Thursday, April 29, 2010

Why we're so upset about the changes

Yesterday I decided to write a post about ghouls, because I thought that I as well as the blogosphere needed a break from the debate about the Cataclysm changes to raiding. I imagined that if I looked somewhere else my bad stomach feeling about what will happen to my own raiding in Cataclysm would go away.

I was wrong, of course. Shying away from worries will only rarely make them dissolve into thin air. Talking about the ghosts normally works much better. So let's talk a little bit more about them. After this post I think I'll be done with this for a while and can focus on the sources of joy in the game. Yeah, I still have those - my resilience for close-to-the-end -an-expansion-blues is pretty solid.

Feeling uneasy
But first: one more therapeutic post for the road. Somehow I can't help feeling a little bit uneasy at the big rift that is running right through the community in this issue. And my own reaction surprises me. Can't I just enjoy it for what it is: a good discussion and a fun exchange of thoughts, aiming to broaden our views, bending the arguments around and giving us new perspectives?

Apparently not. I'm getting way more emotional about this than I want to. I tell myself in a rather severe voice that I should just get the hell out that emo crap.

"You are an adult, this is just a bunch of pixels, a freaking game for crying out loud, and those changes mean NOTHING and by the way are you really that kind of conservative nay-sayer, I'm disappointed with you. Everything - including WoW - changes and you just have to live with it. Grow up! And besides, what does it matter to you what anyone else thinks? Cut this bullshit!"

Do I listen to myself? For a while. But then I read yet another of those triumphant posts :

"Wohoo for those changes, now I can raid with my closest friends (/flex, I'm a member of a tightly knitted little imba group who have been together forever). You e-peen infested 25 manners should just stop whining - if you can't get a 25 man raid going in Cataclysm it's because 25 man raiding sucks in the first place, so go and die in a fire. QQ a bit more. And besides you're probably just horrible players who are carried by others and are just in it for the loot. "
Well it isn't exactly written like that. But it's the spirit. And then I feel a pain in my stomach because it comes from bloggers who I normally love and respect and regard as friends. They're happy for a change that I believe is a threat to the kind of game I love. It's totally childish and weak to thing this way, but nevertheless I feel a little miserable when I see stare into this fence that come between us.

The split within Blizzard
Actually this split seems not to only go through the blogosphere; it's also seems to be a topic for a lot of heated discussions within Blizzard, reading the replies from Zarhym in a forum thread if you read between the lines:

"we know very well that this change may impact some guilds, as did the removal of 40-player raids and addition of 10- and 25-player versions. Just as there isn't a lack of feedback on these forums about the proposed changes, there isn't a lack of internal discussion about how to make this system work so that it doesn't hurt the 25-player raid game."

"The internal discussions that take place on any given topic can get quite heated. We all push strongly for what we feel is best for the game, but ultimately try to listen to dissenting opinions. Eventually a decision is made, but that's not before a good number of people with very different play styles get together, fight, and then hug it out. ;p"

I guess that's what we're doing now. Regardless of if we're in Blizzard or just plain players, we're fighting. Some of those crying loudest believe that they're arguing out of unselfish reasons, "objectively" looking at what's best for the game. But unless you're a Blizzard employee, I would say most of us in fact are just trying to protect our own little worlds from falling apart.

So we're fighting. And eventually we'll hug it out and move forward into Cataclysm, except for those why will move somewhere else - to RL or another game, since WoW has lost its appeal.

Fear and hope
In the end, I think the fighting comes out of our own, personal, strictly selfish fears and hopes, even if we don't admit it to ourselves.

Every expansion is a huge challenge to any guild. Of course players re-evaluate their playing all the time, but around an expansion every single one has to do it at the same time and you don't know the outcome. Who will stay in the team, who will want to try out something else, who will quit gaming or going casual? How many will you have to recruit to keep the raid machinery going? And looking at it from a member-perspective - can you rely on your officer squad to stay around for yet another round? You never know - you just have to put your trust into them.

We all have those questions. Will my guild still be around on the other side of Cataclysm? Will it still be raiding 25 mans or will the "best" players rather move over to the 10 man format so they can compete better for first kills and achievements? Or if you're in a 10 man guild you might ask if some people will leave for 25 man raiding, although I personally doubt we'll see much of that. (I could be wrong though, you're welcome to tease me if it turns out the opposite.)

Anyway. It's a bit like playing Musical Chairs, before you know it you might end up without anywhere to sit.

The stir-up that comes with the changes will without any doubt lead to changes in the guild structures. Many have made comparisons to what happened when they removed 40 man raids, and so does Zarhym:

"we know very well that this change may impact some guilds, as did the removal of 40-player raids and addition of 10- and 25-player versions."
The thing is that if you've raided in a guild for years, spending hundreds and hundreds of hours learning, laughing, grumping, joking, yelling, pissing each other off, everything on the scale from love to hate, it isn't just something you walk away from easily. Separations hurt.

I believe that the many of the 2 000 comments at MMO champion on this topic are written out of this fear. "What will happen to me and my guild? Will we survive this?"

I'm lucky enough to be in a guild which I believe is quite stable. We're approaching our two year anniversary and we've seen loads of 25 man guilds on our server breaking down over the course of time. We're one of the very few who manage to stay around, still going strong. Because of this I have faith in that we'll be around for Cataclysm. But you can never be entirely certain about anything. There's always a little room for a gnawing doubt and we won't be absolutely sure until we've run our first 25 man raid in Cataclysm.

Chasing out the ghosts
So. Now I've definitely seen enough of those ghosts. Time to get rid of them. Shoo! Get out of my inn! And you over there, yes you, please open the door and let in some sunlight and fresh air!

There's still so much fun going on in WoW. Yes! There really is! TB might be bored out of his mind according to the last show, but I'm certainly not.

Right now I'm super-excited about our steady progress in the final fight in ICC, the defeat of the Lich King. Who said we couldn't manage those twitchy defiles? Last raid, after two more spent wipe nights, we had him to 17 percent in the typical last-for-the-night-so-make-it-count-try. This means in fact only 7 percent from a kill and I can't wait for our next raiding week. If nothing unexpected happens it sure won't be long before I can call myself Kingslayer!

And the split in the community and my silly worries suddenly seem very distant. Vanished even.

34 comments:

Gronthe said...

It'll be ok, just let it all out! There, there, it'll be ok.

This is my first experience with an expansion, and wouldn't ya know it, it's the one with probably the most changes.

I say we all take our drinks out to the patio (you do have one, right) and get more of that fresh air.

Go ahead, Larisa, find your happy place! Everything will work itself out...we hope.

Klepsacovic said...

You're such a social!

Lynda said...

Take heart Larisa. I think players are already getting tired of arguing about the raiding changes... I know I am! It get's mentally and emotionally exhausting. Now that opinions are expressed, let's belly up to the bar. First round's on me.

Anonymous said...

I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about and that this change might be beneficial to you, if you are in a stable 25-man raiding guild that isn't very progression-oriented and has remained together as friends for so long.

Ngita said...

At the moment i am hoping it will have no effect on us. Will it affect some? I believe so.

Why are people worried? Just because you want to keep doing 25 man raiding does not mean your whole guild will. What happens if 10 split off?

Joar said...

Totally agree about taking the drinks out to the patio. Maybe we could get some kind of band to start up while we're out there. Nothing quite beats drinking outside with live music and talking through stuff.

As someone who doesn't raid very frequently, I can honestly say this change isn't likely going to impact me at all. I usually only raid anywhere from 2-4 times per month and very rarely get any gear from it when I do. So better gear in a 10 man doesn't make much of a difference to me.

The one thing that I can say is there are a lot of great points of view being debated, discussed and written about out there and I can really see the points that both sides are making.

And that to me is extremely interesting. Much more so than whether sparkly ponies are going to ruin the world.

So, I'll grab a beer, go find a good guitar player, pull up a chair and listen.

Fitz said...

Here's an interesting question that probably deserved its own blog entry but working 12 hours today has me burnt: do you raiding will be more accessible or less accessible in Cataclysm? It seems like with the focus on making more small raids that the door would be more open, but shared 10/25 lockouts and raids being harder by the fact that you cannot overgear 10 mans anymore seem to bend the other way.

Well even if we want to break from the topic of the week, I will say this. Cataclysm will be different in most aspects of this fine old game, so let's hold our beer in one hand and our butts in the other and go along for the ride.

PS - I don't know how to be a ghoul either. As a healer, I'm getting battle rez'd or we've wiped!

Chelm said...

Larisa, I really feel you're making too much out of these changes. I've been around since the beginning- people predict doomsday every expansion. In a year's time, you'll be happily raiding in Cataclysm with your guild and won't even remember this.

Side point, the world and server firsts will be done by 25 mans, not 10 mans

Copperbird said...

Good luck on the Lich King! It's amazing how a good night of progression will make things feel better (we had Putricide and Lanathel down for the first time last night too, guess we magically got 5% better :P)

I'm not really convinced that my group will make it unscathed into Cataclysm. For a start we're a raid alliance, and Blizzard has explicitly said that they aren't going to support that. If we want to still raid 25s together then we won't be getting any of the guild bonuses.

Plus there's the issue that the really hardcore guys will level to 85 really fast, start 10 man raiding, and then no one will ever catch up. Maybe they'll level alts for 25 man raids, but their 10 man raid nights will always come first.

I really like 25 mans, but if there are persistent A team B team issues, I don't know how keen I'm going to be.

Anonymous said...

I'm quite sure that Blizzard will respond on reactions of players all over the world. If 10man boss drops only one item and same 25man drops three of them or even four, 25man raiding will stay appealing as it is. Especially for larger guilds that have firm friendly environment.

Shintar said...

I was quite surprised by how agitated I became about these changes myself. Maybe it's because they feel dishonest. If Blizzard just said that they'll remove 25-mans I'd still be somewhat upset, but probably less so. With the currently proposed system it feels to me like they are effectively aiming to scrap 25s(which is only backed up by them comparing events to back when 40-mans were removed) but not without making people suffer through some drama first just so they can preserve an illusion of choice.

And I hear you about the hurtful comments from some ten-man raiders. I could understand it if they were saying things along the lines of "Finally I'll get my guild to focus on ten-mans like I always wanted to!", but many of them are already in successful ten-man guilds and I can't entirely shake the feeling that they just enjoy feeling superior or something (even if it's not quite rational).

But yeah, best to focus on the here and now. Hugs to the gnome!

Jb said...

Ghosts or no ghost, its getting abit boring to hear about changes to wow that will be implemented in 5-6 months or so. Can someone plz talk about changes comming in the near future. Like the 3.5 patch with new dungeon/raid in Dragonblight. I seem to recall it beeing implemented in may or something. Any news there ?

zetter said...

To be fair from the 10 man point of view I hope 25 man guilds will keep together and keep going if they are a strong guild who are in it for fun and challenges they will. The hard question is for the raid leader and guild master who will need to make a call on if the Logistical difficulties are still worth it.

I like to think those comments from strict 10 man raiders on the blogs is more a case of we get a chance to be taken more seriously. At the moment you have to put up with comments that often come from 25 man guilds that we are only doing "easy mode" raid and if we were serious we would get into those 25 mans and take the training wheels off.

Yours appears to be a strong friendly guild who have been together a long time so I think you have less to be worried about than some who will be thinking on their roster and wondering who is actually there because the phat lootz is better on 25 man.

Zetter

Talarian said...

Strangely enough I believe this type of announcement has a counterpart in the real world: reorganizations at your place of work.

I work for a very large company, so my "little" team of 60 people feels like a bit of a family now. We just found out that our team was being disbanded then the rest of us rolled into another team with a different direction (while the rest of our organization is changing as well).

I think you hit the nail on the head with people feeling uneasy and how this will affect their own guild. It's one thing to argue dispassionately that the changes are for the best, but it's hard to feel objective when your "family" is being threatened with a change that may alter it significantly. We get comfortable with the people that we know, we respect and we enjoy, and stepping out of that comfort zone is difficult.

We're just learning about who our new managers will be on my new team. Some we know already, others are new to us. While this is occurring we're still trying to solidify our new direction, and we have teammates moving to other teams, organizations in the company, and other companies. It's clear that our "family" will not survive intact, and that it will be a very different dynamic.

But in that end, that's what it is. It's a dynamic. We'll change during this change, we'll adapt, or we'll move to another team with a dynamic that's more appealing, or another company entirely, just as every other employee in my organization is doing right now.

WoW is still dynamic, not static. The game changes, it evolves, and it's a better game overall for it. The removal of 40 man raids changed the social dynamic, the LFD tool also changed the social dynamic. Daily quests, cross-server battlegrounds, and hard modes and timed-run raids changed the social dynamic. Cataclysm will bring about many changes that will change the social dynamic, between the guild leveling system, Cross-Blizzard-Game chat with Battle.Net, and the changes to 10 and 25 man raiding.

And like you touch upon, we will adapt. Our guilds will change to fit the new mold or create a new mold. Or we'll move to a guild that fits us better.Or we'll vote with our feet and find a new game.

Change is scary, but without change WoW would have died to Warhammer, LotRO, EQ2 and GuildWars three years ago. The game will always be a bit of a bumpy ride, but it's certainly not a dull one!

Gevlon said...

Larísa, don't miss my post tomorrow!

Iapetes said...

Pfft, arguing is my default position with Kleps and we're something resembling friends. He gets weirded out any time we fully agree on anything.

Iapetes said...

Gevlon aren't you supposed to be the guy who doesn't care what anyone else thinks which you use as an excuse to act amorally or something along those lines?

Seems weird that you're so eager to see what other people have to say about your latest posts!

Dwism said...

I think I've said what needs to be said on my opinion on this 25 and 10 raid changes. (And I hope to God you did not read into my post, that I was the quoted one you had in your post).

But I think this calls for a little history lesson. When I joined my guild (this was when BWL was the hottest place to be), they had 3 MC teams, as we called them back then. 3 40-manned raidgroups. 3.
1 of them we do not talk about, there was a lot of drama and mc2 is still very much taboo in our guild (at least amongst the old guys) but regardless we had 2 very active raid groups doing 40 manned content (and competing on it), and some more loosely fit groups doing the 20 manned raids.
It was a huge organization. And I did'nt even know half the pricks running in mc1.

(don't worry im getting to a point)

Then TBC came, and these big raidgroups where forced to start in, not 40, not 25 but 10 manned groups, because then Karazhan was the only entry-level raid available.

That was a huge blow. Some of the fractions from our guild returned to their old guilds, some stopped playing.
I am not trying to belittle your feelings on this, but *that* was a huge change in raiding. This... Not so much.
On the contrairy your guild will have the oportunity to ditch the boring gear-up vacuuming of 10 manned raids where you where overgeared, and instead focus on what they love the most: 25 manned raiding.

So get yourself a nice big g&t (or whatevers your preferred poison) and put your feet up on the table and take a deep sigh of relief. Cata is going to be bliss for 25 manned raiders. Go you!! :)

Dwism said...

@shintar.
You are -honestly- so way way off on this.
Do you seriously honestly think this is a ploy from blizzard to remove 25 manned? and they way of doing it, is to make sure there is as much drama as possible in it?

If people did not like 10 manned, they do not have to do them any longer in order to be at their best for 25, if people felt like they needed the gear from 25 in order to progress in 10, they do not need to worry about it either.

You do not have to raid, in a raid-size you do not like any longer. That is the bottom line.
If there are people who wants to raid 25 (and there are LOADS) then 25 manned raiding won't die out.

If there are people who likes world pvp, that wont die out. And it has not, even though world pvp offers no rewards.
Think about that. The sky is not falling, somebody IS thinking of the children.

Dàchéng said...

I'm sure I don't understand how these changes could be bad. People doing 25-man and enjoying it now can carry on doing that. People who are doing 25-man for the gear but not enjoying it can switch to 10-man if they'll enjoy that better, with no gear penalty. They can easily be replaced in the 25-man guild - there are always players wanting to step up.

As for raid leaders, the 25-man raid leader who thrives on the organizational skills required will carry on as normal. Those who are stressed out or burnt out by it can move to organizing 10-man raids or pass the baton of organization to somebody else, exactly like today. the only difference is that if they find 10-man organizing less stressful, they can do it without a gear penalty. Surely that's a good thing?

In summary, if you like 25-man raids, you won't be stopped from doing them (unlike when 40-man raids disappeared). If you are doing them because you want the gear, but not really enjoying them, things will be better in Cataclysm; for you, and for the 25-man guild you left (because they'll replace you with somebody who likes 25-man raiding). This is a win-win situation.

pewter said...

I suppose I'm even a little complacent about the changes, because no one in my guild except for me and one officer is really considering the impact. We're all very much 'business as usual', beyond the officers maybe thinking 'oh less headaches', we have 20+ people who want to raid together, not in separate groups.

So we're all making the assumption that the volunteers will carry on. In fact we're HAPPY because less time is going to be wasted on 10 man drama. Unless a significant section of the guild decides to form it's own 10 man group, 10 mans will become a parallel/alt progression for us, enabling our guild to be more relaxed about mains v alts.

Markus said...

I guess I fall into that camp of "It's just a game." I don't understand how people get all wound up about pixels, purple or otherwise. I was in my previous guild for about 3 years. We had all the usual drama, cliques and turnover. We had issues with raiding when Karazhan came out and they continued well into Wrath. Proving your self-worth by trumpeting your "achievements" in a computer game doesn't sit well with me. I still laugh at the guy who put raid leading as experience and a skill on his resume and wondered why he didn't get the job.

Maybe I would have felt differently if I had actually met some of my guildees in person, but I never did. They were toons on a screen and voices in vent. Once I turned off the computer, they became words in a forum. Nothing as satisfying as the flesh and blood of a person sitting right in front of you.

The game will go on regardless of any changes in Cataclysm. The complaints will disappear as people experience something new and then the complaints will come back as people get bored. It's the same circle of QQ that happens in this game.

Larísa said...

@Gronthe: Yeah, to be honest I think it will. I just needed to rant a bit more, but now I think I’m done with it.

@Klepsacovic: yeah, I suppose I am in a way. Which is strange since I mostly keep to myself in game, not socializing much whatsoever. Weird.

@Llyrra: Thanks for that! Yep, let’s move on!
Cheers!

@Anonymous: I hope so. Admittedly all of our current 35 raiders haven’t been around since the start, only a third of us. We’ve had a bit of a turnover, like all guilds. But it feels as if we’re sort of institutionalized, so I have good hopes that we’ll live through what may come of this change.

@Ngita: well what happens if 10 split off is that suddenly you can’t make your 25 man raids happening and if it takes too long for you to recruit new players, your guild might die. Not that strange of people get a bit worried…

@Joar: I’ll add a guitar player to the setting. Perfect.

@Fitz: Hm... I think their intention is to let it remain at least as accessable as it has been in Wrath. And if the tendency goes in another direction they’ll tweak it somehow. My two cents.

@Chelm: I’m definitely moving on now that the first shock has wore off.

@Spinks: hehe… I’m a little bit disappointed about the 15 percent buff. We could SO had made it on 10 percent, given just two or three more tries, but it was the end of the raid night and we always end our raids sharply – which is a good thing.

@Dalaran Stroll: yeah, I suppose they still might tweak things a bit, as a matter of fact, they say so in the forum thread I linked to. If the effects on raiding are too bad they’ll change stuff for 4.1. The question is how many guilds will have perished by then…

@Shintar: Hugs to you too! Let’s try to shake off the worries now and just enjoy Wrath.

@Jb: It’s complete silence about it as far as I know of. But they’d better hurry up I believe, I have the feeling that quite a few players will go on a break, playing other games until Cata, if they don’t throw some new content to us soonish.

@Zetter: I’ve seen quite a few posts on our forums from members saying that they couldn’t care less about the changes since they’re not in it for the loot anyway. So I have hope.

@Talarian: Of course you’re right. But nevertheless: if you’ve got a job I think you’re more motivated to adapt to changes and take them from the bright side since you don’t have any option – it’s your living. In a game you might come to the conclusion that it’s too much of your passed that just goes down in the drains and that you can’t be bothered to build up new relations in a new team again. I’d dare say that some of the “victims” in this change might call it a day. However, there’s always an influx of new players, who might be attracted by the raid formula of Cataclysm, so I don’t expect Blizzard to be too worried about that.

@Gevlon: Of course I won’t miss it! I suspect that this was a little bit too much on the social side for you to like so I expect some Larísa bashing!

@Iapetes: I liked your counterpost to Klep!

@Dwism: Gin and grape tonic is a favourite of mine – of course you read my mind! Sounds pefect. I hope I’ll somehow land on my feet in Cata. I assure you I won’t dig down any further into this cave – I’m all for some fresh air now.

@Dàchéng: did you really read this post? What I think you miss is the value we put to the guild we’re in and the fear we have for losing it. If you’ve only been pugging your raids through Wrath this isn’t a big deal. But if you’ve invested your gameplay into a guild it is.

@Pewter: No big worries in our guild either. I’m probably the only one thinking too much.

@Markus: Yeah. A part of me thinks exactly the same way as you. But sometimes I get emo voices in my head as well. Ghosts. Just have to chase them out like I just did. Blogging is SO therapeutic.

Shintar said...

@DWism

Haha no, I don't think there's a ploy or anything. I was just trying to put into words how hollow the current promises that they do want to support 25-man raiding ring to me.

Analogue said...

Welcome to what Resto Druids went through a couple weeks back. Most of us have come to terms with things now. The feeling of "This is what makes WoW special to me and the devs are not showing any understanding of why that is or what their changes are going to mean to that".

What changed that for me personal as a resto? When they came out and basically said "Oh your new cooldown is going to be like Ancient of War and it might do X and Y with your spells" and I said "Huh, that is actually cool and not just a straight 'N more healing for M seconds' deal, maybe they have a clue".

Not saying the cases are entirely parallel, but do work hard to keep the future from ruining your present.

Dàchéng said...

Hi Larísa,

Well of course I read your post, and I understand you're worried about losing your guild. But my point is, you won't. You'll only lose those members who didn't really enjoy 25-man raiding as much as 10-man raiding, but were nonetheless doing 25-man raids for the gear. In return, you'll replace them with raiders who actually want to raid 25-man because they enjoy it, not because they need the gear that only 25-man raids offer. Surely that can only strengthen your guild?

Anonymous said...

I HATE "it's just a game". It is my hobby and over the years I have got to know many of the people in my guild very well (some I have met IRL as well at guild meets, others not). Being concerned about what is going to happen to your home in the game is perfectly valid.

However, I think the changes will have less impact that people believe. I do not believe that 25man raiding is going the way of the dodo.

Yes, 25mans are harder to organise. I know. We went from 10 (Naxx & Uld) to 25 (ToC & ICC) and we're still trying to get the admin streamlined. But it being harder to organise doesn't actually affect the majority of players. It only really affects the organisers (raid leaders, officers et al). Those are people that have a vision and a will to do all that boring admin work to make things happen. If you currently are part of running a 25-man guild and you enjoy the people and the raiding - where is the incentive to you to scale down?

It is people that are struggling with making the admin happen or not enjoying it that may want to downscale - and I think that is likely to be newer guilds. Stable guilds have little reason for concern - they've been doing this for a long time now.

I can completely understand the happiness that infuses the 10-man guilds right now. I remember the happiness we felt when they announced all Wrath raids would be available as 10-mans.

I also remember the frustration that followed. Certain gear slots that took 2 tiers to replace since if you only raided 10-mans there was no drops for that slot for you. 25-man raiders stomping all over you calling 10-mans easy mode - when they blew through them in the 25-man gear. Having no chance to measure your progress against other 10-man guilds as the 25-man guilds would always be at the top and the strict rankings are VERY strict to the point of impossible to make your guild follow.

There have been stupid, hurtful comments slung both ways on this topic and I think it is selfish childishness to stoop to that level. Everyone is entitled to their happiness and everyone is entitled to their fear and worry - they are not mutually exclusive. We are still one community with a hobby we share.

We haven't discussed this much in our guild apart from noting that it will happen. Who knows how the change will play out - particularly in conjunction with the guild levelling system? Who knows how many raiders we will have when that time comes? We have raided 10, we have raided 25 - the important thing is to raid with a good group of people and enjoying it.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go find something nice to wear - we are celebrating our 4th guild anniversary with an IRL guild meet at the weekend. :-)

Belghast said...

Earlier in this week I was certain the sky was falling.... however at this point I am trying my best to take a "wait and see" stance.

All these changes have had one positive reaction for me however. Basically I have decided that all the stress and frustration don't matter anymore. I am going to strive to enjoy my raid to the fullest, and all the people and personalities in it. I am not saying these are the final days, but if they are I don't want to remember them as being stressful.

Markus said...

During Ulduar, we tried to setup 2 main 10-mans and then run the 25-man together. At one point Team A decided they wanted to blow through the content, so they took the best possible composition by taking members from Team B when they needed to fill a slot. Ultimately, this ruined Team B (ever try to do an undergeared 10-man Ulduar with 5 druids, no pallies, priests or shamans?) and ended up splitting the guild.

Team A would not even consider balancing out the 2 teams and would just tell Team B to "lrn2play." It was at this point that raiding became a chore and I took a break as ICC came out.

I imagine most guilds have gone through this already, so the changes in Cataclysm shouldn't be much of an issue. The lockout is the only thing that seems to be a concern and I am sure Blizz will come up with something.

Anonymous said...

***In the interest of respect for the Innkeeper and her other guests, SpiritusRex carefully sets aside his prediction for the death of 25-mans due to combined raid lockouts***

Ok, now that our winter of fear is over and we have moved on to the patio where Spring has begun to show its glorious colors in an attempt to wash our minds and bodies of the cold (both mental and physical) of Northrend, let us bask in the sun, drink the flowing ales (dwarven, I presume) and join in merriment.

Oh, excuse me, may I timidly ask a question? Can somebody please hold my hand and tell me that those are not really thunderclouds in the west I see?

The thunderclouds of course being the changes to my beloved raiding hunter. That cursed demonhunter, Illidan, was right all along, I am not prepared.....

There is always a doomsayer in the group, and, unfortunately, this week it looks as if I'm the one unwilling to take off the mantle - my apologies to all, it has been a troubling week or two.

**Spiritus looks deeply into his tawny ale as if seeking the answers to WoW's imponderables**

SpiritusRex

Anonymous said...

P.S. Cheers and have a great weekend, Larissa and others.

Spiritus

Chewy said...

I don't like the changes for all the good reasons others have mentioned.

Then I remember Darwin, it's not the strongest that survive, it's the ones that can best adapt to change.

Take a drink from Llyrra and I'll get the next round in.. "drink up for tomorrow we die" then we get ressed and then we die again and res and die... not that different really :)

Larísa said...

@Analogue: I have a resto druid alt and being in tree form is definitely an essential part of my identity. I really hope this change doesn't make it into Cataclysm. There's still hope they'll change their minds.

@Tufva: oh grats on the 4 year! That's quite an achievement! I'm a bit envious about your guild-meetup!

About the community: I hope people have gotten their joy and fear out of their system now and that we can come together again after this turbulent week.

@Belghast. Carpe Diem I suppose. Living in the present and not worrying too much about the future. Sounds like a good call.

@Markus: I can see why you took a break. That kind of guild drama is painful.

@SpiritusRex: cheers! Doomsayer or not, you're always welcome to the inn. We have to try to help each other to cheer up and look forward.

@Chewy: at this speed of drinks served I'll get quite tipsy. But then it's Friday, so why not?

Cheers for meeting the changes with an open mind!

Stabs said...

I've been thinking about this for a few days. I finally came up with a blog post that might interest you, Larisa.

http://stabbedup.blogspot.com/2010/05/wow-cataclysm-raiding-positivity-for.html