The big news is "no Firelands in 4.1". This coincides with (and explained by) the slowdown of progression overall. Not just The PuG has difficulties. Not just Spinks and Larísa are struggling to maintain the raiding. Two weeks ago I posted we killed Chimaeron was at the #17K position. Despite we killed nothing after that, we are still #18100. So only 1000 guilds in our range progressed in two weeks. The lowering tide sink all boats.
Also the server's activity is falling, Tol Barad is no longer 2 full raids, it's rather 1 raid in peak hours and half otherwise. Herb prices are falling as bots are busy collecting them but the buyers are absent.
Several raiding guilds used to be 25-man and they rather scale down to 10 than trying to recruit to keep up. Too much work, too much frustration. That happened with Larísa too. She did not get into the core team, so she left the guild. She was invited back by lot of members who liked her (like there is someone out there who don't like her). But the problem is still unsolved. There are 10 spots in a 10-man raid and if someone is in for social reasons, someone else will be left out. That person will definitely be the first in the planet who won't like her.
"The problem is, I’m 41 next month. My reflexes aren’t what they used to be, there are youngsters in our raid who act like they have the reaction times of rattlesnakes on crack and they handle fights like this with ease. Me, I need time to process things, time to let muscle memory take the slack that my reflexes can’t handle and my brain can’t process." - she explained her situation with a quote. It can also mean becoming weakest link in a hard-core 10 man raid. I don't think she wants that.
So here is the offer to her, and all those people who want to raid, but the 25 to 10 transformation took away their "I'm one of the infantry" status. The 10 will be the HC elite aiming for hard modes. Hard modes are now hard, we are not in ICC anymore. In the hard modes there are no "infantry" spots. Everyone must excel. The problem is that 10 left out good players are not another 10-men guild. The original 25-men keeps the tanks, the raid leaders, the ventrillo server, key players.
Staying with friends would be great and they "have a couple of retired raiders who have been offered to stay in the guild, as a gesture of honor. I suspect that I could have gotten such a place myself if I had wanted to, but it wasn't an option. Seeing the rest of the guild raiding, while I couldn't, would be more painful than fun."
Take that offer! Be "friend" rank among your friends, maybe step in when they need one extra raider, but let the "rattlesnake youth" do the hardmodes. Raid with us! No attendance, no emotional/social load, just raiding. I doubt we can do much more than 1-2 hard modes before 4.2, so a good, but not "rattlesnake" raider would perfectly fit. Just because you can't do hard modes you don't have to give up on raiding or raid 2/12 with arthasdklol.
The PuG is always open for all classes and levels as long as the person keeps the rules. Of course the rules are a strong barrier. We lost a few good players who couldn't stand being unable to "have fun" in the chat (at the expense of 20-50 other people who can't care less about their real life stuff). But hey, you can have that in your "friendly" guild. Of course it works two-way, there are many players here who wouldn't leave for a much progressed guild where they have to suffer the terrible jokes of random strangers.
The black horse is the no-voice rule. While voice chat allow even pretty bad (but not completely useless) players to down bosses, it also drains the life force of the boosting officer fast. If this officer burns out and stops playing, the guild is dead and we are free to fish. Of course if he doesn't burn out, a lesser guild can kill more bosses than us, luring players.
Also the server's activity is falling, Tol Barad is no longer 2 full raids, it's rather 1 raid in peak hours and half otherwise. Herb prices are falling as bots are busy collecting them but the buyers are absent.
Several raiding guilds used to be 25-man and they rather scale down to 10 than trying to recruit to keep up. Too much work, too much frustration. That happened with Larísa too. She did not get into the core team, so she left the guild. She was invited back by lot of members who liked her (like there is someone out there who don't like her). But the problem is still unsolved. There are 10 spots in a 10-man raid and if someone is in for social reasons, someone else will be left out. That person will definitely be the first in the planet who won't like her.
"The problem is, I’m 41 next month. My reflexes aren’t what they used to be, there are youngsters in our raid who act like they have the reaction times of rattlesnakes on crack and they handle fights like this with ease. Me, I need time to process things, time to let muscle memory take the slack that my reflexes can’t handle and my brain can’t process." - she explained her situation with a quote. It can also mean becoming weakest link in a hard-core 10 man raid. I don't think she wants that.
So here is the offer to her, and all those people who want to raid, but the 25 to 10 transformation took away their "I'm one of the infantry" status. The 10 will be the HC elite aiming for hard modes. Hard modes are now hard, we are not in ICC anymore. In the hard modes there are no "infantry" spots. Everyone must excel. The problem is that 10 left out good players are not another 10-men guild. The original 25-men keeps the tanks, the raid leaders, the ventrillo server, key players.
Staying with friends would be great and they "have a couple of retired raiders who have been offered to stay in the guild, as a gesture of honor. I suspect that I could have gotten such a place myself if I had wanted to, but it wasn't an option. Seeing the rest of the guild raiding, while I couldn't, would be more painful than fun."
Take that offer! Be "friend" rank among your friends, maybe step in when they need one extra raider, but let the "rattlesnake youth" do the hardmodes. Raid with us! No attendance, no emotional/social load, just raiding. I doubt we can do much more than 1-2 hard modes before 4.2, so a good, but not "rattlesnake" raider would perfectly fit. Just because you can't do hard modes you don't have to give up on raiding or raid 2/12 with arthasdklol.
The PuG is always open for all classes and levels as long as the person keeps the rules. Of course the rules are a strong barrier. We lost a few good players who couldn't stand being unable to "have fun" in the chat (at the expense of 20-50 other people who can't care less about their real life stuff). But hey, you can have that in your "friendly" guild. Of course it works two-way, there are many players here who wouldn't leave for a much progressed guild where they have to suffer the terrible jokes of random strangers.
The black horse is the no-voice rule. While voice chat allow even pretty bad (but not completely useless) players to down bosses, it also drains the life force of the boosting officer fast. If this officer burns out and stops playing, the guild is dead and we are free to fish. Of course if he doesn't burn out, a lesser guild can kill more bosses than us, luring players.
10 comments:
When I lose my raid spot I leave the guild. No questions no arguement. I am gone. The reason for this, despite being offered social status, is I refuse to be a fan boy. I dont care if I was real life friends and room mates with ensidia/paragon or whomever, If I couldn't raid, I wouldnt wear a raid guilds tag. Is dishonest about my abilties and status within the game its also cheating myself of a raid postion. I feel for Larisa, but I think shes absolutely right to go find another guild where she can compete for a raid spot. Its what I would/have done.
Gevlon, did you miss the bit in her post where she talks about the 'family' that she left behind, and the warm and fuzzy that she missed, and turned around and went back for? Such a person will never come to an asocial guild like the PuG.
Your point is well made (in that DPS being cut from 25->10 man raiding guilds should join you), but Larisa is probably a poor example of someone who would gain from it.
Thank you for the offer Gevlon; it's very much appreciated. But I'm fine as it is. We got a blod transfusion of new players and hopefully this will mean that we can stay a 25 man guild.
Just a small correction: the quote about the rattlesnakes came from Pew Pew Lasers. It fit quite well as a discription of me though, even if I'm actually even a couple of years older than Calli.
@Squishalot: read the post again. I did not tell her to leave the guild, I told to stay there as "friends and family" and raid there.
@Larísa: good luck! However if 25-men won't happen, the invitation is open.
Ever the business man Gevlon and I take my hat off to you for spotting the opportunity. A high profile, well respected blogger like Larisa in the PUG would be quite a coup.
But I agree with Squish, you've underestimated the strength of feeling that social people have for their guild. It's not wrong, it's just different from your view of the game.
Sometimes those sort of social feelings might cloud the pure logic, perhaps they could even be described as "ape routines" but don't underestimate the power of them.
vive la difference
@Chewy: I've actually had a character in Gevlon's guild already. I started one very early on, since I wanted to follow the project from the inside, seeing how it worked. However my time available for alt levelling has been limited, so I'm afraid that I've left that little gnome mage (ofc!) in the dust. Following the guild guild rules she's kicked out of it for inactivity, and rightfully so.
I led raids without vent for 3 years, but we finally got it at the prompting of some relatively HC members maybe 8 months ago.
Last night, the vent server failed, and it was quite embarassing to see how much people relied on it mid-fight.
(Late Ulduar, no vent, when it was current tier. I miss the 'well oiled machine' thing... Have to admit it saves time when we're changing tactics every wipe or two, during progression, though.)
Vent's problem is that it encourages an "hand-holding" raid-leading style. I consider it an "advanced" tool, it should be used by guilds doing heroic end-game progession (which usually are disciplined enough and actually need it).
I wish I could join the PUG on US servers. I would be there in a heartbeat. We have a raid lead who is far too fond of hearing himself talk. >.<
@ Gevlon: Your offer isn't exactly clear, and reads like every other PuG recruitment post that you have made over the last 6 months.
"So here is the offer to her, and all those people who want to raid, but the 25 to 10 transformation took away their "I'm one of the infantry" status. The 10 will be the HC elite aiming for hard modes. Hard modes are now hard, we are not in ICC anymore. In the hard modes there are no "infantry" spots. Everyone must excel. The problem is that 10 left out good players are not another 10-men guild. The original 25-men keeps the tanks, the raid leaders, the ventrillo server, key players.
..
Take that offer! Be "friend" rank among your friends, maybe step in when they need one extra raider, but let the "rattlesnake youth" do the hardmodes. Raid with us! No attendance, no emotional/social load, just raiding."
I interpreted that as 'join the PuG', and stay 'friends' with your friends in the other guild, and join them if they need an extra raider. I'm sure Chewy had the same impression as well.
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