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Gary here,

For the rest of November, I'm taking a break from any 10-man or 25-man content. For various reasons, I don't feel I'm getting the enjoyment from raiding that I want. Unrewarded investment for too many people, the lack of interest and enthusiasm from others, etc...

If anyone wants anything from me in order to take up the role of raid leading (loot lists, website access, etc.) please let me know. In doing so, if you want to change the systems we have in place to support raiding, feel free. Consider this an experiment to see what will improve our guild's raiding experiences. For me, 5-mans will be the extent of my instance activity. Come December, we'll see what has happened...

Krakesh, et al.

Comments

Hi Gary, il respect you for what you are doing, yet i might not understand the way it happened. I hope you can find the joy for raiding again. Cheers — Krakesh at 10/11/2009 11:43 AM

Is Old Timers finished as a raiding guild?

DISCLAIMER: This may be nothing more than an inflammatory post from me. This is not intended as such, though it is intended to ask questions of guild members. It is not however, purposeful trolling. This is a concern I have had for weeks if not months, and the topic needs to be aired. There may be fall-out... we'll see what happens. I also apologise for the amount of statistics. I want to make claims that I can back up with numbers.

RAIDS
Period covered: August - October
Number of raids performed: 26 (20 Uld10; 1 EoE; 2 Ony; 3 ToC)
Number of raids cancelled: At least 8 (2 Sarth+; 2 Uld10; 4 ToC)

Nearly 25% of our raids are cancelled. In all cases, this was due to lack of interest.

GUILD COMP
Number of accounts: 137
Percentage of guild at L80: 39%
Number of L80 characters: 139

Percentage of guild who are Officers (Lt and above): 15% (minimum; this takes into account some Officers who have multiple accounts)
Percentage of Officers who have attended a raid in:
- the last three months: 80% - the last two months: 75% - the last month: 55%

Just over half of Officers raided in October. One-fifth of all Officers have not raided in the last three months.

Percentage of accounts who possess at least one L80: 33%
Percentage of accounts who have raided (excluding multiple accounts): 27%
Percentage of registered Guild Members (excluding Officers, 39 accounts) who have attended a raid in:
- the last three months: 41% - the last two months: 38% - the last month: 20%

Of those who have registered with the website, and are therefore eligible for raid sign-ups, two-fifths have raided within the last three months. One-fifth has raided within the last month. Raid attendance of non-Officer members is half or less that of Officers.

Percentage of times the raid calendar has had more than the required number of raiders sign-up: 27%
Percentage of times the raid calendar has had less than the required number of raiders sign-up: 53%

For raids to go ahead, last-minute recruiting is having to happen from the online guild members.

Ulduar/EoE August-October - Total raiding spots available: 210
- Taken by Officers: 139 (66%)
- Taken by non-Officers: 58 (28%)
- Taken by ex-guild members: 13 (6%)

-------

Initially, this post was going to be a comment on the lack of Officers signing up for raids. There are several Officers who had 'officially' removed themselves from raiding (through interests elsewhere in the game or real-life concerns). My instinct was of the remaining Officers, not enough were committing to raids. It turns out that Officers are attending the majority of the raids, and indeed comprise two-thirds of the raid composition.

Does this mean that there is a guild bias to raid selection? Let's see... Around one-quarter of the calendar sign-ups are over-subscribed. Over half fail to yield the right number of sign-ups. If there are not enough raiders signing up, it's impossible for the raid composition to be selfishly selected towards Officers. Indeed, I suspect that Officers step in to help out for a raid to go ahead, sacrifising their alternative plans to help out the guild. My apologies then go to all of the Officers; without you guys, many of these raids would not happen.

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Where are we with our Wrath raiding?
- Over halfway through Uld10
- Two bosses downed in ToC10
- Individuals have downed bosses in VoA, but only the first has been dropped on guild runs that I know of
- Onyxia has been dropped twice that I know of
- Sarth+1

Where should we be with our Wrath raiding?
- At least three-quarters of the way. We should be seeing Yogg-Saron every now and then
- Other guildies feel we should be dropping the final boss in ToC10
- Clearing VoA on a weekly basis
- Dropping Onyxia weekly
- <... of the Nightfall> for many members

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TL:DR
We are a real-life raiding guild. Our 'casual' approach is great for many, but is holding back our progression. Not enough players are committing to the end-game content that our guild does require.
- Are we happy with this? I for one would love to see all 10-man bosses down. I don't want to see them dropped by PuGs; I want to see them dropped by Old Timers.
- Do we have the capacity to do this? Almost certainly, yes.
- Are we holding ourselves back? Yes.
- Are we happy holding ourselves back? Up to you. Me? I want to see more, but I am just one person in this guild of many.

Comments

i couldnt agree more with you gary, i also am very sad to see guild members doing pug runs onyxia or ulduar and not sign up for the guild runs, i belive that when you are in a guild you first prio must be with that guild — Fairmir at 31/10/2009 03:47 PM

Since I have begun a full time job my activities with the guild have become limited. This is due the limit of time, and fitting in what I enjoy and what others enjoy. Since daylight savings has ended in Europe, this task has become even more difficult for me, as the usual raiding time means a 10pm start. Waking at 5am means that I would only get 7 hours of sleep if I went to bed at the starting time. I do however, sacrifice my sleep for raiding, and sign up for 90% of the raids. I am sure others could also make an effort, so that these aren't always cancelled due to lack of interest. That said, I love the 'casual' aspect, and understand that not everyone can make it everytime. I would like to take some nights off myself for an 'earlier than midnight' bedtime, but I can't in case there is one last spot needed. I really cannot understand why 10 people cannot get it together. — Herbit at 31/10/2009 04:07 PM

I certainly agree that the last few weeks we are slacking on raids and such... But I don´t see a solution which makes the real difference over time.. Ulduar on a weekly base (Sundays) and Onyxia or/ and Trial of the champion on wednesday?
Maybe recruiting more people? Also for 25- man raids?

— Bhalin at 31/10/2009 04:14 PM

There are 'solutions'; some drastic, others that require a little more commitment from guild members. All guildies know what sort of guild we are, so we don't expect the same sort of committment as a 25-man guild. But we shouldn't be cancelling scheduled Wed/Sun raids...

I have already changed Wed and Sun raids to be ToC10 and Ony raids. Maybe this will help.

— Krakesh at 31/10/2009 06:04 PM

I have thought long about this. I would think that someone will think I am ready for a hardcore raiding guild rather OT, but I am sure it is not true. I know that I will lack the OT approach has to raid. I know I will be missing some laughing, even when we fail.
I do not understand that we are not longer .. We should be able to complete Ulduar and TOTC, both at 10 mans normal mode. We ought to take in VOA without problems. We ought to look at Ulduar and TOTC 10 mans hard mode ..
When I say we should, it is because we have ppl in it .. We have the DPS to it. I have been in various HC, and can see there are ppl who can provide DPS in 3k .. I know we have tanks for it, I myself am one of them, and has frequently played with the Mac, Karl and with the gear, Christian (Dinoblaster) has PUG to he should also be able to be tank. I know we can keep the agro we need ... even when just the nukes on single target. Healers are also no doubt we have ... Michele, Lone, Lee and Gary. I myself have gradually gear to heal .. but no experience ..

So what we want?? Why is it we do not succeed?

What we want, I can not answer .. I know what I want .. What do you want?

I think there are many reasons why we do not succeed .. preparation, communication and focus.

Preparation:
I fail even here, or could well tighten up .. I have always seen the video and read before the raid ...

Communications:
I do not understand we are so silent on Ventrillo ... No war is won in the radio silence .. and it is a struggle .. I am confident that we could gain much by getting communications to work. It's about telling and oversight.

Everyone should know their what their role is and what to do in each phase. There should be no doubt about who is responsible to get adds down, and how, where, on a tank to move her a target farther away, closer to or like. There needs to be said about a healer having trouble adds, the Off tank is missing something ... For my part, which takes everything Request time to write ... Raid leader also has its role to fill, and it will not do the time used to write raid warnings ... This is the same with communication. Do we have problems filling its role, it is equally important that it come out, so someone can help .. again time to write it is too expensive and speech would help ..

Focus:
to do what you must ....

I know there are more of us can take the instance as we are missing or more. There are several who have been there in PUG. I'm not jealous, but I welcome the gear has been .. It should be no doubt .. much of the gear, I would like to have my self .. It makes me sad that in'd rather be in a PUG is to succeed in OT.

— Krakesh at 03/11/2009 05:26 PM

I think we know why our raids fail when they should succeed, the real question is...what are we going to do about it?
Something like this???
Gary: "Pad pick up the big add!!"
Pad: "Argh missed the taunt!!"
Gary: "FFS YOU NAB -100 DKP!!!"
Inspired by the video posted by Michelle.

— Krakesh at 05/11/2009 12:11 PM

well i dont think we need to go there, with Communication... :o) — Krakesh at 10/11/2009 11:48 AM

Subsidised Tanks...

Tanks bear the brunt of the threats WoW throws at raiders. Repairs are more frequent, and it's arguably the most gear-dependent role in a raid. So more of a tank player's free time is spent trying to cover that repair cost.

As such, Officers have decided to fund a raid tank's repairs. Each raid tank will receive 50g after a night's raiding. The gold is meant to help out, and bring repair costs in line with other members' bills, not as a way to provide free gold :). The raid leader will be responsible for passing on the gold... when the raid has finished.

Comments

Very happy with this! — Herbit at 26/10/2009 11:50 AM

Agree with Plate tanks - however, Bears costs are in line with other raiders so happy for Furry to be excluded. — Krakesh at 27/10/2009 01:17 PM

What exactly does 'Casual' mean?

Overheard: a conversation by two players following an instance run...

[1]: Okay, am I being over-sensitive? We had low DPS, yet people were still not concentrating in combat.
[2]: Just a little bit, but on the other hand...
[1]: Yeah, maybe a bit sensitive. But when 40% of the group get the 'Instance Completed' achievement, you would expect those to be concentrating a bit more.
[2]: Yep, and when the tank is #2 on DPS, people should pay attention. Maybe they'd learn more if they had to pay 10g per wipe for repairs?
[1]: LOL. Take them to Ignis and Freya, and watch their concentration levels soar.
[2]: I've often thought about it. When tanking, I pay between 150-170g per raid night in repair bills. They should try to get the money for that. And one DPS told me he pays around 20g per night, and was surprised at what money I had to pay when I get beaten up. And with that in mind, more attention should be paid.
[1]: 'Casual' should not mean careless, lazy or care-free.
[2]: No, it's okay to have fun and jokes, but when the fight is on, give the group your full time and attention.

Comments

I would like to remove the word 'casual' from our ethos, and replace it with an alternative phrase. This does not mean a change in approach; we're not going hard-core in our raiding. But 'casual' has bothered me for a while as it implies a 'care-free' approach to 'partied' Warcraft. 'Real-life' is all I have so far. Any thoughts? — Krakesh at 18/10/2009 02:23 PM

I agree,
OT is a very different guild when it comes to raids, we offer flasks and other prep items to our raiders etc. Its a change from having to prep everything yourself. I feel sometimes people take the piss when it comes to these raids.

— Krakesh at 19/10/2009 07:24 AM

i think you have a good idea there gary, but what if we dropped the one word and used a description of what we mean. it could erase all doubts about what we mean by casual — Fairmir at 19/10/2009 06:29 PM

So, we remove casual completely, then take some time to describe our approach to the aspects of the game? I like this idea. We can also then tailor the application form to each aspect we have described. This way, newcomers know exactly what they are getting in a guild... — Krakesh at 20/10/2009 09:19 AM

Plus, existing members know exactly what is expected too... — Krakesh at 20/10/2009 09:20 AM

Sunday's Raid

Have posted this in a few places, but I am most likely to be unavailable for Sunday's raid. I'm off to a gaming convention from Friday afternoon, and will be driving back late Sunday afternoon. Sk list is updated, and the guys and gals are all ready for fun-time Freya...

Comments

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