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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Playing Nice

Tuesday night guild night was even more drama filled than Sunday night. Five of our level 80s were present on time. So we signed up for a random heroic. Because that is what we do.

Takk was tanking, Militia was healing, and Sen, Ann, and I were dps'ing. We get Azjol-Nerub. It's not one of my favourites. And we don't get far.

We get down to where the first boss is with his 3 watchers. Takk is pulling the groups one at a time, pretty simple. We're not going for the achievement or anything here. And we die.

We do this several times. And I'm not sure what, exactly, is going wrong. Maybe Sen, Ann, and I just aren't cranking out enough damage. Maybe Militia is not cranking out enough heals. Maybe Takk's just taking too much of a beating. Who knows.

Takk, very discouraged after three or four attempts, suggests we pug someone else and continue. This is not the point of guild night. Guild night for learning to play together and, more specifically, learning to balance each others strengths and weaknesses.

Militia goes to check Takk's gear because he thinks theres a tanking belt that drops in Azjol-Nerub. Instead, he accidentally kicks Takk from the group. Takk logs off and we don't see him for the rest of the night.

So we pug. We finish Azjol-Nerub. Huzzah, huzzah, Emblems of Frost for everyone.

Sen decides he's not interested in doing more dungeons. Batra signs on. We make our way through Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron. Get some phat loot: Prelate's Snowshoes. All in all, a fairly lackluster night.


Monday, January 25, 2010

Week 2

Second official week of Guild Night and Social Night. Equally uninspiring.

We are having some attendance issues. Truthfully, attendance is not mandatory. But I thought that everyone was on board with creating an actual raid night. Thus far, attendance has been better on Tuesdays so maybe we'll have to return to that being our raid night. I guess this is just one of those things we'll have to tweak and retweak until we arrive at a solution that actually works for everyone.

There's also some drama happening over at Memento. Batra and Senach are really talented at getting on each others nerves. So much so that Batra /ignored Sen during a random heroic last night.

Allow me to tell the whole story. Sen, Ann, Batra, and I randomed our way into Heroic Trial of the Champion. We died a lot. The jousting part I expected to die in. Frankly, I'm terrible at it. But then its time to face Runok Wildmane, Zul'tore, and some other guy.

Lets be perfectly honest here. We're still noobs when it comes to ToC and ICC. Dungeon or Raid, it doesn't matter. But we know a few basics. We know to interrupt the healer. We know to keep the hunter occupied and away from the clothies. We know to stay out of the piles of green crap.

So, to start off I send my felguard after the hunter. I figure, the felguard can keep him occupied until Batra has enough aggro on Runok and whatshisface to spare a second to grab Zul'tore. I'm dps'ing my warlocky heart out on Runok. Several things happen at the same time. My felguard dies. I start to overtake Batra in threat. And an angry hunter starts firing his arrows of doom at me. We die.

At this point, our healer helpfully points out that Batra should be in frost presence. I also point out, as nicely as I can, that he also needs to remember to pick up the hunter. Because having my face peppered with arrows does nothing for our DPS.

Attempt number two goes marginally better. It drags on and on because Runok keeps healing himself. We die.

As we fly back on our spectral gryphons I have a brief discussion with Ann and Sen about interrupting the heals. This is also about the time when I take a few moments to apologize to our healer. I explain that we're all from the same guild and that we're trying to get our tank some experience. Said healer says 'No problem. I'm a GM, I handle this stuff all the time.'

Healer of Awesome, I salute you. This is my shoutout to Otic on Nazgrel. You were amazing. Thank you for your patience with our group.

Otic also points out that Batra is not defense capped. We are aware of this. Painfully and unfortunately aware of this. This time Batra drops the group to the shock and irritation of the rest of us. He cites Sen for always being on his case. I hope this was actually an instance of Sen giving constructive criticism. Sen is the GM, its his job, etc. etc. I don't know.

But, it's a random. We requeue, get another tank, and finish without much trouble. I did get zerged by one of the trash packs that comes with Paletres. That was totally my fault.

So, moral of the story: make sure your tank is defense capped. The random dungeon finder does not care about your stats when it picks a dungeon for you. While we're in the process of recruiting healers and a few more dps we will also be focusing on getting gear for our tanks.

Speaking of gear: I finally got Mark of the War Prisoner! Also picked up the T9 gloves, completing the T94pc bonus I was looking for. Huzzah, huzzah. Finally, picked up a Sword for my main hand. I'm out of greens in my gear, now working on getting rid of blues. A few small upgrades from the heroics. Nothing too exciting.

I can't speak too much about Batra and Takk not being def capped. I'm not hit capped yet. But I'm still working on it. Promise.


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Research

Social night last night. :) We did indeed farm heroics. We farmed enough of them that I was able to buy the T9 leggings I've had my eye on.

I've started to think that with being able to purchase T9 gear with almost-free emblems that the list from the Warlock's Den may be a smidge outdated. Fair enough, I went in search of a new source of information. I found it here. Even more on the plus side, Oath is very entertaining.

I have only one green left to replace in my gear. To that end I've been going to H Violet Hold every day. I still haven't seen that stupid trinket drop.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Limping

First week of having "official" guild nights... not so amazing. To be perfectly honest, social night (Tuesdays, 9-12) was sent up for a particular friend that lives out-of-state. She was a no-show Tuesday night, but I found out her computer is dead. She won't be back for 2-4 weeks, le sigh. But one of our Council decided not to show either. And told us Sunday that he didn't know there was a meeting, though it's been posted in the Guild Message for awhile now.

Sunday was pretty gimpy too. 3 people showed up around 8. Others trickled in over the next 2 hours. We ended up running some heroics, in which no gear upgrades dropped. Batra tanked for Ann, Takk, and I through heroic Occulus. We were using the random dungeon finder. Two healers bailed on us right in a row because they kept getting attacked by whelps. I think it was Takk's first lesson in off-tanking.

One of Ann's friends rejoined our server. He may take over the main tank position, which I believe relegates Batra to off-tanking. Takk's good, but he's stated that he's not wholly interested in tanking. In general, I'm cool with Militia. He has actual raid experience, which would be a huge boon for us. But... it shows. And by 'it shows' I mean 'he has a tendency to talk down to us because we have no idea what we're doing'. He probably doesn't even realize he does it. Sometimes (really, just sometimes) it rubs me the wrong way.

Regardless, we're still not anywhere near raiding yet. We have no healers. And, while we could probably pug Naxx (or something on a similar level), the goal is to actually build a group for the long haul.

On the bright side of things:
I did manage to upgrade my wand. I'm also close to buying another T9 piece, if I could only decide which one. I'm debating between eventually getting all of the T9 pieces and getting the T9 4pc bonus with the Hood of Fiery Aftermath. Fel Armor makes it complicated. The 30% to spellpower from spirit makes me want to stack spirit. But in the end, a lot of pieces have more spellpower than the extra I would get from having the piece with spirit on it. And my felguard dieing so often makes me want to stack stamina.

Regardless, I've been picking up some small upgrades from heroics. And stocking up on Emblems of Triumph for the T9 pieces. And hoarding Ebonweave and Spellweave for things to make later.

Still saving for fast flying. Almost to halfway. Farming Violet Hold for The Mark of the War Prisoner. Building my enchanting oh so slowly.

Also, Batra got our vent channel set up. I was without a microphone on Sunday, but it was really neat to hear everyone!

Finally, upgraded my interface. It is much awesome now, although I'm still getting used to it. It's considerably cleaner. The main problem I'm having with it is that, when using the random dungeon finder, I can't tell who is the tank and who is the healer. Not a problem when you're teamed up with a death knight and priest. Big problem when you're teamed up with two paladins.

Social Night tonight will probably be running more heroics.


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Learning

So, that quote "You learn something new everyday" is completely true. I've learned lots. I've learned I totally suck at being a Destruction warlock. I've learned that, even though Tailors make some of the most totally badass gear for casters, it takes weeeeeks to get the materials on your own. I've learned that grouping with an Arcane mage is really bad for your ego.

I've learned that, no matter how many times you hit the "Vote to Kick" button it still won't work within the first 15 minutes of a dungeon. (I already knew this, but it was never an issue until we grouped with a really terrible tank and healer on the same run.)

Also, my UI blows. Its way too crowded and complicated. I need to find some methods for simplifying things. I've seen some nice looking ones, but no explanations on how to achieve that. Some research at Curse has given me some nice leads, however.

Established what I hope is a decent compromise for guild night. Sundays, from 8-11, is going to be for running dungeons and eventually raiding. Tuesdays, from 10-12, is going to be just for socializing and hanging out. Possibly for helping the lower level members if they need us.

Got a very nice gear upgrade last night. Skipped the whole list business and went straight in to buying my T9 chest piece with my Emblems of Triumph. It was everything I dreamed it could be.

Next thing I'm hoping to upgrade is my wand.


Monday, January 11, 2010

Small Progress

It's still not official, but our guild night is going to be Tuesdays. Either from 9-12 or 10-1. It's not perfect for everyone, but I think its the best I can do. Although, Batra did point out that Sundays may be an option. I didn't want to do a weekend time, but I suppose its feasible.

Batra, one of our council members, has been looking into getting a vent server for us. That should be interesting! I'm hoping he can also put us in contact with some healers who would be interested in raiding with us.

The problem I foresee happening, is that most people won't want to start where we would like to start. Sen and I would like to start with some of the old BC raids, just to get a feel for raiding. Especially if we manage to collect a regular group. I think it would behoove us to do some easy-mode stuff so we can see how we'll work together as a team. Of course, I haven't posed this idea to the rest of the guild, so we'll see what happens.

Ran a decent number of heroics over the weekend. Nothing from my list dropped, but I did find a decent upgrade for one of my rings as well as a small upgrade for my dagger. Made it to Revered with the Wyrmrest Accord, which was my goal. Now I'll start with the Kirin Tor for awhile. Also started the Argent Tournament stuff. That will be fun. :)

Purchased Mara's dual spec. Now its time to save up for fast flying. I want to be able to use that mount from H CoS when I get it.

Classes officially resume today, so time may be limited from here on out. I'm hoping, though, that I'll have something new to report at least once a week.


Friday, January 8, 2010

Firsts

To start I want to say: I love being 80! I thought I would miss leveling. Sounds silly, I know, but I thought I would. But I sure don't so far.

Last night, Sen and I queued for a random heroic dungeon and got Culling of Stratholme. It was:
A - The first time I had done any heroic Wrath dungeon.
B - The first time I had done CoS.

It was also totally awesome. We finished quickly enough for the mount to drop (I didn't win. Maybe next time?), even after our first healer left because our rogue was skinning everything in sight.

I made a list of gear that I need to get in order to be raid-ready. (Yes, I'm that much of a nerd.) And by 'I made a list', I mean 'I relied heavily on the suggestions made by the Warlock's Den'. It's pretty basic at this point. First priority is to get to the hit cap. Then, stack as much spellpower as possible. Because, if you're going to raid Meta/Ruin and not take crap from your leader or companions, you better be able to deliver Demonic Pact in a big way.

Anyway, last night I got my first two pieces off the list. One of them I bought (30g is so freaking cheap at this point, I bought two of them), the other I made (Shadoweave Tailoring ftw). I still have a long way to go, of course, but its a start!

Finally, I think the guildies have settled on Tuesdays, 9-12. It's a decent compromise for everyone involved.


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

DING

Marariel hit level 80 last night!



There have been three of us racing to get to 80 before classes resume next week. With one other, we form the leading Council for Memento Mori. Batra hit 80 ages ago; but Ann and I dinged last night! It was very exciting. Our guild master, Sen, should hit 80 today. For the first time in a long time, all our council members will be on the same level. :)

So now its time to start looking at farming heroics and high level crafting items to start getting/making the gear we need to start raiding. For me, its time to start building up gold to purchase epic flying and Mara's dual-spec. And its way past time to level my enchanting profession.

No concrete word from the guildies as to which night of the week would be best for all of us to be online at the same time. We're currently looking at Tuesdays from 7pm to 10pm or Wednesdays from 9pm to 12pm. Tuesday is a problem for one of our council members and Wednesday is a problem for one of our other members. And one of our council members has yet to give his opinion on the matter. I'm enjoying myself, though, I like this organizing stuff!


Monday, January 4, 2010

Introduction by way of Review Meme

Greetings! I'm Mara, and this blog is going to be my tale from fresh 80 to (hopefully) successful raider. Because my blog is starting at the same time as 2010, I thought this Review Meme would be an appropriate introduction. Found at BlogAzeroth.

What did you do in the World of Warcraft in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Participated in a world event enough to get the achievement 'Noblegardner' and my first title: "Marariel the Noble". The most difficult thing about it was trying to put the bunny ears on all the different races. I spent a lot of times outside the crossroads, hoping the right races (and gender!) would come by, before I gave up and bought a port to Dalaran.

What was your favorite new place that you visited?
Storm Peaks. I greatly enjoyed flying around and discovering everything on the map. So many times I had to stop and take screenshots because things were so interesting. And shiny; especially at the tops of the temples.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A night that is specifically for my guild. Eventually this would be raid night; but in the meantime it would just be a night for my guildies and I to all be online hanging out, running dungeons, and helping our lower level members. We would also like to form an alliance with another guild looking for a mature, easy-going raid environment. At the present, Memento Mori is formed of people who know each other in some way. However, we are scattered all over the place. A night just for us would help us to stay connected during school times.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Progressing as far as I did, lol! I can be a bit a.d.d. when it comes to WoW. Some days I'm all about leveling my main, but others I just want to work on professions. Or I want to pull out another character and work on them for awhile. My biggest achievement was getting Mara to 78, while also leveling a paladin to 33 and a priest to 46, and while getting my DK's professions to 300+.

What was your biggest failure?
Not sticking to goals I had previously set for myself. We wanted to get our guild off the ground in the summer of 2009. This means: establishing our ranks and particular rules, getting our guild bank organized, recruiting, and building the guild website. We didn't get past establishing ranks and rules. Also, I wanted to hit 80!

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The quest chains in Northrend. They're all really interesting and they really match up with the story of Arthas. The details they put into the quests and showing the history of what happened in Northrend has been incredible. It's sparked some interesting questions and debate as well. My roommates and I have even sat around the table discussing the moral implications of the Culling of Stratholme.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
I wish I had created less deathknights. I've played through their starting area almost four complete times. Twice because friends of mine have refused to switch servers, so if I wanted to play with them I needed a character on their server. Callaan went really well: I leveled her out of Archerus and started her on mining. By the time she went to Outlands she already had enough money from selling ore and bars to buy her flying mount. That was all really awesome until my friend cancelled his account. Now it just looks like a huge waste of time. Le sigh.

What was your favorite WoW blog or podcast?
Kungaloosh by Abi. The Lrn2Meta guide has been absolutely instrumental in planning my spec for endgame and for learning about why particular talents are better than others. And gemming. That was an important lesson. :) Kungaloosh also introduced me to many many other blogs that have been helpful and entertaining.

Tell us a valuable WoW lesson you learned in 2009.
Patience is essential for everything you do. Sometimes your tank is not very good, or your healer is not paying attention, or the dps attracts about 30 more mobs to play with. Patience and communication goes a long way towards regrouping and completing the goal.