WTFlux

Ok, so I’ve talked about it enough.  Here is the new guild:

Grown Ups
US - Korgath
Alliance
http://grownups.wowguildbank.com

If you are stuck on a server you can’t seem to find a decent guild, or are just tired of your guild not being able to focus and organize - BUT don’t want to get tied down to some hard-core 6 night raiding guild, this might be a good option.  People will be held accountable, people will be teachable, people will be relaxed.  We’re going to do things a bit different, keep it small and efficient.

If you are the guy who is prepared for your raid, on time and waiting on all the other slackers - you read up on the encounters and /facepalm when your guild mates screw up on things they should be able to handle with a bit of prep time.  This might be the guild for you.  Please come check us out if any of this sounds good to you, register on the forums- email me, etc.  Please read the About page, the FAQ page and the application README.  I want to be upfront and honest with everyone involved so you know what you are getting into.

Thanks!

I’m having the itch again.  I want to create a guild.  Here is my plan:

Create a very small (15-30 active members) and lean guild with extremely clear rules and goals.  It will be a fun, casual guild that works together to progress through the 10 man dungeons of WoW.  This includes WOTLK.  This will not be a “invite anyone guild”.  We are seeking mature, flexible, casual raiding WoW players that want to have a good time in a low pressure environment but are prepared to read and study and encounter or two to knock out some new encounters.

People must have and agree to the following to be CONSIDERED:
Vent installed
Working microphone
Guild mandated addons
Register and participate in the forums
SWAPS DKP system
Above 18 years old (exceptions can be made)
We /gkick and ask questions later
Max level
*Must be flexible and willing to listen about and learn new strategies and methods for playing your class.

Other rules:
Don’t be a D-bag.  D-bags will be /gkicked.
Drama is not tolerated.  Those involved are /gkicked.
Respect your guildmates.  When you don’t you are /gkicked.
2 month inactivity = /gkick.
Be prepared.  This means knowing the strategies involved, having ALL the required raid mats- (1rst offense = probation, 2nd 1 week raid suspension, 3rd /gkick)
You are allowed 1 non-max level alt.
**Argue/dispute the raid leader over vent/raid chat and you will be kicked from the raid immediately.
Must be flexible and willing to listen about and learn new strategies and methods for playing your class.
Raids will last 2 hours and 30 minutes.  Absolutely no exceptions.
We will officially raid 2 times per week.  1 time during the week and 1 time on the weekend.  Anything else is informal.
***In your “initiate stage” you must join an arena team (and play) with an officer or class leader.

Thinking about these rules:
You are required to support your guild with 20g per week to the guild bank.
The guild bank will pay half of your epic flying mount cost after 6 months of membership with no strings.

*Mainly what I am getting at here is the ability for someone to explain why they do what they do- and if someone (class leader, officer, etc.) has tips or more ideas that could help you get better, you need to be able to listen and admit they might be right.  You could have an arguement against it, and that is ok- but you need to consider and even experiment with suggestions from your class leaders and officers.
**This has no place during a raid.  If you think the raid leader is doing something wrong - whisper an officer (or your class leader) and calmly explain the error.  There are many different ways to beat bosses, so everyone needs to be flexible.
***This isn’t to increase your epeen, it’s to show the class leaders and officers how well you really know your own class.  Are you putting down the right traps, debuffs?  Do you consectrate in PvP?  We shall see…

The thing about these rules is- they aren’t unreasonable.  To a rational, considerate adult- these should be implied.  This guild is going to be created to beat bosses.  Not spend 8 hours waiting around for the 25th guy to show up, then go into a raid and do things half-way.  We will have a ton of fun, but if you don’t have the ability to recognize when it is time to focus and put on your “A-game” then this isn’t the guild for you.  If you are so freaking 1337 that you know every encounter and anyone that dares do things different than you is completely stupid - this is not the guild for you.  If you think that because you have T6 and all kinds of phat l00tz people should recognize your skills - this is not the guild for you.

Back in the day, I knew of a guild that ran MC for the first time - with more than 1 member dinging 60 the day of the raid.  With members still in level 50’s greens, they proceeded to 1 shot through Ragnaros.  Pretty impressive back then.  They did it because they all knew their class.  People were communicating with their class leaders, the raid leader did an amazing job of explaining the encounters and people had their “A-game”.  It helped that they were all adults and had a great time.  There is something to that equation and I think we could give this a shot.

p.s. The officers and class leaders are held to a higher standard.  They need to be able to read and understand WWS reports, be able to confront players about their play- and to /gkick when needed.  Extremely high levels of communication skills are needed.  It’s a bit more work- you are the glue that holds the guild together.

I was mowing last night and I had this thought that my Wife is a raid leader (what? What do YOU think about when you are mowing grass?). Lemme back up - she thinks I am a total dork, rolling her eyes whenever I tell her about my l337 epix. She’s never played WoW and I don’t think she will (I’ve tried everything). She is a guild leader though. Her guild is composed of pre-madonna’s, sensitive crybabies, solid team members, and clueless leeches. Oh yeah, they’re also all under 6 years of age. She stays at home and watches kids as we try to make ends meet. Yeah the parallel is sort of a reach, but hear me out.

She organizes raids:
She’s the one to point out the schedule and give reminders. She makes sure each activity is attended.
She prepares for everything:
She’s got the mats for food ready to go, table out, food conjured. She has bandages when you need them, she’s there for a battle rez in a pinch.
She holds discipline:
She hands timeouts justly, and quickly. She kicks them out of the activities when needed.
She knows what they need:
She’s fun when she needs it. Shes serious when she has to be, kind- but stern.
She takes the guild to see new content regularly:
She knows when cabin fever sets in and the guild needs to progress
She teaches:
If they don’t know their role, she helps them learn
She knows how to group up her raid:
She keeps a good kid in each group, keeps the whiny ones separate and placated, and isolates the pre-madonnas.

Kind of startling how many similarities there are.  More best guild in the world posts coming soon.  Remember your guild leader and all the crap they have to deal with before you trash them.  That is all.

I need your helps.  I have 2 horde characters (Ichorgoo - fire mage, Wogger- 53 Rogue)who are on a miserable server - Firetree.  I would love to transfer to another server to join a guild that is:

Somewhat mature
Active
Casual
Fun
Reigns purple down on their members every day*

*not necessarily a deal breaker

OK.  Now, if you are horde, have a good guild, and need a Mage or Rogue- please comment, email, whatever.  I love the horde, but I’m not CONNECTED to any guild or even the server.  I feel like a stranger there. 

Thanks for your help!

Something really cool happened last weekend.  I was doing some quests when an officer notified me via whisper:

Hey - they are talking about you in officer chat 

Oh great, thanks for that.  Did I do something wrong?  Offend someone?  WHO DOES THAT?  Then after a bit of agonizing silence, the GM whispers me and says:

Congratulations, we are going to promote you to officer of Bobo’s House of Gank! 

WHOA.  That was unexpected, but really really cool.  It’s nice to have people you don’t know in real life acknowledge your helpfulness, and value to a group of people.

And I dinged 70 with Carterpants.  BUT I’M AN OFFICER IN MY GUILD NOW!  WOOHOO!

Earlier that night I got the quests for Shadow Labs and started looking for a group.  A few guildies wanted in, and all I needed was a healer.  One replied in LFG channel and off we went.  A real life buddy was tanking so I wanted to inspect the priest to see if he was up to the challenge.  One look at him and I started giggling like a girl. 

Nearly full T6 holy priest.

We get into the instance and the priest says- “Just have the tank AoE tank everything, don’t worry about traps or CC just FF”.  Basically the pally tank would aggro everything and we would just zerg them all.  The freaking priest healed BOTH the pets and the entire group without any problems, zero wipes.  My first time fighting Murmur with Carterpants and this dropped for me: Sonic Spear.

So to recap in 1 night I did the following:
Got promoted to Officer in my guild
Got Sonic Spear
Dinged 70
Got my Flying Mount

…then my guild needed my shadow priest for Kara and I got 6 badges.  What a night.

( photo credit: Thomas Hawk)