guild

GM’s: Do You Give Second Chances?

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First, I hope you all enjoyed yesterdays semi-RP post. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at creative writing. Although after I finished writing that, I felt it was a bit unpolished like it had nails sticking out of a piece of wood work without any varnish or paint. I guess my writing’s a bit rusty. Will I write something like that again? You bet!

Several days ago, a former Guildie returned to the Guild. He was a central pillar to our healing corps and we felt his loss when he had left. At the time, he offered no explanation as to why he left or that he had even left at all. Now he has expressed genuine remorse and regret.

So the question I’d like to pose to you is would you allow a former Guildmate back into your Guild if he reapplies? Obviously the conditions will vary from case to case. But let’s assume it’s a scenario similar to this one in which a player ups and leaves without cause.

Arguments for

Everyone deserves a second chance, right? A friend of mine left this very same Guild and decided to reapply again knowing that the personnel now we have now are vastly different then the ones he had a year ago.

Everyone is familiar with the player and knows his habits and abilities. There’s no need to rebuild any chemistry. Old habits do die hard and chances are they’re as familiar with the fights that are being done now so it is not required to "train" them on how to do the same old fights.

Arguments against

If they did it once, they can do it again. Not long ago, a certain Warlock left our guild. This was the second time he did this. Once before when Carnage was in Black Wing Lair, this player went all in on a chest piece and promptly took off a few days later to a different guild on a different server. A few months later during the opening months of Burning Crusade, that player came back again expressing his desire to come back and raid again. When we killed Vashj, he took the chest piece again and took off to a different Guild on the same server.

It’s another get out of jail free card. A precedent like this means that a player can leave the Guild once after getting something they want, hop around onto another Guild, and come back knowing they’ll be accepted. It may not be with open arms, but they will still be accepted nonetheless.

What do you think?

It’s no secret I’m fairly conservative in my thinking. But what do you think? I’ve studied Criminology throughout my post secondary career and the one thing that has been taught to us is that there is no such thing as an ex ex-con. On the other hand, some people do turn a new leaf.

Ask Matticus: Should I Leave my Guild?

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Cathia recently responded to one of my latest posts in order to ask me an important question:

Hey matticus,im replying not because of iRaid but because i have an question,i role an holy priest myself and i have 1850 bonus healing but i still do kara and grulls only and i realy want more then that.Im waiting for my guild to go for 25 man raids but seems like is going to take more time before they start them.Should i leave them and adventure on an new guild or will that be incorect to them.Thx for your time

Well, you’ve just answered your own question. Your Guild will obviously want you to stay because your healing is an asset. But like you said, Cathia, you want to do more than what your Guild wants to do right now.

So what’s a guy to do right?

I was in your exact same situation almost a year ago. I was stuck in Karazhan and Gruul for about 3 months and I was getting tired and bored of raiding the same places. The first opportunity I had to depart the Guild, I took it and have never looked back since.

You can either stay in your Guild and raid unhappy or leave and try to find a new Guild that will satisfy your craving to raid. But do make your intentions known to your leaders, at least. Try to work out why you’re unhappy and what’s going through your mind.

I’ve got some bright readers here. Why don’t you folks chime in and let Cathia know what you think? Should this player leave for greener pastures?

More Upgrades and a Plea for Recruits

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Killed Kael again and picked up Lord Sanguinar’s Claim. I think it’s arguably the best healing neck right now in the game until 2 dot 4 hits. Right now, I’m in the midst of compiling a checklist of the best possible Priest gear I can acquire before the next patch arrives. Hopefully that’ll be up sometime over the weekend.

Also acquired Breeches of the Avatar last Sunday thereby completing my 4 piece set.

We Need Help

I mentioned earlier yesterday about the right way that players should leave Guilds. We’ve lost two players earlier in the week and I’ve been asked to help find some quality players to help fill that void.

The Short Stuff

Guild: Carnage
Server: Ner’Zuhl PvP (PST Server)
Faction: Alliance
Raid Times: Tu/Th 530 PM – 900 PM PST, Sun 330 PM – 900 PM PST (25 man raid times only. 10 man raid times may vary.)
Progression: 3/5 MH
Apply: On the Carnage website forums, or make a character on Ner’Zuhl and send tells to Blori, Maeve, or Mallet (that’s me!)

Attunements to MH and BT are preferred but not required. if you required gear from Karazhan, we’re not the Guild you’re looking for.

If you are not keyed, we will try to accommodate and key you!

Classes wanted

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Healers

We have immediate openings for either a Restoration Shaman, Restoration Druid or a Holy Priest. This is a guaranteed full time starting position. We’re currently running our raids with 6 healers. We killed Rage Winterchill and Anethron on Monday shorthanded with 23 players. While the Carnage healing corps might be able to sustain it for a while, the stress and pressure will cause us to eventually buckle. We need a 7th healer to help fill that void. Unfortunately, we’re full on Paladins.

DPS

We have immediate openings for an Enhancement Shaman. Our melee team consists of the most badass warriors and rogues in existence. Our main tank is able to dish out enough threat to convince Roger Clemens to admit to steroid use. Depending on your performance, this could potentially be a full time starting position.

The Long Stuff

About us

Carnage is one of the oldest Guilds on the oldest server in existence. It’s had a long and illustrious raiding history in which the Guild has been known to progress at a steady pace. The only thing casual about our guild is the raid times. Should you apply, you will find yourself in one of the most fun and professional raiding atmospheres. Every criticism will be backed up with solutions and suggestions. You will not be raiding with idiots who don’t know what they’re doing or players who take 30 minute AFK breaks holding up the raid or players who like to hit the damage meters. You will be playing with mature, intelligent, and supportive raiders. We will not nitpick your performance but if we there is a way to improve it, you will know. We will give you a job and if you can do it, great! If you can’t, we’ll try to help you until you do. We want to beat this game and we’d like your help doing it. Ever since the new year started, we’ve been progressing at 0.5 a boss a week. Archimonde is projected to go down by early April with Illidan weeks later.

We get the job done… eventually.

Poll Results: Over 50% Raid Between 5 – 15 Hours Weekly

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If you’re a GM looking to get started on raiding, then these numbers might be something that you will be interested in. Almost 25% don’t seem to be at the point where they are actively raiding. Almost 20% of those polled raid over 15 hours a week.

However, the largest raiding populations raid between 5 – 15 hours per week. These are pretty standard hours for most players who have to go to work or attend school. That’s the kind of length that they’re willing to commit to in terms of purely raiding. It does not include their time spent farming, running instances, or the like.

So be sure to keep this in mind when you are planning out your raiding schedule for the week. Is it representative of the entire WoW community? Unlikely. But it’s a good start.

If you’re a casual Guild that wants to try it out, start out small and aim for about 6ish hours. If they can handle it, then go ahead and ramp it up slightly.

Responding to the “I Play for Personal Advancement and Gear Argument”

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I was going through my dailies this morning (a real life quest involving using all my reagents to create coffee, finding clothes, and reading 20 blogs before going to school) and I came across a post on the Raider’s Progress that was seemingly not happy with Warcrafter.

The reason for their unhappiness?

It has nothing to do with the features of Warcrafter.
It has nothing to do with the information on Warcrafter
It has nothing to do with the analysis and conclusions that comes out of Warcrafter.

It has to do with the attitude and mentality that these kind of services support. That is, emphasizing the person over the player.

The Question

This quote effectively echoes the sentiment of 95% of players in the game [citation needed]:

    the only reason I play is because of gear and my personal advancement. I know it sounds selfish but thats how it is.

That quote was also taken from Raider’s Progress.

That’s fair enough. Everyone likes to feel a sense of achievement. The best way to express that achievement is via the gear on your character. It proves that you’ve done certain things in the game and killed certain bosses. Raiding Guilds are composed of players that want to progress in WoW (Casual and hardcore).

Players that are in the game only for themselves can be detrimental to the Guild they are in. But sometimes, being selfish can be a good thing. If the attitude can be harnessed properly, you can easily turn a player from a loot maniac to a player who will do whatever it takes to get the loot he wants.

So how do you change the mentality of that player who is so intrinsically selfish that he doesn’t seem to care about the Guild?

The Answer

You, as the GM, officer, monkey, murloc or whatever title you may have in the Guild have to make them understand 1 thing only.

Change this:

    the only reason I play is because of gear and my personal advancement. I know it sounds selfish but thats how it is.

to this:

    the only reason I play is because of gear and my personal advancement and the only way I can do that is ensure my guild is also progressing which requires gear.

It’s a real obvious statement, there is no question about it. Make that person understand that it takes 25 people to move forward.In order to that, it needs hard work and effort. I don’t know how many times I can emphasize that.

There are always going to be players that have a “me first” mentality in a Guild. Make them understand that in order for them to get the best pieces of gear in the game, everyone else in the Guild also has to get it at the same rate as that player or else that Guild will not move forward.

Dangle the loot that’s relevant to them in front of their faces. Even they can understand that if they want that loot, they have to kill a boss in order to even get a shot at it. The “me first” attitude is fine if they understand that it comes with patience and effort.

Star Players

In every professional sports teams, there are star players. There are certain names who night after night just seem to deliver their best performances.

The Patriots have Tom Brady, who was able to deliver and lead his team to a Super Bowl choke appearance.
The Penguins have Sidney Crosby, the best overall hockey player in the world.
The Yankees have (had?) A-Rod, who… was probably important for other reasons.

Challenge your Guildmates to be the best they can be. Recount and other DPS meters, used in the right way, can help foster a little of competition. Warcrafter and WWS can be used to show whose slacking and who isn’t.

In my opinion, it’s not about the methods. It’s about the results. Eventually, players will realize that PvP Gear isn’t going to cut it on certain encounters because sites like Warcrafter and WWS will prove that your PvE geared players will eventually top them in damage.

Just remember. If everyone brings their A game to the table, then those end game bosses won’t even stand a chance.