Project Lore

A long, long time ago, in Stranglethorn Vale, our guild started Zul'Gurub. At the same time, the elite guilds had finished ZG, Molten Core, Black Wing Lair, and were doing AQ20, AQ40 and Naxxramas. We had Dungeon Set 0 and epic PvP gear, they were decked out in Tier 3. There was a huge chasm of raiding experience and gear-level between us and them. A long time ago, in the Caverns of Time, our guild finished Mount Hyjal. At the same time, the elite guilds had completed Black Temple and Sunwell. We had 4/5 Tier 5 and they were decked out in Tier 6. There was a significant difference in gear-level and raiding experience between us and them. As of this week, our guild has completed all 10- and 25-man raiding content in WotLK. The only challenges left in front of us are Sartharion with two and three drakes up, and some raiding achievements. The elite guilds have finished the "hard modes," but there is no raid-boss they've seen that we haven't. We are 13/15ths of the way to being totally decked-out in Tier 7.5 gear - they have a better necklace and trinket than we do. They also have the gun from Kel'Thuzad, those rotten {expletive (plural) deleted}. There is no real difference in gear-level, and while they have many more years of end-game content raiding experience than we do, we’ve walked where they've walked in the new expansion, and not years after they have. So what’s the deal? We've heard over and over that the content is easier. Bullpucky. We remember our first kills in Karazhan. We remember going to Maiden and being sure it was going to take many hours to kill her. We remember warning the guild that wipes were the price of success. Then, we one-shot her. /kapow! "Don't move when Flame Wreath is cast!" And if you didn't move, and you had the DPS, you'd beat Shade of Aran. Learning the skill took time, as did getting a high enough raid-DPS, but once the skill was learned, never again did a movement fight cause as much fear. Thaddius in Naxxramas is a movement fight, and people don't freak out about that guy nearly as much as they did about Shade of Aran. The problem with Karazhan was two-fold: First, an entirely new population of WoW-players suddenly had access to raiding content, and they weren't used to it. Second, in a 40-person raid, you can have a screw-up. In a 10-person raid, a single person could easily wipe everything. So in old-school raiding, the old-school raiders learned to raid as they were "carried" through Molten Core. They made mistakes, they were mostly hidden, and the raid kept on trucking. By the time they got to Karazhan, they knew how to raid and thus breezed through it. In contrast, a new generation of players learned to raid in 10-man Karazhan, and they learned to raid as they wiped. Karazhan was hard, not because of the difficulty of the content, but because individual mistakes were magnified and the results were much more severe. Was Gruul or Magtheridon much harder than Karazhan? No, because these 25-person raids required Karazhan-geared people to attempt them. And once you've gotten gear from Karazhan, you probably knew how to behave in a raid. The difference between 10- and 25-person raiding isn't much, the only difference is in specific people learning their specific roles. Once the trick of the boss is mastered, the basic raid skills needed are already known. (i.e. don't stand in the fire or the black circle, don't take aggro from the tank, etc.) Then we get to WotLK and the new Naxxramas. Is 10-person Naxx easier than Kara was? Yes. Is it because the content is easier? We say No. We say that people crushed Naxx with such relative ease because there were no new skills needed to defeat the place. If you raided Kara, you could raid Naxx. There is no skill needed for Naxx that was not taught in Kara. And who didn't raid Kara? What percentage of people who are raiding Naxx do you think didn't step foot in Kara? Five percent? That means ninety-five percent of the people with their eyes set on Naxxramas just had to level to 80, then they'd have the gear and the Kara-learned raiding knowledge to defeat the place. And they did, foshizzle. So now we have the promise of Ulduar. What's the big scary thing there? Vehicle-mounts for combat. /shudder What fight do we have right now with something like vehicle-mounts? Malygos. What raid boss do people dislike the most? Malygos. Why? Phase three - The drakes. People dislike the drakes because they don't get to play their own class, and because it's a new mechanic. We love Naxx because it's just an extension of Kara. We've mastered Kara, so Naxx is easy. We have never had a vehicle-mount boss before, so people hate learning Malygos. Defeating one, two, and three drakes-up Sartharion is a matter of gear, positioning, and DPS. All three of these things are easily comprehended by Kara-experienced raiders, and thus three drakes-up Sartharion, while technically a much greater challenge than Malygos, does not inspire the same dread and hostility as Malygos does. Ulduar is bringing vehicle-mount boss fights to an entire new level, like it or not. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to farm Naxx for fun and profit? Are you going to go for the hard-mode achievements and beat 10-person Sartharion with three drakes up? Or are you going to practice your vehicle-mount combat skills in Malygos? Just as the Aces High! daily is practice for Malygos, so is Malygos himself practice for Ulduar. If you have the choice, we recommend you get your happy little tuckus out to Borean Tundrea every week, do both 10- and 25-person Malygos, not so much for the gear, but to get used to the dynamic. The skills you learn in Malygos are going to prepare you Ulduar, just like Kara prepared you for Naxx.

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Ah... when it's done, it's done. It's sad to see it go... but we'll all move on... What am I talking about? One of the worst things that could happen in-game: my guild disbanded. ( /cry ) Yes, a few weeks ago, maybe longer now since time has lost all meaning since I entered this state of mourning, the first guild I joined broke up over internal politics, RL issues, in-fighting, alleged favoritism and a few freakin' stupid idiot jerks ( different people depending on whom you ask ) brought about the final straw that broke the guild's back. I am talking of Midnight Run on Frostmane server. We were good. Really freakin' good. We were almost on farmin' status for Hyjal and BT, gathering mats for boss fights in BT and beginning our venture into Sun Well within a few weeks, but then it happened. On night I logged in at raid time, ready to kick the crap out of Vashj and maybe get a new chest piece, when the GM called all online people over to the Aldor bank. Then he dropped the bomb. It sucked. Really sucked. I meet some really cool people in the guild and had fun takin' down some of the hardest content in the game but now, as I stood at the Aldor bank getting my share of epic gems and wizard oil from the soon-to-be defunk guild bank, it was just dawning on me that I would probably never raid with most of these people again. A damn f'k shame. And I knew some of the reasons why it was disbanding were very legit. RL comes first no matter what anyone says. And the freakin' jerks who were making a mess of the guild's name really f'ked it for everyone. How just a few asses can come in and within a weekend f'k it up for everyone is just astounding to me. So to those who were in Midnight Run, thank you. Puffball, you are a great GM and I would join any guild you make in the future when you come back to the game. Hedone, you are an amazing healer and I look forward to raiding with you soon. Gomja, you rock as a Pali tank. Noodshot, Stings, Legendaryoda, and the rest of the MR crew, thanks for the fun. And now the guild is done. The fractured pieces split into two or three different guilds, each somewhat bashing the other for the downfall and how cool they are now. Whatever. My ego resides in myself and not in how much DPS I can do. That being said... If you have a guild on Frostmane server that raids after 9:30 server time that's lookin' for a raiding fire mage whose sustained DPS is always in the top 10, usually top 5, then give me a call. Loyalty is one thing while there's something to be loyal to, but when it''s done, it's done. Besides I want that freakin' chest to drop off Vashj! So if you need a raid savy fire mage, give me a call, but only if you raid after 9:30 server time on Frostmane. ( btw - The Armory says I'm in Divine Turtle Protectors but that's my alt's guild. And the gear I'm wearing is epic! lol )

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