I figured I’d take the time here and now to clear the air.
When I was asked to take the position a year and some months ago, I felt I was the right person for the job and could do what they asked me to do. Some time later on, they were discussing the notion of reactivating Raid Rx (a column specifically about healing in raids). My workload had essentially doubled. Now the players that have read and followed along with my blog know that I am always going to be a team player. It doesn’t matter if it’s work related or gaming related. If I don’t think someone’s the right person for the job in a raid, I’ll ask them to step out for someone who I think can do better.
Hell, I voluntarily stepped out of healing a Tribute to Insanity run this week because I didn’t think I could pull it off without more time and practice.
With regards to Spiritual Guidance though, I was getting to the point where I was questioning my own work. In short, I didn’t think I could uphold the quality and content demands that the site – nay, the readers deserved. It’s difficult to come up with new and unique ideas on a weekly basis. Writing for WoW.com came with an added sense of pressure for me because I was always questioning my work and it’s relevance (you should see my recycle bin with all the crumpled papers and rejected ideas).
The problem is compounded further when the Priest writer isn’t as well versed in PvP or Shadow.
In short, I ran out of steam and I notified the editors before of this.
It’s time for someone else to come in and breathe new life to the column. I know the successor will do a better job then I. They’ll be joining a great crew of writers and personalities. I won’t be leaving as I’m still continuing Raid Rx along with other news stuff as it comes. This does help free up more time for me to work on other projects. Some players seem to forget that:
- I’m in University (and it’s finaaaaalllls)
- I run a guild
- I’m writing a book
- I write for 3 blogs
- I’m revamping Plusheal.com
Of course, Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age might play an impact in there somewhere as well.
By the way, if you’re one of the many people that are applying for the position, feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions. I’m more than willing to set aside some time to have a quick chat about what to expect and other details.
But uh, do me a favour? Could you pull a Kanye on the new guy when he gets in? *wink*
I always enjoyed your work Matt, you’re a great writer. I believe that whoever fills those huge shoes of yours at wow.com will do a great job.
And I wish you well for the future, Matt 🙂
.-= Fiorra´s last blog ..Priest Columnist….me? =-.
@Matt: right call at the right time! Far better to trim back your obligations BEFORE they burn you out or you aggravate everyone around you! Course, I know people like Brem would simply say that ‘of course you get timing things just perfectly right – you’re a priest!’. Either way, gj on knowing when to throttle bandwidth… looking forward to when you gun the engines again!
+ now you have time to level a tank…?! O.o hey! if i have to level a healer… then you should be leveling some tankage!
peace, – iron
.-= Iron´s last blog ..Looks like Blizzard is bringing back some significant challenges to raiding! =-.
Iron: I don’t know if you want to trust me tanking anything. I’m better off watching your back as opposed to being the point man anyway ^^.
Fiorra: Thanks!
I’m glad you’re sticking around Matticus, I really enjoy reading your prospective in Raid Rx. I decided to send in my application, but I’m a little worried as I would probably focus more on PvP than raiding… If a miracle happens and I get the job, I’ll be sure to Kanye myself just for you 😀
I understand that completely. I’m glad to see you’re not leaving WoW.com completely. While I am jealous of you and the amount of projects you have going for you and making a name for yourself and your writing, I’m not always sure how you manage to consistently keep the quality up. I’m glad you were able to see what is in everyone’s best interests before things started to go sour.
.-= Professor Beej´s last blog ..The Best Three Books in Existence =-.
ahh… you should have kept spiritual guidance and got rid of raid rx
we need some priestly representation!!
but i know u like the other column better
but come on here we are sitting on no class column
grrr
class before role!!!
@The Nasgoul: Hah, don’t worry. I’ll still be writing SG in the iterim until a successor is found.
hahahha. I have been having the same problem with Dragon Age it is a really fun game and with the pause it’s like I’m running my own PuG and don’t feel like playing wow until I get to a good stopping point.
hahaha I’m loving the Kanye bit, although I play mainly a holy Paladin, I’d be more then willing to step up to that task hahaha!
All the same I think you did/and still do a great job giving readers what they want and balancing your RL at the same time. /salute
Will you still be a guest on the wow.com podcast? Gonna be weird without Mike, Turp AND you not there lol
/cheers
.-= Tironus of Arathor´s last blog ..Paladin Healing: Icecrown Gunship Battle =-.