically. To produce results, they need to drive their teams hard, and while most raiders on teams like this do really well without too much guidance, even in these guilds, discipline is very important and needs constant attention.
I would rather be a social director, and allow raiding to happen vigorously, but without pressure. I think I can keep people pretty happy about the social aspect of the guild. I think I can keep people informed, connected and give them opportunities to explore raiding - even progression raiding. To drive any one aspect of the guild toward the hardcore, well, that is something that I don't have the ability to do. So, I'm glad that I have awesome friends who can open the window to that part of the game.
- The tricks that they use to stay efficient can be really helpful
- Boss strats, bugs are easier to explore in game than in videos
- I tend to meet folks who have a lot of skill, and may have alts that need gear from raids below their main progression runs . . . my friends list is usually pretty solid
- I am reminded why I don't want to be in a leading edge progression guild.
When I get to just follow along, life is easy. The guys who lead the raids in realm-first-competitive guilds need to be not as nice as I want to be. They HAVE to do it, basically. To produce results, they need to drive their teams hard, and while most raiders on teams like this do really well without too much guidance, even in these guilds, discipline is very important and needs constant attention.
I would rather be a social director, and allow raiding to happen vigorously, but without pressure. I think I can keep people pretty happy about the social aspect of the guild. I think I can keep people informed, connected and give them opportunities to explore raiding - even progression raiding. To drive any one aspect of the guild toward the hardcore, well, that is something that I don't have the ability to do. So, I'm glad that I have awesome friends who can open the window to that part of the game.
Dont despair!
How do you talk to guildies about raiding when PuGs do as well or better than guild runs?
What is the incentive for folks to raid with the guild?
Typically, I talk about having fun in raids. It is fun to kill stuff, but having fun with guildies is that and more. When you know people in a raid, their success means a lot. When it's just you, only YOUR success matters. The more experienced raiders can make a difference in a raid with guildies who are less experienced. This is how teamwork develops. Also, for the folks who raid with the guild, they have the more tangible benefit of keeping whatever loot drops in the guild.
When talking to these potential raiders - who are in the middle of the pack in many good PuGs, but are at the top of the list for us - I want to avoid talking about sacrifice or responsibility to the guild. I don't want people to feel negatively about raiding with the guild. Down that road people get burned out, and feel like to be successful they need to leave.
Ultimately, people will want to do more and they will leave. Those who stay will be the folks who are ok with slower progression, dont mind pugging once in a while, and who really want to help out their friends once in a while. Also, many of our guildies have been down the 'hardcore' road before. They get stuck because of real life obligations and then realize they have to quit WoW. Or they learn that a hobby is something to do in your spare time and moderate their WoW playing. These folks dont need convincing that 6 hours raiding a week is plenty. That having fun, being casual is ok . . . as long as progression happens too!
What is the incentive for folks to raid with the guild?
Typically, I talk about having fun in raids. It is fun to kill stuff, but having fun with guildies is that and more. When you know people in a raid, their success means a lot. When it's just you, only YOUR success matters. The more experienced raiders can make a difference in a raid with guildies who are less experienced. This is how teamwork develops. Also, for the folks who raid with the guild, they have the more tangible benefit of keeping whatever loot drops in the guild.
When talking to these potential raiders - who are in the middle of the pack in many good PuGs, but are at the top of the list for us - I want to avoid talking about sacrifice or responsibility to the guild. I don't want people to feel negatively about raiding with the guild. Down that road people get burned out, and feel like to be successful they need to leave.
Ultimately, people will want to do more and they will leave. Those who stay will be the folks who are ok with slower progression, dont mind pugging once in a while, and who really want to help out their friends once in a while. Also, many of our guildies have been down the 'hardcore' road before. They get stuck because of real life obligations and then realize they have to quit WoW. Or they learn that a hobby is something to do in your spare time and moderate their WoW playing. These folks dont need convincing that 6 hours raiding a week is plenty. That having fun, being casual is ok . . . as long as progression happens too!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tanking Teams
Setting up a tanking team can be tricky. Ultimately, 'bring the player, not the class' is probably MOST true with tanking. Today I heard tanking described as 30% science and 70% art. I think that is a little generous, but in essence, it's true. We've all run in PuGs, or in VoA with a MT or OT who has 45k health, but forgets to pick up some adds. I've seen tanks try Koralon with 52k health who figure that they can just stand in the fire and 'get heals'. In tanking, perhaps more than in other classes, your 'rotation' is secondary to your objective. Gear certainly helps in tanking, but there is a wide range of acceptable gear for the content is available right now.
The most important thing about tanking is having a tank who WANTS to tank. Personally, I get burned out from tanking. I can do it for a while, but then I need to move to something else. There really is much more pressure tanking. For healers, the pressure is similar, but I've spent a lot of time doing both, and personally, I feel twice the pressure tanking as I do healing. The 2nd or 3rd tank job is another role that is challenging on its own. I usually feel like the second best (or third) and that is usually not a great feeling. It does take a special motivation to want to be a tank. Getting 2 people totally dedicated to it is essential. Having 2 people ready to fill take role, while primarily doing something else is also needed. We use 3 tanks on certain encounters. Most of the time we just need 2, so having one tank, who can dps well, or provide extra heals, is a great benefit.
In a good raid, everybody is comfortable with their role for an encounter. They fill that role, and if able, help others too. The MT pallie who has a minute to sit around waiting for Onyxia to drop, and gets off some heals . . .that guy is a hero. The DK OT who changes his presence for phase 3, swaps out the weapons and piles on 750 more dps . . . that is somebody who understands his class, and his ability. The OT warrior, who gets the debuffs up on the mobs, move the vigilance around to help folks reduce their threat . . .I want that guy on the team.
The most important thing about tanking is having a tank who WANTS to tank. Personally, I get burned out from tanking. I can do it for a while, but then I need to move to something else. There really is much more pressure tanking. For healers, the pressure is similar, but I've spent a lot of time doing both, and personally, I feel twice the pressure tanking as I do healing. The 2nd or 3rd tank job is another role that is challenging on its own. I usually feel like the second best (or third) and that is usually not a great feeling. It does take a special motivation to want to be a tank. Getting 2 people totally dedicated to it is essential. Having 2 people ready to fill take role, while primarily doing something else is also needed. We use 3 tanks on certain encounters. Most of the time we just need 2, so having one tank, who can dps well, or provide extra heals, is a great benefit.
In a good raid, everybody is comfortable with their role for an encounter. They fill that role, and if able, help others too. The MT pallie who has a minute to sit around waiting for Onyxia to drop, and gets off some heals . . .that guy is a hero. The DK OT who changes his presence for phase 3, swaps out the weapons and piles on 750 more dps . . . that is somebody who understands his class, and his ability. The OT warrior, who gets the debuffs up on the mobs, move the vigilance around to help folks reduce their threat . . .I want that guy on the team.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Raid leading roles
I have 3 mains.
Yeah - I don't know how that happened either. Well, I kinda do. It happened by necessity. We originally needed tanks - hence Bhorg. Then we needed healers - so I have Bhorgia. But we have 2 other druids on my 10 man team (and if we need 3 battle rezzes in one encounter, we're doing something wrong anyway), so I leveled my priest Acquinas. I try to get all 3 into Vault of Archavon, Onyxia, and Trial of the Crusade each week, but best case scenario is that 2 of those toons are running in alt-runs or pugs. So, I bring whichever toon we need to our main 10-man raid.
There is an issue of alts. I want to help the team win. I want to have fun and avoid wipes. I also do not want to wait an hour to find a decent guildie or friend to fill out our group. By druid is the best geared toon, I play the warrior most skillfully, but the raid generally needs the priest (the least geared and least skillful of my 3 mains). I don't mind. I like playing all 3 toons, and I like having the flexibility to fill several roles. On the 10 man team - 7 people have 3 or more 80s. MOST of those toons are as well geared as mine. We collectively decided to only raid with main toons, unless we need some specific role filled. I don't mind alts. Here is my concern (way to bury the lead!):
As raid leader - I have to alter my attention and strategy based on not only the class, but also the gear of the toon and the experience of the raider - both in general AND as raiding on THAT character. From personal experience I definitely know that I perform best as my warrior tank - despite his relative lower gear. Also, my healing on the resto druid is WAY better than the healing done by my priest. I don't mean the meters, I actually mean by keeping people alive.
Moreover - by raiding on different toons, I need to change my style of play, therefore my style of thinking, depending on which class I am playing at the time. With that change I have noticed that I treat the raid differently depending on who I am playing.
I wonder - does my team notice? Do they HEAR me differently on the different characters?
Yeah - I don't know how that happened either. Well, I kinda do. It happened by necessity. We originally needed tanks - hence Bhorg. Then we needed healers - so I have Bhorgia. But we have 2 other druids on my 10 man team (and if we need 3 battle rezzes in one encounter, we're doing something wrong anyway), so I leveled my priest Acquinas. I try to get all 3 into Vault of Archavon, Onyxia, and Trial of the Crusade each week, but best case scenario is that 2 of those toons are running in alt-runs or pugs. So, I bring whichever toon we need to our main 10-man raid.
There is an issue of alts. I want to help the team win. I want to have fun and avoid wipes. I also do not want to wait an hour to find a decent guildie or friend to fill out our group. By druid is the best geared toon, I play the warrior most skillfully, but the raid generally needs the priest (the least geared and least skillful of my 3 mains). I don't mind. I like playing all 3 toons, and I like having the flexibility to fill several roles. On the 10 man team - 7 people have 3 or more 80s. MOST of those toons are as well geared as mine. We collectively decided to only raid with main toons, unless we need some specific role filled. I don't mind alts. Here is my concern (way to bury the lead!):
As raid leader - I have to alter my attention and strategy based on not only the class, but also the gear of the toon and the experience of the raider - both in general AND as raiding on THAT character. From personal experience I definitely know that I perform best as my warrior tank - despite his relative lower gear. Also, my healing on the resto druid is WAY better than the healing done by my priest. I don't mean the meters, I actually mean by keeping people alive.
Moreover - by raiding on different toons, I need to change my style of play, therefore my style of thinking, depending on which class I am playing at the time. With that change I have noticed that I treat the raid differently depending on who I am playing.
I wonder - does my team notice? Do they HEAR me differently on the different characters?
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