I thought about posting this on our forums, but I thought that I would make you all click a link to read this...mostly so you could laugh at my inability to spell the server name upon launching the guild...and so some of our newer peeps could see some of the guild's history. I just said peeps. That's right homes.
I've been thinking a lot about the discussions of "progressing" and whatnot. As I think about the future, I think our goal should be to build a core of players for WotLK and taking down Naxx 2.0. That's not to say that I'm throwing in the towel on BC. Far from it. I think that we have a very talented core of people--and more importantly, a friendly and funny group of people. If we had the group that we've had at BC launch, we would have been able to raid 3 nights a week and be in BT/Hyjal.
The reality is that "catching up" at this point would require more than we can give. While I think that we can still see some of the cool things BC has to offer (anyone up for just devoting ourselves to TK and killing Kael before TL can figure it out?), I think that it's important for us to look at the big picture and see that in the long run, we're going to be in a great position for "progression" when the starting line gets reset with the expansion.
As for the flame war with TL... I had no idea that one snarky comment would turn into what it did. I know that not everyone approves of my methods--but at the same time, I hope that you all appreciate that I wasn't going to let Falein's attitude go unanswered. For a guild that geared him up and taught him how to play his class (we still have the best hunter on the server), he was particularly grateful.
Piernuda's lolresponse to me was really the fuel for the fire. The C*ntspawn comment...fish in a barrel. The "this fucking says here" line from Piernuda...incredibly ill-considered and all I needed to go to realm forums. I can't imagine how insecure she had to feel given how easily I dismissed her authority over a "progression" guild.
For those of you who ever take a game theory class...this is a good example of escalation with an undeterrable party. You really don't want to choose "escalate" with them.
It's good to know that they're a time bomb that is ticking towards implosion. Anyone want to bet on a date? When we beat them to killing Kael? (That'd be so awesome. Very improbable, but awesome.)
I'm also amused that our demise is being rumored. I'm happy if we're giving people something to talk about. Because the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
Finally, on a more personal note...I'm really happy to see that we're still killing stuff without me. The past two months have found themselves with a lot of personal demands. I hope that it means something that I live the "casual" part of the guild. I encourage all of you to do the same.
As far as my leadership goes--I've always felt that leaders work best when they take care of big-picture stuff... basically provide a vision. When you start micromanaging too much, you go from leading to dictating. I'm comfortable doing the former, not the latter (insert evil dictator joke here.) I'm honest enough to realize that I'm not your prototypical GM (and even less so raid leader) and that if I took a different style of leadership, that we might be a boss or three further than we are right now. (Maybe.)
I also realize that being a leader means disagreeing with people and basically not acting on what they bring to you. I'm pretty sure that Thrash hates me because I refused to change in a way that was beneficial to him. It's easy to call someone like that stubborn and a poor leader...and within his paradigm where a guild's success is measured by progression, I would be lucky to receive more than minimally passing grades. I think what ate him and Yurmom/Imdone/Falein... and even Eviscerate to some extent...up is that I know this, and they're smart enough to know that I'm smart enough to know this. Some people can't live with someone making a conscientious choice that so materially differs with them.
Basically, I'm trying to provide an insight into how I'm looking at things both in the short-term and the long-term. I make no bones about who I am and what I think the guild should be...and that we're going to stick to the values that we created the guild to serve.
While a change in values could get us further as far as in-game content goes now, it would also come with its costs that some of our best and most loyal players aren't willing to bear. If we take a look at the big picture--who we have now and the fact that you can log on and play a game with people who choose to play it because of who they play it with--there's every reason to think that we'll have a lot of "progression" success in the expansion. This is where my vision is focused. Anything we do between now and then is simply gravy.
Your conventional WoW leader might look at % of raids attended...who hasn't downloaded Omen (I see that every time I look in the mirror)...tons of boss fight videos...raiders' specs...etc. I look at this sort of big picture stuff. Contrary to popular opinion in guild chat (I know they're all jokes), I try to lead...and not to dictate.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Who Can Make Christmas Come Early?
Zarkon. That's who.
Of all the things I've been called over the years... Evil. Ebeneezer Scrooge. Mr. Grinch. The king of sinful sots. Let me tell you, they're all just lies and vicious rumors.
There's a soft spot, deep down inside that comes out this time of year... when the ice storms and snow chill Wither's cold-blooded heart to her happiest levels... and the icicle that pokes your eye out (or was that a B.B. fired from a Red Rider B.B. Gun?) may be sharper than Eviscerate's sarcasm... while the cold wind bites harder than his humor... and the grey skies make his outlook seem cheerful.
Well, the point is that even an evil dictator like me has a soft spot for the TBones and Yuracks and Tiny Tims of this world. And that soft spot has compelled me to bring Christmas early to the Voltron Force. Everyone has done a great job, well, except for all of you, you incompetent fools, in assisting me with the spread of evil and empire throughout the universe. If you'd ever stop plotting against me, we might achieve it one day.
And that soft spot... well, the Hunk of Christmas Future showed me poor Eviscerate and poor Lucin, the 'rogues of want and need' and how they froze because of their inadequate shoulder armor. So moved by the Hunk of Christmas Future and the musical stylings of Aquitane Marley (seriously, if I have to listen to "The Night they Drove Ol' Dixie Down" again...) that I brought Christmas early to our two neediest rogues. (If only that grinch Jeff Kaplan would bring PvP buffs...)
Which then gave that beggar druid I picked up at the almshouse to do our grunt work the best shoulder armor of all. Even I got some new bling for my neck and belt--but I was too busy handing out epics like Santa Claus handing out ho-ho-ho's at the Hilton residence for you all to have noticed me greedily making out like a bandit... like the evil genius I am.
Ahem. The reformed, warm-hearted evil genius that I am.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Of all the things I've been called over the years... Evil. Ebeneezer Scrooge. Mr. Grinch. The king of sinful sots. Let me tell you, they're all just lies and vicious rumors.
There's a soft spot, deep down inside that comes out this time of year... when the ice storms and snow chill Wither's cold-blooded heart to her happiest levels... and the icicle that pokes your eye out (or was that a B.B. fired from a Red Rider B.B. Gun?) may be sharper than Eviscerate's sarcasm... while the cold wind bites harder than his humor... and the grey skies make his outlook seem cheerful.
Well, the point is that even an evil dictator like me has a soft spot for the TBones and Yuracks and Tiny Tims of this world. And that soft spot has compelled me to bring Christmas early to the Voltron Force. Everyone has done a great job, well, except for all of you, you incompetent fools, in assisting me with the spread of evil and empire throughout the universe. If you'd ever stop plotting against me, we might achieve it one day.
And that soft spot... well, the Hunk of Christmas Future showed me poor Eviscerate and poor Lucin, the 'rogues of want and need' and how they froze because of their inadequate shoulder armor. So moved by the Hunk of Christmas Future and the musical stylings of Aquitane Marley (seriously, if I have to listen to "The Night they Drove Ol' Dixie Down" again...) that I brought Christmas early to our two neediest rogues. (If only that grinch Jeff Kaplan would bring PvP buffs...)
Which then gave that beggar druid I picked up at the almshouse to do our grunt work the best shoulder armor of all. Even I got some new bling for my neck and belt--but I was too busy handing out epics like Santa Claus handing out ho-ho-ho's at the Hilton residence for you all to have noticed me greedily making out like a bandit... like the evil genius I am.
Ahem. The reformed, warm-hearted evil genius that I am.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Greatest Night(s) Ever
So, I'm here at 3am writing because I love this game. The last two nights have been phenomenal... so a quick recap.
-Monday: Enduring 2 hours of frustrating wipes and near-misses to finally down Maiden after I make few important realizations: her consecrate doesn't really hurt and will break redemption on me... so Aquitane doesn't have to solo heal for 25 seconds or however long it is; if I create macros for dispell and then keymash 7-0, I can dispell holy fire from my assignments with ease.
After those realizations, we down her. Go figure--it was my fault.
-Tuesday... this was the best day to follow up the fun of Maiden.
1. Midday Halaa battle. Ally are dumb, don't take out the healer, I do about 50k healing in a short period of time, 40 halaa marks and 0 deaths later, I'm a happy camper and laughing at the dumb ally.
2. Dumb ally get dumber. I duel a 70 paladin at the Auchindon meeting stone. I don't have mana burn on any toolbar. (Whoops). I get the Pally under 10%, pally blows Lay on Hands. I was just like 'wow.' So now I have to kill the pally all over again while running out of mana.
Pally bubbles to heal. A third life bar. Guh.
At this point, I said 'fuck it' and used my Orgril'la healthstone and a cheap mana pot. I also feared after the bubble and used the time not to attack but to find mana burn and put it on my toolbar. It's a disc spell. Who knew?
Somewhere in there, I use shadowfiend to get mana back and get lucky and have inner focus crit for 5200.
I mana burn pally everytime she gets to around 10%. Pally only gets in a few heals, my dots are effective. Close to 8 minutes after the start of the duel, I wand the pally down to 8%, get shadow word death up at the right time and hit it for the win.
Yes, an epic, 8 minute duel... and the Pally blew both lay on hands and bubble... and still couldn't win. With me needing to find mana burn in my spellbook. Wow.
3. EZMode Shadow Labs clear--Druwyn is on the path to Kara! I do DPS. Group succeeds. World ends with holy priest being successful DPS. More at 11.
4. Heroic Slave Pens--Not satisfied with having done DPS in Shadow Labs, we get Aquitane to heal heroic Slave Pens. Aquitane succeeds in healing Hunk while I still find a way to do 16% DPS and only rarely go out of mana. Tigole destroys workstation after seeing that 4 good players can carry a holy priest smiting naga in a heroic.
Not only am I doing damage, but I'm talking baseball on vent for half of it. With Aquitane in the other room schooling me on baseball trivia. Guh.
We get to the end, Yurack replaces Aquitane, and I take over healing. If there's ever 2 things that could turn a group south to wipeland, those could be it.
I sleep through healing Hunk on Quagmirran and Yurack doesn't pull aggro! And then the lewtz. Oh, giggity giggity!
-Yurack takes the nether and makes Hunk his leet +36 (with gems) stam gun.
- Eviscerate gets Midnight Leggings (epicness. Hawtness).
- I get some +5hit/+6stam epic gem. (Now, for the mana-etched spaulders...)
Everyone gets badges of justice. A heroic is laid to waste with little to no difficulty, and we all go home happy.
And I go to Halaa and get 10 more marks for one death. L2AttackHealer Ally. Nubtards. And if you're a pally and duel me--I have 2 words: Bubble Hearth.
-Monday: Enduring 2 hours of frustrating wipes and near-misses to finally down Maiden after I make few important realizations: her consecrate doesn't really hurt and will break redemption on me... so Aquitane doesn't have to solo heal for 25 seconds or however long it is; if I create macros for dispell and then keymash 7-0, I can dispell holy fire from my assignments with ease.
After those realizations, we down her. Go figure--it was my fault.
-Tuesday... this was the best day to follow up the fun of Maiden.
1. Midday Halaa battle. Ally are dumb, don't take out the healer, I do about 50k healing in a short period of time, 40 halaa marks and 0 deaths later, I'm a happy camper and laughing at the dumb ally.
2. Dumb ally get dumber. I duel a 70 paladin at the Auchindon meeting stone. I don't have mana burn on any toolbar. (Whoops). I get the Pally under 10%, pally blows Lay on Hands. I was just like 'wow.' So now I have to kill the pally all over again while running out of mana.
Pally bubbles to heal. A third life bar. Guh.
At this point, I said 'fuck it' and used my Orgril'la healthstone and a cheap mana pot. I also feared after the bubble and used the time not to attack but to find mana burn and put it on my toolbar. It's a disc spell. Who knew?
Somewhere in there, I use shadowfiend to get mana back and get lucky and have inner focus crit for 5200.
I mana burn pally everytime she gets to around 10%. Pally only gets in a few heals, my dots are effective. Close to 8 minutes after the start of the duel, I wand the pally down to 8%, get shadow word death up at the right time and hit it for the win.
Yes, an epic, 8 minute duel... and the Pally blew both lay on hands and bubble... and still couldn't win. With me needing to find mana burn in my spellbook. Wow.
3. EZMode Shadow Labs clear--Druwyn is on the path to Kara! I do DPS. Group succeeds. World ends with holy priest being successful DPS. More at 11.
4. Heroic Slave Pens--Not satisfied with having done DPS in Shadow Labs, we get Aquitane to heal heroic Slave Pens. Aquitane succeeds in healing Hunk while I still find a way to do 16% DPS and only rarely go out of mana. Tigole destroys workstation after seeing that 4 good players can carry a holy priest smiting naga in a heroic.
Not only am I doing damage, but I'm talking baseball on vent for half of it. With Aquitane in the other room schooling me on baseball trivia. Guh.
We get to the end, Yurack replaces Aquitane, and I take over healing. If there's ever 2 things that could turn a group south to wipeland, those could be it.
I sleep through healing Hunk on Quagmirran and Yurack doesn't pull aggro! And then the lewtz. Oh, giggity giggity!
-Yurack takes the nether and makes Hunk his leet +36 (with gems) stam gun.
- Eviscerate gets Midnight Leggings (epicness. Hawtness).
- I get some +5hit/+6stam epic gem. (Now, for the mana-etched spaulders...)
Everyone gets badges of justice. A heroic is laid to waste with little to no difficulty, and we all go home happy.
And I go to Halaa and get 10 more marks for one death. L2AttackHealer Ally. Nubtards. And if you're a pally and duel me--I have 2 words: Bubble Hearth.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
To Merge or Not to Merge? (With DnA)
TLDR/Wall of Text Crits you for left eye version at the bottom.
Back when we first started this train in January, I had no idea where it was going. If anything "off the tracks" was the most popular answer--look who's wearing the engineer's hat.
The guild looks a bit different now than it did way back when. Some good friends--Igor, Allura(aka Gaminail from Kel'Thuzad), Taelara and Lance/Cunegonde have either left or can only be with us here and there. Somewhere in the back of my head, there was the idea all along that we'd need to expand a bit. Not having done this whole GM thing, I had no clue how to do that. Honestly, I still really don't--except that somehow I think we've gotten things right.
I don't know what stroke of good fortune caused Lucin, Sanura and Ertai to look at the gajillion servers and pick Terrokar, but they did... and they've been here almost since the start. Our resident Sith Lord, Dick Cheney... er Llibill pointed Narav in this direction. (PS, you must send him your 1 copper as tribute... do this, you'll get a mail back with 2 copper. Nevermind that mail costs 30 copper to send. Just do it.)
I could say the same thing about Thanatas, Deavious, Flayre, Tarok, and our newest addition, Eviscerate. And you are an addition--I have a guild house made of Legos that keeps getting bigger every time we add someone. TBone is that unfinished room in the basement, you know the one with the water heater and boxes from 4 moves ago that never have been opened...
There's a question that's coming up and that I'm going to need to answer soon... Do we stay the nice, sizeable Lego house that we are right now, or do we grow to be a mansion. Mansions look nice and give you a lot more space and opportunity--they're also a lot harder to maintain and to keep all of its guests happy.
(Get snowballs in-game and throw them at me if you hate this analogy.)
What I want to say is this. I like where we're at. We're progressing well, and we're progressing intelligently. There's a lot of cooperation going on. We're making friends in other guilds. There's a real positive vibe going.
The guild DnA has proposed that we merge our guilds together. I've been thinking about this for 3 weeks, maybe a month, and I'm no closer to having an opinion than I was at the outset. This is where I need your help. Do you want to do this? Or do you want to leave things as they are for the time being?
My thoughts: As it stands, both of our guilds are probably missing a few pieces for Kara--though I think we're more complete. Combined, we'd have enough.
That's a strong upside. The downside is that we'd have enough for one group, but not two. That leads to nightmares of scheduling, who goes, etc. I want everyone we have to be able to go if they can. I feel like if we'd merge, I'd be risking that.
Other things to consider--they'd like to form under a completely new guild tag. I'm not completely averse to it, but I like our identity, as the Voltron Force. My vote would be for "Form Blazing Sword" if we would rename... but I'd rather not. Thoughts? If you secretly hate the name/theme, then this might be a chance to make a new suggestion, get everyone in favor of it and savor your tag every day you play.
Also the question of guild structure/authority. We're a very contrarian guild in this sense. We really don't have any structure--everyone has /ginvite privileges. If you want your own rank, you get it. Just ask Secretary of Donuts Yurack or the Guild Hobag of the week (currently that Clothlion nub, I think).
I don't want to have officers, ever. I don't want to have structure and authority, ever. I want everyone to work together as equals, to have a voice as equal to everyone else. Most of all, I don't want you to think that this decision--merge or not--is one that you don't have a say in. You do. And I want to hear it.
I think that Prophetus and others are mostly good with this conception, but I'm not entirely for sure. I really don't want to give this up--I think it's a big part of what makes us who we are and why we have our good energy going.
I want to end the post with what I think the best reason to do this is. I really like the people from DnA that I've played with. They've been nice, and they're a lot of fun--witness the Halaa of a good time we had world PvPing tonight. DnA is on board with this idea, from what I gather. It is up to us.
I need your thoughts though--post comments, talk to me in game, etc. Prophetus keeps asking me for an answer--I figure I owe him one, one way or another sorta soon.
TLDR/Dodge Wall of Text version:
-I talk about how much I like all of you. Except for TBone, who is that unfinished storage room in the basement of this metaphorical home we've built. I think Yurack's corpse is in it, causing it to smell. Or is that Hunk? Don't get too close to water heater bud, one more of those and the pilot light could asplode.
-DnA wants to merge with us. Our home could be come a mansion. But do we really want a mansion?
The upsides:
- Seem to be nice and fun to play with
- A more solid Kara group and probably a little quicker.
- More people to instance/quest with.
- More resources, a JC at 350+, so San won't have to feel guilty about having to keep leveling to keep pace with JC. (We love you for doing it though!)
- Form Blazing Sword? (I still love it)
The possible drawbacks:
- Guild renamed? No more VF? Oh noes!
- People being left out of Kara/feeling left behind?
- Would they want officer structure/authority? I like everyone as equals.
- If so, could Yurack handle a demotion to Undersecretary of Donuts?
- Does it make sense at this point?
Are there alternatives--e.g. guild alliance with agreed loot rules/priorities, etc. for Kara?
I need your thoughts.
Back when we first started this train in January, I had no idea where it was going. If anything "off the tracks" was the most popular answer--look who's wearing the engineer's hat.
The guild looks a bit different now than it did way back when. Some good friends--Igor, Allura(aka Gaminail from Kel'Thuzad), Taelara and Lance/Cunegonde have either left or can only be with us here and there. Somewhere in the back of my head, there was the idea all along that we'd need to expand a bit. Not having done this whole GM thing, I had no clue how to do that. Honestly, I still really don't--except that somehow I think we've gotten things right.
I don't know what stroke of good fortune caused Lucin, Sanura and Ertai to look at the gajillion servers and pick Terrokar, but they did... and they've been here almost since the start. Our resident Sith Lord, Dick Cheney... er Llibill pointed Narav in this direction. (PS, you must send him your 1 copper as tribute... do this, you'll get a mail back with 2 copper. Nevermind that mail costs 30 copper to send. Just do it.)
I could say the same thing about Thanatas, Deavious, Flayre, Tarok, and our newest addition, Eviscerate. And you are an addition--I have a guild house made of Legos that keeps getting bigger every time we add someone. TBone is that unfinished room in the basement, you know the one with the water heater and boxes from 4 moves ago that never have been opened...
There's a question that's coming up and that I'm going to need to answer soon... Do we stay the nice, sizeable Lego house that we are right now, or do we grow to be a mansion. Mansions look nice and give you a lot more space and opportunity--they're also a lot harder to maintain and to keep all of its guests happy.
(Get snowballs in-game and throw them at me if you hate this analogy.)
What I want to say is this. I like where we're at. We're progressing well, and we're progressing intelligently. There's a lot of cooperation going on. We're making friends in other guilds. There's a real positive vibe going.
The guild DnA has proposed that we merge our guilds together. I've been thinking about this for 3 weeks, maybe a month, and I'm no closer to having an opinion than I was at the outset. This is where I need your help. Do you want to do this? Or do you want to leave things as they are for the time being?
My thoughts: As it stands, both of our guilds are probably missing a few pieces for Kara--though I think we're more complete. Combined, we'd have enough.
That's a strong upside. The downside is that we'd have enough for one group, but not two. That leads to nightmares of scheduling, who goes, etc. I want everyone we have to be able to go if they can. I feel like if we'd merge, I'd be risking that.
Other things to consider--they'd like to form under a completely new guild tag. I'm not completely averse to it, but I like our identity, as the Voltron Force. My vote would be for "Form Blazing Sword" if we would rename... but I'd rather not. Thoughts? If you secretly hate the name/theme, then this might be a chance to make a new suggestion, get everyone in favor of it and savor your tag every day you play.
Also the question of guild structure/authority. We're a very contrarian guild in this sense. We really don't have any structure--everyone has /ginvite privileges. If you want your own rank, you get it. Just ask Secretary of Donuts Yurack or the Guild Hobag of the week (currently that Clothlion nub, I think).
I don't want to have officers, ever. I don't want to have structure and authority, ever. I want everyone to work together as equals, to have a voice as equal to everyone else. Most of all, I don't want you to think that this decision--merge or not--is one that you don't have a say in. You do. And I want to hear it.
I think that Prophetus and others are mostly good with this conception, but I'm not entirely for sure. I really don't want to give this up--I think it's a big part of what makes us who we are and why we have our good energy going.
I want to end the post with what I think the best reason to do this is. I really like the people from DnA that I've played with. They've been nice, and they're a lot of fun--witness the Halaa of a good time we had world PvPing tonight. DnA is on board with this idea, from what I gather. It is up to us.
I need your thoughts though--post comments, talk to me in game, etc. Prophetus keeps asking me for an answer--I figure I owe him one, one way or another sorta soon.
TLDR/Dodge Wall of Text version:
-I talk about how much I like all of you. Except for TBone, who is that unfinished storage room in the basement of this metaphorical home we've built. I think Yurack's corpse is in it, causing it to smell. Or is that Hunk? Don't get too close to water heater bud, one more of those and the pilot light could asplode.
-DnA wants to merge with us. Our home could be come a mansion. But do we really want a mansion?
The upsides:
- Seem to be nice and fun to play with
- A more solid Kara group and probably a little quicker.
- More people to instance/quest with.
- More resources, a JC at 350+, so San won't have to feel guilty about having to keep leveling to keep pace with JC. (We love you for doing it though!)
- Form Blazing Sword? (I still love it)
The possible drawbacks:
- Guild renamed? No more VF? Oh noes!
- People being left out of Kara/feeling left behind?
- Would they want officer structure/authority? I like everyone as equals.
- If so, could Yurack handle a demotion to Undersecretary of Donuts?
- Does it make sense at this point?
Are there alternatives--e.g. guild alliance with agreed loot rules/priorities, etc. for Kara?
I need your thoughts.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
State of the Voltron Force
I think it's time--mostly because I haven't posted here in nearly a month--to do what every leader does from time to time, give a "State of the X" speech. And I'm pleased to announce that the State of the Voltron Force is. . . (wait for it. . . wait for it. . .) EVIL!
Yes, evil! I'm so proud of you guys. You've come so far from the days when you wouldn't gank Sanura's alt in the Gurubashi Arena, even though you were 20 levels higher--then corpse camp her all night--to the minions of evil that you are now. It just brings tears to my eyes. Cold, evil tears of evilness. And it's not just you guys, but you're hanging out with evil friends too! This DnA group--they're great sidekicks in evil. If you're skeptical of this, I have photographic evidence and a great story to tell.
Last night, this guy named "Pallydone"--how evil is that, he's a Paladin that lets all those goody-goody Dranei and Human Paladins know that they're done--and our very own master of demonology Thanatas (one day you might even create a robeast as cool as my Shadowfiend, but not as evil) send me tells saying that they need help killing this big scary dragon of goodness and ask me to come heal the fight. I said okay, and the next thing I know, I'm standing on the top of this narrow mountain out on some god forsaken rock off the astral coast of Shadowmoon Valley. We're talking like a tall, narrow number two pencil sticking out of the ground mountain. Down below there are all these level 72 elites that are pretending to be evil, but clearly aren't evil enough to scale mountains like us, but still, it's pretty evil and awesome out there.
But anyways, they all talk like they're going to kill some dragon, and I'm like "dragon, I don't see no stinken dragon." Then they tell me that I need some special goggles to see into some "ghost world." And now I'm getting skeptical. Ghost world eh? That sounds cool--but it's obviously too cool and too evil for Blizzard to have come up with. Like they ever would do something as cool as make 5 people stand on top of this tiny mountain and fight a ghost dragon. Please. If you've been to Onyxia's Lair and dealt with the creative genius that is the "Deep Breath," you know why I'm skeptical. Ghost Dragon, right...
So, being pretty skeptical, they tell me that they've engaged this ghost dragon. I look for it, but don't see it. Then again, it could be that I'm a healer and was only looking at health bars for the whole fight. But all I see is Pallydone's health bar dropping, along with the shaman in the party. I figured they just brought me out to heal a duel, but not wanting to be too evil-sided, I healed both of them until they stopped losing health. I figure one ran to the other side of the tiny mountain and canceled the duel.
Then they all got on their flying mounts and flew away, leaving me all alone on top of this 2x4 rock with no flying mount and a hearthstone with a 40 minute cooldown. And there are all these like super badass elite beasts that are too dumb to bow before me below. See for yourself:
They lead me on a snipe hunt. Those, evil, awesome people summon me out to a rock in the middle of nowhere, "fight" an invisible mob, then fly away. It was so evil, I wish I had thought of it myself.
After we had a good laugh, they let me in on killing some real and visible dragons, and then we freed that evil Far Seer Thrall in Old Hillsbrad, and it was fun.
So, as you can see, the state of the Voltron Force is evil. And all is well.
(PS - I think that the snipe hunt is going to be the new Rag cut scene.)
Yes, evil! I'm so proud of you guys. You've come so far from the days when you wouldn't gank Sanura's alt in the Gurubashi Arena, even though you were 20 levels higher--then corpse camp her all night--to the minions of evil that you are now. It just brings tears to my eyes. Cold, evil tears of evilness. And it's not just you guys, but you're hanging out with evil friends too! This DnA group--they're great sidekicks in evil. If you're skeptical of this, I have photographic evidence and a great story to tell.
Last night, this guy named "Pallydone"--how evil is that, he's a Paladin that lets all those goody-goody Dranei and Human Paladins know that they're done--and our very own master of demonology Thanatas (one day you might even create a robeast as cool as my Shadowfiend, but not as evil) send me tells saying that they need help killing this big scary dragon of goodness and ask me to come heal the fight. I said okay, and the next thing I know, I'm standing on the top of this narrow mountain out on some god forsaken rock off the astral coast of Shadowmoon Valley. We're talking like a tall, narrow number two pencil sticking out of the ground mountain. Down below there are all these level 72 elites that are pretending to be evil, but clearly aren't evil enough to scale mountains like us, but still, it's pretty evil and awesome out there.
But anyways, they all talk like they're going to kill some dragon, and I'm like "dragon, I don't see no stinken dragon." Then they tell me that I need some special goggles to see into some "ghost world." And now I'm getting skeptical. Ghost world eh? That sounds cool--but it's obviously too cool and too evil for Blizzard to have come up with. Like they ever would do something as cool as make 5 people stand on top of this tiny mountain and fight a ghost dragon. Please. If you've been to Onyxia's Lair and dealt with the creative genius that is the "Deep Breath," you know why I'm skeptical. Ghost Dragon, right...
So, being pretty skeptical, they tell me that they've engaged this ghost dragon. I look for it, but don't see it. Then again, it could be that I'm a healer and was only looking at health bars for the whole fight. But all I see is Pallydone's health bar dropping, along with the shaman in the party. I figured they just brought me out to heal a duel, but not wanting to be too evil-sided, I healed both of them until they stopped losing health. I figure one ran to the other side of the tiny mountain and canceled the duel.
Then they all got on their flying mounts and flew away, leaving me all alone on top of this 2x4 rock with no flying mount and a hearthstone with a 40 minute cooldown. And there are all these like super badass elite beasts that are too dumb to bow before me below. See for yourself:
They lead me on a snipe hunt. Those, evil, awesome people summon me out to a rock in the middle of nowhere, "fight" an invisible mob, then fly away. It was so evil, I wish I had thought of it myself.
After we had a good laugh, they let me in on killing some real and visible dragons, and then we freed that evil Far Seer Thrall in Old Hillsbrad, and it was fun.
So, as you can see, the state of the Voltron Force is evil. And all is well.
(PS - I think that the snipe hunt is going to be the new Rag cut scene.)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Served by Aquitane
Sometimes the greatest of us end up with egg on our face. It's one of those things that comes with being supremely awesome that really doesn't get talked about, mostly because it would discourage people from being awesome. Who wants to be awesome if it means getting served? Exactly. Well, here's the story.
Aquitane (David) is starting a play-by-email game of Diplomacy (the single greatest board game ever created). If you're not familiar with it, clicky. The reason it's so great--it involves virtually no luck--there are no dice. Everything that happens, happens because of the conscious decisions of others in how they choose to order their units, who they ally with and who they attack. Each player has equal opportunity to influence the other players in the "Diplomacy" phase. Nothing in the outcome of the game is random.
The only random element is what country you play. In a live game, we traditionally draw out of a coffee mug or something. In a play-by-email game, David decided it would be best to give me a random list of the 7 powers and then assign them based on the order in which people replied to his invitation to play. He told me the list. My coveted England was sixth.
So, gaming the system like awesome people do, I timed my e-mail to arrive sixth. It actually arrived sixth. So I get to sip on tea in London, right? Not so fast.
David then turned around and told another player that he was really going to assign powers in the reverse order of the list that he gave me. Instead of England, I play the dreaded Austria--no naval outlets and surrounded on every side. I get to fight over the Balkans. Yay?
Statistically, Austria is the most eliminated power in games. Awesome.
So, not only did I get fooled by David, but I got fooled into taking the statistically worst power in the game. I have precious little doubt that England and Austria were diametrically arranged as such (and thereby accuse David of violating the random choice of powers rule--he needed to draw his 7 out of a hat). But that's here nor there. I got served.
But because I'm awesome, I'm going to go win the game with Austria.
Aquitane (David) is starting a play-by-email game of Diplomacy (the single greatest board game ever created). If you're not familiar with it, clicky. The reason it's so great--it involves virtually no luck--there are no dice. Everything that happens, happens because of the conscious decisions of others in how they choose to order their units, who they ally with and who they attack. Each player has equal opportunity to influence the other players in the "Diplomacy" phase. Nothing in the outcome of the game is random.
The only random element is what country you play. In a live game, we traditionally draw out of a coffee mug or something. In a play-by-email game, David decided it would be best to give me a random list of the 7 powers and then assign them based on the order in which people replied to his invitation to play. He told me the list. My coveted England was sixth.
So, gaming the system like awesome people do, I timed my e-mail to arrive sixth. It actually arrived sixth. So I get to sip on tea in London, right? Not so fast.
David then turned around and told another player that he was really going to assign powers in the reverse order of the list that he gave me. Instead of England, I play the dreaded Austria--no naval outlets and surrounded on every side. I get to fight over the Balkans. Yay?
Statistically, Austria is the most eliminated power in games. Awesome.
So, not only did I get fooled by David, but I got fooled into taking the statistically worst power in the game. I have precious little doubt that England and Austria were diametrically arranged as such (and thereby accuse David of violating the random choice of powers rule--he needed to draw his 7 out of a hat). But that's here nor there. I got served.
But because I'm awesome, I'm going to go win the game with Austria.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Guild Charter Revised
Okay, I think that this is a lot better. I think that it captures who we are--a casual and fun guild--without quite an altogether casual tone. I hope that it finds the balance of being fun and respecting who we are and the time we play--which is what makes this work. As always, thoughts, comments? Leave them, say something in game.
-Z
The Guild Charter of the Voltron Force
Who Are We? Diverse and Fun!
If you’re reading this and aren’t a member, I want to thank you for taking the time to find out who we are and what our guild’s values are. If you’re reading this and are a member, I hope that each time you read this, that your experiences mirror the mission and values set forth here.
The Voltron Force—an appropriately dated reference for a lot of our guild members (twenty-somethings)—was created to provide a casual and fun environment for friends to play World of Warcraft together. So far, one initial group of friends has reached out to others who wanted to join up with us. We are now a nexus of multiple groups of friends, both in-game and real-life, spanning from the East Coast, to Chicago, the Mississippi Delta, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast. We are students, teachers, young professionals, sports fans, goofballs, and just plain fun people to talk to.
Our diversity as people and easygoing nature are one of our most important assets.
Who’s In Charge Here Anyways?
I am—Jason, aka Zarkon in game. However, I really let the inmates run the asylum. That is to say, the feedback and thoughts of everyone in the guild is important to me. There is no hierarchy in this guild. Instead, you get to name your own rank, if you want one. There are no officers. There are people who are worth listening to—I do every day and trust them completely. I won’t name them because I trust that their personalities, fairness, helpfulness and game play will command your attention. Another way to put this, we all listen to each other. Listen, and you will be heard.
Our Mission—Progression Through Selfless Teamwork, Commitment to Excellence
As students and working professionals, we recognize that different people can progress at different speeds in the game. We have kept ourselves within a few levels of each other, so there are always people to play with and instance with. Our guild is respectful of those that can play less than others and makes sure that they aren’t left behind. At the same time, we are all committed to getting to Kharazan one day soon (probably sometime in July or August) and progressing beyond it.
As friends and guildmates, we recognize the importance of going forward as a team and cohesive unit. As such, we have all contributed to keeping our tanks well-geared, our professions developed, and have selflessly moved gear around the guild. One of my favorite guild moments was when at level 42, four of us scrounged up 10 gold each to buy our tank an epic shield for 50 gold, to use at level 45. That is the selflessness and community that you can expect in this guild. Following is Leading by example.
On a personal note, as the Guild Master, I decided from day one to roll a priest and take responsibility as one of our main healers. I also am one of those ‘priests who heal’ in battlegrounds. This commitment to the whole and to success runs throughout the guild. Everyone has found a niche and role to play in the guild, as a class, in their professions, and the commitment has been outstanding. Everyone is a leader by example. Act and you will be heard.
Of course, PvE content is not our only focus. We have consistently instanced as a guild three nights a week (M/W/Sat). We have also PvP’d with each other in every bracket and hope to field a competitive arena team. If you want to focus on PvP, you will find several ready and willing teammates who know how to kill the enemy and keep you alive.
Should I Join? Perhaps.
If you’re looking for server firsts, lots of pups and fast progression, we aren’t going to be for you. If you’re looking for a good group of people who are fun, cooperate, help each other, listen and will progress at a speed friendly to a more casual player, then we are for you. If you have friends who want to join for our people and our values—great! We’ll find a place for everyone.
-Z
The Guild Charter of the Voltron Force
Who Are We? Diverse and Fun!
If you’re reading this and aren’t a member, I want to thank you for taking the time to find out who we are and what our guild’s values are. If you’re reading this and are a member, I hope that each time you read this, that your experiences mirror the mission and values set forth here.
The Voltron Force—an appropriately dated reference for a lot of our guild members (twenty-somethings)—was created to provide a casual and fun environment for friends to play World of Warcraft together. So far, one initial group of friends has reached out to others who wanted to join up with us. We are now a nexus of multiple groups of friends, both in-game and real-life, spanning from the East Coast, to Chicago, the Mississippi Delta, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast. We are students, teachers, young professionals, sports fans, goofballs, and just plain fun people to talk to.
Our diversity as people and easygoing nature are one of our most important assets.
Who’s In Charge Here Anyways?
I am—Jason, aka Zarkon in game. However, I really let the inmates run the asylum. That is to say, the feedback and thoughts of everyone in the guild is important to me. There is no hierarchy in this guild. Instead, you get to name your own rank, if you want one. There are no officers. There are people who are worth listening to—I do every day and trust them completely. I won’t name them because I trust that their personalities, fairness, helpfulness and game play will command your attention. Another way to put this, we all listen to each other. Listen, and you will be heard.
Our Mission—Progression Through Selfless Teamwork, Commitment to Excellence
As students and working professionals, we recognize that different people can progress at different speeds in the game. We have kept ourselves within a few levels of each other, so there are always people to play with and instance with. Our guild is respectful of those that can play less than others and makes sure that they aren’t left behind. At the same time, we are all committed to getting to Kharazan one day soon (probably sometime in July or August) and progressing beyond it.
As friends and guildmates, we recognize the importance of going forward as a team and cohesive unit. As such, we have all contributed to keeping our tanks well-geared, our professions developed, and have selflessly moved gear around the guild. One of my favorite guild moments was when at level 42, four of us scrounged up 10 gold each to buy our tank an epic shield for 50 gold, to use at level 45. That is the selflessness and community that you can expect in this guild. Following is Leading by example.
On a personal note, as the Guild Master, I decided from day one to roll a priest and take responsibility as one of our main healers. I also am one of those ‘priests who heal’ in battlegrounds. This commitment to the whole and to success runs throughout the guild. Everyone has found a niche and role to play in the guild, as a class, in their professions, and the commitment has been outstanding. Everyone is a leader by example. Act and you will be heard.
Of course, PvE content is not our only focus. We have consistently instanced as a guild three nights a week (M/W/Sat). We have also PvP’d with each other in every bracket and hope to field a competitive arena team. If you want to focus on PvP, you will find several ready and willing teammates who know how to kill the enemy and keep you alive.
Should I Join? Perhaps.
If you’re looking for server firsts, lots of pups and fast progression, we aren’t going to be for you. If you’re looking for a good group of people who are fun, cooperate, help each other, listen and will progress at a speed friendly to a more casual player, then we are for you. If you have friends who want to join for our people and our values—great! We’ll find a place for everyone.
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