We Thokked Thok (Raid update week of 5/25/2014)

Very Happy on this one,

      We started out on Tuesday fighting Wing 3.  With a couple fresh faces in tow we took down Malkorak, Treasures of Pandaria and Thok.  Yes, I can proudly say we took down Thok again and this time I don't believe we had some of the power hitters who were helping us out last time.  If we get him down a third time I will label him "farm status."

      Wednesday night we went up against our nemesis, Blackfuse.  This fight is still beating us around a bit and we are filling lots o' pain here.  The hardest part was that on our first pull we got the mother______ down to 12%.  This made my heart swell with joy and I was ready for us to two shot this guy and bring some pain down.  Instead we went back to people standing in the fire, dying early, and so on.  The biggest frustration here is that I know we can down this boss, we just can't defeat ourselves and right now paying attention is our biggest enemy.

       I am going to continue starting on Wing one, then Wing 3 every other week.  This will give us a chance to still get some gear for people missing a piece here and there, and to also push some harder  bosses the next week.  Wednesdays will continue to be wing 4.  I know there will be a lot of frustration on Wednesdays, but we need to keep pushing somewhere or people will get bored.  This is also my attempt to please people who want to push further, and those who want to farm the beginning/build some alts.

       I am really feeling like the time is marching during Warlords of Draenor.  To be honest, my hunter needs little or no upgrades from what we are working on, Siege has been out for six month now, and news is coming slowly but surely.  I am still betting on Beta coming out sometime in June.  Without the million or so players that were promised Beta access for MOP I have a feeling this Beta may be a lot shorter.  I think that we are looking at Blizzard trying to push this out before Blizzcon.  If they take as long as December I feel their numbers will suffer another half to a million subscribers, and not all will come back for WOD.

     I am curious to see how this expansion cycle works.  MOP has seen the biggest drop off in subscribers WoW has experienced so far.  There is always a drop off between expansions, and I'm curious to see how many players come back.  Honestly, if I was so invested in World of Warcraft I might start looking at Wildstar or another option at this point.  As it is, my family and friends are here in game and I'm not likely to go elsewhere and try to rebuild that.

     Starting next week when I queue us up for wing one I am not taking Lazyeye.  I may bring Lag in as Ret to play around and get some more gear for both dps and tanking.  Or if my lock or mage get enough love this weekend one of them might make and appearance.  Haven't decided yet.  Lazyeye will be back when we are pushing wing 3+ when we need the push his deeps brings.

See ya'll next week.
Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye.

I may be a little bit lost.

Houston, we have a problem.

      Tuesday we started wing one and started working through.  We got past Iron Juggs and called it a night.  It was a pretty smooth raid and we might have gotten further if we had started on time.  No complaints with our performance however, and I'm happy with how we are handling this first bit.

       Wednesday didn't happen.  We didn't have enough folks show up and I didn't want to pug in 3 dps spots to keep moving.  Instead we all jumped on some lower geared toons and ran some LFR together.  Doing LFR in a group makes it tolerable I have found and I think we still had some good time.  But this brings us to where we are.

      I think I want to start pushing progression again.  Since I went back to just going the first few bosses the last two or three weeks, less and less folks are showing up.  My fear of losing people to frustration has led us to a place where we are losing people anyway.  To be fair these folks that aren't showing might have dropped off anyway, but I don't think the lack of challenge has helped.

     This next week we are going to push wing 3 the first night, then wing 4 the second.  I want to see if that pulls some more interest in.  Yes we still have some obstacles to fight there, but I think we may do the first flex on Tuesday forward every other week, and then start wing 3 every other as well.  I'm going to find a way to get things to work.  I want to kill Gary Hellscream dang it!

     But I can't do it alone.  And I can't do it with less then 10 people showing up. If it keeps going this way and we have less and less people showing, I may have to call raiding until Warlords.  Don't make me do that, we have managed to keep a raid team going until the next expansion hit from Wrath on.  I would be very unhappy if this was the first one that defeated us.

Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye.

Busyness and Mother's day. (raid update for the last two weeks, 05/04/2014 and 05/11/2014)

That's right.  Mother's day killed me and now I'm playing catch up.  Well, work and Mother's Day.

     Last week I will keep simple, we started with wing one and started blasting through things.  Between the two nights we managed to get all they way to Treasures of Pandaria which isn't bad.  That pretty much means we cleared all the bossed up to the point we have been stuck at.  Past that point we have downed Thokk once, and Blackfuse once.  Both times with a little help.  I was very happy with the progress this week.

     Tuesday this week we got off to a good start and moved through the first four bosses of flex one.  We then moved to Galakras where several disconnects and other issues stopped us for the night.  I want to stress the reason we didn't get this boss down was because of the disconnects and other such issues.  We even tried another different trick that ended in flames, but I thought was pretty fun.  Next week It will go better.

     Wednesday didn't happen.  I had texts from a couple of people that said they weren't going to make it.  Then my daughter crashed her bike and had to be taken for stitches right before raid time.  This meant, I logged on, canceled raid, and did what I had to do.  It sucks, but sometimes life happens like that.  My daughter is fine though.  Seven stitches above the right knee and she was good to go.

     It is important to remember that sometimes life trumps game and raiding.  In a perfect world we could itemize every moment of our days into simple little compartments that never overlap.  However things do happen and there are times when you have to step out or miss raid.  Families have emergencies.  Power goes out.  Work calls you in.  So many different reasons that can come up because lets face it.  Life is busy and it's messy.  As time goes by there is just more busy and mess to fit into the same time frame you normally have.

     I am looking forward from where we are.  There are still people missing plenty of loot from the first bit of the raid.  There are still people who are gearing up and have swapped toons.  There is opportunity to work together better and to work on bettering ourselves as players.  In a few weeks we will be back to smacking Blackfuse and Thokk and the later bosses.  We will get back there in time.  We have a good bit of time before the next expansion comes out.  The fact that patch 5.8 is on the PTR and getting ready to load shows they are working on giving some bonuses before 6.0 and the walk up to Warlords happens.  At this point I want to guess we will see the new expansion in September or October if they get stuff rolling.  If they keep having set backs, (and I am assuming that with Zharym's recent tweet about things taking longer then intended.) Then it may take as long as December.  I think that is the last thing that Blizzard or the players want.

Next week will be better.  Soon, we will be moving forward again.

Lag/Lazyeye/Dizzty.

Cha, Cha ,Cha, Changes.... (raid update Week of 4/27/2014)

That's right.  I have a big stick and I ain't afraid to swing it.

       Tuesday we hit wing 3 and managed to one shot Malkorak.  We all cheered and were prepared for smooth sailing.  Then we hit Spoils of Pandaria.  All our work seemed to have evaporated on this one.  We did have a new tank for one half, but even after swapping back to a group build we have somewhat used before the fight just wouldn't go down.  We ended the night at one boss dead.

       Wednesday I was pumped, excited, and ready to down Blackfuse again and hit some Paragons in the face.  What happened instead was a massacre.  We had people who couldn't survive the first half of the fight.  We had random deaths from stupid things.  We had lost any and all co-ordination that we had achieved the week before when he went down.  It was like we had forgotten every thing we had achieved.  I was extremely pained by our performance.

        And that brings me to a hard decision.  We have long maintained that we are a casual raiding group, but I have been pushing us in the other direction.  I believe there is a balance between the two we can find that is a happy place.  A place where more casual raiders can be comfortable to show up.  But more advanced raiders can find some benefit over frustration at wiping on content they are used to clearing one harder modes.

        I have to made a decision here between being the person who starts telling individuals to not show up, or to find a way to keep them working on a path to advancement.  That is where I am.  My frustration level personally with the performance of some people has gotten to the point where I have considered walking away from raiding until next Xpack.  I am tired of talking to walls.  I just can't justify slamming our faces against the bosses anymore when a part of the raid isn't putting in the work.

        So here is the new plan.  We are going to start from wing one from now on.  I figure in a good night we will clear wing one and part of two.  Next night we start where we left off.  We will keep working forward in this manner for the time being.  We are not ready for wing four.  The fact we are burning through Brezzes etc.. shows we are not quite there.

        Think of this as a reset.  It's a good opportunity if you want to start gearing an alt, or swap toons you have been playing with.  If you having issues playing melee and surviving you can swap to a ranged or vice versa.  If you want to try healing/tanking we may be able to work you in a bit.  Let's make this an opportunity.

       Either way, we will see wing four when one of two things happen.  1.  If we are clearing content all the way to Blackfuse within the two nights.  2.   Our DPS is all averaging about 150k and we are simply destroying stuff.  I will tell you when we started flex, my hunter was just barely over the 100k mark on DPS.  I am now normally one of the top two on the DPS chart and it's not uncommon for me to be doing 230k DPS average.  This didn't happen because hunters got buffed, or because I got the best gear, but it helped.  The bigger part is that I worked on that character.  I tightened my rotations.  I constantly rechecked my reforges and enchants.  I have put the time and effort into Lazyeye that he needed to get to this point.  This reset should be the chance to get everyone to take a breath and make sure we are working in that direction.

         This is my last stop before I let things go until Warlords of Draenor.  If you are looking at the way raiding is going to change when 6.0 drops, you know that a bit is going to change with the way we raid.  Flex will become normal, and that means that the folks who have been stepping in and raiding with us on the side will either have to be come part of the raid team, or they will have to form their own.  That means one of two things.  Either we build to the point where we can keep up and give the more advanced raiders what they want, or the guild hosts two raid teams.  That is if they don't decide to drop out of the guild and start their own to make sure they can put all the resources to the team they need.  This is something to plan for now, not later when we are jumping right into the fray.

       I know not everyone will be happy with this decision.  We may even lose one or two people.  But I am trying to look out for the whole raid team.  I also want to find what we have lost recently pushing ourselves so hard.

       Our spirit and happiness we started out with.

Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye.

Critical Thinking. Yes, I Crit. (Raid update week of 4/20/2014)

I've got a lot on my mind this week.

      Tuesday was  a hard day for me.  We went in to Flex wing 3 and got kicked around my Malkorak.  A  lot.  I was already irritated that the raid seemed to have started a bit later then intended (about 20+ minutes by my count.) and was fighting a bad case of the grumps.  It didn't help that it felt like along with skill the raid had regressed to several people calling out ideas at once and folks were calling each other out on mistakes even though it wasn't our policy.  I was a horrible raid leader that night and just let things happen as I honestly was feeling to irritable to jump in and start what would have been a tirade of frustration and yelling.  By the end of the night we did manage to down Malkorak, and Spoils of Pandaria.  Thok ultimately killed us, but we will be back.

       Wednesday was much better.  We went straight to Blackfuse, and once again pull by pull things felt like they were getting better mechanic wise.  The whole mood of the raid seemed more positive then the night before and it showed.  We ended tweaking stategies and our roles a couple of times and on the last pull of the night we got Blackfuse down for the first time.  That means next week we should be fighting Paragons.  Yay progress.

        I have been doing a lot of thinking after Tuesdays raid this week.  The mood had gotten toxic enough that my wife turned off vent part way into the raid.  She eventually came back on but later told me she feels the team has lost the laid back feeling and happiness that we used to embrace.  After taking a 9 month break, and then stepping back in she hasn't been here for all the changes in the raid team and probably has one of the best views to see this.

       Honestly Wednesday morning I sat at work thinking through different ways to address the team and the problems that may have developed over this period of time.  I had speeches in my head that involved Hellfire.  Others that were kind and guiding.  I had gone over rants, rage quitting in the middle of pulls, and logging off in a foul and swearing manner for effect.  There were debates of starting progression over, rage quitting the team, or even rage quitting WoW for a while.  I was in a tumble of dark places and irritation.

       I was going over the issues we are facing.  People calling people out in front of the raid.  (There is a difference between chastising someone after a pull and saying "Hey Lag, Step out of the fire" in the middle of a fight.)  We have two many Chiefs not enough Indians complex where several voices are stepping in and trying to lead things.  We have people who get piss poor attitudes and get ornery with everyone else when things go wrong.  We have DPS who have hit that goal of 125k and instead of progressing further have regressed down to lower numbers.  There are these things and more going on right now.

       Then, as I was realizing all the issues, going over all these speeches and rants one thing occurred to me.  There is one consistent, one issue that needed fixing above all these things.

        And that was me.

        All these issues exist because I have allowed them.  I have been very non-aggressive lately in my approach of raid leading.  I have been very bare minimum on the strategies and watching videos before a pull/fight but I haven't been thinking them through.  I have let other step in, make calls etc.. without me O.K.ing that as their roll or assigning them to that job.  I have allowed all these problems to exist because I have allowed my heart and passion to wander away from the team.

        So now it's time for some critical thinking.

        I am going to start working hard to gain that passion back.  I want to be the one who is leading the team. I want to be aggressive when needed, and gently guide when it is not.  I want to walk into each fighting already thinking about who I want for what role, and where the best use of our assets are.  I want to be the one to make the calls, good and bad when we are fighting a boss.  I am going to make mistakes, but they will be honest mistakes.  I am going to try and be the person I was a year ago who could have told you the mechanics of the vast majority of classes and specs.    I want to get things to a point where they feel right and good.

        Here is my challenge to the team.  Do some critical thinking.  Where are you as far as the raid team goes?  Are you working on improving or are you just scraping the bare minimum.  Are you watching the boss fights before the raid, or are you just hoping that the strategy will make sense when someone explains it without any context to work from.  What are you doing to build the team.  Honestly, a team is better when most of it's people are taking ownership of that little part that is theirs.  Whether that is blowing up DPS charts, healing your butt off, or successfully tanking it doesn't matter.  1/10th to 1/25 of that raid is yours depending on how many folks show.  If you own and work on that part that is yours, we are all stronger for it.

       So get some critical thinking done, and lets blow up some Paragons next week.

Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye.

Identity Crisis. (Raid update week of 4/13/2014)

It was the best of raids, it was the worst of raids.

       Let's start with Tuesday... after the troubles with Blackfuse I decided to take us back and we ran Flex wing one, and killed the first couple bosses of wing two in SoO.  It gave us a chance to go back and kill some bosses and remember what we've done so far.  A couple people hopped in and were able to get some gear for an alt or two as well.

     Then came Wednesday.  It was back to Blackfuse.  This time however, we started seeing the strategy come together and things started moving into place.  Every pull we were feeling a little more control of the fight and different mechanics were clicking together.  We did not down Blackfuse by the end of the night, but we sure made some good progress to bank on.

      As we raid I am looking more and more towards the next Expansion.  I am pondering how, if anything, I am going to change things or run things differently in Warlords of Draenor.  I love the fact that all the raids are going to essentially be flexable, and that I will be able to build a team around the fact that some people may not be able to make every night.  I also am looking at the role I will be playing next expansion.

       My pally Lag is not likely to be the first toon I level for the first time in three expansions.  In Cataclysm and Mists Lag was my solid main for leveling and starting out.  He was my main through the last half of Wrath of the Lich King.  Up until the last half of this expansion, if I was raiding it was on Lag.  Lazyeye however has edged him out as I've gone to a DPS role in the raiding scheme of things.  Now, Lazyeye was my main back in the day, end of Burning Crusaide/beginning of Wrath, and if feels good for him to have some recognition.

       The question going into the new expansion is am I going to stick with Lazyeye?  I mean, I love my hunter.  I am having fun with him.  But since I've been running DPS I have other options I can look at.  I could level Shimmer as Elemental/heals so that if we need a healer I will be available.  I could go Pyreknight my mage who was my first main even before Lazyeye.  I could go DK, Warrior, Lock, Priest, or even go straight Ret on Lag himself.  I have many options before me, however, I do prefer ranged DPS over Melee the majority of the time when it comes to damage dealing.

      My gut feeling is that I'm going to stick with Lazyeye for a while, and then Level Lag second.  I still use him a lot as a stand in tank and would like to make sure I'm available for that as needed.  Dizzty or Shimmer will probably be next as I like to have a healing option if needed as well.  Yes this means I will be leveling 3 characters back to back.  But, hey that's me.

      How about you all.  Are you sticking to your mains for the next expansion? Are you going to swap to a different toon/role etc...? What do you plan on doing in Draenor?

Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye

Wiping is not always bad.

No really, it isn't.

      Tuesday night we went back to wing three.  Our groove wasn't quiet grooving and it took three tries to down Malkorak.  A few on Spoils of Pandaria, and we ended the night watching a giant T-Rex walk confidently all over our bodies.  Not the worst raid night we have had, but we definitely had some kinks that were kicking us.  Despite it, I decided to start wing four on Wednesday....

      And that Brings us to Wednesday.  Once again Blackfuse laughed merrily as he blew us to bits.  After a bit, I handed the raid to Irritated/Fastlane who has run through this fight before.  We managed to get the boss down and learn some mechanics better at his lead, but alas the boss still won out the night being victorious.  We are however, closer to talking him down.

       That brings us to my topic for the week.  We have wiped a lot to Blackfuse the last couple of weeks.  This has been made more frustrating by internet issues and other problems that have walked into the raid with us as well.  However, between both nights we have made progress.  Every time we learn something from a pull, we are that much closer to killing the boss.

       We don't even have it bad.  We are high progression raiders, and we especially aren't world first raiders.  Those guys log in hundreds of wipes on a single boss very often as they figure out mechanics etc...  They walk in with no guides, no map to follow written by folks that have been to the raid before.  They spend 16 hours a day at times just trying to grind bosses down for a few weeks until the titles are claimed.  We spend four hours a week.

       More over, we want bosses to wipe us.  If everything was a march through one shot we would all get bored and would stop raiding quickly.  There has to be something to keep fighting, but it also needs to feel attainable.  Things should not be an endless wipefest of destruction, but it also can't be so far our of our reach that we get frustrated and walk away.  Blackfuse seems to be about right for this.  We are making noticeable progress without gaining a quick victory.  I appreciate that about this fight.  I felt the same way about Galakras to be fair, and I still hate that fight.

      That's about it for this week.  But tell me, how do you feel about wiping?

Lag