3.3.5 Wipe Out

Blizzard announced an extended downtime- one that was supposed to range from 3 PDT to 11 PDT. It’s 6 PDT and the servers are just beginning to come up. Not all servers either, just a few and with a subscription base like Blizzard’s – those servers are already Max Queued. Between holidays, summer raiding blues – entailing various guild members’ vacations, our small bench has nothing but dust on it because we really don’t have one. This doesn’t count the folks that have gotten hacked (for the love of WoW and your character, by a damn authenticator- the “It’ll never happen to me” can easily become “I thought it COULDN’T happen to me”) have cost the guild raiders that are basically out of commission as well. I thought this week, we finally had a solid raid week ahead of us. We’ve planned out a couple of achievements to work on- and were hoping for solid face time on the Lich King (Father’s Day was less than optimal considering we ran 23 folks for the fun stuff we cleared).

Ever just feel like the game is out to get ya? Fire Festival released and our guild leader called the raid around 5:30 CST PM because the deadline kept being extended. It is a positive sign that everything in game is going to be screwed up. Eitrigg still isn’t online – and we’ve lost another full raid week. Last week was Father’s Day, this week the patch, and next week is the 4^th July weekend. As a guild that tries to leave its options open, we’re going to have rethink what we’re going to work in. We still have a few folks wanting the OS3D drake and the trinkets still are very nice from ToC. VoA maybe on the chopping block. We’re just going to have to prioritize although in all honesty – it doesn’t take long. Just food for thought on the raiding scene for NQG.

As a side note, I’ll be putting together a video on HudMap. AVRE and AVR are gone – dust in the wind. If you have them installed, you need to remove them. Ruby Sanctum isn’t active yet, and it won’t be until 3.3.5 is deployed on all realms and Blizzard releases it. Vote Kick changes are in effect, and as stated with AVRe and AVR, the lua has changed some. Now the addons have to catch up. Real ID is live so that will be experimental. One issue about that is allot of people like the anonymity of the internet and game play. Granted, those folks generally don’t fit well in this guild, because quite a few of us are on a first name basis. But with that said, this Real ID will creep out quite a few folks. Also, the 25% buff is now active so those achievements aren’t going to quite as hard as I had figured. Just amazing- with a move like this, it makes me think Cataclysm isn’t that far off. I guess we’ll all wait and see.

New Map PTR 3.3

Last night I finally got the client installed. I am still working through what mods will work or not. So far, my challenge has been getting Xperls to work (I may have to switch to a different set of frames-currently I can't see my target). The mods I started with are: bartender 4, xperls, totemtimer, dbm, ora2, and omen.

Of course, Ice Crown has received an overhaul. I flew around trying to find the new 5 mans, and I definitely have a solid idea of where the new raid instance is going to be. This led me to looking at my map. All I can I say is wow. It's changed. I did not have any quest helpers loaded. As you can see they've integrated the quests, with the map. Overall, I believe I do like it. I installed TomTom because I want to see how well it works with this new map. If you click on a quest, the information appears below the map.

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.

Hard Modes, Morale, and Raiding

There's a lot of talk at various blog sites and WoWInsider about Hard Modes, specifically in relation to Ulduar and the next patch changes with 3.2 and the new raid instances. Discussion has ranged from a variety of, you should even consider a HM until you have cleared Ulduar to people trying to achieve HM when they are far below the capability- and how devastating that can be for the raid roster. I know just within our guild there was some discussion- but I firmly feel we arrived at the best solution for us- simply put, we will attempt a HM, and give it 3 solid attempts- and based on those attempts, call it and do the boss normally, or try again. There is no reason to ever burn someone out wiping.

We've gradually been building our experience up on the towers. Perhaps we'll try 3 towers up on FL this time and see how the attempt goes- but it is nice to know up front what limitations we have in place already. As far as DPS race HMs, there is really no reason not to try for these every time- because they cost nothing. We can increasingly push ourselves harder/further. Since our focus is currently Yogg and Iron Council Medium Mode, we've been pushing through content quickly to have time to focus on these fights; it's paid off too, because we are mastering Yogg's phases, and IC would have been cleared if we would have had a second hunter Sunday night.

Recruiting has really paid off, and we've also very quickly filled our immediate needs, and hit "critical mass" as far as our roster is concerned. With our latest additions, I really feel it will definitely make our first HM- IC – Med, very possible, which will then unlock the way for us to begin working on other HMs. Guild Bank Repairs on Sunday also helped as we were working through Yogg, and we did a 180 on improving our number of attempts for the time we had available. On the whole, aside from some miscommunication on 10 man raiding (I swear bliz loves to put these things out there just to test guild mettle), our core is stronger than it has ever been, with a great group of core people. The choice is always that YOU choose who YOU raid with. I love my decision!

A New Reason to do the Fishing Daily

When 3.2 hits the live realms, players will have a new reason to do the fishing daily. Aside from the possible pet, the extra gold from vendor greys, and the possible storm jewel gems, the next patch will offer the chance for the Bag of Fishing Treasures to contain a Waterlogged Recipe. The quest available from the Waterlogged Recipe requires 350 currently to accept.

Cooks, don't get too excited. This operates in a similar fashion as the Sealed Vial of Poison. The only difference is that the Waterlogged Recipe can currently be traded. Once you start the quest, you have to deliver the recipe to Christi Stockton, a Wine Vendor located in Dalaran's premier shop- One More Glass. Frequent cooks haunt this location in search of wine and cheese for cooking dailies. Basically you talk to Christi, and she offers to buy the recipe from you. You receive 5 cooking badges, 250 Kirin Tor reputation, and of course, gold. For now, on the PTR, these waterlogged recipes are tradeable- making it possible to sell them on the auction house. This could provide a way for some chefs to get their chef hats. I personally thought it would have be neat to offer a new recipe drop this way but obviously this is not what the developers had in mind.

Northrend Children's Week – PTR First Look

One thing I did notice on the PTR last night was that they are testing the Northrend Quests for Children's Week. It starts in Dalaran. The Orphan Matron is located close the fountain in Dalaran- she offers you a choice of orphans- either a Frenzyheart or a Oracle orphan to keep for the week.

On Onyxtotemz, I picked up the Oracle orphan. To complete the opening quest and unlock the quest chains, you first have to talk to the matron about both orphan types; note, you can only pick one faction. Once you have done that, with your orphan out, you complete the opening quest.

The first three quests are The Biggest Tree Ever, Playmates, and the Bronze Dragonshire. These quests are very straight forward.

The Biggest Tree Ever has you taking the orphan into Grizzly Hills to see Grizzlemaw. Grizzlemaw is the giant tree that has hostile furblog type creatures in it. To get credit for the quest I landed inside of Grizzlemaw, summoned the orphan, and moved slightly- quest complete.

Playmates takes you to Borean Tundra to visit the Winterfin Retreat camp. Here your lil' oracle orphan will meet with the kid murlocs and you get to see some really nice dancing.

The Bronze Dragonshire takes you to Dragonblight, just northeast of the Wintergarde Keep. Once you get here and summon your orphan. At this point you realize that your orphan is going to grow up to become the leader of his tribe. He chats with an elder here for a minute, and of course, you end up with more quests.

The Dragon Queen is also in Dragonblight. You just need to take your orphan to the top on Wyrmcrest Tower, and chat with the Queen for just a bit.

Meeting a Great One is the last quest outside of Dalaran. You get to take the orphan thru the waypoint in southern Sholazar Basin. Once you enter, summon your orphan, go up to the large guy on the left of the ramp.

Then it's back to Dalaran. A Trip to the Wonderworks quest has you purchasing a paper plane. You "play" with your orphan, throwing the plane back and forth. Once this one is complete, you turn him back into the Matron.

In the mail, you receive a letter from your orphan, and a mini orphan as a pet. Neat idea, but kinda freaky if you think that this is supposed to grow up to be a leader of a tribe; all in all, the quests are very straightforward.