Raid Lockouts - Extend your game!

This was a hot topic before 3.2 hit, but the advantages are really nice. It’s something we’ve avoided due to having new members that needed gear. After going through the first bit of Ulduar this week, we disenchanted entirely too much loot. With that said, it’s time to figure out how to use this feature.

The first thing that you have to do is hit O and pull up your guild/friends/raid tabs. Notice on the top right the "RAID INFO" button. Click here. As you can see from this point, all of your active raid instances that you've been saved in are listed. Notice the button on the bottom- EXTEND RAID LOCK.

Here's a better view of it- it will show you the instance, version, and when the lock expires.

You can then select the appropriate instance, and click Extend Raid Lock. This is not something anyone can do but YOU. Before you start panicking, you are probably wondering a bit more how this works-well keep in mind, if you change your mind you can remove the lock and if you forget to extend the lockout, you are able to do so after the reset.

Once you have extended the lock- notice the green "Extended" text, and the button changes to Remove Raid Lock Extension. Basically, this is going to allow alot more control over what you want to work on and when- once you've accomplished what you were after, you'll have to wait for the current raid week to be over for the reset, but for guilds struggling with attendance, or composition, this tool can come in handy.

Patch 3.2

Patch 3.2 hit this last week and with it, of course, came tons of bugs. The bright side is that if one wants to a raider now, there is no reason not to be able to get your toon suitably geared for content. It may take a week or two, but if you do daily heroics, you should be able to knock down quite a few badges and items this way. Lots of people (geared and under-geared, as well as skilled and unskilled) are all chain running heroics these days.

In addition to the emblem changes, you also have the opportunity to get the triumphs by doing the daily. New Crusader quests are available, and some have changed considerably. New pets have been introduced, and the Northrend Orphan's week went live as well. Mount changes for your alts so that at level 20, you can ride from Redridge to Darkshire insteading of walking- and they've made it affordable as well.

Most exciting is the new 5 man instance- that drops Nax ilevel gear- and the new raid instance. Although the raid instance is being released in Sunwell style- one boss a week, first impressions are everything. The Northrend Beasts encounter wasn't as bad or hard.. albeit, challenging as I had hoped, but hey, that's what Heroic is for.

Raid Fallout

Well, it's about time I got back to updating our blog. We've been working overtime on tightening up our raid. While this last week brought major changes to the guild as whole, we've proven we can survive the many curve balls that Blizz and just the lifecycle of a guild bring us. This week we lost a few offtanks.. well in honesty, 1 offtank, and two dual spec/two role offtanks and a single dps- but this is the way things work sometimes. The focus of this guild hasn't changed from the day of inception- simply put, we are here to raid, and to have a great time doing it; we are adults (18+ for the most part) and we're here to be damn good at what we do, and make the most of the time we have to do it. The stress of a guild focused on this type of progression, involving multi faceted focus isn't for everyone. For that we lost our OT, and one dps- because to them, the enjoyment of the game was gone- and that is something no one in this guild wants. I call it fall out- simply because when you get to points like Yogg or a hard mode- it can cause frustration. The point is to learn from your mistakes. Some people have issues with repeated wipes. All in all, no one guild ever walked or cleared all new content without at least some wiping and learning the fight. And even with learning it, it doesn't mean that the tactics may not change.

This last week has made me reflect on just the type of members this guild holds as its heart and core. The drive/ambition/motivation to continue forward and not "go quietly into the night," albeit kind of frustrating, it's very easy to overcome. As I think of each of members, and where this guild started last year, we've come a long way. Based on guild feedback, I've adjusted our application to allow us to more easily screen applicants- as there is no sense in wasting anyone's time or money. The quality of applications varies – but we quickly replaced the folks we lost. Our current openings are down to just a couple of DPS but we aren't hurting by any means. Sunday night we had an amazing turnout- and 36 people online around raid start time.

What astounds me the most about this last week is that while I was shocked, and some folks did the mature thing- posted their goodbye- one cowardly transfer in the middle of the night- was that our core wished them well and happiness in their endeavors. The only concern ever raised was the reasoning behind leaving- if this guild isn't for you, that's fine- but be honest about it, because I promise you, we'll honestly tell you if things are not working out. This has been something that has really made me go back over our policies as well as ensuring that the players which join this guild are here for the same purpose – casual members aside, the raiders that are here- have the same goals and determinations. There is no one person that cannot be replaced, but in the end, the guild core makes this guild what it is. I look forward the next weeks as new bosses die by our efforts. All these departures were just dust in the wind.