We've historically started at 8.15-8.30 server due to the family committments of UK raiders (selfish, I know :) ). However, many of those have left WoW, so it's worth revisiting this start time. I'd be happy to move the time earlier by one hour, giving those in non-UK time zones (i.e. the majority of the guild) a bit more of a comfortable time.

Comment here please on what your thoughts are as to a 7.15pm server time start for raids, either Sunday or Wednesday.

Personally, Sunday shouldn't be a problem, though Wednesday might be better for me if it was, say, 7.45pm server.

Before you proceed, you need to have read this please:
http://undecalt.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/the-february-post-the-state-of-old-timers/

Welcome back.

So, raiding isn't working. We're bouncing into the same problems over and over again. There are several issues here, but I can summarise the major one to explain our lack of progress in ICC. DPS is too low. Now, this is not the same as saying 'gear is bad'; I honestly think our top-tier raiders have the gear to clear Lower Spire, and there are many reasons why the DPS on an encounter is too low (DPS dying too early for example). No, the issue is the conflict between what ten of us want to play versus how ten of us need to play. I also need to impress that this is not just about DPS... points 2 and 3 apply to all roles, but point 1 is for DPS.

1) Raiding specs:
Some of us are running outdated talent specs or trees. These are the top-performing DPS specs in ICC25 at the moment. If the top one is scaled at 100%, you can see what percentage of that damage others do:
Mage - Arcane - 100%
Hunter - Marksmanship - 98%
Rogue - Assassination - 96%
Rogue - Combat - 96%
Warrior - Fury - 94%
Paladin - Retribution - 93%
Priest - Shadow - 93%
Warlock - Affliction - 92%
Druid - Cat - 89%
Druid - Balance - 89%
Hunter - Survival - 88%
Warlock - Demonology - 88%
Death Knight - Unholy - 88%
Shaman - Elemental - 87%
Warrior - Arms - 80%
Mage - Fire - 79%
Death Knight - Blood - 77%
Death Knight - Frost - 67%
Hunter - Beast Mastery - 61%
Mage - Frost - 56%

Obviously, you can't change your class, but you can change your spec. This will be easier for some than others, but if, for example, you are not an Arcane Mage, you could be losing out on nearly half of your dps!

Where I have multiple specs competing for raiding spots, when all other things are comparable, I will consider the spec as the balancing point.

Don't have dual-specs? Then I will put forward 500g of my own gold to help pay for your second spec. Meet me halfway... You'll have to gear accordingly as well too of course. And gem, and enchant.

2) Gems and Enchants:
Raider will now become a rank of importance. 'Raiders' will frequently demonstrate that they gem and enchant at the highest possible level. www.wow-heroes.com is my friend. Let it be yours.

3) Raid Locations:
ICC will not be our default instance. We won't have one. We will choose the instance based upon the quality of the raiders.

This is not about gear. If I don't think we have the skills to do anything other than Ulduar, then I will lead a raid to Ulduar. If no-one can benefit from drops, then so what? :) This, once again, isn't about gear. It's about not standing in the fire... it's about knowing the theory of the encounter so that the boss drops on the third attempt, not the third week... it's about decursing as a mage, druid and lock... hell, it's about decursing as a ret paladin and shadow priest!... it's about assisting the tank... it's about reducing work of the healers... it's about 1 person realising 9 others are trying to play hard, so that 1 person should play harder... it's about realising that 10 people want this boss down, so all 10 need to work as one.

It's about making my job so easy, so damn easy, that it's fun to lead Old Timers into action.

One of our Custodians was hacked. The GB was emptied of anything of value. All Officers have been demoted to Raider and everyone has had access to GB removed.

I will not be available today except for an hour or so from 6.45pm server today. After that, I will be online tomorrow afternoon.

Officers will not be promoted back to their ranks until they have been able to demonstrate that an Authenticator is attached to their accounts. No exceptions.

With an attempt so thinly veiled you'd think it was naked, I'm publicising my WoW blog here. It's new, and relatively shallow at the moment, but it does relate to my experiences with guildies and will (I hope) help to while away the seconds during your loading screens.

http://undecalt.wordpress.com

Feel free to leave comments... I know how supportive you will all be... :D

Hi all,

Just thought I'd let you know my ideas for our raiding in the next few weeks or so. As the gearing continues apace, we should be delving further into Icecrown Citadel soon. I want us to have one more week at ToC10 and Marrowgar (ICC) before we venture onto Lady Deathwhisper. When we have a strong group, we have the instance on farm, and it would be nice to continue that success.

Before the end of January, I would like the groups to move on from ToC and into ICC permanently. All of you who plan to raid need to make yourself familiar with the bosses of the first wing.

Finally, I would like to keep Sunday's raid flexible. Our primary goal will be ICC, but depending on raid strength or energies, it would be nice to clear up some of the older content. As a guild, we haven't got everyone through Naxx yet or Ulduar. I would like to see Sunday as a Casual Fun day, with achievement runs in Naxx, Eye of Eternity and clearance of Ulduar (Ulduar should be casual I hope :)... up to Thorim anyway :) ). Let me know what tou think about this... it makes a nice relaxing change from progression and wipes.

Gary

PS. I am still looking for support with raid leading, and for more comments on the Loot Distribution topic. Are you all actually happy with me leading everything? :)