Archive for the ‘guild leading stuffs’ Category
Damn you viruses for thwarting my dispelly goodness! Random side note – imagine if Blizzard invited viruses into their world. Hey, Arthas baby, instead of developing a plague that’s categorized as a disease (I know, because Professor Putricide routinely diseases my normally handsome boyfriend and turns him into a walking, nomming Abom…who is still kind of adorable in a really strange way), why don’t you do yourself a favor and invent a virus since the magic wielding classes haven’t figured out a way to get rid of those yet.
My raid was called last night due to sickness in multiple households. Primarily those of the main tanks and raid leaders. Really, raids are so much less fun when your warrior runs into Festergut’s room only to fall asleep at the keyboard from the codeine he’s taken to assuage his nausea and body aches. I volunteered to bring people into ToC25, or break into 10 mans. Unfortunately, we had no tanks. And extra dps. Not a good way to break up into 2 10 man teams. And no one really wanted to stick around for ToC 25 man. I swear our 2nd night of raiding is cursed. We’ll clear a good portion of a raid our first night, and be lucky if we ever get back later in the week…
And let’s be honest – I really don’t enjoy raiding very much when Osy isn’t there with me. I have no one to vent to. And in the midst of healing I usually fail to call out the important things. Like Vortices. Or Deep Breath. So, maybe I was being selfish switching to my Shaman and Pally to get their dailies done, then hopping on my baby hunter for the rest of the night. I’ve always advocated that officers of guilds are people too. We should be sure to have fun so we don’t feel burnt out on WoW when our guildies need us most.
But did I do the right thing? Should I have tried harder to get people into a raid, even if meant pugging a quarter of the spots? Should I have suggested going to an old world raid for laughs? Did I let down the people I’m supposed to be leading? I know most of them understand perfectly well when our tanks are sick, there’s not much I personally can do, except make tea and a pot of chicken soup. And I know most of them didn’t want to go into ICC to work on Festergut and Rotface with PuG tanks. That does seem a bit reckless.
I have an enormous guilt complex (I used to actually apologize for hugging people if I didn’t ask them first…). I’ve gotten better, but there’s still a nagging voice in the side of my head telling me I’m not doing enough for others. I mean, it took me almost a week to decide that, yes, it was ok to let my alt use the Battered Hilt she won rather than give it to a non-raiding guildie who mentioned he needed a better weapon. Do any other officers out there also feel a tinge of guilt after having to call a raid? Even when it’s out of your control? The only time I don’t feel bad is on patch day when most of our team is having issues staying online.
In Happier News
My hunter has grown 3 levels in about 2 and half hours of play time. Between heirloom items (she’s rocking the shoulder, bow, and chest piece) and the dungeon finder, I’ve been LOVING bringing her to instances. She’s quested some in the interim (gotta keep Sprinkles active so my cute turtle doesn’t get excessively chubby), but the one problem I’m seeing with all this dungeoning is that her professions have definitely started to lag behind. I don’t want to buy tons of herbs to feed her inscription, but at the same time, I haven’t had any drive to take her and make sure her herbalism has caught up. Right now, I’m eyeing the idea of playing her as I wish until 58, then not bringing her to Outlands until she has everything up to date.
Bailey, mah kitteh, and Sprinkles, mah turtle, are the same level now. So I don’t feel like I’m neglecting any of my pets. I feel like such an emotional pack-rat. I know of hunters who have swapped pets because of dps changes or because one looks cooler than the other. I can’t bring myself to do that yet. My pets are special to me. And I so wish I had more than 4 stable slots…
I think I’ve rambled enough for one day. I also think it’s time for me to go eat something for lunch =)
AND! IT’S (ALMOST) THE WEEKEND!!!! YAY!! Let teh fun begin!
When Guildies Say "Goodbye"
Posted on: December 7, 2009
Eight people are gone. A third of our raid team left, either because they felt like whatever drama was going down in the guild wasn’t going to be resolved, or because the raid team wasn’t handled to their liking.
I guess a little explanation is needed. When we came to Terenas, we decided to create a raid team based not on the best players, but on the players with the best attitude. We were ok with taking the little bit of extra time to nurture our “average” players into extraordinary players because in the end, their heart would be in it for the team’s success, not their personal success. Apparently, some people didn’t get the memo though. People were unhappy with us not requiring our raiders to run 10 mans outside of our normal raiding hours (heck, because of work schedules, not even all the officers could do that). And they were unhappy with raiders they felt were under-performing when there were substitutes who would totally be able to handle the content.
So they’re gone. They left, most without even saying so much as goodbye in guild chat. It’s heartbreaking to see people you considered friends leave; its even more heartbreaking to know they didn’t have faith in the raid team you strive so hard to create, or faith in you as an officer to address any complaints they may have had.
A few of them seem to regret their decision. One even suggested a co-op for 25 mans between the new guild and the remaining guild, though I’m leery about trying.
If you left BECAUSE YOU DISAGREED WITH HOW THE RAID TEAM SHOULD BE RUN, why are you suggesting to continue to do 25 mans together? Is it because now that you’re autonomous you’ll be on the same power level as your former guild leaders? If we’re at a fundamental disagreement about who should be included (heart vs. performance), how are we going to come to an agreement about who to bring? And why did you leave in the first place if we never jeopardized your 10 man team?
Right, now that you know where I’m coming from with all this, here are
Eda’s Suggestions for Leaving a Guild Peacefully
1. Say Goodbye. Maybe you think that it will cause more drama if you say something. Maybe you’re afraid it will hurt more if you do. You’re wrong on both counts. If you leave without saying goodbye, people will immediately start questioning why you left; and possibly come up with the idea that you don’t like them even enough to warrant a farewell. It helps with your guildies’ grieving process as well as your own.
2. Let the Officers Know Your Grievances. Take time to talk to one of your former guild’s officers, that way they can understand the reason you’ve decided to leave, and decide if it’s something needed to be fixed within the guild.
3. If You’re Having a Problem, Talk to Someone BEFORE You Leave. Contrary to popular belief, guild officers are not omnipotent. If something is happening in our offline hours, we probably won’t know about it unless you tell us. Or if something is happening DURING the hours we’re online that you have a problem with, you need to let us know. We can’t assume everyone is going to be bothered by the same thing. Most officers who want their guild to truly prosper will set aside a time to talk to you when they won’t be interrupted by other things (raids, family duties, etc.).
4. Give Us Time to Fix the Problems You’ve Presented. We try to handle everything fairly. Which may mean that if you came to us with a problem, we might not be equipped to handle it that very second. We might need to consult with other officers or figure out if your suggestion is the way we want to lead our guild. But just because we want 24 hours to deal with it doesn’t mean we don’t care about your complaint.
5. Give Your Former Guildies Time to Get Over It. Even in the most peaceful of exits, there might be some resentment, especially in guildies who don’t know the entire situation. They may be angry for a few days, and they may make remarks out of sadness or anger. Responding to angry forum posts in kind and hopping on vent to exonerate yourself may feel like the proper way to respond, but unless these conversations are civil, they’re only likely to drive a deeper wedge between you and your former guild. Indicate that you would love to continue to be friends and then let them come to you when they’re ready to renew the relationship, if you’re planning on having a relationship at all.
6. Wait. Don’t /gquit the moment something upsets you. Take time to cool down, and assess whether or not there is anything that can be salvaged or worth salvaging. If you find yourself in a guild that absolutely doesn’t match your personality and ideals, it’s ok to leave to move on to a guild that you feel more at home with. But, if you mostly like the guild with an exception or two, really think about whether or not those exceptions are enough to make you want to leave. It’s harder to re-enter a guild where you’ve hurt feelings by a messy exit than it is to remain in the guild 24 hours longer while really thinking over your decision.
And for all of you out there dealing with someone who recently gquit….
Eda’s Suggestions for Dealing with A Lost Guildie
1. It’s okay to be upset; it’s not okay to completely go ballistic. You’ve just lost a friend. You probably feel some sense of hurt and confusion, maybe some anger and maybe abandoned. No matter how you feel, screaming at someone is not likely to make you feel better. Our lives are not static, and maybe something major is happening in Mr. Ex-Guildie’s life that precipitated this smaller change. He also probably feels just as bad as (if not worse than) you do about his decision; there’s no need to make him feel worse.
2. Just because he’s not being mature doesn’t give you an excuse to be rude. We’ve all been there. Someone leaves in a huff, and we over-react. We call them every nasty name in the book, and we respond to every goading taunt with a like minded insult. Stop. What good is arguing with someone REALLY going to do for you? Do you think someone spamming insults in Trade Channel is really going to be taken seriously? Now is the time to cut your losses and move on, not to stoop down to his level and continue to dredge up past issues that aren’t affecting your playing right now (except maybe the extra time you spend trolling trade chat to hurl insults or defend your honor from a bitter ex-guildie; you’re paying $15 a month to have fun, not to be miserable).
3. If you value that person as a friend, keep in contact with them! So they don’t share your guild tag anymore. That doesn’t mean you can’t remain close to them. Maybe they wanted to progress further or have a guild with more people active the times they play. Whatever their reason, the only thing standing in the way of continuing your friendship are the two of you! (oh, and maybe a faction/realm change).
4. Don’t Spread Rumors. Yeah, you’re hurting right now. But making up stories about the person who just left won’t make you feel better. It might, in the beginning, help you feel better about being without them, but in the long run even you might forget what was the truth and what was a lie, making it harder to reconcile with someone you once had fun playing with.
5. Be Honest with Them. If you’re in pain, and are afraid to have a full conversation with them because you don’t know what will shoot out of your mouth, tell them so. Admit that maybe right now isn’t the best time to discuss their reasons for leaving, and admit that you’re still processing. There’s no shame in needing some time to digest everything.
6. Don’t loose faith in the rest of your guild. A person leaving may jade you, especially if you felt that person was a reliable guild mate. But just because one person decides to leave doesn’t mean the guild is falling down all around you.
For most of us, WoW is an incredibly social game. Part of our enjoyment comes from making new friends and overcoming challenges together as a team. Sometimes we need reminders that we’re playing with real people, not just computer generated teammates. Maybe it’s time to call me a free-love, world peace hoping hippy, but all I want is to remind others that you’re dealing with flesh and blood human beings with real feelings behind the monitors and keyboards. You won’t get a long with everyone and you won’t agree with every idea, but there’s no reason not to respect them. There’s no reason not to love them (even [especially?] when you don’t think they deserve love [and I want you answer honestly who doesn’t deserve love?] or they don’t love you back).
Woot!!!!!!! We killed Yoggie-Poo last night for the first time! We were getting to the brain with 40 seconds to spare each portal phase during phase 2, so the tentacles were dying quickly. And I taught someone how to use a mouseover macro, and whaddaya know, he actually dispelled people! So proud! There was joy, homemade apple pie, and maybe a squeak or two of delight captured on vent.
After rewarding ourselves with an Ony kill (by the way, lulz @ the dps/healers who weren’t be careful and died on Ony after we had a superb and fairly clean Yogg kill), we went to Trial of the Grand Crusader. We thought it wouldn’t be so bad since 20 of the 25 people there had gotten up to Anub’arak in the 10 man version. Maybe it was the saronite dust in our eyes. Maybe it was the surplus of giddy energy. No matter what we went into the scary portal (seriously, the skull on the heroic raid portals are TERRIFYING) and…
Wiped. A lot. Which, honestly is to be expected. People don’t just waltz in and get super uber loots. Well, maybe some do. Not us though. What REALLY surprised me though, more than anything else, was that our normally strong dps section couldn’t make a dent in Gormakk before either a. he killed a tank or b. the twin jormungars came out and spewed icky stuff on the raid. A few people were whispering various officers to tell us we just weren’t going to be able to do the encounter. And to you naysayers out there, this is what I have to say to YOU:
If you see that the boss isn’t dying, chances are the raid leaders notice it too. Saying “we just can’t do this” isn’t constructive. It doesn’t fix the problem of why can’t we do this. The raid leaders chose the raid that night more than just for shits and giggles. We knew it was going to be difficult, and we knew it wasn’t going to be something we one-shotted. It wouldn’t be “progression” if it were that easy. You might argue that we should be raiding regular Trial of the Crusader instead; what do we do when most of the raid team doesn’t actually need more than 1-2 upgrades from there anymore? The only way to conquer progression content is to actually see what we’re up against and to recognize our weaknesses. Are we loosing because people aren’t getting out of fires? Are snobolds interrupting the healers leading to our tanks dying? We’ve gotten to the point where we can’t say that we’re undergeared for our content. Now, it’s resting soley on playing skils and strategy development to get us through. And if we never try, and fail, we can’t learn from our mistakes. We’re doing it because you, the raiders, asked to be brought here. And we’re doing it because it’s an actual challenge, not something we can do blindfolded. It can be really frustrating to wipe so much, but take it as a learning experience, and give your fellow raiders the benefit of the doubt that they can pull through it together. Besides, it’s not like you have to pay for your own repairs =)
Light & Leafy 