Casual Raider Mentality vs. Old School Raider

As a guild that focuses on progression on our own terms, we take people from all World of Warcraft backgrounds. We look for people that want to raid, to see end game content, and seek to do so on their own terms. We try to balance real world with our love for seeing content – and it's always on OUR terms as a guild. As a casual raid guild that brings a hardcore mentality, the guild walks a fine line. We're all very human, and we all make mistakes – it's knowing or taking the initiative to fix them that make the difference. We often take ventures on new people that have never seen an end boss die – or have yet to experience the bittersweet kill of a boss that you've worked on for weeks. The mindset is everything. Are you performing? If not, are you working on it? There is a difference in guild mentality. In this guild, we do not believe in handing out "pink slips", because we want people that want to be here to raid – but raid instances have requirements – for healing, damage, and threat and let's not forget about survivability. Criticism is a hard thing to give, and even tougher to take. The approach has to be a delicate one. Old School Raiders may well be used to commands being barked out, wiping, and running back was all part of the process of conquering content. A casual raider may have never experienced this type of process: wiping on content for progression. It comes with a price. The emotional player does not fit in well to the guild that seeks progression. It can be a source of stress. It can also be frustrating for this type of player to struggle with the structure that most successful raid guilds have in place.

While this guild has policies on real life taking precedence, the raid is ensured to always continue. This means that the expectations are clear cut coming in. The tone is set during the interview. Fun is relative to how each person defines it. The goal of this guild is a focused raiding environment. This means that we have a good time at the appropriate time. Casual raiders do not always understand the importance of consistency, focus, or following instructions. As someone that's been recruiting for two guild guilds over the span of World of Warcraft, many things have changed. The most important resource in World of Warcraft is human capital and locating the right type of people to make your guild a success is challenging.

The casual raider may sit and think that spreading dissension is acceptable or ranting is ok. The problem with this is it spreads drama. If there are issues, you need to take them to the "management". If you don't like the answers, and the explanations are not valid from your viewpoint, you should ask for clarification. If it becomes obvious that you aren't a good fit, we will maintain the right to remove you. It's a guild, not a jail. Our atmosphere is solid and the people in this guild want to be here. It's not everyone's play style – and we understand that. Before you apply to any guild, you should ensure that you agree with the terms. By applying, and specifically in our process, you are agreeing to the guild's charter and expectations – and that holds true with any guild. The idea and concepts of having policies isn't to make up a bunch of things to inhibit you – the member- but to ensure that the policies apply across the board to all. It makes the policies clear and defined – and thus the expectations are set, and we are all accountable.

Downsizing

In an interesting blue post today, I found that in Cataclysm, while 10s/25s do share the same id - you can only shift down. Basically, a 10 man guild can't shift up. The real thought would be is this going to be on a per boss basis, or once you shift down, are you stuck on 10 man versus 25?

How does this work for end bosses? Take for example Lich King. Sure you have a 25 man raiding guild -and you are consistently getting to and working on the end boss- if you have 10 people who are available and want to put in the extra time, do you let them?

How will this impacting ranking sites? If you share the id, what happens on the achievements/ progression marks? I already know of guilds that will halve runs so that both guilds get credit for the 25 man progression/achievement. In this scenario, I could easily see guilds shifting down to 10 to get the credit.

The Lich King is back.. 3.3.2

He's back…. Back again… so yea.. 3.3.2 landed on Tuesday, complete with the next Arena season and Toravon the Ice Watcher. Honestly, I would expect a bit more from a guy that drops the next tier. The fight was pretty much what you could have read about on WoWWiki.com months ago. Ranged completely needed to handle the Orbs spawns, and as long as you have solid tanks and healers, it's not hard. In a matter of 15 minutes.. Vault of Archavon was cleared again, even after being out of rotation for months. Will we keep doing it? Absolutely, because it's free tier gear. But damn Blizz, what the hell? You landed this patch and implement this boss, which is pretty much a pushover. You screw up Deathbringer Saurfang… to the point that half the mechanics do not function properly. Killable? Absolutely; we have to heal now.

Enter the many other changes.. such as the raid weekly in ICC. That was a fun experience. Our first go at it was the Securing the Ramparts quest. You get a "frosty sack of treasures". Not only do you get 5 badges, but you also stand a random money amount, and possibly an epic gem or BoE item, not to mention reputation with Ashen Verdict, provided you are still seeking it. You have to admit, at first look, most of the raid is "WooHoo" , to "Where is he?" to the "Look at your mini map, Blizz dumbed down the game!". All in all, it's somewhat nice going into the event/quest blind. As any progression guild, going in blind is not always advisable. As a person that plans and tries to help with our personal strategies, I look ahead constantly for what information I can find, be it from the PTR and what not. This was something that slipped under my radar. It was a great change. I love being able to think on our feet. Our tanks did great. Knowing we could run back in during the encounter will prove valuable on later raid weeklies in ICC. The mechanics we figured out on the fly, and the weekly was completed on Tuesday for the bulk of core raiders. It's also comforting knowing that it can be completed in 10 man versions.

This brings us to completely normal farm content- just to find out Blizz jacked with Deathbringer's abilities. From the guilds (not that we used this on 25s) that blew mobs on the ledge, to the DI/discipline priest bubbles, that absorbs weren't being honored. Talk about feeling like a jackass, after saying "Folks, make sure you are watching your range finder" "We're getting marks way too early" only to find Blizz yet screwed something else up during the many changes. Going back in on our second night, after completing the raid weekly, the ICC weekly, and VoA, and the other three bosses, it took an attempt to figure out positioning, and walla, one Deathbringer's head on a platter served with a side of Rotface and Festergut for Wednesday's raid.

Thursday's raid left us continuing to get our positioning down for Blood Prince Council. Doable again, with a bare raid roster; we were using pirates, but they are pirates for a reason. We made some adjustments to this fight and dealt with the lag that we encountered. The boss fell close to the end of the night and we got our first glimpse and impressions on the Dreamwalker encounter. Yes, the Blazing Skeletons really hurt. We'll see how Sunday's raid goes, complete with it being Superbowl Sunday (TiVo anyone?) but I have high expectations and hopes for the raid core.

Festergut - ICC 25

This guy took us a bit to figure out. He's a DPS/Gear check as well as an execution check. We struggled at the start to figure out the right compositions, the correct execution, and then, of course, to up our dps.

The first kill came with using 2 range groups and a central melee/healer group. We ran with only 5 healers- utilizing the Aura Mastery buff, with the DS/DG Combination that you can gain with a pally tank. The five minute enrage timer is a pain - but doable. It takes work, and everyone on the same page for popping hero and what not.

The week we went in without having a pally tank- instead, we had our normal (and awesome) warrior tank and a bear tank. Last week, we ran with 5 healers, and this week we ran with 6. But the difference is, the dps brought it. Execution was flawless, it was a very clean kill, and running the extra healer. It was a great night. It also goes to show you, understanding the mechanics and being comfortable with the fight is a solid course of action to increase raid DPS.

Our own attempts we learned it takes 3 ranged on 10 man, and 7 minimum on 25. This is to prevent the vile gas from hitting melee and what ranged are stacked in the melee. Gas spores on melee had to run between his feet slightly so that the tanks got inoculation.

Raid Composition versus Raid Core

Ask any guild leader or raid leader how hard it can be to keep a twenty five man raid core full, to factor in enough leeway to allow real life to occur, yet keep the raid moving. It’s a daunting job. Currently progression content (ICC) is full of situations where max DPS has to be achieved, lots of fight mechanics (which Blizzard loves to reuse in new and twisted environments), and less healers gave to perform to higher levels. Having a limited number of raid slots on your raiding roster is the only way to accommodate such a goal, but it brings in other factors as well.

How many raid slots is enough? That’s really a hard question to answer, and dependent on each guild’s attendance policy. It also doesn’t factor in how fast a guild can usually fill the opening or if you have members that tend to have real life occur more often than others. For this guild, we put a cap on our raiding core of thirty five raid slots. This means we will not exceed that number of slots. At one point, we had a cap of thirty raid slots, but due to the number of couples we have in this guild and a few rotating schedules, the cap is set at thirty five core slots.

In any given twenty five man raid instance, you generally have no more than two to three tanks, six to seven healers, with the remaining slots a myriad of ranged and melee DPS. For ICC, this has usually been one Main Tank, two Off Tanks with DPS Dual Specs, six healers –with one having a DPS Off Spec, leaving sixteen raid slots for DPS Main Specs. With a ratio of 12% tanks, 24% healers, with the remaining 64% being raid DPS, it stands to reason the bench is going to be smaller for the healers and tanks. If you take the percentages and apply them to our thirty five core slots, you end up with a max of four tanks/off tanks, eight healers, and twenty-two DPS members leaving one slot open to float.

With these percentages, it stands to reason that DPS will sit more often than a healer or tank. But it also stands to reason, these things happen too. The only resolution we can offer is track attendance, and track the bench – in an attempt to keep rotation as fair as possible. Each guild has to handle their bench in a way their guild leadership sees fit. For us, we rotate. Occasionally volunteers happen, but composition has to come first – as it is detrimental to raid success, offering buffs and specific strengths needed for the fights ahead. Occasionally, poor performance that needs to be improved may cause rotation or the person to sit. The issue is brought up to the individual on a personal level, with officers present, and will either be addressed and corrected, or the person will move to a casual rank until improvement can be made.

Some guilds do not rotate. They will try a new person out, and make their core compete for raid slots. Some guilds aren’t organized at all. They just expect people to show up, and they often have a slow start time. It’s not the way this guild operates. No one is above the rules, but what you have to keep in mind, is that you cannot raid with twenty-two DPS slots filled, and all tanks/healers sitting – composition is always paramount, and it is why the EPGP system continues to grow with the guild and be amended to accomplish the right objectives.

Patch 3.3

Patch 3.3 is live and has been since December 8. My thoughts on when it would it were pretty much on target. This patch brought so many changes. Not only was the LFG tool introduced but a raid weekly change- no more daily heroics here- they are all in the LFG tool, the emblem changes, and new content. It's been a whirlwind, complete with Winter Veil occurring in the middle.

If I had to pick the single biggest impact on the game that was introduced- it would be the LFG tool. All you need is time, and lots of patience. You can run heroics non-stop now if you like.

Icecrown Citadel – a staggered released instance- has proved to be fun. There is some challenge in there. New bosses can provide that, and it is a bit of a check for the listening impaired. It's not the face roll that ToC25 was. I don't really see a lot of nerfs anytime soon there either. I was surprised with the changes that they slid in on Lord Marrowgar. I do expect the achievements to be a pain in the butt – but I think they are designed that way because they want to give you something else to work on. Lady Deathwhisper is strategic on dps placement. The Gunship is probably the best fight in the game, in my opinion – it's just fun. Deathbringer Saurfang – he is such a combination of fights I remember. This one is strictly clean execution and positioning. The next wing in ICC is due out January 5. Three bosses, and not a lot is out there on the last one. It will be an adventure.

Pilgrim's Bounty Update

The event starts November 22 -28; It's allot of quests to cram into the 6 day time frame.

Here's a shopping list - compiled by the folks at wow.com

25 Teldrassil Sweet Potatoes/Mulgore Sweet Potatoes (purchased from Pilgrim's Bounty vendors in Darnassus or Thunder Bluff respectively)
25 Tangy Wetland Cranberries/Tangy Southfury Cranberries (purchased from vendors in Ironforge or Orgrimmar respectively)
25 Ripe Elwynn Pumpkins/Ripe Tirisfal Pumpkins (purchased from vendors in Stormwind or Undercity respectively)
25 Wild Turkeys (from Elwynn or Tirisfal)
25 Simple Flour (for Spice Bread, purchased from any Cooking vendor)
25 Mild Spices (for Spice Bread, purchased from any Cooking vendor)
125 Honey (purchased from Pilgrim's Bounty vendors in any major city)
75 Autumnal Herbs (purchased from Pilgrim's Vendors)

Pilgrim's Paunch

Bountiful Tables will spawn in or around each faction's capitol city, and at each Table you need to stuff yourself on each holiday dish -- turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pie, and cranberry chutney. The Spirit of Sharing buff is gained when you eat all five dishes. You have to run to each of your faction's cities, park yourself at a Bountiful Table, and eat!. Repeat until you've got all four cities done. One thing to note - if you're a reputation grinder - this buff is your best friend and lasts for an hour.

Perky PUG – A Play on Names

The latest version of the PTR introduces a new pet- Perky PUG. He seems to either be a random award, possibly as an achievement from using the new Looking For Group system that Blizzard will introduce in Patch 3.3. The model was gleaned from the latest PTR build – 10747. The puppy itself will probably be highly sought for. The speculation is that this is a reward for grouping with 100 random players. As most experienced Warcraft players know, a PUG in game refers to a Pick Up Group. I think the new system and variety of achievements/awards linked with it are ways that Blizzard is trying to encourage more random grouping in game. A large population of the game avoids PUGs, but it seems that Blizzard is definitely putting measures into place to encourage it. The pet is called a "Perky Pug".

Pilgrim's Bounty - Nov 8 - Nov 14

Keeping in the spirit of adding even more holidays, Pilgrim’s Bounty is the next upcoming, newly added holiday in our World of Warcraft. This holiday comes complete with a title and cool pet, provided you can complete the requirements during the week it’s available in game. Most of the achievements/quests are pretty straight forward. The quest available are listed here.

The meta achievement and title requires these quests to be completed. At first glance, it doesn't seem too hard. You need to keep in mind that you have to complete the daily quests available for this holiday to complete one of the requirements for the meta.

Pilgrim's Progress is the achievement for completing the dailies. This quest leads one to believe some new recipes will be entered into game. Below are the requirements to "complete" Pilgrim's Progress.

As you can see, you are basically sent on a set of quests to help make the dinner. Each quest sends you to a different capital city, and from reading the quest descriptions, it sounds like you can make these dishes if you have cooking high enough and the ingredients. Never fear, I'm sure enough capitalist folks will be putting these items on the Auction House. If you find yourself unable to cook these dishes, you might ask a guild member. Keep in mind each recipe sends you to a different area in Azeroth.

Here are the individual quests.

Starting with Can't Get Enough Turkey- you have to travel to Elwynn Forest. The turkeys are apparently running around there - plus the additional ingredients that you'll need to purchase from the holiday vendors. Mind you, this holiday falls in between the Canadian holiday and the American holiday.

The next quest on the list is Easy as Pie. This quest sends you to outside of Stormwind so you should pick up what you need from the

area at the same time. It turns in at Darnassus but the pumpkins need to be purchased from the Pilgrim's Bounty vendor outside of Stormwind.

The next quest is We're Out of Cranberry Chutney Again.

This quest sends you to Ironforge to acquire the Cranberries from yet another Pilgrim's Bounty vendor. Again, the quest sounds like there should be a recipe available.

This leads us up to Don't Forget the Stuffing!

This is probably the easiest quest to complete. It requires spice bread (level 1 recipe) and autumnal herbs. That leaves us with just one more daily quest to go.

The last quest that you need to complete for the Pilgrim's Progress is She Says Potato!

The potatoes should be picked up when you are turning in the quest in Darnassus. The Pilgrim's Bounty merchant there sells the items.

On the whole, the holiday quests don't seem to be overly complicated, even getting people to go into Sethekk Halls to kill King Ikiss (granted you have to be dressed up in holiday attire). What isn't known is where you end up purchasing those items from (maybe a vendor) or with what (think back to brewfest). You have to have the Pilgrim's Hat and either Pilgrim's Robe, Attire, or Dress. Alot of people will probably try to get a druid to come along for a chance at the Ravenlord mount. The recipes range from level 1 - 56, so a variety of cooking skill will be required. You may have memories of the putting out the enemies fires as you try to complete Pilgrim's Peril.

For anyone wanting the title, you better get your cooking leveled - as you will still have to cook up each one of these dishes. Keep in mind, at least this recipes count towards the cooking titles and achievements. Depending on if there are NPCs or not required for Turkey Lurkey.. we may all be hanging on in Dalaran looking for rogues to pick off. On the whole, for just a week long holiday, they have crammed tons of activities into it.

Day of the Dead - Revisited

Well Halloween is over in game and out, which brings the onslaught of this new holiday – even as short as it is. Some things to note now that’s it is here. Yes, it’s still only November 1^st and November 2^nd. Where is the elusive Catrina? She appears outside of any capital city Graveyard. To get the achievement “Dead Man’s Party”, you just have to /dance with her.

To get the cool pet, you have to complete a quest called the Grateful Dead. The recipe “Bread of the Dead” is purchased from Chapman, the NPC next to Catrina. You will need simple flour

and ice cold milk to make the bread. You’ll also need either Orange Marigold or a Bouquet of Orange Marigolds from Chapman. Note- the only difference here is that the Bouquet is a multi- use item and the Orange Marigold is a single use item. Important items to mention- you can only pick up the “Grateful Dead” quest at your character’s capital city’s graveyard. You can also only see the quest giver using the Orange Marigold or Bouquet of Orange Marigolds. The bread can only be cooked at a ghostly fire. The ghostly fire is located close to Catrina- it is blue.

Once you complete the quest, you receive gold and the Macabre Marionette pet. The pet itself is very awesome. My only complaint is that it isn’t permanent. You only have the pet during the Day of the Dead celebration. I believe Blizzard will get tons of complaints over that decision but who really knows if they change it or not.

Day of the Dead

Blizzard's went out of their way to add more holiday/seasonal type events. Earlier this year we saw Pirate's Day, with it's own achievement. November 1 and 2, we'll see the introduction of Day of the Dead. It's on Blizzard's Official Event Calendar. What we don't know is where is this Catrina that we need to dance with? It seems to be a reference to Día de los Muertos, which is a Central American holiday to honor dead relatives. One thing is for sure, we'll all be looking for Catrina come November 1^st. Who can miss out on an achievement called Dead Man's Party?!

Vault of Archavon – Toravon the Ice Watcher

With the introduction of patch 3.3 and Arena season 8, a new boss will make an appearance in the Vault of Archavon. Enter Toravon the Ice Watcher. Following with the same themes of the other VoA bosses, this is an ice giant. The abilities haven't yet been gleaned. It's pretty safe speculation that this boss will drop tier 10 pieces, and with his introduction, the emblems in the 25 man version will change to Emblems of Frost, with the 10 version dropping Emblems of Triumph. You're probably wondering where are they going to fit in this boss? They've added a new wing. See the map below for clarification. WoWWiki.com is my source for most of this information so stay tuned to that site as 3.3 and Arena Season 8 approach!

How safe is your character?

As you develop your character, you spend a lot of time getting achievements, reputation, pets, and all those shiny epics. In a blink of an eye, it can all be removed. Sad as it is, hacking is a common thing in WoW. You see good players with geared toons get hacked frequently. You log in to find your toon someplace you didn’t leave him/her. The toon is naked, stripped, your banks are empty, and your guild bank has been violated. You get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach… and you get angry. Can it be recovered? Yes, but it’s iffy if you will get everything back exactly the same. Since the guild itself has seen a handful of members hacked, it brings up a solid issue of security. Personally, I’ve never been hacked, but just the thought sends my stomach quivering in anxiety. With the recent influx of victims, I think a brief overview of the topic is warranted.

How did it happen?

Well, there are varieties methods at the hackers’ disposal but below are the most commonly used ones:

Keylogger: A keylogger or keystroke loggers are pieces of software which sit in memory, capturing your keystrokes when you enter the game, the Blizzard account, or Blizzard forum web sites. A keylogger program does not require physical access to the user's computer. It can be downloaded on purpose by someone who wants to monitor activity on a particular computer or it can be downloaded unwittingly as spyware and executed as part of a rootkit or remote administration (RAT)Trojan horse. A keylogger program typically consists of two files that get installed in the same directory: a dynamic link library (DLL) file (which does all the recording) and an executable file (.EXE) that installs the DLL file and triggers it to work. The keylogger program records each keystroke the user types and uploads the information over the Internet periodically to whoever installed the program. (Source)

Phishing: A phishing web site (sometimes called a "spoofed" site) tries to steal your account password or other confidential information by tricking you into believing you're on a legitimate web site. You can even land on a phishing site by mistyping a URL (web address). Is that web site legitimate? Don't be fooled by a site that looks real. It's easy for phishers to create web sites that look like the genuine article, complete with the logos and other graphics of a trusted web site. Important: If you're at all unsure about a web site, do not sign in. The safest thing to do is to close and then reopen your browser, and then type the URL into your browser's Address bar. Typing the correct URL is the best way to be sure you're not redirected to a spoofed site. Phishers are becoming more and more sophisticated in designing their phony web sites. There's no surefire way to know if you're on a phishing site, but here's some hints that can help you distinguish a real web site from a phishing site. (Source)

The Friend (Not!): This is the person that you were leveling with and felt safe- or this is the leveling service you used. You shared your password with this person, and now, either this person is no longer your friend, or the service you paid for is up and you never changed your password after sharing it. This is a simple avoidable situation – don’t share your username/password. It also is advisable to use a strong password, something that cannot be guessed by people that may know you well. It’s best to be greater than 8 alphanumeric in length, a combination of upper and lowercase characters and numbers. Another good practice is to use a different username/password for any Warcraft sites you may belong to and frequent.

The Best Prevention

Buy an authenticator: the cost is about the same as an Extra Value Meal – a whooping $6.50 – and this will provide you with two-factor authentication. Not only your user name and password, but a generated password that expires in 60 seconds. How does it work? After you enter your normal username/password, you will get a dialog for the authenticator generated code- get a code by pushing the button (unless you have a mobile application of it), enter it and you’re protected. The catch is you need to keep it safe because while you can recover your account should you lose it, it isn’t easy. It requires a phone call to Blizzard’s Billing and Account services to verify lots of information. You can order an authenticator from the Blizzard Store or you can purchase the mobile application (it’s available for several phones) at Blizzard’s Mobile Store. If you do decide to purchase an authenticator, you should write down the serial code and keep it in a safe place (wallet, etc).

Wiping – Is it really a waste of time?

Progression.. it's a simple word really. It is measured in WoW terms by a variety of things- achievements, bosses killed, hard modes completed, gear level, reputation level, and the list can go on. It rarely happens over night. It takes effort, planning, and cohesiveness of the group to accomplish things. After all, one person isn't soloing Ulduar. It takes time and attempts to learn the mechanics of fights, and to figure out what strategy needs to be deployed for the group to be successful. Until the entire group understands the mechanics, how it works, what each person's role is and how to perform it to the best of his/her ability – it takes practice. Ever remember that old cliché phrase your mother used to say to you: "Practice makes perfect." Well, it holds true, even in WoW. Of course, it's easier to swallow the cost of learning if the guild bank is paying. At this point, it isn't about the "numbers" of WoW, be it TPS, DPS, or HPS – it is about the execution. Do they factor in? Absolutely- if dps is pulling aggro off the tank, we have to figure out the problem. If we are dying, and we do not know why, we have to figure out the problem. At this point, it's about staying alive (**theme music "staying alive staying alive"**). The numbers are what comes after everyone knows what to do, and we're getting to the point that the numbers are an issue is something else entirely. At that point, we have to work on how fast or how well we kill things.

Can progression be rough? Aside from bad leadership and loot, it's in the top three issues that KILL and CRUMBLE guilds. If you've been around this game long enough, you see blocks in the game. Usually they are put there as gear checks, or strategy/execution checks. Today's World of Warcraft has even created separate modes for "harder" instances – so if you choose to go that route, you can push your skill level. The point is, why settle? If it was easy, would you really want to do it? Isn't part of the satisfaction knowing that you are doing something or you've done something, others haven't? Wiping in Warcraft is a lot like going to the track for practice runs. You'll never win the race if you do not know how the car handles, especially in a pinch or on an unknown track. Just because you have spent a fair amount of time wiping on boss, it doesn't equal you are unable to do this. It means you have to learn what you are doing wrong and correct it. If you are lasting longer, getting to a different point, and learning – then it isn't a waste of time, but rather an conscious effort to succeed. This is really what progression is about.. guilds spent months stuck at different bosses throughout the game – for a variety of reasons. It goes with the territory.

Abyssal Shatter

This is a new enchanting spell that they've put out on the PTR 3.3. It was actually supposed to be released with 3.2's content but for some reason it was left out. It's back on the 3.3 PTR but the interesting thing is that the rumor mill has it being hot patched into live servers, supposedly with Tuesday's maintenance.

The beauty of this is for guilds that have ample supply of these crystals and not enough of the other materials required for enchanting. This recipe is available from an enchanting trainer (or will be when it hits). It takes one Abyss Crystal and will randomly turn it into either Greater Cosmic Essences or Infinite Dusts. I was actually curious as to the ratio. I know for some guilds, their banks are full of crystals, but they may be lacking either of these other two materials- and with some enchants taking between 20-30 Infinite Dusts, it's easy to run low.

I experimented on the PTR with a pre-made character to see exactly how consistent the results were and if it was really worth it. Out of 8 shatters (there's no cool down):

• 4 turned into Greater Cosmic essence - 2 Greater Cosmic essences each shatter - for a total of 8
• 4 turned into Infinite Dust - 8, 7, 15, 10 = for a total of 40, averaging 10 dust per crystal

Depending on server prices, this is probably not a great way to make money, but it is a good way to save some - for guilds and guild members that supply enchanting mats. Also, depending on the economy, it may just be more cost effective to sell the crystal and buy the mats needed.

WoW Economics Article

The link above shows another resource (probably far more indepth with shattering abyss crystals than I've done)

Shattering crystals requires an enchanting skill of 445 and can reportedly yield as many as 18 dusts or 4 essences.

So with that.. and the fact it is already on the EU servers... it will more than likely be this Tuesday.

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.

WoW Jones: Tradeskill Etiquette

Sooner or later, at some point during your character's lifetime, you'll have to barter, trade, or arrange for an item to be crafted. Generally, within guild, most outside trading can be kept down to a minimum, and offsets tips and fees because generally guild members do these things as a service to their own community.

With the rare patterns and drops, orbs (both runed/crusader) and the mat lists that total 1000s of gold, trading can be intimidating. Before you enter into a trade, you need to be very clear about what you are getting, and what you paying for an item.

There's a distinct difference in words- and it is something I would encourage every person entering a trade to determine- what is the fee being asked? If the person says a tip, you should clarify what they expect- such as, what is the minimum tip you normally receive? You need to have a price settled before materials ever change hands. Generally most people are trust worthy but you need to ensure that everything is agreed upon up front so that it leaves less room for misunderstandings. The last thing you want is to gain a reputation for being "cheap" (making it hard to get items made) or a reputation for charging to much. Most of this is common sense, but unfortunately not everyone uses common sense. Even in a virtual world such as Warcraft, there are still interactions with people, and etiquette should be followed.

Perspectives

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere
with what you can do."
- John Wooden

Raid composition used to be a top priority because each class brought something unique as a benefit to the raid. In today's WoW, most of that has changed. Multiple classes crossover on that benefit, and as such, it's one of those things where Blizzard has made it for guild to "bring the player, not the class". Today's raid composition is entirely a lot looser than raiding in Vanilla or BC World of Warcraft. It isn't just skill, it's also knowledge of game mechanics and each raider's own class.

One of the most frustrating things I've found in this game is the inability of people to think outside the box. It's an old cliché "think outside of the box" but I'm really at a loss of how else to describe it. I suppose it comes from my direct disregard for the word "NO" or "You can't" because, frankly, I rarely take those words to heart. There are many World of Warcraft sites on the internet, and from scouring them, you can find a wealth of information on your choice of subjects. Specifically of interest to most raiding guilds, boss strategies, with diagrams, and other people's experience abound. I know of guilds that prefer to do things "blind" and some that always will, as they are the first ones there, on the PTR, hammering out the new encounters, while the majority wait for the content to be released and tidbits of news/tips/tricks.

This guild may use strategy xyz, but guilds are not all cookies cut from the same cookie cutter. Each guild and raid core has members that are real people. These people have strengths and weaknesses. The key to any successful strategy is to utilize those strengths and compensate for those weaknesses. The idea is to be able to re-group when strategy xyz doesn't work, and adjust to the talents/skills of the people and players on hand. Gone are the days of Player A, can you step outside because we really need a <insert class here> for <insert ability here>. Is it different? Absolutely, but that's what makes this such an interesting game; There is no "one method" that works for all guilds~ it isn't about what you do not have, but what you can do with the composition and people you do have. The next time someone suggests something, keep an open mind, and just remember, just because YOU haven't done it that way, it does not mean that it is impossible.

Recruiting

If you are a raiding guild, recruitment is something that is inherently a part of the guild's life – much like breathing is to you and I. Obviously no guild ever starts out with a full raiding core, even if the guild was formed as the result of a split. Recruitment is a continuous process, and stabilization can also be a contributing factor to the success of a raid encounter. It's something that I have done in a couple of guilds and in some aspects, it never really gets easier. NQG keeps a roster of 35 raiders. We allow alts and casual members, but that roster is our raiding core. Our roster size makes sure we rarely have to a cancel a raid due to lack of raiders.

There are a few things that always weigh in if you are trying to fill a specific role or class on your roster. You always have to worry about overfilling the slot (roughly 3 is a magic number for most classes). You have to worry about how your existing members are going to take to the new member. This isn't even looking at performance, because some folks could bluster out great performance in raid, but could be struggling with a solid mesh with the guild's atmosphere. The recruit could also be struggling with adjustments, due to a variety of factors such the guild's current progression level and raiding style.

For NQG, we really strive to ensure a solid fit. Our application is a bit daunting, and it's continually under improvement and adjustment, based on our own applicants' history and experience. We ask everything from the basic questions such as raid experience, a possible sample WoWWebStats or other meter form, to a simple question of if the person has cold weather flying. All of our raid applicants are asked and required to fill out an application. We try to keep our expectations posted and updated, as well as our website. Upon completion, the application is posted in a members' only forum for review by the guild. This was actually a revised process- at one time the applications were kept in an officer only forum. We've actually found by opening it to all guild members, we get better input. Diversity can be a great thing, and the varying input can assist with the right questions to ask. The last thing we want is to bring in someone and that person not be happy, which is even more true as this guild mainly consists of transfers. The quality of the application speaks volumes. It can tell you just how interested the potential member is. Often, it can give insight to how well they may fit in. Lack of raid experience is not an automatic "no", and the person's progression experience is just weighted. It's something that has to be done with a guild that pushes forward on progression. Also, some people may not understand what it takes to learn a fight, wiping, etc – and this has to be covered as well other expectations. Previous raid experience (and a few in-depth questions) can assist in finding out if the person has ever had this type of experience.

If the application looks sound, we then send an email asking to take our application process to the next step. Once a time has been arranged, we will conduct a vent interview. If there are questions over the application, or spec/gear choices, we'll usually ask them at that time. This vent interview may just contain a guild officer, or it may contain a few folks from the guild. We usually find out if the applicant understands the loot system, and what kind of expectations the interviewee has of the guild. It's imperative that we cover our expectations and the expectations of the person applying. If all goes well, an invite will be extended and a hard transfer date setup. Forum access is usually granted at this time. If we have some concerns, we note them as the application is moved to a private area. We have a two initiate period to see how an applicant is going to adjust/mesh.

Where do these folks come from? Many guilds struggle with recruitment. As a guild is like any organization, it is continually evolving- people are leaving, due to a variety of reasons, and people are joining. There are many areas to look for potential guild members. Most guilds will look to recruit from their server. This method has some positives, as you can run heroics/instances with the potential guild member and evaluate skill level. Some guilds spam the recruitment channel and/or the trade channel. Other guilds may just post on the server forums. If you are seeking to fill a specific role, you need to ensure you use a variety of methods.

NQG typically does NOT recruit on server. With that said, we will post on the Guild Recruitment – Alliance World of Warcraft forums. We also use a variety of sites, such as WoWMatcher.com, lookingforguild.net, recruitgamers.com, and forums such as MMOChampion.com. We post ads and search for potential folks, and we respond to folks. We try to follow up on occasion with contact in game, because we aren't just filling a role, we're looking for an exceptional person to join our roster. In the end, a solid fit is what we are after, and seeking emotionally sound and drama free individuals can sometimes be a challenge but with persistence and hard work, it can be done.

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.