ICC 10 Sindragosa – 25 Blood Council DOWN
Yesterday was a very productive progression day. We started with 25 man ICC and after one shotting Cpn Crunch we moved onto work on Blood Council. We had Festergut and Rottface already down path but knew putricide would still be tough even with the 15% buff. We are still gearing a lot of people for 25. However we wanted to start trying 25 Blood Council since we had the group composition to do it. We tried it the first time and it was a rough fight. We had many people that had not even seen the fight on 10 man yet. The second try we did a lot better. We were prepared to just get some attempts in so we could get more people used to the fight. We did not expect to get as good as we did so quickly… all of a sudden it started to see very possible to actually get it done and after a clean attempt we got all of the prices down! BAM.
I had to heal the warlock tank for this fight. Its not an easy thing to do because there are so many AOEs going on in the room and he has to constantly move to pick up orbs, but with the help from other amazing heals we were able to get it done!
Then we took a little break and did Ony25 for some alts and new people and got some awesome loot out there. I ended up tanking it and getting the 25man version of the resistance helmet. On the progression raid I always go in as a healer, but since none of our other progression tanks were on and I had just semicompleted a nice frost resistance set we decided to work on Sindragosa. Little did we know that we were going to get her under 1 mil on the first attempt. We had to adjust a couple of things in our strategy since we decided to single tank the fight. After everyone got to know the fight better (the fight is all about position and knowing when to run like crazy) we beat the crap out of the dragon and got to take couple of just (lets see how the fight is) with Arthras.
So in a night that we thought we were just going to get some new people to see the fights we actually progressed in content! I am still pretty excited to have both tanked and healed the fights. Its kind of cool to say that I actually single tanked Sindragosa! and we are only the second guild in the alliance side to have hit her over the head.
In: Guild, Healing, Raiding, Tanking
Summerize your WoW
Yes people, this is the post that you have been waiting for! How to make your WoW ready for the summer!
The summer months mean higher temperatures and with dust build up it could make your computer run like a brick. So the first thing that you need to do is care for your machine in the physical type of way. You need to give it some TLC and it is actually pretty simple to do.
If you have never cracked your case open I am given you permission now. Have a nice vacuum cleaner close to you and get ready to suck some dust out of there. Unplug all cables from the computer, specially the power cable. Use one of the nifty attachments and make sure that if you remove some screws opening the case, they don’t get sucked in by the vacuum. Once you have it all clean and and free of dust dinosaurs, FIRE IT UP with the case open. Check to make sure that every single fan is working (specially the one for your video card and the one for your motherboard and CPU.) Also make sure that none of them are too loud. If they are you might have to replace them. Get a friend to do it for you if you have never done it before, but someone with some hardware knowledge should be able to replace them.
Depending on how hot the room is, you might want to consider to leave the case completely open during this summer months. The CPU and video card can get really hot and leaving it open is an option. Also be very mindful of positioning and don’t have it too close to a wall or inside of a cabinet, airflow is the key!
The following are not summer related, but a good reminder of things that you should do to make your WoW work awesome!
- Defrag your computer.
- Clean up any viruses or malware. (Malware bytes) is the newest free flavor or the month.
- Always have at least this one running (AVG Free)
- Back up your data.
- Change your Password (both e-mail and WoW)
- Get an authenticator.
There will be plenty of fun to be had on and off the game this summer, just make sure you keep your computer clean both software and hardware wise!
Authenticators
My wife has an iphone and downloded the little app to get an online authenticator. We also purchased authenticators for both of our accounts. It seems like a pain when you are getting used to it, but after this weekend I think it was a great investment.
We had two guildies get hacked this weekend. In fact, it seems like our server was hit pretty hard this weekend with attacks. My guess is that the hackers probably had to deliver some gold that as bought.
I had google adds on this page, but it was pointed out to me that the ads sometimes lead to gold sellers pages, so I decided to remove the completely. I want no part on helping those people make a buck out of the game they exploit.
Check your virus software, change your password, and please, please get an authenticator. If you have an android or an iphone or touch its pretty much free… also ordering it is not too expensive. It will make you a lot safer… it sucks to log in and have no gear anymore, or in some cases, not even characters to play with anymore.
Gear, You Produce Jealosy I Fear
Ah the joys of being a WoW CO-GM.
Even though we don’t recruit in trade chat or have open application drives we have steadly grown as a guild. We have added severa groups of players to our guild and recently merged with a guild that was larger and further in progression than we were. Heck they pretty much were responsible for our progression up to that point becaue they allowed us to fill up spots on their 10s and their 25s. Our guild growth has always been done through relationships with other guilds or people and even with the new influx, it still feels like home.
I have been trying to watch the merger closely and even though I predicted that it will have more positive than negative points, there are still plenty of people in either side of the merge that feel like the bad outweights the good. The simple solution is always, the door is wide open… but surprisingly that has only been the case for maybe a handful of people. I would say the mayority of people like our ways and are starting to settle in quite confortably.
Even though we don’t tell everyone, the officers and GMs have been dealing with quite a bit lately. We have to dispel fears that other people are taking over, or that now we are a hardcore raiding guild and our days of taking the time to explain fights are over. While all of that is nonsense, it is rooted in perception and it quickly becomes reality.
After the two intial weeks we have a simple plan. We are going to make or 25 man progression group stronger by concentrating on 10 mans and leaving the 25 man as a regular run for a bit. It will allow us to slow down and let everyone that has not been that far to progress. Our goal is to have every 10 man progress to our 25 man proression level and leave only one 10 man group to work on Sindragosa. The more people that get geared and learn the fights, the better.
Now he challenging part is the gear, point systems and drop rates. I want everyone to switch gears and look at things from 3 perspectives of play.
One person has been diligently taken our advice on running randoms and getting embles for their first tier set. They recently learned about a set bonus and only play a couple of nights a week but their progress is slow. They were told that soon they will be getting to ICC and they are only waiting on that elusive drop from the ICC 10 mans. To me this is the perfect example of a true casual player.
Somene else has been dodging bone spikes since the first day the content was released and remembers when putricide only had 10 attempts. They have helped several people that promised to stick around gear up only to have them switch guilds, factions or even server. They have not seen a new piece drop for weeks and the content for them is getting as stale as killing rats for candles.
The third and last type is the one playing quick catchup. They might have taken a break from the game for whatever reason, but have the skills and time to gear up quickly. They can get ther tier gear in a couple of days instead of a couple of weeks. They can also deal more damage, heals or know how to kite better than someone with better gear.
If you run a raid or a guild, trying to build a house for all of this guys is more complicated than chinese alphabet soup.
Enter the BoodockSaints. Our philosopy is simple. We want to game with our friends and tolerate zero drama. Our mayor goal is to allow everyone to see the content they paid for when they purchased the game or te expansion because we find it unfair that it has always been only a few that get to see current content. That however has changed quite a bit. We slow down most of our raids to the speed of our slowest player, and are catering to a new audience now by also hosting progression raids. Like our speed of players we also have our speed of raid leader. Some of us will go very slow, some of us will not be cool with staying in the fire too long and causing
Shinny New Gear
Can spell the demise of guild my Dear
Then I read this article and it bring everything back into focus for me. (please go read it, its a good one)
This is exactly why I don’t reward tantrum or drama. /gquits – angry DC’s – whinny whispers about loot rules. All that stuff to me is simply the inmature way to deal with issues and it should not be acknowledged. Like my no revolving door policy, (talk to an officer before you leave for greener pastures or you will not be returning to eat our less shinny grass.) think about how your actions affect the group. A guild is only as successful as their member willingness to do what is best for the group and not just themselves. That is one of the reasons I cannot wait for the new expansion and shinny loot that stays with the guild when someone decides to gquit.
In conclusion we are not perfect, but the officers and I are trying hard to make it fun for everyone. From running old content for achievements to running 25 man rep runs. Eveyone is welcome to suggest things that they want the group to back them up with. Just make sure that the next time you don’t like something, instead of whinning about it, see if you can present a solution to the problem. To parapharse a really hard working dude on a crab fishing boat from the deadliest catch. “Complaining is like a rocking chair, it gives you smething to do but it will not take you anywhere.”
I cannot wait to go on our next Bear Mount Run!
New ICC Raids
Here is the way the new raids are going to be setup.
ICC 25 (Up to Gunship) (1DKP)
Depending on availability and what the weekly is, we will be running ICC 25 on Tuesday and it is open to anyone’s main, and even some alts. Priority for this run will be mains first. Loot distibution will be DKP.
The reasoning behind this run is simple. If anyone in progression 25 still needs a drop from these first bosses has priority and will have the flexibility to use their DKP points. If you don’t need anything from here you don’t have to attend or get a chance to get an alt in. If you want to join the 25 progression group, this is the place to show us what you can do. Also it is great opportunity for people to get gear and experience in a 25 man raid environmenct. You can also start earning DKP points for future progression raid.
ICC25 Progression (Sourfang and Up) (2DKP)
Raid by invite only and for mains only. One point to show up, one point for staying the duration. See guild schedule for detail.
ICC 10s
Depends on raid leaders availability. Our progression 10 is at Sindragosa and getting closer to TLK. Once we have him down we will have the raid leaders split up and run more clean ICC 10s. We currently have 3 non progression 10s scheduled, but as more people are geared this number will go up.
Again, e-mail me questions you might have and I will do my best to keep this updated.
Loot Rules
Ah, the beauty of having new problems in a guild that overnight multiplied.
Ok, so now we have a new issue, but in my opinion it is a good one. We now have a progression 10 group and a progression 25 group. The problem is that now we have to change our loot rules, well, just a bit, and just for that.
We have been a loot council guild from the begining. It has worked for us becase we all know each other pretty well and in 10 man there is hardly ever 10 people that can use the same piece. However, a 25 and a progression 10 are totally different monsters, so we have inhereted the DKP system that was in place before wher most of our serious raiders come from.
First let me say that there is no perfect loot system out there. Some benefit those that are hardcore and have the time to show up to ever raid, some benefit the lucky roller (and lucky with drops, that happen to be in a raid where nobody else needs the gear). In the end I think our method of loot council of replacing the worse pieceof gear in the party works when you know everyone very well. The roll system of one piece per run, and MS before OS works well when we have pugs.
DKP is pretty straigh forward. It rewards participation and sticking it out through wipes. There are no rewards for the, “Sowwy guyz, I dizconetz.” when you are working on progression. You show up, you get a point. You stick it out, you get another point. We added a little confusion by allowing more people to go to 25 by starting it earlier in the week just to clear up to gunship. We think it will work out well because it gets people a chance to show us they can handle 25 and joining our progression group while giving them also a chance a loot. Of course if a progression persons shows up to the early start the will have a higher chance at loot because they are accumulating more points. Badges, a chance to learn the content and chances at primodial Soronite are all good incentives though.
BOE items during this run will go to the GB as well as patterns. Soronite in all progressions runs goes to the GB so we can get more crafters with all the patters from ICC. (I am working on the list, I promise, just have not had the time.)
I hope this makes it all a little clearer. Send me a message in game or e-mail me if you have questions an I will update this post!
Progression is a Ladder NOT a slope
It still amazes me that people think that they don’t have to constantly work on their class to reach new levels, even after 80. Some people think that squeezing X amount of DPS on Y fight makes them automatically raiders, and that could not be further from the truth.
Being a progression raider is having the patience to wipe not just 3 times in a boss, but 30. While your progression group on 10 might be clearing content, a group gearing it behind it will wipe a lot more. Just having one uncommitted player will wipe a raid very easily, and that is not even counting the people that forget to switch specs, equip their weapon after fishing or having technical difficulties. After wipping over and over on a boss because people don’t seem to be able to kill the spikes, move out of the fire or poison or simply cannot run away when the wolf yells at you (not to mention how expensive things get when you have better gear); you cannot blame people for not wanting to do something over and over.
Enter our guild, our mantra has leaned more towards the constant wipes on the same content until everyone gets it. Now that we have grown, we have amongst us people that might want to help but are not really into the business of waiting for someone to “get” a fight. They see the game from the mechanics perspective and one a mechanic like “move out of the fire” is in their arsenal, they don’t understand why the pretty blue flames are any different or harder for people to grasp than the green flames or purple puddles.
I don’t blame them for feeling that way. I sometimes feel that same way too, however I play the game for the social aspect as much as I play it for the kill the dragon aspect. I love my guildies, I love that the guild gives them the opportunity to see content that they might have never reach in other guilds. I love watching the progress and getting advice from one of the people that gets study the class they play like a college course. Even before we got the talent that we now have we had already progressed beyond my wildest imagination where there was only a dozen of us starting out.
However there is something I want everyone to understand about progression and our guild. Every new boss requires you to use skill that you should already have but in addition there is coordination, gear requirements (resistance, DPS level), homework and attitude. You will see guilds that are very geared but still cannot get a boss down, and it happens because the teamwork is not there. To have progression you have to balance all of those things or you will be hitting walls over and over. No raider, even in our very helpful guild, will be happy to carry you to the next step, lend a hand sure, push your butt to the next step? no.
Progression is NOT about gearscore. Progression is simply about being able to do what you are supposed to do when the raid leader asks you to do it. Be it, move out of the fire, or only heal to 50% because anything else will actually heal the boss that you are about to kill. Also understand that that ladder can turn into a slide very quickly (almost like a cartoon mouse turning a switch on that pesky cat) when you lose a key player. Be patient, progression takes time, and if you are told you are not ready don’t get mad, ask what will make me ready? The cake is not green!
Even in the days of loot falling out of the sky, not many guilds are farming ICC. We are now right in the progression race and this week actually got to Sindragosa with one of our 10 mans. Like one of our guildies said, you can smell the lich king from there, and yes we do smell blood.
Guild Rules
The BoondockSains is a guild about mutual respect. We all have different goal in the game and there is room for all of us. Even though we are still going to be a casual guild that raids, we have come to a new chapte that will give us the chance to jump into the progression train and kill Arthras sooner than we had expected.
As a guild we have some rules, and we are very welcoming but also strict about certain things. Certain things will get you a warning, but some will get you gkicked faster than you can type /gquit
- Our Casual vent is not a play ground. Never share it with non guildies, that is why we have a raid vent.
- Do not wear our guild tag if yo want to troll trade. Want to verbally sparr with Pritti… get on an alt.
- No Race – Religion – Sexual orietation slurs will be tolerated. Remember Mutual respect.
Now the stuff you want to really read about.
Raids are going to be either progression or casual. Raid leaders will have control over who goes into progression and loot rules will be clearly defined by them.
We are keeping the current raiding schedule and adding additional weekly raids and 10 mans. There will be more raids to get into besides the progression. We will also revisit old content.
Please update your guild note. Let us know your specs and professions and if you have alts, put your main name on it.
Be polite, be mature, participate, be helpful and always constructive and you will have lots of fun.
(Please direct question to Logtar – He will add informationm here. as needed)
Short answer of why we merged guilds is that we wanted to keep progressing as a group instead of just filling each other’s spots. For a long answer talk to Booty.
So Much Fun!
Having a conversation with a guildie and a raid leader from another guild this week made me realize I am not the only one having so much fun with the current content.
One of them is a very experienced player and the reason I have seen so much of ICC (I healed all the way up to professor last night), the other is a player that is raiding with us primarily but can know do a raid with any group on our server.
They both come from totally different spectrums in the play world of raiding from casual to hardcore and they are both having a blast with raiding the content that is in WoTLK.
The old time raider like me admires the work that has been put into encounter mechanics. How every fight and every pull requires slightly different skill, and mobility and targeting is not just something a couple of people have to be good at, but everyone has to do or the fight is over before it even starts.
The new raider is looking at the raid world for the first time and appreciating that our raid group is both patient and skilled. We don’t carry people, everyone works hard and that way all of our accomplishments feel earned. We try to bring everyone up to par, even if some of our DPS people are just getting outrageous and being able to count as two people… lol
Our guild has conquered several hard modes now, a couple of us got our Heroic Drakes, most now are wearing the Champion of the Frozen Waste and Nightfall titles. While a lot of it can be attributed to gear being so easy to obtain, I still see pugs fail in completing content constantly. While a lot of is puggable by many, you still require some skill to accomplish things. Just try to run VoA during the weekend and you will see what I am talking about (how hard is it to switch to the orbs – I have no clue because I only tank or heal). Putting those skills to test makes it fun, being with a group of friends makes it even better.
As a guild we have completed all of Naxx with almost every 80, 3 different 10 mans have now done EoE, we area about 8 bosses deep into Ulduar and complete ToC every week. I think this week we will get past CapnCrunch in ICC, and once we are done assisting on the 25 some of us have been lucky enough to take part of, I think we can bring the knowledge back and have a consistent 10 man doing ICC. We are not at the cutting edge of progresssion, but don’t be fooled by people that think that killing Arthras is simple, even with a 10% buff now. Only a small percentage of people is attempting hard modes at the moment in ICC, several groups are hitting walls in either healing or DPS.
Our group? We are enjoying the content that is both fun and challenging. Sure the shinny purples are pretty, but things like beating a boss tanks to a well placed bandaged can only be enjoyed with a fun group of people! Happy Raiding Saints!
In: Raiding · Tagged with: ICC, Naxx, Ulduar
How Nerfing the Game is Making it Better
I honestly never expected my wife to truly become addicted to WoW. I always knew she would enjoy it because of the types of games she plays and the themes she likes on her reading and movies. I did not expect her to get addicted beyond the level that I play, but I am glad she is having a blast. The interesting part is that she is a better player than most that I have seen, and she will be raid ready probably as soon as she hits 80. Funny thing is that from watching me raid, I think she is looking forward to her first raid, and as soon as she hits 70 I think to Kara we will head.
I have raid many of the people that were downing bosses on 40 man raids talk about how getting a piece of gear now feels like entitlement. That has always bothered me about the game when I started playing it. So many people I encountered had terms that would put down people if they did not know their little “secret” terms about raiding and being inside of a dungeon. The thing is that getting to do a dungeon was difficult and most high level players would only help you with the places that were either quick or they would know very well so they could maximize their playing time. Someone run you through Mara? forget it.
Getting into a dungeon in previous iterations of the game required that you had at least one experienced player. Someone needed to know where the stone was and direct at least one other person to get here. If you had no FPs close to it you would be waiting there for a long period of time. Most of the time you were stuck doing the same dungeons that most people knew how to get to, Deadmines, Scarlet Monastery come to mind. So you really did not get to see a lot of the content when it came to dungeons, you were pretty much stuck leveling through doing quests and killing pigs over and over. That is how people used to level.
People would hit cap and want to go into a raid, and that is where the problem started. Most people had done dungeons with a very experienced player, and at times levels above them. This created the illusion that dungeons were a simple thing and you did not have to pay attention… then BAM, you go into a raid and the difficulty level goes through the roof. You die, or make a mistake and people don’t invite you to raids anymore, or you simply get discouraged… your raiding career is over before it even started. That used to happen a lot in the old days of WoW. Most of the people I met playing the game had never been in a raid and were just terrified of the whole idea.
I wonder how many of the wannabe top raiders realize about what it really takes to get a world first. You have to prepare for content way in advance of it being released and the PRT is where they probably spend a lot of time… I wonder what the actual % of the top guilds is on PRT vs live Realms is. I don’t get how someone that is simply following a strategy from a place like tankspot can feel entitled to look down at any other player… when they just basically did what a 5 year old does when they buy a guide to a game they cannot figure out by themselves.
Trust me, the jerks that still talk down to people for their simple mistakes are still there in every realm. I just will not ever get that mentality because if you wanted robots (or an IA) to run a raid with you, simply play a solo game. The human factor is what makes the game fun for me, the mistakes that the group compensates for and make everyone laugh after is what makes thing enjoyable. The kill after several wipes is what makes things feel like an accomplishment.
Now the dungeon tool lets people make mistakes with other toons around their level. They start learning about aggro, DPS, DOT, healing, situational awareness and yes move out of the fire very early on. My wife is a better player at 60 thank I was even after months of playing as a 70. Part of it is that she has a great guild behind her with people that have advice and lend a hand when she needs it, but it has mostly been that she has had to learn through just pugging with people and learning to DPS.
Titles, legendary weapons, world firsts are all fine and dandy for those that want to pursue it. Sure it would be nice to get a realm first with our guild some day. Being able to play with friends and now family and still see some awesome content is making the game better for me. I enjoy this game quite a bit, and the changes that are coming are making me even more excited. So keep on nerfing blizzard, I welcome the opportunity to have fun.
In: WoW · Tagged with: Rants
Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
Storm Glory
We Had It All Along *cough*
I've Gone and Made a Mess (25 player)
All Over the Isle
Less Is More (10 player)
The Twilight Destroyer (10 player)
Nerf Gravity Bombs (25 player)
Unbroken (25 player)
Ice the Frost Lord