Duty is a go, and how

I put together my own guild last week, having recognized something that I think many of my readers will understand...

People don't like wasting time.

Wasting time waiting to put a raid together... wasting time wiping... wasting time teaching new person after new person how to do the fights.

I'm fed up with it! You're fed up with it! So many people are fed up with it!

So what can be done?

Make rules. Lots of them.

Visit the website at dutyguild.blogspot.com and read the guild charter.

I sat down, weeks ago, to write that charter, intending to write a charter for a WotLK guild. Events in my previous guild, however, forced me to choose between two options - raid to fail, or get out and make something better.

I wish I could say the philosophy is simple... it's not. I've thought long and hard about this, working to address every little issue that crops up within guilds. Excessive, perhaps, but I'm a great believer in success by careful planning.

The major problem I wanted to address was the problem of personal accountability. It occurred to me, long ago, that the failure of Communism in Russia may have been caused by a lack of said virtue. Whether or not this is true, it planted the seed of an idea in my brain that's since grown to be a core tenet of my belief system.

Tenet: People perform drastically better when they are personally accountable for their actions.

But how to achieve personal accountability? Guilds get pretty big; how can one person keep track of dozens?

A lot of thought on this question led me to a conclusion which, in retrospect, was inevitable - one person can't.

Thus, the idea of Guild Groups was born.

Read the charter if you'd like to know more... Perhaps I'll write more on the subject some other time. For now, I'm tired.

It looks like I'm starting a new guild

It's a very big, scary thing for me. I put together a detailed charter... it's a structure I've not seen in the game thus far, but I believe it can work.

I'm tired of laziness, incompetence, and lack of responsibility.

Now let's see if I can do any better.

Fingers crossed.

Responsibility?

Every time we finish up a night of Karazhan without killing the last couple of bosses, the same conversation goes on.

Me: "OK, guys, pretty good night, but I think we're going to have to pick up the rest of it another time. How does Sunday at 4:30 work for everyone?"
Pug #1: "I have to work til 4, can we make it 5?"
Pug #2: "I'd rather go at 9."
Me: "9 is a little late on a Sunday, let's shoot for 5. Sorry Pug #2."
Pug #2: "I'll try to be there."
Me: "Great. So 5pm server on Sunday, that work for everyone?"
Everyone: "Yeah, sure, seeya then."

...Sunday, 5pm.

Me: "Let's see who's on..."

...Sunday, 5:15pm.

Me: "F**k."

I hate depending on other people. I have an innate distrust of people that goes away only when someone proves to be trustworthy.

Sadly, that innate distrust serves me well in WoW. Personal responsibility is incredibly rare; players who show up on time are valuable above all others, in my opinion.

On a better note, I tanked Zul'Aman last night for a guild PuG. We got the first 4 bosses and 2 timers, which I was pretty happy with. I picked up Pauldrons of Stone Resolve from the first timed chest, which were a pretty big upgrade from the T4 tanking shoulders - the warrior is now running over 17k HP unbuffed.

Plus, the new shoulders match my ensemble much better...



I'm beginning to realize that the tank's gear has vastly outstripped the Hunter's. I have this sneaking feeling that the Hunter is going to be trapped in farmer-alt land.

Allies Never Learn

It took me 4 kills of this Hunter to convey the message that Hillsbrad was a bad place to gank lowbies today.

I think he got it eventually, though.

We camped this bitch 'til 4 in the morning.

What happens when you gank the low-level alts of not one, not two, not three but four very well-geared 70s with your 69 Nelf Hunter?

Yay Gruul kill! Sigh Mag fail.

After a few weeks struggling with the T4 25-mans, we went in and one-shotted Gruul's Lair today. Excitement!

Here's the damage report from that fight - I'm #6.



Magtheridon took some extra time... a few wipes were caused by cube-clicking problems, but we did get him eventually.

Here's Magtheridon - I'm #5 on that one thanks to the #6 DPSer being on cubes.



I came out with the Tier 4 Shoulders and Terror Pit Girdle. I had to beg a bit for Terror Pit Girdle, but I'll be humble for the chance at a hard-to-get Hunter belt drop.

Tomorrow, Karazhan.

Magtheridon and Gruul tonight... oh, trepidation

Not too long ago, my lovely guild was killing Gruul and Magtheridon every week, and sometimes killing both in one quick night!

Lately, though, we've been having trouble.

I could tell you about it, but I think I'll show you.


Here's what we're having trouble doing on Magtheridon:



And on Gruul:



Ironically, High King Maulgar hasn't really given us that much trouble during our last few attempts. Knock on wood.

God willing, tonight will go better. The officers have met to discuss the problem at great length. We'll see if things are fixed.

Recovering from the ban-hammer

I was banned. And, despite my pleas for a better investigation into the circumstances surrounding my ban, I'm going to remain banned. I won't try to convince anyone that my ban was unfair; those who know me know I'm not a cheater, and that's what matters.

I had a choice to make when the ban happened. I chose the Zen route.

I'm getting over it.

Meet my new 70s.

This is my Hunter. Formerly a farmer alt, I leveled him from 65 to 70 by the Friday after Black Tuesday. Now he's in some Karazhan gear and doing decent DPS.



This is my big scary Tauren Warrior, DPS spec at the moment so I can build up some gold to replace the multiple thousands that I lost.



Neither is geared quite like Nickiter was, but the gear comes in a lot faster than it did when Nickiter had just turned 70. Experience counts for a lot, but changes in the game have helped, too - 5-mans like Magister's Terrace can get a character geared up shockingly fast.

To be completely honest, there is a silver lining to having to start over with fresh 70s - there's a lot more to be done! Starting with greens, the upgrades are almost continuous. After the way it was with Nickiter, a constant stream of badges leading to an upgrade perhaps once every couple of weeks, it's a joy to get so much gear.

The blog is going to be a different place. Clearly, "Stayin' Frosty" does not apply so much anymore.

In addition, my feelings about Blizzard have been forever changed. Now that I know how insensitive they can be towards players, I feel it's wise to be a "defensive driver" when it comes to my characters.

Welcome back, or welcome for the first time if you're a first-time visitor from BRK. Here's to new beginnings.