Today, Covenant HQ has been a hive of activity. Like the busy little bees we are, many discussions have been taking place (Oh Noes! Teh Hidden Agenda!!!1!!©) about what to do with our raid progress. It seems that we have stalled somewhat at the place where if we can just get passed, we can rapidly improve our progress. It seems that the dashboard of the Covenant Juggernaut has developed a bit of a rattle and whilst it's not a major problem, sometimes when you're behind the wheel, damn it can be annoying.
So to make sure that we don't get too bogged down in it, there will be some minor retuning to the way things work. We're going to bust our balls to get everything in place so that we can walk into Karazhan and the bosses will cough up their lewtz rather than making us fight for it. Details are still being hammered out and to be honest, there won't be much difference to the way we do things now but we hope that the little tweaks we implement will make us the lean, mean ganking machine once more.
Keep an eye on the forums, details will follow.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
The Day Today
Today I wished to go off one about anything that may have piqued my interest on the warcraft forums, something that sparked debate or gave some meaningful insight into the world in which we play. Just goes to show what you get for reading the official forums I guess. Aside from the usual complaints over how everyone has it so bad against other classes (ZOMG! Nref CloS, we Warlocks have to think!) there was absolutely nothing worth reading or discussing. "I know" I thought, "I'll check our 'Mercan friends. Surely they'll have something to say". They did...exactly the same shite as our European brethren.
Still as they say, no news is good news...unless you're a Warlock
Still as they say, no news is good news...unless you're a Warlock
Friday, March 23, 2007
I remember when all this was fields...
So it came to pass that after last night's enjoyable but also excruciatingly annoying raid where bad guys just refused to play fair, several of our lot managed to do a run through Shattered Halls to unwind. Now having never been there before, I was filled with a slight sense of "This is going to get expensive" because I remember the first time a group went into there, I was listening to the conversation over Vent and thinking "Ouch!". For several hours we sat in silence as they tried to figure out each encounter, wondering if they could do it this time. After they emerged sweaty and beaten, it was commented on that people would need much better gear to be able to do well there.
Fast forward 2 months and it's my turn. Having just handed over 19g in repairs after Karazhan, I didn't fancy having to do the same here, but on we went. It was with a sense of slight disappointment when we found that the place seemed somewhat friendlier. Groups that had previously given the first group the kind of beatdown reserved for red-headed stepchildren were falling over before our onslaught. In fact there was only one hairy moment and that was right at the end with the final boss and his whirlwindy, spinny assault of death. He fell meekly on the second attempt.
It set me to thinking about all the other places that as a guild we used to go to and thought they were hard. Encounters waged and lost because the target just seemed to hard at the time. Fast forward a short while, you maybe replace one or two items of gear, respec slightly to eke out a bit more healing or DPS and all of a sudden that same mob is a pussycat. Pre TBC it was the Baron Rivendare that caused problems, but get a few pieces of your dungeon set and a slightly better weapon perhaps and he goes down faster than a 2 dollar whore.
I guess that this really links back to my opening statement about Karazhan and the question should therefore be this: When the fuck will certain bosses become easy? I'm all for a long, hard fight with a mob always being right on the ragged edge. When you down them for that first time, there's the sense of elation (right up until the point you find the boss has dropped bloody dr00d gear again) and accomplishment. Now it's not so much accomplishment, more relief. I find that there are too many incalculable elements to these fights, it's not a case of tactics working or not working, you have to rely on random elements. Take Moroes for instance; his Garrote is nasty and spells certain doom if you can't get rid of it. Bubbles and Stoneskin work, but one of those relies on you choosing the correct race 70 levels ago. Noone is going to think "Oh yes the Moroes fight, I shall choose a Dwarf!". The other part is reliant on Paladin bubbles, which can only be used every few minutes, so basically you might get one or two off if you're lucky. Now if you are incredibly lucky, he'll go for these people first so by the time that the Garrote does start sticking, he'll be almost dead anyway. If he goes for myself though for instance, then that's 5 minutes of one of the healers having to keep an eye on me for the entire fight and pour much mana into keeping me alive. Of course there's always his 4 adds to consider and if one of those gets loose then it can cause havoc. Or if Moroes happens to stun the MT and decides to run off and gank one of the healers who also happen to be keeping one of the adds shackled...the list could go on.
It could just be that we aren't good enough for the encounter yet, but then what of the Maiden or Romeo and Juliet in the Opera event? Couple of her bolts at the same person within a second or two and our most promising attempt of the event falls down in tatters.
Scripted fights are supposed to be challenging, but with the right tactics should be beatable more times than not. These new fights are too unpredictable and down to random factors we can't control.
Fast forward 2 months and it's my turn. Having just handed over 19g in repairs after Karazhan, I didn't fancy having to do the same here, but on we went. It was with a sense of slight disappointment when we found that the place seemed somewhat friendlier. Groups that had previously given the first group the kind of beatdown reserved for red-headed stepchildren were falling over before our onslaught. In fact there was only one hairy moment and that was right at the end with the final boss and his whirlwindy, spinny assault of death. He fell meekly on the second attempt.
It set me to thinking about all the other places that as a guild we used to go to and thought they were hard. Encounters waged and lost because the target just seemed to hard at the time. Fast forward a short while, you maybe replace one or two items of gear, respec slightly to eke out a bit more healing or DPS and all of a sudden that same mob is a pussycat. Pre TBC it was the Baron Rivendare that caused problems, but get a few pieces of your dungeon set and a slightly better weapon perhaps and he goes down faster than a 2 dollar whore.
I guess that this really links back to my opening statement about Karazhan and the question should therefore be this: When the fuck will certain bosses become easy? I'm all for a long, hard fight with a mob always being right on the ragged edge. When you down them for that first time, there's the sense of elation (right up until the point you find the boss has dropped bloody dr00d gear again) and accomplishment. Now it's not so much accomplishment, more relief. I find that there are too many incalculable elements to these fights, it's not a case of tactics working or not working, you have to rely on random elements. Take Moroes for instance; his Garrote is nasty and spells certain doom if you can't get rid of it. Bubbles and Stoneskin work, but one of those relies on you choosing the correct race 70 levels ago. Noone is going to think "Oh yes the Moroes fight, I shall choose a Dwarf!". The other part is reliant on Paladin bubbles, which can only be used every few minutes, so basically you might get one or two off if you're lucky. Now if you are incredibly lucky, he'll go for these people first so by the time that the Garrote does start sticking, he'll be almost dead anyway. If he goes for myself though for instance, then that's 5 minutes of one of the healers having to keep an eye on me for the entire fight and pour much mana into keeping me alive. Of course there's always his 4 adds to consider and if one of those gets loose then it can cause havoc. Or if Moroes happens to stun the MT and decides to run off and gank one of the healers who also happen to be keeping one of the adds shackled...the list could go on.
It could just be that we aren't good enough for the encounter yet, but then what of the Maiden or Romeo and Juliet in the Opera event? Couple of her bolts at the same person within a second or two and our most promising attempt of the event falls down in tatters.
Scripted fights are supposed to be challenging, but with the right tactics should be beatable more times than not. These new fights are too unpredictable and down to random factors we can't control.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
U.I.? Oh, do I ever
I have a new, not-so-secret addiction to modifying my UI. I've been flicking, moving, prodding, downloading and installing addons for the last month and while I may feel satisfied with it for a day or two, I soon start tweaking it again.
There are so much information I need and so much information that's nice to have. Do I really need to see each individual raid member or can I get away with a raid wide overview? I know all my key-bindings by heart, so I don't really need to see my buttons, but I like the visual feedback. Can I do something pretty with that black bar that Aperture creates at the bottom of my screen? Should I make nicer unit frames? Oh, the possibilities are endless!
There are so much information I need and so much information that's nice to have. Do I really need to see each individual raid member or can I get away with a raid wide overview? I know all my key-bindings by heart, so I don't really need to see my buttons, but I like the visual feedback. Can I do something pretty with that black bar that Aperture creates at the bottom of my screen? Should I make nicer unit frames? Oh, the possibilities are endless!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
More fun than you can shake a blunt instrument at
There I was, with some Primal Fire and Earth burning large holes in my pockets and several interesting stack of metals. Curious as I was, I set about cobbling together something that I could use. Well bugger me sideways with a pitchfork if I didn't go and make this. Now it just so happened that I had kept a mace from an earlier quest for just such an eventuality so I decided to put it to good use. Coughing up 15 of my hard earned gold, I respecced for maces and I can honestly say I've not had so much fun with both hands still on the keyboard. With the Haste aspect proccing regularly and SnD up, I was hitting as fast as I did with the daggers for silly amounts of damage, regular stuns just made it all the more fun.
Once my mace skill was maxed, I did a run through Old Hillsbrad to help out some people to get to BM for attunement. Whilst laughing maniacally at the insane damage I was putting out, I happened to notice that several procs had triggered at once. Rage of the Unraveller, Unleashed Fury (yay for Shammies), SnD and Haste all combined at once (2200+AP and 1.45/1.08 attack speed, RAWR!). For 10 seconds of pure, unbridled killing machine, something that I had not experienced on my character before. Needless to say, I had to go lie down in a darkned corner for a few moments afterwards.
I discovered something about my character last night; for 60 levels I had remained the same spec (with only a few minor tweaks along the way) and after a couple of hours last night with this new spec I was left with a smile on my face. Dagger spec was fun and backstabbing for 2k+ always made me grin, but the pure savagery I unleashed last night with my new toys left me grinning from ear to ear.
So guys, if you are struggling to find a reason to play your favourite toon, try a respec; you never know it might just be the thing that you are looking for.
Once my mace skill was maxed, I did a run through Old Hillsbrad to help out some people to get to BM for attunement. Whilst laughing maniacally at the insane damage I was putting out, I happened to notice that several procs had triggered at once. Rage of the Unraveller, Unleashed Fury (yay for Shammies), SnD and Haste all combined at once (2200+AP and 1.45/1.08 attack speed, RAWR!). For 10 seconds of pure, unbridled killing machine, something that I had not experienced on my character before. Needless to say, I had to go lie down in a darkned corner for a few moments afterwards.
I discovered something about my character last night; for 60 levels I had remained the same spec (with only a few minor tweaks along the way) and after a couple of hours last night with this new spec I was left with a smile on my face. Dagger spec was fun and backstabbing for 2k+ always made me grin, but the pure savagery I unleashed last night with my new toys left me grinning from ear to ear.
So guys, if you are struggling to find a reason to play your favourite toon, try a respec; you never know it might just be the thing that you are looking for.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Normality resumes
So it was then that the festivities of this last weekend drew to a close. The fearless band of intrepid imbibers have drained the EU surplus lager lake dry and must now wait for it to refill before meeting once more. Even though I "see" these people day after day in game, there's nothing that can replace meeting in person, having more drink than your Doctor would reccommend as being healthy and talking until 6 in the morning about absolutely anything that pops into your head. Then when it was time to go our separate ways, I went home a happy person once more.
As fearful of the possibility that I may have had to lead a raid was, it could not diminish the feeling that I was in the right place. I will admit that for a while I have been evaluating whether this game was for me anymore, but after getting 10 like minded individuals to go through Karazhan with once more and taking the Maiden and the beast boss down with a minimum of effort, I was still happy (though this may have had more to do with Rugan turning up and taking over).
I'd like to end now as I can see that several of you have tears in your eyes (whether from being moved by this or trying to refrain from vomiting remains to be seen) by saying that it's not the game that is special, it's the people you play the game with that make it special (or in certain cases speshul).
OK, done with the mushy stuff now. To bring levels of testosterone back to the accepted standards, I'd like to share a picture with you of a fellow lady bloggers furry kebab...
I have nothing further to add...
As fearful of the possibility that I may have had to lead a raid was, it could not diminish the feeling that I was in the right place. I will admit that for a while I have been evaluating whether this game was for me anymore, but after getting 10 like minded individuals to go through Karazhan with once more and taking the Maiden and the beast boss down with a minimum of effort, I was still happy (though this may have had more to do with Rugan turning up and taking over).
I'd like to end now as I can see that several of you have tears in your eyes (whether from being moved by this or trying to refrain from vomiting remains to be seen) by saying that it's not the game that is special, it's the people you play the game with that make it special (or in certain cases speshul).
OK, done with the mushy stuff now. To bring levels of testosterone back to the accepted standards, I'd like to share a picture with you of a fellow lady bloggers furry kebab...
I have nothing further to add...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
What todo!
Well i guess it that time of the month again for me, to start thinking of what todo with my life. I get like this once or twice every month where i start to get my self down about my current status in life. A few month's ago i was starting to get things sorted, getting my confidence back (mainly due to the guild, mainly down to you guys :) but then something very big happend in my life, so then whack, im back down to stage one again. Doubting my self and what not.
But I like to think that im getting my self confidence back up again (this time i hope it lasts.) So the real question that im racking my head over is: What shall i do with my life, I know i want to go back to colledge but i had a bad experiance there (which was mainly my falt) so im a bit nervous about going. Or should i try a home study course and do it in my own time... this is what keeps me up a night
Well at least ATM i have my good friends around me to help and the guild when i want to get away from it all, once again thanks :)
*venting completed*
Rugan
But I like to think that im getting my self confidence back up again (this time i hope it lasts.) So the real question that im racking my head over is: What shall i do with my life, I know i want to go back to colledge but i had a bad experiance there (which was mainly my falt) so im a bit nervous about going. Or should i try a home study course and do it in my own time... this is what keeps me up a night
Well at least ATM i have my good friends around me to help and the guild when i want to get away from it all, once again thanks :)
*venting completed*
Rugan
Friday, March 16, 2007
Yay! for weekend shennanigans
As I sit here at my office desk, procrastinating away the final few hours before the door to my cage is unlocked and I can leap unbound into the streets once more; my thoughts turn briefly to this evening's activities. A gathering of sorts is taking place in the deepest, darkest recesses of Casa del Covenant. At this meeting, 5 officers will be planning things of utmost importance, the very balance of things will be at stake. For as long as 30 minutes Krinthor, Diani, Asahina, Rugan and myself will struggle with a question so fundamentally earth shattering that we shall not rest until it is resolved. In a bid to relieve some of that very burden we reluctantly carry, I will share this dilemma with you. I just pray that you are prepared for what I am about to share...
...What booze are we getting tonight and how many cases?
Yes my friends, there is a meeting of like-minded individuals tonight, all dedicated to the pursuit of a new liver.
This does of course mean that there will be a lack of managerial support tonight but Ienina, Renaud and all the others will be there to make sure things run smoothly. We may briefly pop on from time to time over the weekend, but we also may be lying in a self induced, alcoholic poisoning stupor. Just remember to play nice but if you can't do this, make sure that they can't find the body.
Other news:
Also: Please to sign up for raids and ensure that if you sign up, you're around at start time, even if you are on standby. You never know we may need you to step in anyway.
...What booze are we getting tonight and how many cases?
Yes my friends, there is a meeting of like-minded individuals tonight, all dedicated to the pursuit of a new liver.
This does of course mean that there will be a lack of managerial support tonight but Ienina, Renaud and all the others will be there to make sure things run smoothly. We may briefly pop on from time to time over the weekend, but we also may be lying in a self induced, alcoholic poisoning stupor. Just remember to play nice but if you can't do this, make sure that they can't find the body.
Other news:
Also: Please to sign up for raids and ensure that if you sign up, you're around at start time, even if you are on standby. You never know we may need you to step in anyway.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Sodding systems
At work, 2 men down, so just me and the boss, hes fucking off doing other things all day so just me doing the job of 4 men, and its getting worse. A shitstorms brewing cos our main system has so many bugs and flaws that it actually doesnt work, and the guy that runs it never told us how much compensating for it he did. *EDIT* Oh, and all the procedures he wrote to do it are all bollocks and don't work
So here I am, running the show, with a system that doesnt work, it was fun in a omfg I'm so fucking this up kinda way the first few days, but now I'm having to deal with the shitstorm that is Sovman (the systems name) coming and biting me in the ass, and I have never felt so drained
Still, looking forward to the weekend, its Miths Bday party, and he and I shall be seeing if we can beat our 3 beer crates between us record
And for those that have been checking the forums and following the recruitment thread and its drama, I have only one thing to say to Blip (the guy who has been posting on his alt called idontcare), Are you still that bitter that someone else was promoted to officer instead of you? Or are you perhaps unhappy I called you on you "I left for many reasons, I'm not saying what they are, but you should all leave too and come join re-birth cos they are big reasons" and kept calling you on it till you ended up stooping to calling me names in an attempt to win.
Anyway, grats to everyone in covenant for making such good progress in karazhan last week, by the time I get back froms miths bday, I expect to see nightbanes head in the post :P. But stuffed though, I dont want it leaking all over :S
So here I am, running the show, with a system that doesnt work, it was fun in a omfg I'm so fucking this up kinda way the first few days, but now I'm having to deal with the shitstorm that is Sovman (the systems name) coming and biting me in the ass, and I have never felt so drained
Still, looking forward to the weekend, its Miths Bday party, and he and I shall be seeing if we can beat our 3 beer crates between us record
And for those that have been checking the forums and following the recruitment thread and its drama, I have only one thing to say to Blip (the guy who has been posting on his alt called idontcare), Are you still that bitter that someone else was promoted to officer instead of you? Or are you perhaps unhappy I called you on you "I left for many reasons, I'm not saying what they are, but you should all leave too and come join re-birth cos they are big reasons" and kept calling you on it till you ended up stooping to calling me names in an attempt to win.
Anyway, grats to everyone in covenant for making such good progress in karazhan last week, by the time I get back froms miths bday, I expect to see nightbanes head in the post :P. But stuffed though, I dont want it leaking all over :S
Anger...rising!
Current mood: Unhappy camper
I sit here behind this PC to play a game that I've enjoyed for over a year now. Why do some people have to try and ruin it for me? Sure people fall out from time to time, but aren't we adult enough to put it behind us and move on? It seems that all certain people want to do is make things as hard as they possibly can for you to carry on enjoying things. What do they get out of it I wonder? Some insignificant satisfaction that they've caused upset in a group of friends by blatantly betraying our trust and then lying to others about things that most certainly didn't happen? Well if that is the case, then I hope that they are happy in their narrow minded self.
If those who are responsible ever find themselves on these pages, I have but one thing to say; fuck off and die in a fire...
I sit here behind this PC to play a game that I've enjoyed for over a year now. Why do some people have to try and ruin it for me? Sure people fall out from time to time, but aren't we adult enough to put it behind us and move on? It seems that all certain people want to do is make things as hard as they possibly can for you to carry on enjoying things. What do they get out of it I wonder? Some insignificant satisfaction that they've caused upset in a group of friends by blatantly betraying our trust and then lying to others about things that most certainly didn't happen? Well if that is the case, then I hope that they are happy in their narrow minded self.
If those who are responsible ever find themselves on these pages, I have but one thing to say; fuck off and die in a fire...
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sometimes I wonder.
Sometimes I find myself wondering why it is I play World of Warcraft, or the role of guildmaster in Covenant. I have been in Covenant since it came into being a year and a half or so ago, and was an officer to begin with and now GM. I put a lot of my spare time and effort into running the guild, organising raids, helping with groups, running instances, or just talking to my friends and having a good time. I speak of course not just of myself, but of all of our officers, who all contribute lots of their free time to the guild and to the game as a whole.
Most of the time I love WoW, I have great fun chatting with people, meeting new friends, and playing the game, only recently I rediscovered the joys of healing with my priest, who has been shadow specc for the last 6 months, and have had endless fun, and wipes (apologies to everyone involved) relearning how to heal.
Then every once in a while someone will come along who makes me woner if it is all worth while, someone who no matter what you say or do, or how hard you try to help them, or make them feel at home, will find away to accuse people of something, or to see anger or hatred where none exists, or who will go out of their way to make those around them feel bad because they get some small piece of satisfaction from doing so. thankfully these occasions are rare, but it always makes me think "what's the point?" why should I bother trying to run raids and instances, talk to people who come to me for help, or make the effort to make as many people as I can happy and have fun in the game, when there is always someone willing to come along and do their best to undo it all?
Let me give you an example:
Many people have asked me recently why Lovestar left the guild, and in each case I have tried to explain as best I can why I feel it happened, as I was not online when it actually occurred. So here's the way I saw it:
Lovestar joined us a couple of weeks back and was immediately accepted into the guild, she talked to us on vent laughed and joked with us in guild chat, and generally made herself at home, I doubt anyone would have said a bad word about her. Whilst on Ventrilo one day talking, an ex-guild member logged on to talk to me, as I hadn't spoken to him in a while. He made a rude comment about her, having only heard her voice and she was very upset about it. I banned that ex-guild member from vent shortly afterwards and removed his forum priviledges. Actions I felt would ensure that the situation could not arise again. I later learned Lovestar was still unhappy about what happened, so I made the effort to talk to her again at some length, explaining what I had done and why, that I and the guild did not find those comments to be fair or appropriate and that it shouldn't happen again. I am assured everything is ok now, and that the problem is over. Fine...works for me.
A few days later, Asahina and I are sitting on vent at gone midnight (something officers often do, to ensure raids have gone smoothly and discuss guild issues), fiddling about with raid composition, Moving people into and out of raids, deciding on a good raid balance, and doing our best to include people who have missed previous raids. We moved Lovestar into the raid at one point, and then out again, as we realised Sajuuk had signed up to, and as yet hadn't been to any raids, whereas Lovestar had been to the last few. I also moved Arwan into a raid, then removed him so Haggy could attend (for the same reason). the next morning I was contacted by a couple of guildies telling me Lovestar was upset, I spoke to her, and discovered it was because she happened to be on the raid page at the time we moved her into the raid, and wasn't happy at being moved out again. I explained to her, dear readers, as I have just done to you, that this was part of balancing raids, and she had been skipped over for this one raid to allow someone else in who hadn't yet been to any. Again after a long discussion she seemed to accept what I was saying and so I logged off for lunch.
When I returned in the evening, I discovered Love had g-quit without a word to anyone, not even a goodbye to the guild of whom she had already become a part, and logged out. I assumed from talking to her, reading her Blog and hearing what other people had to say, that she had felt things were too much, and that she wanted to get away from wow and look more to her real life. It seems I was mistaken, I discovered today in a recruitment post by Mith, that Lovestar had replied suggesting there was more than met the eye to her leaving and that something more sinister was at work. This, quite frankly is utter nonesense. Infact I am sickened to the bone both by her attitude and what she said in her post. This guild has done nothing but its best for her, getting her equipped and including her in raids, all of us making her, as with every new member, feel as welcome as we can. There was no sinister undercurrent or hidden agenda, there was only a stark reality:
Lovestar people liked you, and they wanted to include you in their guild and in our raids. For whatever emotional reason, you found a way to sabotage every offort we made to help you with issues and to see secret agendas and attacks on your character where none existed. You pushed away every offer of help, and refused to take on board anything we said to you, and instead fixated on your own fantasy about people hating you, and the world being out to get you. None of which is true. I hope you go away from your experience with us, and take on board the fact that you need to seek professional help to deal with whatever issues you have, and whatever events underlie them. From what I have seen you are a good person whos whole outlook on the world has been badly distorted by events which are now long in the past. Whatever reason you feel you left, and whatever hidden agendas you think you saw, and whichever guildmembers you think secretly hated you or wanted to do you harm makes no difference, because the reality is you are simply wrong.
Now, had Lovestar just left, I would have been dissappointed that we couldn't make things more comfortable for her, and kept her as a member of the guild. But that isn't what she did, she felt it necessary to go onto a world forum, and in a thread totally unrelated to her leaving, post suggesting that we had all done something wrong to her, and that, was simply not true. It is these people who find it necessary to lash out at everyone because they are feeling low, who make me wonder wether its all worth while trying. If you are going down, don't try to drag as many people as you can down with you, it only reflects badly on you as a person and upsets those who are meant to be your friends.
Now having said all this, there are other times when I see things which make me remember how much I love playing WoW with my friends, and how sometimes its all worthwhile, like watching the guild pull together at all sorts of unholy hours to get Shillen his Kara key, or seeing people zipping about all over the game world farming bizarre materials so we can make res sets for boss encounters, or equip new guildies who could use an upgrade. These things are what make playing WoW worthwhile and fun, and the reason that despite those who would do their best to make things unpleasant, I keep coming back to play with my friends in Covenant.
Most of the time I love WoW, I have great fun chatting with people, meeting new friends, and playing the game, only recently I rediscovered the joys of healing with my priest, who has been shadow specc for the last 6 months, and have had endless fun, and wipes (apologies to everyone involved) relearning how to heal.
Then every once in a while someone will come along who makes me woner if it is all worth while, someone who no matter what you say or do, or how hard you try to help them, or make them feel at home, will find away to accuse people of something, or to see anger or hatred where none exists, or who will go out of their way to make those around them feel bad because they get some small piece of satisfaction from doing so. thankfully these occasions are rare, but it always makes me think "what's the point?" why should I bother trying to run raids and instances, talk to people who come to me for help, or make the effort to make as many people as I can happy and have fun in the game, when there is always someone willing to come along and do their best to undo it all?
Let me give you an example:
Many people have asked me recently why Lovestar left the guild, and in each case I have tried to explain as best I can why I feel it happened, as I was not online when it actually occurred. So here's the way I saw it:
Lovestar joined us a couple of weeks back and was immediately accepted into the guild, she talked to us on vent laughed and joked with us in guild chat, and generally made herself at home, I doubt anyone would have said a bad word about her. Whilst on Ventrilo one day talking, an ex-guild member logged on to talk to me, as I hadn't spoken to him in a while. He made a rude comment about her, having only heard her voice and she was very upset about it. I banned that ex-guild member from vent shortly afterwards and removed his forum priviledges. Actions I felt would ensure that the situation could not arise again. I later learned Lovestar was still unhappy about what happened, so I made the effort to talk to her again at some length, explaining what I had done and why, that I and the guild did not find those comments to be fair or appropriate and that it shouldn't happen again. I am assured everything is ok now, and that the problem is over. Fine...works for me.
A few days later, Asahina and I are sitting on vent at gone midnight (something officers often do, to ensure raids have gone smoothly and discuss guild issues), fiddling about with raid composition, Moving people into and out of raids, deciding on a good raid balance, and doing our best to include people who have missed previous raids. We moved Lovestar into the raid at one point, and then out again, as we realised Sajuuk had signed up to, and as yet hadn't been to any raids, whereas Lovestar had been to the last few. I also moved Arwan into a raid, then removed him so Haggy could attend (for the same reason). the next morning I was contacted by a couple of guildies telling me Lovestar was upset, I spoke to her, and discovered it was because she happened to be on the raid page at the time we moved her into the raid, and wasn't happy at being moved out again. I explained to her, dear readers, as I have just done to you, that this was part of balancing raids, and she had been skipped over for this one raid to allow someone else in who hadn't yet been to any. Again after a long discussion she seemed to accept what I was saying and so I logged off for lunch.
When I returned in the evening, I discovered Love had g-quit without a word to anyone, not even a goodbye to the guild of whom she had already become a part, and logged out. I assumed from talking to her, reading her Blog and hearing what other people had to say, that she had felt things were too much, and that she wanted to get away from wow and look more to her real life. It seems I was mistaken, I discovered today in a recruitment post by Mith, that Lovestar had replied suggesting there was more than met the eye to her leaving and that something more sinister was at work. This, quite frankly is utter nonesense. Infact I am sickened to the bone both by her attitude and what she said in her post. This guild has done nothing but its best for her, getting her equipped and including her in raids, all of us making her, as with every new member, feel as welcome as we can. There was no sinister undercurrent or hidden agenda, there was only a stark reality:
Lovestar people liked you, and they wanted to include you in their guild and in our raids. For whatever emotional reason, you found a way to sabotage every offort we made to help you with issues and to see secret agendas and attacks on your character where none existed. You pushed away every offer of help, and refused to take on board anything we said to you, and instead fixated on your own fantasy about people hating you, and the world being out to get you. None of which is true. I hope you go away from your experience with us, and take on board the fact that you need to seek professional help to deal with whatever issues you have, and whatever events underlie them. From what I have seen you are a good person whos whole outlook on the world has been badly distorted by events which are now long in the past. Whatever reason you feel you left, and whatever hidden agendas you think you saw, and whichever guildmembers you think secretly hated you or wanted to do you harm makes no difference, because the reality is you are simply wrong.
Now, had Lovestar just left, I would have been dissappointed that we couldn't make things more comfortable for her, and kept her as a member of the guild. But that isn't what she did, she felt it necessary to go onto a world forum, and in a thread totally unrelated to her leaving, post suggesting that we had all done something wrong to her, and that, was simply not true. It is these people who find it necessary to lash out at everyone because they are feeling low, who make me wonder wether its all worth while trying. If you are going down, don't try to drag as many people as you can down with you, it only reflects badly on you as a person and upsets those who are meant to be your friends.
Now having said all this, there are other times when I see things which make me remember how much I love playing WoW with my friends, and how sometimes its all worthwhile, like watching the guild pull together at all sorts of unholy hours to get Shillen his Kara key, or seeing people zipping about all over the game world farming bizarre materials so we can make res sets for boss encounters, or equip new guildies who could use an upgrade. These things are what make playing WoW worthwhile and fun, and the reason that despite those who would do their best to make things unpleasant, I keep coming back to play with my friends in Covenant.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Yesterday was a mixed bag for me. Several high points included running around like a headless chicken, trying to dodge all manner of nastiness from the Shade of Aran and the other group taking down the chess event. Whilst Aran may still be standing the fight was a lot of fun and I can honestly say I got the feeling back which has been missing somewhat in the game in recent weeks.
Unfortunately it was a sad day for the guild as well. Losing valued friends and members of the guild is never a pleasant thing, but Swampy has purchased himself a lifetime subscription to a new MMO called "Real Life". Apparently his character is a level 5 dad at the moment, but he hopes to reach epic status soon. Good luck mate, keep in touch.
Also leaving the fold was one of our newer members, Lovestar. It seems that we were her last chance to find some happiness in the game, it's just a shame that we couldn't give her what she wanted. Goodbye Lovestar, it was short but sweet.
On an entirely unrelated note (and indeed the final part of the title of this post) it's my birthday today and so I ask only this of you:
GIEF CAEK!!!
Thank you.
Unfortunately it was a sad day for the guild as well. Losing valued friends and members of the guild is never a pleasant thing, but Swampy has purchased himself a lifetime subscription to a new MMO called "Real Life". Apparently his character is a level 5 dad at the moment, but he hopes to reach epic status soon. Good luck mate, keep in touch.
Also leaving the fold was one of our newer members, Lovestar. It seems that we were her last chance to find some happiness in the game, it's just a shame that we couldn't give her what she wanted. Goodbye Lovestar, it was short but sweet.
On an entirely unrelated note (and indeed the final part of the title of this post) it's my birthday today and so I ask only this of you:
GIEF CAEK!!!
Thank you.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Get off my land
Is it just me or has the need for farming exploded with TBC? Every single tailoring recipe I have seems to need a bunch of primals, which again need 10 motes of something-or-another. And when I've finally made them, or got a nice little epic drop from Karazhan, they're marginally better than the blues I got at level 62. I'm guessing we'll see an across the board buff on the Karazhan stuff, so I recommend holding on to your unwanted epics instead of DEing or selling them.
We'd better hope for a buff, because We'll need that to get Gruul or Magtheridon down. At the moment, they're a consumables feast out of this world. Rumour has it they'll be nerfed though, so we can only hope. I know I don't have time to farm for the require pots. Hell, this week I've logged on, entered Karazhan, finished Karazhan, portaled to IF, repaired, logged off. Going to have to try to find some time this weekend to fight other players for fire elementals in Nagrand!
We'd better hope for a buff, because We'll need that to get Gruul or Magtheridon down. At the moment, they're a consumables feast out of this world. Rumour has it they'll be nerfed though, so we can only hope. I know I don't have time to farm for the require pots. Hell, this week I've logged on, entered Karazhan, finished Karazhan, portaled to IF, repaired, logged off. Going to have to try to find some time this weekend to fight other players for fire elementals in Nagrand!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Random Ramblings
Well, I've tinkered around with the site and settings somewhat. Email details should be safe from bots now as I've linked the site to spam poison. Take that nasty capitalist pig-dogs!
In game news
The assault on Karazhan began again last night, with 20 more intrepid souls marauding forth into its murky depths. Attumen the Huntsman fell over with a minimum of fuss, but Moroes was being a 'tard. He will give me his dagger tonight.
Guild news
Those of you who find their way to this page from my *ahem* subtle forum signature will have by now probably seen our benevolant overlord's post regarding that infallible gnome, Melyanna. Poor sap went out one night and came back with a new position. If you've got any problems/queries/concerns that you want voiced to the establishment, talk to him. He's nice, honest, though to save money due to his expected increase in workload and the costs that go with it, he's now had to outsource to Bangalore.*
I promised you some fluff to go on this site so here is my first bit for quite some time. As such I may be a little rusty so be gentle. Hope you enjoy it:
Was it good for you?
*This may be a lie
In game news
The assault on Karazhan began again last night, with 20 more intrepid souls marauding forth into its murky depths. Attumen the Huntsman fell over with a minimum of fuss, but Moroes was being a 'tard. He will give me his dagger tonight.
Guild news
Those of you who find their way to this page from my *ahem* subtle forum signature will have by now probably seen our benevolant overlord's post regarding that infallible gnome, Melyanna. Poor sap went out one night and came back with a new position. If you've got any problems/queries/concerns that you want voiced to the establishment, talk to him. He's nice, honest, though to save money due to his expected increase in workload and the costs that go with it, he's now had to outsource to Bangalore.*
I promised you some fluff to go on this site so here is my first bit for quite some time. As such I may be a little rusty so be gentle. Hope you enjoy it:
Was it good for you?
*This may be a lie
...and off we go
This blog is, of course, the brainchild of our poet-in-residence Mithalder, and I’d just like to say good job on setting it up. Having the officers ramble on here instead of muttering to ourselves in our respective offices will probably lead to great things. Great things or unmitigated disasters. Time will tell.
Either way, it should let whoever decides to entertain themselves by reading it get a better feel for the different officers – you’ll find that whatever your concerns or ideas, chances are one of the officers shares them or thinks they’re the best thing since sliced bread :D.
Either way, it should let whoever decides to entertain themselves by reading it get a better feel for the different officers – you’ll find that whatever your concerns or ideas, chances are one of the officers shares them or thinks they’re the best thing since sliced bread :D.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Welcome one and all to the first outing of our new communications arm. Covenant is proud to invite you inside to have a poke around at the oddities that go on in the head of we, the Officers. Feel free to poke around and comment to your hearts content.
We intend to use this as a random brain dump of all sorts of stuff, from the mundane to the exciting and as soon as our benevolent overlord gets on here, the downright bizzare. There's also a good chance that I'll wind up posting far more than is probably good for me in the form of fluff and stories aplenty.
All I can say for now is watch this space...
We intend to use this as a random brain dump of all sorts of stuff, from the mundane to the exciting and as soon as our benevolent overlord gets on here, the downright bizzare. There's also a good chance that I'll wind up posting far more than is probably good for me in the form of fluff and stories aplenty.
All I can say for now is watch this space...
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