Matticus

Matticus is the founder of World of Matticus, a World of Warcraft blog.

Introducing the Drama Advisory System

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From time to time, I’ll come across various pieces of drama on the forums or in my forays across the blogosphere. Everyone loves a good dramatic thriller, especially if it doesn’t happen to them or to anyone they know. It’s just comedy after that. I like to share them every once in a while, but no tale of drama is the same. Some of them might be relevant to some people. Others might not really care about the nature of what’s being discussed. Being inspired by the good folks at Homeland Security, I’ve created my very own drama advisory system! Before every story, I’ll prefix it with a rating so you can determine if it really is worth your time to read.

Bloggers, feel free to use this for your own purposes (feel free to wipe the link from the bottom if you like as well).

I Hate Unannounced MIA’s

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As I write this, I’m currently “borrowing” the internet connection of a neighbor. I wanted to update you all on what has been an extremely eventful (albeit fairly painful) week.

  • I injured my lower back earlier this week which had stopped temporary production of posts.
  • I received a text message earlier yesterday that knocked out my ADSL modem (cellphone, bad phone filter, etc.). A tech is being dispatched at some point later this afternoon or early during the weekend. Depending on how quick they can diagnose and troubleshoot the problem, I may not be able to make the WoW Insider show.
  • Wynthea’s boss doubled her work-load then went out of town, so she’s been out-of-commission.

Just wanted to keep you apprised. I haven’t quite disappeared off the radar yet.

On another completely different note, if you possess a router that has wireless capabilities, please do the following:

  1. Disable the wireless aspect if you don’t have any wireless devices
  2. Change your password to something that isn’t: password, admin, nimda, apple, your birthday, or your street address backwards.

All the best!
– Matticus

LF Free Agent Resto Druid

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Carnage has a position open for a free agent Resto Druid. We’re literally on the cusp of killing Illidan. Hyjal is on farm status as well as the first 8 bosses in Black Temple.

In the brief

Server: Ner’Zuhl (West Coast, PvP, PST Server)
Guild Name: Carnage
Website: http://www.carnage-guild.org/pn/
Raiding Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM, Sunday: 3:30 PM – 9:00 PM [Note that times are subject to change] That’s under 13 hours of mandatory raiding a week

Faction: Alliance
Progress: 5/5 Mount Hyjal, 8/9 Black Temple

What our Guild can offer:
* A relaxed and fun raiding environment
* Adult, mature players to interact with
* A great sense of community and belonging
* Ventrilo

Ideal Candidates:
* Are mature, over 16 years
* Possess a working microphone and are not afraid to use it
* Possess a stable internet connection and a raid capable computer that will not explode
* Skilled Player: Skilled in the class that you play
* Excellent Attitude: No negativity. A positive personality that synchronizes with the rest of the guild is an asset
* Should be geared in T5 level/Badge epics

Note: If you need gear from Karazhan, this is not the Guild for you.

UI Requirements:
Omen
CTRA/ORA2 (For raid querying only, you can use whatever raiding interface you like)
Deadly Boss Mods/Bigwigs

We are looking for:

Healer: Part time position available for a Resto Druid.

Once again, contacts: Send in game messages to Mallet, Maeve, Rackham on Ner’Zuhl. Alternatively, you can create an account on the website, and post on the Recruiting Forums.

Renew Your Interest in WoW

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Image courtesy of hbrinkman 

There’s been some general apathy going around the WoW community. A lot of players have gotten bored of the game or aren’t quite sure what to do next. It’s as if they’ve reached a roadblock in their WoW career and there’s no where to go, nothing to do, nothing to talk about.

Does this sound familiar?

I could come up with a few ways to beat back this wave of depression, but I was beat to it by PTD a few weeks back (and his post was even highlighted on WoW Insider)! There are some fun activities that you can do but the secret is that you’re better off playing with friends. WoW is a social game, remember. I’m lucky that I’ve got a great group of friends both within the guild and outside of the guild that I can hang out and blow up BGs with.

If you’re absolutely bored with WoW, then you may as well call it right now and not waste any more money playing something you don’t really want to play. Wait for the expansion when everyone resets. Kick back and relax for the summer.

On the other hand, maybe you’re bored of the players in your Guild. I know in hockey, sometimes the stars get bored of playing in their current team for so long that their performance suffers. Sometimes they need a change of scenery. A trade can work out for both parties involved and help jumpstart their career again. Perhaps it’s time for your relationship with your Guild to end and for you to move onto another organization if you’re feeling the depression. It’s not what you do, it’s who you play with. I’ve seen several bloggers uproot themselves from their original servers and transfer elsewhere.

As the months have passed, I’ve noticed several former prominent WoW bloggers disappear off my radar with absolutely no notice at all whatsoever. I don’t know whats happened to them or they’re even still around, but I wanted to take a moment and recognize their contributitions to our awesome community while they were still here. Since they haven’t posted in such a long time, it’s safe to assume that the blogs have been all but abandoned.

Girl Meets WoW – Awesome blog from a progression oriented mage. Last posted April 29th.

The Light and the Dark – One of the early Priest blogs that fell victim to that of real life. Last posted March 4th.

Trollin’ –  – Another Shadow Priest blog that I’ve followed for the longest time. It had a lot of mathematics in it which made my head spin. I’ve seen Trollin’ around the area though. I’m not quite sure what kind of shenanigans he’s up to at at the moment. But he’s out there lurking!

Outsourcing Your Raid Instance: Pros and Cons

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High end raiders will reach a point where they can’t seem to make any further progress in the week. Maybe their raiding week ended early and there’s a day or two left over with a few bosses remaining. In some cases you might encounter a situation where a more progressed Guild comes up to you and requests to take your instance.

Why would a Guild do that?

Both parties could benefit out of a mutual arrangement. Here’s a few reasons:

The Asking Guild

  • No time needed to clear through trash
  • Specific bosses available

The Receiving Guild

  • Some form of compensation for their instance being taken
  • Experience gain for a few members if an agreement is reached where they can raid with the Asking Guild

Things to consider

There are a few ethical obligations to keep in mind. Usually an asking Guild will go to the guild leader and ask them for permission and try to reach a deal. If they’re not able to, they might turn to other members in the Guild in order to hijack their instance.

Pros
  • I O U: Good and honorable Guilds will never forget favors and I try to build as much good will as I can. Networking is an important skill to have.
  • Chance at free loot: Who wouldn’t want a free shot at gear without having to spend copious amounts of DKP?
  • Experience gain: You’re able to learn from other experienced players around you in regards to little tricks that can be done to make the encounter go by smoother.
Cons
  • Wasted Effort: Don’t like the idea of clearing all the way to the end boss for another Guild to swoop in and take the kill.
  • Contaminates the Economy: If an item drops and a member from the receiving Guild gets it, it could cause some animosity amongst players in the Guild because they didn’t have to spend DKP for it.
  • Costly: If the instance is given without a GM’s consent, the consequences could be very high leading to a GKick.

As a personal belief, if an opportunity arose where another Guild wanted to take our instance and kill Kael in Tempest Keep and we would no longer be raiding the rest of the week, I would have no qualms at all with giving them our instance. Coming from an Asian family, it’s been instilled that wasting anything is wrong whether it’s money, food, or Archimonde.

So what’s the going rate on Archimonde right now? Would your GM be willing to pay to take another Guild’s Archie kill? If you’re on the receiving end, what would your price or terms be in negotiating with another progressed Guild?