No Complaining! I R leadur!!!

I honestly haven't posted much these days not only because of my current workload and RL responsibilities (sorry, I gotta graduate soon and I can't do that if I play WoW all day >.<), but also because....well, I don't have much to complain about. I rarely PuG these days mainly because I have a solid guild that always wants to run something, and I genuinely enjoy their company. I can't complain about raids because we have an incredibly solid group of people that mesh well socially. So there's really no room to bitch. One thing I will say though is that it is amazing what a guild can accomplish when the leadership isn't incompetent, petty, or insufferably childish. Which brings me to my topic for today: guild leadership, or more importantly, what constitutes good guild leadership?

When it comes to guild leadership, we can all pretty much agree on what makes a bad leader. For the sake of brevity, I'm going to skip all of that. What then separates a good leader from the rest--the average, the bad, and the just downright despotic? At minimum, a good leader will possess the following:

1. Confidence-- It is impossible to lead people if you do not believe in yourself. At the very least, a good leader is confident in their abilities: be it leading a raid, making decisions, or just handling the administrative minutiae that everyone hates. Getting groups to cooperate is a challenge in itself, and it is made even more difficult if the leader has difficulties in demonstrating their confidence--confidence in their abilities to lead, confidence in understanding an encounter, and confidence in their people to work together to accomplish a goal. Leadership requires belief in oneself as well as those who are following to believe in the leader as well. However, as confident as one may be, it is also of benefit to understand that everyone has limitations. In this case, having too much confidence (to where it becomes arrogance) can be just as detrimental as having no confidence at all.
   
2. Communication--Adequate communication is imperative for the success of any organization. Merely logging on and saying, "hi" isn't enough. Talk to your people. Actually ask how they are doing and take the time to listen to whatever they have to say even if it is horribly "boring" or mundane. It is important to establish that you want to communicate and that members can approach you for whatever reason. Make it a priority. If you cannot establish a rapport with your organization on some basic level, then you're likely going to cause future issues do to a lack of real/adequate communication.
   
3. Delegation--As mentioned under "Confidence", good leadership understands their limitations. The largest leadership obstacle in any organization is trying to run an organization by oneself. Tackle the tasks in which you are confident in your abilities and delegate other tasks to those who would thrive while performing those roles. Suck at raid leading? Give that task to someone who understands the encounters very well and is also a solid tactician. Suck at managing day-to-day things? Appoint an administrator. Also, keep in mind that it can be as detrimental to delegate all tasks to either one person or multiple people. As a leader, you also have to do something in regards to guild leadership and not merely serve as a figurehead. Ask yourself--at the end of the day, what have you honestly done for the guild today?
   
4. Patience--This one is a no-brainer. Leadership positions are really thankless jobs marred with stress and a lot of ingratitude. Regardless of the situation, keep your cool and keep your patience. Ultimately this goes back to effective communication and understanding limitations. Not everyone is on the same page, nor is everyone capable of effectively communicating what is going on. Having a bit more patience, as well as trying to understand the underlying issue can and will go a very long way.
   
5. Impartialness--Don't take sides. Plain and simple. There is nothing worse that can happen to any organization than having clear dividing social lines. These social fissues will cause more issues and will be the source of many problems, once again going back to a lack of effective communication. Even in situations where it is you vs. a member, don't even take your own side (as hard as it is). Really listen to what the other person has to say and try to reach a compromise. If one cannot be met, then try at the very least to reach a mutual understanding. It is ridiculous to assume that everyone will always get along, but you can ensure the brevity of your organization if you take the "I'm right because I'm the leader!!!!!" attitude. No one likes a pompous asshat, so don't be one. And finally, always be fair. Make decisions that are the most fair and that would benefit the most people.
   
6. Heart--In my own experience, the best leaders have always been the ones that genuinely care about their people and their organization. It is very difficult to like or even respect someone in a leadership position that doesn't fundamentally care about the people they are leading. Like I have said previously, leadership is a thankless job, and if you're in it for the glory or recognition, then this job clearly isn't for you.

Next time, what makes a bad leader (or how to slowly kill a guild).

A Heartfelt Thank You

So it's nearly 4AM where I'm at and insomnia is kicking my butt. Instead of spending my time trying to count sheep or bore myself to sleep I decided to do a bit of data analysis pertaining to our guild and World of Logs.

Long story short--until the last raid, I haven't had any gear upgrades in a little over a month. Yet I am doing substantially more dps than I had in the previous guild (long story, may divulge at another time). How could this possibly be? My rotation hasn't changed in the least, nor has any of my gear, stats, nor enchants. I should also mention that I also switched from 25s to 10s, so my dps should technically be a bit lower--yet it is not.

It finally dawned on me--our tanks can actually hold and maintain aggro from the start of the pull. I don't have to sit on my hands for 30+ seconds and still potentially pull off. I've been able to pre-pot again without issue and charge in almost immediately after the pull. In fact, since working with this new team, I haven't had to worry about pulling off of the tanks at all. For this, gentlemen, I cannot thank you enough for being as skilled as you are at your role and allowing me to go nuts like an insane, malfunctioning Cuisinart. And thank you, even more for making this fun again.

Outsider looking in

With recruitment going into full swing for the Firelands, I figured I'd dedicate this post toward the dynamics of finding a guild that works for you. I've been on both sides of the fence--recruit and recruiter, and there are a few things to keep in mind during a recruitment process. Keeping these things in mind are important towards finding either a new home or new people for your raid force:

1. What are the goals of the guild?
This is pretty straightforward. Is it hardcore progression, is it a casual social guild, is it PVP-based? Knowing what your in-game goals are and having an understanding of the goals of the guild is key toward predicting whether or not you'll ultimately be enjoy your time there.

2. Does the actions/activity of the guild coincide with these goals?
Is this a raiding guild, but doesn't actually raid? Does the guild claim to be friendly, yet the social atmosphere doesn't exactly feel the most welcoming? This is pretty straightforward--if you sign up for a raiding guild, yet they do not raid or constantly call raids, it may be time to look elsewhere. If the social atmosphere is of importance to you and it doesn't line up with your values, it's better to leave with a sense of grace and dignity instead of compromising your own values, or being involved in potential drama. Are you interested in RP, yet no one can stay in character? Find an RP guild on an RP server. Long story short--if the activity of the guild does not coincide with their goals, this can lead to potential dissatisfaction within the guild for certain members. As a recruit, this might not be the environment in which to stay, and as a recruiter, perhaps a reevaluation of the guild might be in order.

3. If the guild claims to be a progression-oriented guild, do they have an understanding of the fight's mechnics?
This is key. Every prog-oriented guild has to have a fundamental understanding of the fight mechanics in order to be successful. Do they understand which fights possess unfortunate insta-gib mechanics? Do they understand the importance of interrupts or other nuances of the fight? Running any raid with a group that does not understand the mechanics is not only frustrating if you are progression-oriented, it can also be a waste of time for all involved. As someone who is a part of a team it is important that everyone in the team knows and understand the fight extremely well. Recently I pugged a run on an alt with a guild that clearly did not fully understand the fight's mechanics. Guess who got the blame for the majority of their failures? You guessed it, me. So if you want to avoid being the scapegoat, avoid this type like the plague.

4. What are the overall needs of the guild?
Is the guild in dire need of another tank/dps/heals? Is the guild merely looking for warm bodies to fill their raid roster? Having a good understanding of the guild's needs is important before recruiting or applying. As a recruit or applicant, it is a good idea to do a little research as to the guild's history and find out what the guild is about before applying. Is this a level 25 guild that has strong membership and low-turnover? Or is this a new guild that wants to get their name out but doesn't have the numbers? Is this a guild made of people who just hit max level and want to raid? See where your values and goals line up before applying.

As a recruiter, be honest about your guild. Have you been around for many years? Do you have a great reputation or trying to rebuild? Also be realistic in your expectations of what you're trying to get. For example, in trade the other day I saw a level 6 guild that was comprised of people that just started playing--all new 85's and all really green when it came to raiding. What caught my attention was their spam of, "looking for solid, well-geared tanks that are well-experienced with current content (pref 12/12)." Fair enough, right? One problem--not a single member of this guild had anything beyond 5/12 experience. A request of that sort is demanding and insane. It tells the rest of the community at large that they demand people to carry them, thereby are not capable of actually earning their achievements or gaining respect. Furthermore, tanks that are well-geared and have that kind of experience usually already have core-raiding spots or are looking for guilds that are much better progressed. Just saying. So instead of spamming, "WE R LEETZ", be honest and say, "we are new".

5. What are your needs?
This is very important--do you enjoying raiding in a high-pressure environment? Do you enjoy fostering a high-pressure environment? At the end of the day, the only person that "has" to log on is you. Keep that in mind.

Funsuckers and PUG hell

Funsuckers--I'm only going to say this once: cut the shit.

Beyond the usual miserable atmosphere of pugging, I've unfortunately have had to pug more often on my alts because on non-raid nights it's near impossible to find anyone on at the same time that I am online. Although I don't really "need" the valor points or the gear on these alts, I still enjoy playing them as well as making sure they're capable of subbing into the main raids if needed.

But let me get to the point of this post: ever since patch 4.1 has hit, I've noticed an abundance of assholes in the pug world. For once I am not talking about the obnoxious dps that just does stupid shit and shoots off their mouth, or a temperamental healer that chides the entire group endlessly for various reasons, I'm talking about asshole tanks. And by asshole, I mean ASSHOLE.

First off, I'd like to point out that as a tank I understand the frustration of many tanks out there. Pugging really is like playing Russian Roulette and you can get anywhere between a very good group and a completely terrible one. From my experience, it is easy to get really jaded and just assume that the general player base is terrible, however there have been times where I have been proven wrong. And oh, do I love those times. In other words, at the very least give your groups a chance to prove themselves before jumping to any conclusions.

As a tank, you lead the group as well as the pace of the instance and you must adapt to the needs of your group. If you have a healer with mana issues, use your defensive cooldowns often and slow down for the healer's mana regen. If you have inexperienced players, explain the fights, mark the dps order, and cc. If you have someone who is clearly struggling with something regarding their class, make a friendly suggestion and do NOT do it to a point where you're telling them how to play their class. Yes, that has happened. And yes, it is very rude.

Most of all, if you are having frustrations with your group at the very least try to sort out what the problem could be. If it's something minor like a lack of understanding about a fight mechanic, explain it. But whatever the reason may be that is contributing to the groups lack of success, whatever you do please DO NOT BE AN ASSHOLE. In other words, treat people the way you want to be treated.

As a tank, I hate to break it to you, but you are no one special. The dps is just as important as you, as is the healer. In order to be successful in an encounter, you HAVE to work as a TEAM. So hang your prima donna attitude at the door because if you want that nice shiny block of valor points or CtA shinies, you're going to have to work with your group. And if you happen to really hate your group that much? Just leave. Plain and simple. Keep your mouth shut and leave the group.

Unfortunately, I had a tank that was the WORST tonight. Abusive from the get go. This guy ran the muck from hurling insults, to telling people how to play their class (and he was wrong about most of the info he was spouting), to being just plain rude to a group that actually wasn't terrible in the least (good dps, stayed out of fire, attacked the right targets, etc...). Seriously, don't be "that guy". "That guy" makes every single run more painful than it needs be. Yes, you might be breezing through the instance, but is the discomfort and abuse really worth it?

And tanks, I know that it's hard dealing with some of the players that que for randoms, but please give everyone a chance. Otherwise, maybe you should stop pugging. Or better yet, log off and reevaluate why you're tanking in the first place.

Patch 4.1 Reflections and Call to Arms

It looks like Patch 4.1 is well on it's way for release, and possibly as soon as Tuesday. Personally, I look forward to many of the changes and tweaks to certain classes/specs as well as the "new" (rehashed) content. The introduction of the two new versions of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman allows a greater accessibility for gearing up your toons for raiding, as well as the opportunity to actually reasonably posses maelstrom crystals. In all honesty, I'm most excited for getting solid gear for my warlock, since I rarely get a chance to run a raid with her.

I know the blogosphere has discussed the new Call to Arms feature in great length and there are many opinions on the matter, but I figured I'd also give my 2c. To be honest, this whole Call to Arms thing doesn't really affect my main in the least. I don't run random pugs, plain and simple. Players that are in solid raiding guilds tend to not need to run those dungeons at this point in the game. Furthermore, when I did run those dungeons I went in a guild group (and I typically tanked). This change has no appreciable effect on me.

Now a good question perhaps is whether or not I'd do a random for fun rather than the rewards? Yes and no. Yes--but only if it's a guild group. No--because the pugging environment makes what little reward I would receive not worth it. I stopped tanking randoms because of really bad groups and the hostile environment in which they create. I will only heal a random if and only if the tank is a guildie. As a dps, I absolutely will not wait up to an hour for a group that is downright miserable. I finally drew the line the other night on my lock. Yes, I really could use the valor points on that toon, but it's not worth it. Arrogant tanks that are very piss-poor at tanking as well as bad dps (and by bad I mean, "stands in fire" bad or "let's pull the whole room when the healer has no mana" bad) that make every pull excruciating made pugging simply not worth the time or the effort.

Now what concerns me is that there are competent players who absolutely will not pug., and those really interested in the CtA rewards might not be those best suited for the job. There is not a shortage of tanks/healers. There is, however, a shortage of tanks/healers that are willing to pug. Or more specifically--competent tanks/healers. Unfortunately, the Call to Arms feature will only reward a tank/healer (let's face it, dps is never going to be scare) if and only if they pugged completely by themselves and finish the instance by killing the final boss. Fortunately, the items are BoA and you could potentially get a rare mount out of it. Although it may be tempting for me to step into hostile territory and pug tank again, but I'm sorry Blizz, I'm going to have to pass. What you are offering as rewards aren't nearly enough for me to even want to consider pugging as a tank or healer. Getting a new shiny mount for my alts might be nice motivation, but tbh, I'd rather just grind/farm. It's less frustrating.

Accountability

So there's a long back story behind this post, but I'm just going to cut to the chase--player accountability and what constitutes it.

If there isn't anything that causes me to go on a panda punching rampage more, it's not holding players accountable for their actions. I'm not just talking about repeatedly standing in the fire, I'm also talking about other aspects of the game where everyone involved is affected.





/sigh. If only things were that simple these days.

I'm going to be 100% honest here, I haven't been exactly the happiest camper on the RV, but I've put aside a lot of my frustrations for the greater good and sucked it up. But after last night and my meltdown of near Sue Sylvester proportions, I feel compelled to at least define what player accountability is and how a lack thereof can even make the most tolerant and patient guildie leave in a firey blaze. And for those of you who can't envision what this could look like:




Yes, I'm video happy today.

So player accountability, what is it? In short, it's holding every single player in your raid force, or guild, responsible for their actions or lack thereof. This could be something as simple as reducing a member's rank for not showing up to a designated number of raids, or even as involved as reprimanding members for setting up rival alt guilds and then spamming recruiting messages on trade.

When does holding players accountable matter? Simply put--always. There is no easy way around this. Yes, we all want to be everyone's friend, but if the goal of the guild is to be a high-end progression guild instead of a casual social guild, then unfortunately this isn't plausible and people have to be held accountable. If player X decides they are going to engage in Y behavior and it causes issues within the guild, then player X needs to be held accountable for it. Furthermore, this goes both ways--for players that go above and beyond in their endeavors, then they should be rewarded for their efforts.

Where would accountability apply? Granted this is a situational basis, but there really are few instances where a gray area exists and it's best to leave things be. However, in most cases, the actions are so obvious that something needs to be done to ensure that the environment of the guild is sound. Here are the most common examples:

When a player:
1. Doesn't show up. Ever. Especially on progression nights.
2. Rarely shows up when they do.
3. Shows up late repeatedly.
4. Shows up late repeatedly without giving prior notice or having a really good reason for not being there.
5. Shows up intoxicated.
6. Frequent AFKs...also usually without telling anyone or a legitimate reason.
7. Shows a clear disinterest in being present or participation.
8. Performance is lacking--not just limited to standing in the fire, but also ignoring certain game mechanics that are vital to success.
9. Under performing or just doing the bare minimum required.
10. Having a lackadaisical attitude.

Actions should be taken in these instances. Personally, there is nothing more frustrating than raiding with someone with a piss-poor attitude that repeatedly fumbles around simply because they can. Or even worse, being benched to take that person instead because they don't want to piss that person off. Really? Like placating the wrong person is going to make anything better?

And finally, for the dedicated few that really go above and beyond--reward them for their dedication. Best way to do that? Show them that their efforts are not unappreciated or in vain, and more importantly--also show that as a guild, we do not reward bad behavior.

Open recruiting

Ysera-US is now recruiting heals and dps. We are a 4 year old progression raiding guild currently 4/4 BoT, 5/6 BWD, and 1/2 ToFW, and we are looking for solid raiders for 25s. We are one of the few Alliance-side 25-man guilds on Ysera. Raids are Monday/Wed/Thurs @ 7:30 server and Sunday @ 6:30 server. For more information and to apply, go to prime.guildlaunch.com.

Nerd Rage

So I've been playing this game for about 5ish years now and besides the usual things that bug me, there is one thing that really has gotten on my nerves as of late: social elitism. Here's what I mean, the WoW purist that refuses to do anything at all because it's "soooo cliché". Okay, I can understand not wanting to participate in certain endeavors on Azeroth because they're simply overdone, but lately I've noticed that the vitriol that has spilled from the mouths of babes has finally gotten on my last nerve.

In the immortal words of Dennis Miller, "I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...". Class elitism, gaming elitism, and social elitism all seem to stem from the roots of "I'm better than you are because I'm so off the beaten path" asshattery mentality. Oh, I'm going to play LotRO because everyone plays WoW and it's so overdone. Oh I'm not going to roll a death knight because you didn't really earn that character and it's sooo passé. Ugh, rolling a worgen is sooo flavor of the month and I'm sooo over dwarf shaman.

Oh yea? You know what I'm sooooo over? This incessant bitching and whining. Yea so people are race-changing to dwarf shaman. It adds a new flavor and variety of shaman in the Alliance. We've never had that before, the only choice was Dranei. Yea so people are down with Gilneas and are playing as worgen. Big deal. You know why they're all doing it en masse? Because it's still brand freaking new. Now the part that bothers me the most is the fact that people are turning their noses at other people's decisions for race choice/aesthetics based upon some sort of pseudo-elitism that their decision to not try anything different makes them so much more superior. I hate to break it to everyone, but really, who are we to tell anyone how they should or shouldn't spend their hard earned money and time in the game? The last time I checked, I'm not paying for Bobby Sue's account. I'm paying for mine. And to be quite honest, as long as Bobby Sue (now WorgenSue or DwarfShazammy) is still a solid player, I don't give a flying fuck.

/end rant.

Rules for a Fury Warrior to live (or die) by

So the other day I was running around Stormwind minding my own business when a group of guildies give me (arguably) the best compliment I've received since joining, "Lokes, you are by FAR one of the best fury warriors out there." Well, thank you. :-) Now that's something that I don't exactly hear every day, and I had to know why. Long story short--"you know how to play your class".

Really?


I hit things with two very large objects. In the case illustrated above, a tree and a bear. Is there really more to fury than that? Oh yea...besides making this look good, there's much more than it seems in being a successful fury warrior.

So apparently many fury warriors don't quite understand the basics of playing this spec beyond bringing the Rampage buff into the group and hitting things repeatedly. I personally believe that many of these mistakes stem from a lack of knowledge or understanding from certain game mechanics. To summarize, here is a nice set of rules that one must follow as a fury warrior:

1. Don't stand in front of the boss/mob. Are you the tank? NO. Not only will your dps be substantially better, you'll also do your healers a favor by not having to heal you as much as the tank. A happy healer is an effective healer. An unhappy healer = dead fury warrior.
2. Understand your stat priorities. There are many excellent resources out there that have this information available. Having a full knowledge and understanding of what makes a fury warrior allows you to hit things. Hard. Repeatedly. Which brings me to my next point...
3. Don't roll on gear unless you can actually use it. Yea, that epic BP has more strength on it than the one you currently have equipped, but fury doesn't use dodge or parry...ever.
4. Be proactive and smart about playing. Yea we don't "use intellect" and are the "rawr smash" spec, but there's much more to it. Understanding certain game mechanics and utilizing your abilities to counter said mechanics makes you that much better of a player. For example: if it has a cast bar, interrupt it; if it's going really fast and chasing you, run away and throw Piercing Howl; if it's eating the tank alive on damage, throw Demoralizing Shout, etc...Also, if you're surrounded by Horde in WSG and you're the FC in flag room, and they're blocking your path to the cap point, for the love of everything that is holy--Heroic Leap into base and cap! Not that I speak from experience... XD
5. Always interrupt whenever possible. I can't stress that enough. If it has a cast bar, use Pummel. Oh, and spec into Rude Interruption if you haven't done so already.
6. Don't AOE unless absolutely necessary. That sheep is there for a reason, don't Whirlwind near it.
7. Attack what the tank is attacking. This way you don't pull aggro on a mob that barely has the tank's attention and get roflpwnd.
8. Don't pull aggro. We don't have terribly many aggro dumps. Let the tank grab initial aggro and then go wild. But if you're doing more dps than the tank can hold aggro, back off. Stop hitting the mob. Seriously. Stop.
9. Avoid fire at all costs. This goes for anything that hurts--fire, void zones, pools of poison and crud, etc... Just don't stand in it. If you're not sure if you're not supposed to stand it look at your health. Is it plummeting? Do you have a debuff? If the answer is "yes" to either. Don't stand in it.
10. Pay attention. A lot of damage is avoidable. Knowing how to position yourself and having good situational awareness will keep you alive throughout the encounter. Is there a fire-breathing dragon? Stand behind it. Are their fireballs falling to the ground? Don't stand in them. Are their mobs that do AOE damage when they die? Don't be there.
11. Have fun. This is most important. Don't expect to be super-pro-leet-w/e fury warrior all the time or immediately. We all have bad days, we all make mistakes, and it takes time and experience to be really good at this game (or anything for that matter). If it's no longer fun, you're doing it wrong.

WotLK review

We've come to the conclusion of yet another expansion. Here's a quick run down of what we've accomplished:

• 11/12 ICCH (10/25)
• meta drakes for both ICC (10/25) and Ulduar (10/25)--yes, I have all four drakes
• Ended the expansion as #7
• Halion down (10/25)
• Got Kingslayer for my priest....and yea, I healed my ASS off for that.

The expansion ended on quite the high note with a number of things accomplished. Cataclysm here we come!