Oh Warlords, My Warlords

[GM Fright]

IMPORTANT THINGS ARE ABOUT TO BE SAID.

Listen up, chumps.

I've been asked a few questions lately. Maybe more than a few. They've been about AoR in the expansion. I think. I don't really listen very well to you bastards. These are the things I think they said:
"WUT WE DOIN IN WOD?!"
"I'M BOOOOORRRREEEDDD!! DO SOMETHING WITH ME!!"
"wut class u playin?! wut class am I playin?! is n.e.1 playin a class?! ARE THEY?!"
"WHERE. THE. FUCK. IS. VYVII?!?!"
"Haven't you done this bit before? You're very unoriginal."
"flex raiding will be very flexible, are we going to flexibly flex raid with a flexible flex raiding roster, or... wut?"
"I'M IN A CLASS CAGE OF EMOTION!!!!!!"

So here's my attempt to answer all of your fears.


The expansion will be here soon, in about two and a half months. Like I've said in other threads, we'll be getting active again when the 6.0 patch comes out, which should be in about a month and a half, if history is any indication. During that last month before release, we'll be making an effort to clear SoO on normal a few times if possible in order to get everyone a few heirloom weapons, because I've been led to believe that those weapons will drop automatically at that time.

We will also, during this month before the expansion, be sorting out Roles for raiding in WoD. That means if you're going to switch mains, that would be a good time to go ahead and start getting used to raiding with your new character. HOWEVER, if that character sucks and using them will prevent us from killing Garrosh and getting heirlooms, then you'll be asked to use your best character for the time being instead. That just makes sense, so suck it.

My goal is to start raiding two weeks after the expansion is released. If we can't have 10 people at lvl 100 in 2 weeks, then we're not trying hard enough. Our raiding schedule will stay the same (Thursday and Sunday), and so will our standards. THIS PART IS REALLY IMPORTANT: Don't believe that you can slack in your attendance or performance just because normal raiding is now flexible. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I really hope to have 15 raiding members around consistently, and that means YOU ARE REPLACEABLE! HOORAY! Even if I have to remove you in the middle of a raid, anyone that has been in this guild long enough knows that I do not and will not drag along dead weight when it is not necessary. Bold type over!

I don't know where Vyvii is. Maybe dead. People die sometimes. And yes, I have done this bit before ( http://artofruin.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5614483&gid=144239 ) and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it FOUR YEARS AGO. That's a long time ago, and I feel old.

Finally, there will be some changes with how we operate, mostly due to flexible raiding, and I will elaborate more on these in a future post!

Fin.

[Amminidab v2.0]

GM Fright wrote:

HOWEVER, if that character sucks and using them will prevent us from killing Garrosh and getting heirlooms, then you'll be asked to use your best character for the time being instead.

Looks like I'm not playing this expansion either.

[GM Fright]

Part 2 in a continuing series on Warlords of Draenor.

Questions I will attempt to answer in this episode:
"FIRREEL IS VYVII DED?!?!"
"WUT IS ITEMS KWISH? WHERE DO I GET IT?"
"I cnanot plya adn tyep at teh saem timme WUR IZ VETN?!?!"
"wil u b my new daddy?"
"WHOZ GUNNA TANK AND HEEL AND SHIT WHO??!?!WHO?!?!WHO?!?!?!?!"
"so, hey, bro, um, like, I'm like, planning on being here only on thursdays after a new moon when it rains. cool bro?"
"ImsoexcitedIcannotwaittoraidagainwhenwillweraidagainWhenWillWeRaidAgainWHENWILLWERAIDAGAINTELLMENOWNOWNOWNOW!!!"
"i like geer. i can haz sum?"
"SIX POINT FUCKING ZERO POINT FUCKING TWO?!?!"


So here we go, in no particular order.


The pre-expansion patch 6.0.2 comes out tomorrow, and that means we need to start easing back into the saddle. What exactly that will look like, I do not know yet. That depends on how many people we have around over the next month, and what everyone wants to do. The plan is to do a few more full SoO clears in order to get some more heirloom weapons for some folks. Hopefully that plan will work out in one form or another. Either way, I'd hope that everyone will be online fairly regularly over the next month, if for no other reason than to get used to all the changes in advance. Plus, there's pre-expansion lore solo and group content to be done.

Speaking of all the new changes, the items have been squished. It will be weird, but it will be an interesting weird, and that's the good kind of weird. The more shit you go kill/tank/heal over the next month, the less weird it will be when the expansion is out, so go out there and get unweirded. If you aren't up to date with all the changes coming your way, go get updated, also:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/15682579/the-iron-tide-602-patch-notes-10-13-2014 (<- 6.0.2 patch notes)
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/13423478 (<- beta realm patch notes as of sept 12)

The most important thing we need to do over the next month is decide on mains. We have specific roles that need to be filled, and filling those is the priority. In order to raid consistently and successfully, I'd like to carry at least 15 raiders permanently, which is of course more than we had throughout Pandacuntland. In each raid I'm looking to have 2 tanks, 3-4 healers, and 8-10 DPS. That might change as we get a bit more informed on the best group arrangements and such, but that will give us flexibility. Speaking of flexibility, the new gearing scheme will give us much more of it. So I want as many DPS as possible with off-spec tanking and healing specs ready, able, and willing to tank/heal when needed. If you want to tank or heal main-spec, now would be the time to say so, and there will be much rejoicing.

PLEASE RESPOND IN THIS THREAD WITH THE CHARACTER AND SPEC YOU WOULD PREFER TO PLAY, AND THOSE THAT YOU ARE ALSO WILLING TO PLAY.
If you aren't quite sure yet, list your options and maybe we can help you decide.

The sooner we get this all figured out, the better, so that we can begin settling into our new roles and be at the top of our game when we start to raid. We do have an official first raid day: Thursday, December 4th. That's 3 weeks after the expansion, since 2 weeks afterwards is Thanksgiving. That will give everyone plenty of time to get leveled and appropriately geared before we head into our first raid. I will start posting raid strategies and kill orders and the like in the first week or two after everything goes live.

I like gear too. Yes you can have some. We can all have some. We might possibly need to change the way we get some, because need rolls might not work so well on spec-flexible gear with 15 people in the raid. Attendance could also become much less reliable when people start thinking it isn't as necessary for them to show up, since the size of the raid is flexible. These are both issues that DKP addresses, and this is a discussion we're going to need to have over the next month. If you have any initial thoughts please voice them here.

I'm pretty sure Vyvii is dead. And she took the vent server six feet under with her. Unless she is miraculously risen or otherwise her ghost enters cyberspace and takes over ventrillo, then I will set up a new vent server for us before the expansion is released. If anyone has a Ouija board, please contact Vyvii.

Fin.

[Amminidab v2.0]

1) Druid: Restoration - Balance Offspec

2) Paladin: Holy - Protection Offspec

3) Death Knight: Whichever spec tanks - Whichever spec does dps Offspec

4) Shaman: Restoration - Enhancement Offspec

These are the characters I have at level 90 right now and willing to play. I would prefer to stay on my druid but can fill with any of the other three I listed.

[Siletense]

Preferred: Druid - Feral/Resto offspec (I am willing to make the offspec Guardian or Balance if needed)

If needed I am (reluctantly) willing to play:
Monk - Mistweaver/Windwalker offspec
Priest - Holy/Disc
Paladin - Holy/Prot

[Kimlin]

Rogue: Does it matter?

[Somosito]

I'll be playing a Barbarian.

I'll also be playing Dawngate.

trollface.jpg

[Amminidab v2.0]

Somosito wrote:

I'll be playing a Barbarian. I'll also be playing Dawngate. trollface.jpg

filthy casual

[Hallaer918]

Preferred will be Valamandil (Disc/shadow)

I'm willing to play anything else that is needed, though my preference would be to stay in a healing role.

[GM Fright]

Part 3 in a continuing series on Warlords of Draenor.

Questions that I will attempt to answer in this section:
"WHAT?!?!! AND HOW?!?!?! AND WHO?!?!?!?! AND WHEN?!?!?!?!"
"iz da expac here yet cuz i dunt wanna wait NEmore....."
"DID. YOU. SAY. DEE. KAY. PEE?!?!?@!?@!@?!?@?!!?"
"u havent even baught it yet, hav u?"
"To mythic or not to mythic?"
"Whether 'tis better to suffer the slings and arrows of OUTRAGEOUS Suramar recruiting, or, by taking up arms against a sea of troubles, end them? Who yet knows what dreams may come when alas we shuffle off this mortal coil of a realm?"
"i made poop."


Aaaaaaaannd..... begin:

I'm still trying to sort out who is going to be available consistently to raid with us, and I don't think we're going to really know until it's actually time to start raiding in December. Our first raid is set (a bit optimistically) for Thursday, December 4th. A little patience might be needed at first if we don't have the people or the roles to make a proper raid. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty to do in lieu of raiding while we get those spots filled, if that becomes necessary.

Speaking of recruiting and stuff, the idea was suggested that we consider moving to another realm in order to open up the possibility of having a larger pool to recruit from. I'm not against this, but it's certainly a decision that we'd need to discuss at length as a guild before doing it, as there's a bit of a monetary consequence involved. We could certainly find a server that's better suited to fit our needs than Suramar, but I'm also hopeful that the expansion will bring back a fair number of players that we could then recruit from. The beginning of an expansion is a level playing field, and recruitment is easier, so at the very least this will be a decision for after the first of the year, in order to give things time to play out here and see if it's something that is necessary.

Hopefully it won't be necessary. Hopefully we'll be able to get a solid 10-15 raiders around consistently. However, the question of Mythic raiding is out there as well, and it seems as a guild that our ambitions on that are decent, at least. Frankly, I'm not worried about it one way or the other, and here's why: The Art of Ruin raids with the sole intention of progressing. We do not need to make the decision right now whether or not we want to push for Mythics; we are going to push as fast as we reasonably can either way. We are also going to be recruiting as much as we can.
Once we are at the point of moving to Mythics, then we will be better equipped to make the necessary decisions concerning what is necessary to make that leap. This might be the time when we decide about moving servers.
It will be our eventual goal to get into Mythic raiding, simply because that's where the best guilds raid, and we should aim to be the best we can be within our more casual framework. The steps required to get there are simply a natural part of our raiding mindset: be the best we can, and recruit as many high-quality people as we can. How long it takes, and what additional things may be necessary are different questions.

No, I still haven't bought the expansion, but it's only because I'm lazy. And because stupid Toxx bought me the stupid Diablo 3 expansion and I've been playing that stupid game constantly this stupid week. I'm going to buy WoD this weekend.

Finally, yes I did say DKP in my last post. Like I mentioned there, I'm worried about not only consistent attendance with flex raiding, but also being fair with drops that can roll for any spec in a raid of 15+ people (hopefully). The only DKP system we've ever used in this guild was points awarded for attendance and silent bidding for drops, but I'm open to other suggestions if you think there are easier or better ways. For instance, maybe we can assign costs to each item type, and everyone with enough DKP can roll for that item, and winner buys it. That keeps rolls involved, but also provides incentive for attending, being on time, and staying the whole raid, in order to earn DKP.
We can talk more about this in the coming weeks. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, feel free to post them here.

Fin.

[Amminidab v2.0]

I'm completely open to a realm transfer to a more populated and skilled server. I don't care if we're alliance or horde, as long as I can raid with a good group of gents.

[GM Fright]

Edited the part about mythics a bit for clarity.

[Somosito]

I can't be a committed raider because of my rotating work schedule, but if you guys were to transfer to a more populated and better playerbase server, I'd play.

[Serjtonkian]

Sorry i havent been around lately life has been pretty hectic. Im currently in the middle of trying to buy my first home so i havent had a lot of downtime. Ill try and keep you all up to date as best i can as far as my intentions for WoW go. Ill probably be in game when WoD releases though.

[Kimlin]

I am on board for a server transfer.
Illidan is a fun server.

Also as far as loot I have used an EPGP system and that worked ok.
I think an addon does all the work for you so one person doesn't have to track all the points.