Christmas Celebrations

It's the season to be Jolly: Christmas Parties, getting together with parents and family members, eating the delicious food and feeling the feels of Christmas Cheer. So, it's time to take a break from raiding so we can all do those very important things. Monday will be the last raid for a week we will get back to fun time raiding with our online family after that.

This week I have to make a correction.  Sven has not stopped raiding with us he was just taking a break for a few weeks to help out some horde buddies while their tank was off sick.  Next year he will be back with us hopefully on his dk dpsing.  The raid leading is going to be done by Mahvra and Beartanks (Happy 27th Birthday btw) and Alysith with contributions from Bashy and Pangit. Occasionally we will hear from Ecle when he comes to make use of his experience. If everyone else can allow that to happen that would be great. Beartanks, Mahvra, Alysith and Bashy do most of the calling so just listen up to them they know their stuff as do Pangit and Ecle with their Mythic raiding experience.  We aren't one of those very serious raiding guilds, we don't kick guildies from raids. We might ask you to step out if your dps is too low or your ilvl doesn't meet the requirements.  The guild provides a lot of opportunities for people to get gear in a variety of ways don't be afraid to ask for help. During the alt runs, which are going great btw, ppl are free to swap in and out as they please to progress the main raid to get more ppl geared and if PuGs aren't doing well it is fine to kick these guys after due warnings.

Our progression is going great. I'm so proud. We are 40th on the Jubei'Thos and 7th Alliance guild. On Monday I'm sure that will go up again as we are just smashing these fights up. I might also say that we are getting the mechanics down very nicely in all the fights which is great to see. Ecle made the suggestion that we upgrade all our gear as soon as we can as the dps can be lifted significantly this way. The Mythic dungeons are a great way of getting valor and gear upgrades. Choy seems to be taking a lot of guildies through these. If we could gear up Geebung and a few others in this way it would be great. If you want a hand with this kind of thing speak up in guild chat or whisper the main ppl who go like Choy and Bashy. I'm sure they won't mind making a group and taking you to a few Mythic Dungeons and I'm happy to get a group going.

A big Thank You to all the help I've been getting to stock up the potions and flasks for the guildies that's been wonderful.  It's very nice for us all to have the guild bank filled with useful resources like these.

Merry Christmas Everyone Have a Great New Year.
Much Love and Squishy Hugs to all my WoW family

The Year that Was

This year was an example of how to survive a shit storm in a teacup. There have been some great highlights for us.  Great opportunities for me at least to learn something more about myself and life in general.  That's right it's a shock I know that someone of my vintage can still learn stuff.

This year marked the loss of a few of our long standing core group of raiders with Maddy living in a country that has no net, Tom raiding with a part of his anatomy that shouldn't be discussed since achieving the life goal of getting a girlfriend, Sven moving onto Mythic Raiding with a horde guild and Ephi disappearing off the face of World of Warcraft. The good news was that we kept a lot of our core raiders too. These guys have been with the guild for nearly three years some over three years. I appreciate your staying with the guild through it's up and downs and putting Rift Warriors above other offers that you have received through those years at the expense of your own progression. It must be hard seeing those guilds romping it into the top end of the raiding leading board. We are currently 41st on the Server, 7th Alliance Guild on the server. Not a bad effort all things considered. I'm sure we will finish in an even better position.

We also have recruited some more guildies who have really been great for the guild and our progression. The boys from the former raiding guild Curse joined our ranks and I'm so very pleased that they did. I want to thank you guys for your productive advice and input into the raids and the guild in general. In particular yours and the guildies in general for the support of me, through the horrible real life drama of my beautiful dog dying. Achieving the seemingly impossible getting a laugh out of me with an inappropriate joke. The big recruiting news of course has been finally I managed to talk Sarior into joining Rifties it only took two expacs to get him :).

Lots of players are returning in dribs and drabs. Oak that's Professor Oak has returned from his exciting adventures overseas and can been seen back in the guild quietly getting things done on his Pally. A few other older members such as Grumpystumpy a priest and friend from Vanilla WoW days spent a couple of weeks leveling and chatting in vent. This was fun and actually got me to level an alt to 70 or so :)

Beartanks and Pangit were promoted to officers, they took on running alt runs which is something I've been wanting to achieve since SoO to gear new players up and provide a bit of fun.  Mrs Pangit is getting geared and learning all that there is to learn in the alt raids hopefully she will join us in the main raid team at some stage. People like Rhysdogg who have the potential of doing well in raids can gear up and also get advice from more experienced players of druids such as Keiran who does awesome dps on his feral druid.  We have also seen the return of Cexyleader who has the best bants in raid with Bainmar and Awolleader. Cexy and Bainmar have been consistently coming to the raids again. I hope that they continue to come along to provide great dps and even better Banter. 

Seebo has also been promoted to Officer, once he fully recovers from "Beating the Arse out of that Cancer" I'm sure will be contributing as an officer as his recovery continues. This year I haven't been as proactive in my promotion of testing yourselves for testicular cancer here is a link explaining how to do a self examination. Seebo/Zem will tell you all how important it is for young men to be doing regular checks of their testicles with the aim of finding cancer at the early stages. Testicular Cancer is found mainly in young men around your ages. 

On a brighter note this year we've had some fun times together. A very productive time in the raid tiers. We missed out on a server first kill by seconds when killing Kargath. We have moved slowly but consistently through the content.  I think we are going to finish strongly if we keep going at the pace we have been getting through heroic HFC.  I have been recruiting for the next expansion with mixed success as is the way with recruiting. If you happen across anyone who you would like to invite to the guild then do not hesitate to get them in.  It would be nice to have two Death Knights for some of the boss fights coming up. 

So finally a BIG thank you to all the guildies and here's hoping (fingers crossed) that next expansion brings great fun. Consistent raiding success and new friendships. Hopefully a couple of University Graduates another baby or three because I love babies and no more cancer or pet deaths or deaths in general unless it's of raid bosses then bring that on.

Raider Burnout

As promised I'm going to write about Raider Burnout.  It may surprise you to know that actual psychological research papers have been written on Raiding Burnout in World of Warcraft.  In fact there has been lots of research written on burnout in general.  In terms of Warcraft though,this is a hobby that we choose to participate in which is weird that we also end up burned out from it. What makes us continue raiding when we are no longer enjoying it? Here are some examples:

• Feeling commitment and loyalty to fellow raiders
• Thinking that without you the raid group will fall about (cognitive bias)
• Not being able to identify symptoms of burnout

What are the symptoms of burnout in terms of Warcraft.

• Feeling bored as soon as you log on
• Getting a headache or other symptoms of anxiety before the raid
• Irritability snapping at fellow raiders
• General feeling of lethargy and disinterest

What's the best thing to do if you find yourself getting burnout.

• Notify an officer or me
• Take a break of two or three weeks
• Play a different game
• Level an alt

Nobody is immune to burnout.  This game has been going for a very long time and raiding is fun however, we can all reach a stage where we have pushed passed the "saturation point". This is a psychological term that is used to describe when people simply can not do this thing anymore.  As a kid you may have experienced a saturation point with chocolate around easter time. Its when we push ourselves to continue after we have reached saturation point that burnout is inevitable.  I got burned out after BC. As a result I stopped raiding altogether through the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I went to a couple of raids throughout the whole expansion.  I really enjoyed that break and when Cata came along I was ready to get back into raiding again. I was a bit wiser by that stage and now know when I'm getting a bit close to burning out and I have a break.

Here are some great things to remember; the raid team will go on without you. The guild will go on without you. It's totally ok to take a break and rest from the game you will be welcomed back.  When you come back you will be revitalised and you will enjoy the experience far more.

Helpful Links

The Lazy Peon

Pwncast

Saturation Point

Burnout Test

The Worst Week Ever..Best Alt Raid

This week has got to be one of the worst weeks ever.  On a personal note I think everyone knows my lovely 2 year old dog Arial passed away from a tick bite.  On that very same day four of the original core members left the guild.  Two of these guys have left alts in the guild but haven't been raiding with us or playing often. Sven and Vonds have both left. This is a good thing as these guys and gals have gone on to achieve what they couldn't achieve in Rifties. This week has definitely felt like a bit of a haze serious conversations and heartbreak.

I've learned a lot about myself this week.  I've been reflecting a lot about my failure as a guild leader and a dog owner. My inability to act quickly to address long standing issues which caused drama and disharmony in the guild. For this I apologize profusely.  I will do my best to prevent this from happening in the future or minimise this kind of thing. I would also like to thank the people who have sent very supportive messages to me through the week about the loss of my assistant raider Arial.  I would also like to thank the people who have supported me in losing a few people from the guild and have assisted in re-grouping.  A particular thanks to Bashybashy who talked everyday to me, Choy for making me laugh and Callum for reminding me what day it is and calling me "love and Darl". This always cheers me up. Pangit for his confidence in the future of our progression through the raid.

Congratulations to the new officers Seebo and Pangit. Sarior has joined the guild!!! I was so happy about this, as you all know I've been recruiting Sarior for two years, this goes to show persistence pays off. Amongst the darkness of this week some great news that Zems operation to remove the cancer was successful.  A long surgery of seven hours. In true fighter spirit Zem is doing well and dying to get home later on today with any luck. Fingers crossed Seebo will be back to raiding soon.

He must be missing us apparently he has been theory crafting away in his hospital bed. Oh gamers are such a different breed. Good luck in your recovery Zem our thoughts are with you.

The week finished on a high after returning from our walk with Leeroy, Bain and I  logged on to find an alt raid happening.  The atmosphere was light with the banter between the guildies on TS bringing me to tears of laughter. It was terrific to see Trissa and Mrs Pangit in the raid having fun too. I'm looking forward to more of these. I definitely need the practice healing. It was such a fun night and a great way to ease the tension I'd been feeling. I feel sure we can get through this loss and do well in heroic raiding.

Team Objectives

This week progression in the raid has been wonderful again.  There's big news on the horizon for WoW with the expansion coming. It's really going to be a bit of a drag until we get to the new content. However, we are making our way through the raid content nicely and we could get into Mythic HFC in the time left in the expansion. The new gear upgrades will help us achieve this end. So get in there doing mythic dungeons and get your valour tokens.   It's taken some time to get main toons geared and some people have been pugging Heroics to further progress our raid team and their own toons.  That's great. The danger in doing this is that you progress ahead of the team and become bored with the team's progression.  Many people have had offers from Mythic Raiding Guilds from this server and from cross realm servers. This is also wonderful.  If you have had an opportunity like this please take it, you can always leave your alts in the guild and socialise with the Rifties.

The main idea of Rift Warriors was to provide a guild where people who love raiding can get together and raid.  It was designed for people who have busy lives or are just wanting to raid two days a week.  The aim of the raids is to see most of the content and to see how far we can progress in those two days.  A low level of commitment is required just two days a week and to know the fights. As the GM my main goal is to provide a great environment for people to play the game they love and hopefully form a supportive network of friendships which can extend outside of the game.

The thing I love the most about raiding is the "team work".  Every member is an integral part of  the team and each member is responsible for how well we do in the raid and in the guild.  If people are frustrated and unhappy in the guild or the raid team, it's probably better to move on to bigger and better things.  If you are frustrated and unhappy you bring this with you and it becomes toxic to the environment around you. As the GM maintaining a great environment is one of my higher priorities. The fact that the friendly environment has extended into real life means that no matter who you raid with you will still always be part of the Rifties family. We have plenty of people in our raid team who raid with their mains on other servers, in PuGs or with mates, they come with us because they enjoy the environment of our guild and our raid.  I do expect players to; stop playing or move onto other guilds. All I ask is that you do what makes you happy and give me a bit of notice, a week or two should be fine, so I can fill your spot.

As we are heading toward the last few bosses in Heroic with the aim of Mythic in our progression. I will ask that you stay playing your mains until we complete Heroic HFC.  If you are unwilling or unable to do this you can join Pangit's alt raids on Thursday and Friday. This doesn't apply to our social raiders who have multiple toons all around the 700 ilvl who fill a variety of spots when they are able to attend.  If you are a core raider it's better for the team if you stay in your main spec and on your most geared toon. Its acceptable to change if the raid team require tanks or heals or dps to get the balance right. In emergency situations such as Maddy not having net or people have to drop out due to RL issues. If it is crucial to the functioning of the raid  that's fine. It's really unfair to expect the whole team to change to suit your needs or wishes, particularly at this point in our progression. Changing mains slows our progression substantially. In the next expac I would like ppl to stay on their chosen main for the entirety of the expansion and have an alt raid for gearing and playing alts.

Raiding is a team sport and the team objective should be the main priority. Some people may feel that we as a raid team could not progress without them however, everyone is expendable that's the sign of a good team, one or two members can drop out and the rest will fill the gap. This is my other main priority as a GM to build a team that is not reliant on one person.  I feel sure that if I dropped off the face of the earth that the guild would continue without me.

Zem (Seebo) is going in for an operation on Tuesday to get rid of the last of the cancer pressing on the inside of his spine. We will all be thinking positive things for Zem and Jess on Tuesday. Congratulations to Jess and all the other guildies who got their spot in the University courses they applied for.  Good Luck  you guys well done. Keep trying if you didn't get your spot I had to apply twice to get into my course. A BIG Congratulations to Sven on the purchase of his new home well done it's a big step, a great step I'm sure it's going to be one of the best things you do in life.

Family and Friends Weekend

It's been a great week for the Rifties even though the game is boring as anything at the moment. The most exciting thing this week has been Brenton's Heroic Videos are on youtube again.  I'm just so proud of us when I see these videos.  Brenton is definitely very talented in making them. If you want have a look at these videos click here and here.

The family and friends weekend will be happening next weekend.  We will be inviting your family members girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives to roll a toon on your account, pop into Teamspeak and meet the raiders each other and experience Warcraft first hand.  I'd like to have an officer on TS most of the time to help host this event, one or two long term members just so that we can create a welcoming experience. I'm hopeful that holding this event will help out with understanding what we do.  I'm also kind of hopeful that this event will result in recruiting a few casual players for the next expansion.  As you know I was converted from a WoW hater to the WoW lover that I am now in this way.  Warcraft is now an activity that I share with my family, wouldn't it be great if you too could enjoy this experience with your significant others. We might get some more girl guildies too :)

We might need a guild meeting next week some time perhaps Wednesday to discuss the possibility of smashing the last two bosses on Normal HFC on another day to maximize the time we spend on Monday and Wednesday completing heroic bosses.  It takes us 20 minutes to down Manno and Archie that's at least one attempt on a new heroic boss.  If we can get together on one day a week for just 20 minutes to get everyone a trinket this would be a great advantage to our progression.  The raid time has been an issue because we are unable to start at the designated raid time. We need to push back the start time to 9pm Server time and finish 11pm server time which reduces our time further. Making it even more important that we utilize what little time we have most effectively.  We need to reduce our down time between pulls. We can do this by saving our chatting for after the raid or before the raid, moving onto the next trash quickly we don't all need to be hanging around waiting for Bashy to be distribute the loot. We can do this I'm sure.

Pangit is starting alt runs which will be happening on Thursday and Friday nights starting at 9pm server time.  The challenge mode idea isn't getting much traction, I'm going to keep trying to get this organised.  If you have any ideas on this please let me know.

It That Time in the Expansion

It's that time in the expansion when Jas starts leveling her warlock.  I start finding housework more appealing than playing WoW. It's just dragging on isn't it?  There has been a massive exodus over to Diablo.  If you are missing the guildies just pop over to teamspeak you'll usually find a heap of people over there. What can we do to challenge ourselves in our beloved yet boring WoW for the next eight months?  I know what about Challenge Mode Dungeons!!! Let's get it on Guildies in the Challenge Mode 5 mans. Five man dungeons are set to be a big part of the next expansion and I'm so pleased about this because it has been one of my favourite parts of Warcraft.  We've got enough people to run at least two teams.  I'll be sending out mail and setting up teams this week.

I've been thinking of partners this week too.  Those lovely people who support our raid team.  Who tolerate our chatting on ts for hours on end.  Those guys who wait patiently while we pursue our gaming aspirations.  With this people in mind I'm organising a partner's event where  they level a toon to level 10 on your account and get to meet us all in teamspeak and hopefully become part of the Rift Warriors Family.  Maybe in the next expac it can become a shared hobby.  I'm hopeful that this event will also help partners understand what is going on for you so that they understand fully that it's not just a game it's a real social place for many of the players.

We stepped into Heroic HFC for the first time.  We out gear most of the bosses so it was pretty easy to down the first four bosses. I was so proud of how everyone did the mechanics very well.  It's my favourite part of raiding "the dance" element.  Having everyone moving in a synchronized group.  I think one thing I've learned from this expansion is that we really should be moving a little bit faster through the content.  Going into Heroic raids a bit sooner and coming back to finish of the last bosses on normal.  It's good to be out gearing bosses the challenge is going into the raids with  appropriate gear levels so that it is a challenge and we are learning together.

Mass Exodus to Diablo 3

There's been a mass exodus to Diablo III the charge has been led by Bashybashy aka John.  He tried to encourage me to roll a toon that isn't an archer good try but failure.  I promise this week I will get out of my comfort zone.

In other big news we got pretty close to another Archie kill this week.  We just need our core team all online at the same time.  We really need to get that thing on farm so we can get our trinkets.  We still haven't stepped foot in Heroic HFC which isn't the end of world but it would be nice seeing as when we did a survey it came out very strongly that we move onto Heroic. We just have to get those thoughts converted into action.

In some other real life big news that just can't go by without me saying something. Our Raid Leader will be much more chilax soon because he has purchased a house which means he will be moving into peace and serenity. Most likely this will rub off on his raid leading (fingers crossed).  Having said this Sven has asked step down from the raid leader role until things settle down for him in Real Life as he will be busy moving and settling in.  There's a few people who have stepped up for the role however, we are looking more for a raid caller and not a raid leader or manager at the moment.

Just a reminder about the Facebook group.  If you want to join the facebook group follow the link below.

Click Here to Join

We also have a new Teamspeak Account the details are in the guild information tab. This teamspeak is provided by John. It's very secure so we won't be getting any drop ins apart from Pancake who has become one of the unofficial team.  A big thankyou to John for doing this.

Big Dick Damage A Glimpse into the World of Rift Warriors in PvP

This week we're having a glimpse into the world of pvp.  There's a small yet ever growing arm of the Rift Warriors that is into PvP.  These are the non-care bear players who lurk on TS relentlessly teasing each other and speculating on who will be Bainmar's next Daddy.  As you all know father's are actually irreplaceable and I'm too old to get Married to anyone who plays WoW. The comradery between the PvPer's is high while the jokes sometimes go too far the blood between them is thicker than the water between some of the PvE players.  The shouts of congratulations and mutual admiration is something I've been missing in our recent raids. These are the stories of Arena and the world of PvP.

Two Warriors and a Dick Knight

The atmosphere was tense it was Bainmar and Choy fighting hard against two warriors, Bainmar was on his Death Knight, renamed at some point by someone as Dick Knights. The battle was fierce the odds against the Rift Warrior team. The CC was out of control a battle rez seemingly impossible due to the constant stuns available to warriors. Then right at the last minute the rez worked Choy bounded into action taking one warrior down before he died leaving Bainmar to finish of the last Warrior he flew in healed himself on his Dick Knight and smashed the final warrior down the Arena was Won. Choy shouting something over TS I think it was "Go Bain..Man, you're my idol now".

They Call Him Awoll

Is it a bird, is it a plane...no it's Awolleader, descending upon you as if hell hath no fury.  He doesn't care how much gear you have, he doesn't care if you are picking herbs or mining...beware the Horde and the Alliance he's going to get you; Explosive trap you off a cliff and laugh wildly at your demise. Let's face it ol' mate it is pretty funny. He will take it easy on the the Rifties letting you finish your quest first before you die a horrible death. He might play with you a bit and stun you over and over just before he kills you, rest assured my friend you will die.

We're going to Heal the Bastards to Death or Annoy them to Death

So this is how it works Bainmar and Awoll get on their Healers a Monk and a Bainmar on his Resto Druid. It's not about the win apparently it's all about the laughs you get dragging that arena out until the healing reduction pops. Awoll says "I'll pre-occupy the hunter with my face while you kill the Pally" It was a thing to behold 2 dps going against 2 healers.  You would think it would be in the bag for the dps. As you can see when it comes to Awoll and Bainmar the poor bastards didn't stand a chance. Bainmar says as Awoll screenshots the event "I feel sorry for those guys".

Here Comes My Hero

We've had the recent addition of my friend Nick who is trying to return to the world of PvE unsuccessfully it would seem. Spending hour upon hour in the Battlegrounds and convincing Steve, Awoll, Bain, Choy, Keiran and basically anyone that will listen into doing BG's and Arena.  He is after ALL the PvP achieves on his Monk. He wants the mount for 3v3.  He's looking for some heroes and he certainly unearthed a few PvPers in the Rift Warriors and it's been great listening to all the fun these guys have been having this week.

  

Congratulations Rifties

Well done everyone finally we have killed Archie. Now it's time to move onto heroic content and farm those last two bosses on Normal.  We did a few PuGs in the raid.  I look forward to a full guild run next week.

Haunted By Memories of WoW

This week we've been attempting the Hero World Challenge.  A great idea put forward by Callum and taken up wholeheartedly by Sven aka Holyfyre.  We had a misfire to start with and I jumped the gun rolling a toon on our own server who is now level 21.  Then rolled a toon on the designated Nagrand, I died at level 16.  The rules changed and I re-rolled a priest that died at 9 before registration, disqualifying me from the competition.  Everyone else is having a great time some players are into their high 20's and early 30's with just a few days to go until the competition ends.

I have been haunted by memories while leveling my little hunter on our server. Memories of running along with my eldest son's toon, a mage, through and around the horde area's on alliance toons. Seeing the amazing artwork for the first time around the Barrens also my favourite area was Ashenvale with the beautiful Autumn trees, forestry areas and the hills all around there. The abundance of herbs which resulted in my being able to make potions that my toon couldn't use.  I remember the surprise on all three of my warcraft playing son's faces as I sailed through the levels and reached level 42 where Krinsta ended up off my son's account and on my own account.  I loved fishing and BG's.  I loved questing with my American friends.  I loved to wander around the world of warcraft. If I noticed a guildy questing I'd often sneak up and help them kill mobs until they turned around and noticed me. I had some great friends two father and son duo's and a boy from Alaska who I later rolled and leveled to max my first horde toon.

Every time I'd lose a friend on WoW my heart would break a little bit.  My eldest son who played WoW in the beta phase and ran our massive guild on Dethecus said to me "I've known these people for ages, I couldn't tell you anything about their lives outside of WoW, you've been playing for three months, you know everyone and everything about their lives."  I guess that's why losing them was so heart breaking for me.  Some of my original WoW pals have transitioned over to Facebook Friends, it's just not the same as raiding together or doing BG's together or sitting by a river bank somewhere fishing, talking about everything.  It's a unique experience.  One that I am very pleased to have had. I've met some great people online and have met a few irl as well.  When I went to Melbourne last time I had lunch with my old GM and caught up with how things are going.  Often people log in and update me on their lives.  Great News; two marriages something like eight babies not all to those two couples of course. Four brilliant careers started.  I can't even count how many degrees completed. Some bad news a few breakups and two deaths.

I am haunted by wonderful memories of Warcraft. I'm looking forward to making new memories and building on the guild that we have hopefully some heroic progression as well as a RBG team. Anyone interested in doing Challenge Mode dungeons these are being held on Thursday nights prior to the alt raid and another night of the week yet to be determined.

Hero Leveling Competition

We will be running a Hero Leveling Competition. There will be prizes for whoever levels their toon to the highest level without dying.  The Competition will go for one week of played time starting now.

Rules

The competition will be held on Negrand Server for the obvious reason that there will be no ganking. The rules are as follows:

WoW Challenge Mode

Additional Rules

To begin send a screenshot of your character as soon before you enter the game. Disable addons. Don't start a Tauren (due to death quest), Death Knight or Panda. Delete your hearth stone. it has to be horde on Negrand. Send a screenshot to Sven on Facebook of your death, how you died with the played time showing in the chat box, with your character page open. If you don't die take screenshot with your character page open, time played showing in your chat box.

Let the Game Begin

What is Important about Team Members

This week I've been thinking about team members and what makes a good team member.  Is it getting success for the whole team.  Do some members need to be dropped from the team because they aren't doing the required dps, heals or knowing the fights?  I'm not perfect and I fail in a number of these areas. Therefore I feel if anyone needs to be dropped from the team it ought to start with me.  I want to include all the guild members who want to raid into our raid team.  I'm constantly trying to come up with ways to do this. That's really a big part of my job as a the Guild Manager.  It's becoming more important as the old WoW is getting so boring lately.

It came to me like a bolt out of the blue with this sentence "I don't know why we all enjoy raiding with you, it just is fun".  Then I thought about it...That's why I enjoy raiding it's about the wonderful people in our raid team, the fun and the warmth felt between us.  The jokes about our failures the encouragement and pride when we are successful.  It occurred to me that we aren't in the race for server first although we've come tantalisingly close a few times over the last few years.  Our raids really are about the people we raid with.  We are all genuinely caring of each other and to drop people from our team I feel would be the most shitful thing for us to do to ourselves. Having said that please don't drop the ball as far as doing your jobs.  Don't stand there in the rubbish try not to get hit with stuff unnecessarily be aware of the damage taken as well as the damage done.  I'd really like to say something about bandages here I know you've all heard it before.

We got up to the last boss this week.  Prepare yourselves for Heroics.  If you are doing pugs try to get a few guildies in their with you if you can. I'm very proud of you and I think we are doing a great job. Try to keep focused on the positive things we can do as a team and improve on the negative things. Overall we are smashing it for a casual guild. I'd like to ask everyone to do your best and self evaluation is key here focus first on yourself and then on others.

A big old group Hug for the new and returning members welcome/welcome back to Riftwarriors. Congratulations are in order for one of our old guildies that some of you may remember some may not, Nightshade, a warlock who joined a long time ago.  Congratulations on your pregnancy and hopeful birth of not our first guild baby but probably one of our most well fought for babies. This answers the question, what is important about our team members, it's members are the most important thing including the babies.

I'm Just a Dpser

We've just got Mannoroth and Archie to do on normal and we are moving tentatively into heroic with one success and one near success.   We've got a bit of history of waning when we reach this transition point.  I think we can keep pushing through despite the fact that I have to go to Uni every second week on Monday.  Lucky I'm just a dps...wait a minute how do those bosses die pretty hard to heal them and tank them to death. There's a real focus on the Healing and Tanking roles in a raid team and not so much on the importance of the dps role which brings me to the topic of  this week's blog the value of good dps.

I think there's a bit of a misconception around dps being the least important role in the raid team.  I'd like to see a boss getting tanked and healed to death. It must be possible however, I don't think it's really something that anyone want to do.  Ironically, I didn't even see the value of a good dpser until I rolled a healer.  It was so frustrating when the dpsers weren't bringing their best game to raids or even five man dungeons.  What people may not realise is how hard dps players work on getting the best dps out of their toons or just how hard we torture ourselves working out why it's low.  All you would have to do is ask Bashybashy aka John how often dpsers contact him about running over the stats and general tips on improving dps.

Alysith played a dps in another life on WoW as a mage. He told the raid he tried his hardest every single pull.  I was pleased to see last weeks raid saw the use of the legendary ring on cool down not just on boss fights.  It's these little things that make the raids go smoothly. Dps knowing fights and bringing their best game is what makes the bosses die. Keep up the good work Awoll, Bashybashy, Notthrall, Seebo, Ephi and Tom aka Milene.  Our raid leader Holyfyre is a dpser as well. We have a potential new edition of Nick on his lock joining our core team. We also have a few social dpsers Gaatos, Lyree, Kieran on his Druid Garaktou you guys and girls do a great job.  We will never forget the value of Aquitas who is sadly missed.  We are all waiting for the return of our humorously named Mthfker aka Callum to join the dpsing team.

Maybe we dpsers should stop saying we are "Just" in our sentences when describing our role.

Not Just a Dpser, A monster Killer

LF Dps Raiding with a View to Heroic Content

We are doing such a great job with our raiding we are now looking for Dps.  We are looking within the guild first. Our raid leader is keen to have a Death Knight and Steve has currently been working on a BoomChicken for the raid team. We've got five awesome healers at the moment which is why we are able to increase our raid size to 20 people.  Mahvra formerly known as Vonds has changed to being a resto druid. We've also got another warlock coming on Monday this is Nick who is my long time raiding buddy from Cata. It's great including friends into the raid team it really helps with the teamwork and communication of the guild in general and also with the raiding.

The last few raids have been so awesome smashing through content with lots of positive comments to inspire our efforts to improve as well as the occasional reminder that we are standing in the wrong place.  We looked up a few stats in relation to damage taken and were surprised to find that our raiders took less damage than a few of the top raiding guilds on our server.  We are tenth on the charts for raid progression for Alliance on Jubei'Thos that's pretty darn good for only raiding two nights a week.  That's got a lot to do with Holyfyre leading us.  It also has a great deal to do with the great teamwork of our guild and the regular raiders coming along and notifying us with plenty of notice so that we can adapt the team around real life demands.

I am so proud of us.  I hope that we can keep this team together, add to it and work through Heroic raids now and into the future of Warcraft.  Good Job Guys and Girls. Don't forget to get on TS a lot of our fun times goes on there as well as in facebook chat make sure you join our facebook group too. There's always lots to chat about in our guild we don't ever seem to be short of words or bants. It's all about the bacon.

John helping me get treasures for flying on the mount I helped make for him

Go Team Rifties

We are smashing through the normal version of Hellfire Citadel.  I've been trying expose the guild to some transferable skills this week. In particular The Seven Habit of Highly Effective People. I'm really into this kind of thing and applying to all areas of life and work.  I thought that this might be of interest to people in the guild now that we are approaching a stage where we need to sharpen our saw and develop the creative energy that we already have. I'm not making a criticism of anyone in posting this here and on the facebook group. That's it I'm dropping the Stephen Covey principles now.

I think it's important to note that we are team and all the members of the team are important. However, in the raid team we have one leader and that leader is Holyfyre.  Please be quiet when he or one of the officer teams are explaining the fights.  Also have a look at the boss fights here

Try to follow the mechanics as best as you can and don't beat up on yourself too much if you make a mistake. Nobody is perfect, I haven't met anyone who is. If I did I'd probably find them terrible bores.
If you can find a way to improve your playing try to implement those things. Bashbashy is a wealth of information in the way of stats and rotations.

I'd like to thank everyone for stepping up to fill Holyfyres raid calling this week. Poor guy lost his voice and created much hilarity when he was trying to talk.  He is all better now. We are starting Heroic difficulty this week and continuing our progress through normal. I was so happy with our last raid everyone performed at a very high standard and followed the mechanics very well.

Rifties are Awesome

We are definitely in the best guild in the World of Warcraft.  After my crap week last week the whole guild participated in the building of and upgrading of a fabulous Gun made for me.  This confirms my theory that all people are basically good and the people in our Rift Warriors are totally Awesome. This week I've been thinking a little bit about what makes us so awesome.  It dawned on me that we are like a big family and together we form a nice warm soft place to fall. Thanks to everyone who really provided that for me last week and providing me with a Gun to kill bosses with.

This week we are going to take our first steps into Heroic HFC we will be sending a forward party that is the core raid group and later we will bring in the whole raid team. Please don't feel offended if you are not part of the team.  It's not personal or a reflection of your playing skills.  This will only be the first boss and Holyfyre will form the team and the rest of us will come next time.  We are making our success rate increased by doing it this way. We still love you and think you are a great player and a crucial part of our team :)

We have also had a few new members join the guild.  Welcome everyone new Smokin's mate and Pangit's girlfriend who has been enjoying leveling a druid and listening to the fun conversations on Teamspeak.  Don't forget about Teamspeak, Rifties are almost always in ts chatting about stuff and generally enjoying life. Lately we've been getting some of the old guild achievements which is great fun and also a great way of getting to know the guildies and being part of that warm fuzzy thing I was talking about earlier.

We have slipped back a bit in the progression charts.  Not to worry we will surg ahead soon with any luck. As long as we are beating Holyfyres ex gf's guild we are winning :) More importantly we are downing the bosses, learning the fights and working well as a team in our raids which is more than enough as far as my expectations as your Guild Leader.  It's all about the team work below is a picture from a fun firelands run.

Officers Who are they Why are they Officers

There's been some promotions.  I have thought long and hard about these appointments. Vonds, Bashybashy and Maddy have been promoted back to the officer roles.  I realise that we have a lot of officers for a relatively small guild however, these people have been the backbone of the guild for some time.  They are my right hand men and women, they support each other and the guild as a whole.  It should be known that these people contribute to the guild a little bit more than everyone else and that they should be rewarded for these efforts.

Just incase you haven't realised what roles they perform I'm going to list them now so that everyone knows what they do in the guild:

Alysith and Holyfyre are really my main two advisors as far as raiding goes and how to proceed. They work through all the logs each week with me and we decide what course of action to take into the future including how to proceed into the next expac. We decide if we need to recruit who we need to give pep talks to and how we can improve the raid team as a whole.

Vonds and Alyiana are the right hand to Holyfyre and Alysith and contribute to raid strategies progression. Also nobody cleans out a bank as well as Alyiana and Vonds. Vonds and Alyiana also know how to push the raid through into more exciting content fast.

Maddy and Bashybashy form a great team in social events within the guild such as running old time raids getting guild achievements and maintaining guild happiness levels to an acceptable level.  Also if you want to know anything about your class the stats and talents you should be taking Bashbashy is your man. If he doesn't know it it's not worth knowing.

Bainmar is the PvP officer he is the person we call on to save the care bears from the horde. He leads group 2 with Cexyleader in making fun of the care bears in the guild. Together they kill the really tough raid bosses in Arena :)

I've been criticised in the past about having too many officers however, these are the leaders in the guild these are the people who have stuck with the guild through thick and thin. These are the people who ARE my officers even if they don't get the perks so I think they deserve the perks that's why they have all been promoted back to officers.  I'm trusting my instincts on this.

Now I must also add that being a Core Raider is nothing to be sneezed at you guys are dedicated and committed to the guild.  I want to make a special thanks to Seebo, Beartanks, Awoll, Pangit, Fhil and of course Ephi who has Heroic Gear for the purpose of out dpsing everyone and feeling superior to us all, with the side benefit of progressing our raid team. Our social raiders are slowly becoming a great part of our team too Lyree, Smokin and Gaatos. You guys are the team and in the raid I'm one of you rather than the GM. We are the people who progress the guild through our actions. Without you we would not have done as well as we have.

I'm so proud of us all

GM's Mad Week

What a crazy week it's been for me.  I want to apologize for not being online much or available to talk to about things.  We've still been going great with the raiding and there's talk about pushing one new progression boss a week which I think is completely do-able. So make sure you watch a few guides on the last few bosses so we are a bit prepared.

Now onto my crazy week. We had the death of our family pet Lily on Wednesday morning which was horrible as it was a murder not a natural death. Her throat ripped out by another animal of some kind.  As Bainmar says "She died a warrior". I asked Sven to tell everyone not to be nice to me or otherwise there would be a risk of tears and possible further drop in my dps. Its ok you can be nice to me now.  Thanks for the support everyone. Here's a picture of my cat Lily in my pink hat which also no longer exists.

We built a therapeutic grave/garden bed and we are on the road to recovery. I'll be right back onto the blog writing this week.

Guild Meeting New Expansion and Our Own Drama Wednesday

The first thing I'd like to say is a big thank you to my officers for supporting me through my drama Wednesday. Where I had a big dummy spit and acted like a huge baby. This was a result of a few months of pressure and the realisation that not only am I getting beaten in dps by my best friend, I'm getting old and I'm going bald too, not an easy thing for a woman :) lol.  I'll buy a nice wig and I've always loved hats. I'll beat you in dps one day my friend.

The new expansion is coming out and we need to have a meeting to discuss where we want to be heading as a guild.  Some people have expressed a desire to switch mains so we will have to work out what roles people are going to play and what kind of balance we will end up with in our raid team. Have a think about what toon you want to play, bearing in mind that we can't have a raid team of Demon Hunters.  However, don't dismay I'm hopeful to start an alt run in which we can have an opportunity to learn new roles and possibly have whatever toons we like and struggle along not worrying too much about balance. We can discuss which day would be good for an alt run during the meeting.  We've got a great group of players and I'd like it if we could all stick together.

We've been discussing raiding options and at long last we are considering adding an extra raid day that day will be Thursday.  We will be doing the first few bosses on this day.  On Monday and Wednesday we will be working on progression only.  We're doing great on progression and as people are gearing up the dps is increasing the tanks are easier to heal and the healers are healing us really well.  This doesn't mean you can stand in things though. We've seen three progression bosses and we totally smashed two of them.  I'm so proud! If I wasn't so exhausted I'd be doing a happy dance right meow.

I'm sorry I became tide and emotional this week. This goes to prove even an old person like me ends up just like Bashies three year old daughter at the end of a hard week. A big thank you to Vonds for taking over the GM role while I rested. She filled up the potion tab in the bank and tied things up. This was wonderful. I just haven't had the time to do that lately.  I'm paying for my game time with wow gold because of my real life sucking and not in a good way. I've had to use my herbs to make potions to sell.  Normally I use those to fill up the guild bank potions.  Unless I use the herbs from the Guild Bank which are normally herbs from  a few guildies I make potions and put them in the guild bank with those. Thanks guys for depositing those herbs in there and sending them to me. I've been flat out at work when I'm not at work I'm looking for a better job which is a good thing for the above mentioned suckiness of my life it does mean I'm having less time to play WoW.

See you all online my lovely WoW family :) Just look at this we've been flirting around the low fifties and up to 48th on the WoW progress. I think we are in a good spot right now apart from my recent melt down lets keep up the good work. I also write another blog related to my desired work as a counsellor.  This week I wrote about giving and caring in an altruistic manner and you guys are an example of just how that can work to provide great outcomes for a group of people.

Trialing New Loot Systems

We are going to be trying a few new loot systems and will be discussing this with everyone as we go along.  The reason for this change to the system is so that we can have a more balanced loot distribution across the raid team which will result in faster progression.  We want everyone geared equally well.  Our old system wasn't working for a few reasons; We had a few people getting lots of gear, other people having to spend a lot of time in PuGs to meet the gear requirements of our guild progression, people getting bored and switching to alts because their mains exceeded the gear requirements of the content we were working on.  We also lost a few people to other guilds because they had exceeded the guild progression and moved to guilds that progressed at a rate they were happy with.

The advantages to having an even loot distribution is that the focus is on the team getting geared not just individual members getting geared. The progression will be easier if people are geared equally and people are less likely to leave the guild or progress past the guild progression.  We have one or two people who discount any hope of getting gear in guild runs and have personal progression by going to PuGs that far exceed where we are as a guild.  As the Guild Master I find this completely dissatisfying.  I view raiding as a team activity where we move through the content together, it's upsetting to think that only one or two people are getting their toons geared and some people in the raid team have to switch to alts because their mains are overly geared.  Some people who want to be in the raid team have to gear up outside of the guild.  Some people have to drop out of the raid team because they just aren't getting gear on the guild runs and don't have time to go to PuG raids or have difficulty getting into PuGs because they don't meet the gear requirements.

I think all of these issues are my responsibility and this is why the officers and I are trialing different loot systems.  If you are having problems with the loot systems we are trialing please express these concerns with us prior to the raid tonight or at any time the officers are online.

Negative feedback is coming to me from a few sources. I am happy to accept negative feedback however, if you are finding things difficult  in the guild I would request that you look at what you can do to improve the guild as well as what other people can do to make your experience in the guild a nicer one.  Its not acceptable to me to hear complaints about particular people if you have not raised this issue with the person yourself.  Ask yourself what are you doing to contribute to the problem? People are not mind readers and we can't magically produce good outcomes for you telepathically. You have to talk to each other about these things. Your first point of call should be what am I doing? What can I do to improve this situation?

I am more than happy to mediate between two people or a group of people and I will advocate for people if I think it's necessary. However, as adults or adults in training I do expect you to be thinking about taking responsibility for yourself and the impact that you have on the group, to be open to receiving criticism yourself as well as being able to give criticism.  If you need assistance in deciding how to improve yourself and your situation in the guild then please have a chat to me about it.  Being part of a team is taking responsibility for yourself and working to making the team a better place.  Its not just up to me.  If you are unhappy in the guild look for a guild that you will be happy in.

New Expac is Coming

The hype is beginning to rev up we haven't reached fever pitch yet, I think I can feel it steadily building. Speculation about where we will be going has started a few bets going in the guild. Are we going to the deep sea or are we facing the legend??  If you haven't worked it out yet I'm not really into the Lore of Warcraft as much as a Guild Leader should be.

I love Warcraft the game and the players.  My real life family and I have been playing this game for ages, 10 years or so.  The thing I like most about the game are the players coincidentally the players are also my least favourite part of the game. I think you all know the kind of people I'm talking about. Those dicks who gank you in the Jungle and make me have to call Bainmar to save me from them so I can catch a few fish. The elitist jerks who spend most of their time putting everyone down while they are standing in fire or sitting in the bg doing nothing on the side of the road.  However, I have grown to appreciate the humour of such players over the years and also discovered the joy of pressing the ignore button.  Oh how I wish there was an ignore button in real life.... The last few expansions have been a bit disappointing however, there have been some great raids and some awesome mechanics. This is of course my second most favourite element of the game Raiding :)

We've got a really good team together now for raiding and a great bunch of people in our guild.  We are looking for a healer preferably and druid or a pally.  I would love to get Nuth back into raiding and Rentail on his Pally I will give it a good go it would be great to have three of my four real life sons in the raid with us.  I'm afraid the chances are slim.  Myself and Bashy will be doing our best to add a pally or a resto druid to our team in the next few weeks.  Once we get them in the guild it's basically impossible for them to leave as Alyianna and Vonds are quick to point out to anyone who joins us.

Every raid we are slowly progressing through the content this week we will hopefully get the 14th boss Socrethar and if you want a brief version of this fight click here.  Keep up the good work guys I'm sure we will get a server first next expac or fun raiding together :)  I consider our guild as an extension of my family and I love raiding with you guys and girls.

What is Casual Raiding?

It seems like an easily answered question doesn't it? What is Casual Raiding? Hard Core raiding requires a committed team to go to raids four to five days a week.  These teams are usually made up of a large group. A Core Team and a Bench. The bench is where players sometimes go to raids as required until a Core member leaves the guild or retires.  The Core Team usually have a number of characters to switch in and out of roles as the fights require different group make up.  To be a Hard Core Raider requires a really high level of commitment. To even sit on the bench for teams like this requires a high level of commitment as you have to keep your gear and skill level up to the standard of the core team which means a lot of pugging knowing the fights inside and out so that anytime you can step into the core raid team and be as proficient as a Core Raider.

I think most people really know what is expected of a hard core raider however, I think there's a bit of a misconception about what a Casual Raid team is.  I think this comes from the word "Casual" it can be interpreted as I rock up, my raid team takes me.  This can cause and has caused, in our guild, some problems for the core team and our general progression.  A more accurate description of a casual raid team would be Part-time raiders.  That is we go twice a week the core team should come both days and have the required knowledge and item level to attend. Some people might only be able to make it to raids one day a week or two days a week, once a fortnight. That's ok we will accommodate for real life commitments and expect people to put their families, life and work before raiding.  The flex raid allows for this kind of raiding.  There are two ranks of raiders in our guild "core raiders" and "social raiders".  The expectation of the core raiders is that these members are coming two days a week and are expected to give notice if they can't come so that we can fill that spot for the required time.  Most of our core raiders are great at doing this. The social raiders can just rock up and get to raid with us however, we do expect you to have the right item level and have at least watched the videos provided by Alysith or other youtube videos if we are on a progression boss.  It would be a great advantage to us if we knew in advance who is coming to the raids.  You can send in game mail to Holyfyre, Alysith or Krinsta (me).

We have made some steady progress and most of us in life and ingame want to be going forward and not backwards. If we bring people who are under geared the whole team suffers.  We don't mind helping to gear guildies and we will take you to the bosses you are appropriately geared for. We will source you appropriate gear if we can. The whole raiding experience for us is a fun time with friends what I'm asking of you is to be courteous to your guildies by following the above rules.

Here's the latest awesome video.

Our progress so far is here

It's a Jungle Out There

The new patch is here and we've been smashing it up in normal HFC.  Our team is looking really strong right now and hopefully we can keep it that way.  Ephi has returned and quickly got gear on gear and is smashing the dps. Bashy will be returning this week to give him a run for his money. Beartanks and Maddy have found their tanking mojo and are shaping up to be a great tanking duo. Pangit is leveling a monk healer and we will all be helping out with getting him geared in the jungle. Bainmar has be having a lot of fun saving us all from the horde corpse camping us in the Jungle so much so that I was able to fish there with the horde happily avoiding me like the plague after getting a taste of their own medicine earlier.If you want to get into PvP send Bainmar ingame mail or give him a shout out in guild chat you will often find him in teamspeak, don't be afraid to pop in there anytime there's usually a few ppl chatting away.

The big news is that we have a new intro for our videos that is awesome and we have the new video of the Heroic Imp fight up on youtube.  It would be great if you could show your support for Alysith aka Brenton by subscribing and liking his videos and sharing them with all your friends on facebook or facecrack as Bashy calls it.  You can see the awesome creative works of  Aly 1.0 by clicking here.

Some real life guild news Holyfyre came to visit Brissy and stayed with Bainmar and I in Boganvillia. We had a great week even though we had arctic weather here we managed to have a nice week together.  We did some serious cooking and eating and I think we didn't really walk of the poundage off although we did do a few big walks with my hounds.

More great news is that our lovely Mage Seebo has been given a tentative all clear on the cancer he's been fighting and is getting back to his normal self which I'm sure is a huge relief to Jess. These guys recently celebrated their 3rd Anniversary. Congratulations what a great couple you are. I'm sure Zemm/Seebo and Jess wont mind me reminding all you young guys to do your self examinations to avoid getting testicular cancer. Find out more by clicking here.

Welcome to the few new players I managed to recruit our new hunter Crucible and Garaktou. Thanks for joining and we hope to see you on Monday and Wednesday night raids.

Co-Op with Conquerors

On Wednesday night the Rifties joined Saroir's guild, Conquerors, in heroic BRF.  It was great fun smashing through bosses and we got two progression bosses down. However, the buzz from the Rifties seemed to indicate that we would all rather go on our own and struggle through with the whole team rather than just a few of us who play really well going with another guild.  However, a select few have been chosen to go with Saroir on the nights that we aren't muddling through on our own.

It's important to remember a lot of Saroirs team are ten item levels above our team.  Once we get through to the next raid with the 690 gear we will be doing well.  I think our strats work well for our team and we have nice clean kills of the heroic bosses we down.  In fact I went with a PuG guild earlier in the week who were struggling with Hans and Franz. I referred them to our video nearly everyone commented on how clean the kill was and how coordinated the fight looked.

We've taken a big hit with our core raid team losing four people being the Gladstone boys for a variety of reasons. Maddy ran into some net issues but is back now.  A few people have decided to join us being Beartank, Pangitmage and Seebo so we are gradually building the team back up. We still have Sol and Nourish who are really core raiders from other servers.

It's not long now until the next raid tier drops so check out the guides if you feel you need to (I need to).

Review of Ranks

Today I posted here regarding the guild ranks.  There was a lot of discussion and some good points raised in the Facebook chat related to this.  I have now changed the ranks. Commanders is no longer a rank. There are currently three officers who were Commanders. The people who were officers have been demoted to Core Raiders. The new ranks that have been added are; Legacy Members, Alts and Returning/Away.  People who are not raiding are Social. The rank Community has gone. The rank 1st Officer is also gone.

The officer chat is exclusively for Officers and myself all other members can chat in whisper, party, raid or guild chat.  Hopefully this will make the guild chat more active.  There will be no further changes to the ranks for a few months so that we can see how this new ranking works out.  If you are upset about the changes remember they are in response to what you have wanted in order to make the guild run better.

You poor officers now have the combined roles of the old commander and officer jobs.  If you need help with doing any of these things let me know.  I'm open to feedback as always however, I would ask that you consider your responses and at least give this new system a fair chance.

Explanation of Ranks

I haven't been very clear about the ranks in the guild. I still need to do a lot of work in making this clear.  Its a work in progress. Below is an explanation of the ranks.

Guild Leader- Oversees and develops future plans for the guild.
                           Guild Management
                               Promoting, Demoting, Guild Kicking
                                   Communicating with guild members of all ranks
                                        Addressing the concerns of Officers and guild members
                                             Delegating particular roles to guild members
                                                 Supporting and guiding implementation of plans
                                                      Develop spreadsheets for information given to commanders
                                                          Source information for guild running
                                                              Meet with other guild leaders to discuss best practices
                                                           
First Officer       Raid Leader
                               Developing future plans for raids
                                   Meeting with Guild Leader regularly to discuss implementation of plans
                                        Overseeing player performance in raids
                                             Develop and maintain spreadsheets of relevant info to share
                                                 Promoting and Demoting raiders as required based on info
                                                     Keeping up to date on raiders gear and item level
                                                         Leading the raid
                                                           Recruitment planning and implementation
                                                              Developing possible guild mergers for raids

Commanders         Assisting with raid strategies
                                   Assisting in future plans for the guild
                                       Recommending changes to raid make and guild generally
                                           Recommendation of recruitment for raids
                                                Assessment of raider performance
                                                    Sharing information with the Guild leader and first officers
                                                          Implementation of plans for the future
                                                              Production of  Videos/Art Design sourcing Music
                                                                  Documentation of information spreadsheets & reports
                                                                       Developing and sourcing the best raid strats for our team

Officers                    Provide an example to guild members
                                     Recruit guild members
                                         Assist potential raiders in obtaining gear (taking ppl through lfr)
                                              Maintaining guild bank as required
                                                   Answering general questions about the guild
                                                        Providing support and information to Commanders
                                                             Assist guild members in fitting into the guild eg pvp or pve

Core Raiders                 Turn up for most of the raids
                                          Recommend strats (prior to raid) to commanders
                                             Recruitment of new guild members
                                                 Notify officers or Guild Leader regarding changes to schedule

Social Raiders                Turn up for raids as real life permits
                                            Recruitment of guild members if they want to
                                                 Notify Guild leader of item levels and what raids they want to do

All these roles are very important and I value all of the guild members and their input into the guild. If you are interested in being promoted to a higher rank please feel free to talk to me about this at any time. You can suggest particular roles that you think might warrant a promotion for example you might want to start and maintain a web page.  You may want to develop social events or in game events.  You may want to play a more important role in recruitment which may involve promotion of the guild in a variety of forms such as on the forums, youtube or trade chat advertising. The possibilities are endless.

I understand that a lot of what people have been doing in the guild goes on without everyone being aware of what has been happening.  Recently I saw that the Commander Role was being done by a few officers so I made a distinct rank for them.  I did this to reward their efforts and to acknowledge the importance of what they have been doing all along. The First Officer Role is a supportive role to my leadership as well as raid leading and is very involved. This role has also been acknowledged. The communication between the ranks may have been lacking lately and I am responsible for this. I'm sorry if I have upset anyone by including these new ranks however, I think that you can see by the work these guild members have been doing deserve recognition.

Hitting the Wall ..Dig Deep for the Team

The next raid tier is coming in June. We've been heading in the right direction to start strongly. However, we've lost a lot of our drive it would seem. Warcraft does get a bit mundane toward the end of an expansion or just before a new raid tier. Lets just keep on going guys if we can get some heroic tier gear for everyone we will be smashing through the last raid. We're going to have a week off the heroic raid and for those of us who are still keen we will PuG a group at the same times we usually raid.  The officers will try to help a few dps gear up enough to join us in normal and then heroic so we aren't struggling when two of our big hitter dps don't turn up. Life happens computers get over heated, poor old Mother Fucker misses two raids because of burnout and both times misses out on the weapon he most desires.

People who aren't officers and even officers don't have to log on and play that much. It's just four hours a week for raiding. It's a team effort and we've been doing such a mighty job lately. We've hit a bit of a wall lets just try our hardest to get over that wall.  There's some really fun fights in the next tier of raiding.  I'm asking you to dig deep for the team guys :)  It is just a game. I know its hard I've hit the wall pretty hard myself. The thing I enjoy the most about raiding is getting together with you lot, a bonus is that lately we've been kicking some serious ass and turning the corner in terms of working as a team. It would be a real shame not to take full advantage of this at this stage.

Have a look at some of the vids I've posted that might inspire you to keep going. If we can just push ourselves a bit who knows what we can achieve.  A special thanks to Aly 2.0's mates who came along last night to help out. Tink, Dahlia and Noobdps for helping us out and giving us a look at Blackhand.

I hope to see you all soon for some heroic boss killing

Gorefiend First Raid Boss Hellfire Citadel

Shadow Lord Iskar

Gear for the next raid  They are still working on this gear so it might turn out better looking in the end.