Gitr, you’re out! Grimr, you’re out! Lockr, you’re out! Priestr, you’re out!
All of my toons were /gkicked from FoA last night. Actually, Lockr /gquit the guild, got the attention that was due, but the result was everyone being pulled. Do I care? Not really. It’s just a game. I still like the people, but the frustration and aggravation associated with guild/alliance raids is more trouble than it’s worth.
What I have a problem with is: as a person with a life (i.e., girlfriend [going on fiance shortly], full-time job, social life at least 4 evenings per week, and other things I like to do away from my computer), I want to actually get to do what is planned when I sit down to play World of Warcraft. What has now happened three (3 for those of you in Rio Linda) times in the last month is that I have signed up for a special time to play in a raid and either not been allowed in or really delayed getting in as they try to find someone *other than me* to get there.
The excuses have ranged from signing up too late (I was the 1st warrior and 3rd rogue/dps this time), don’t have good enough gear (got 2 upgrades this week and got the shaft on that OEB 2 weeks ago that went to a PALLY), and that I’m the wrong spec (I was being considered a warrior as a tank instead of dps, so again -gear-). I signed up on Thursday, called my girlfriend and let her know I planned on being back from the beach with her in time to play. We even had to leave the beach early so she could finish her papers for her management course. I kept Alt-Tabbing in her way to make sure I stayed signed in and got the invite. So what happened?
I never got an invite. The raid was still full from the first run of the afternoon and they were not able to take down Domo. So, instead of going by the list to make sure that those who signed up to play got to, I was denied play time on my one chance to go to MC this week. Why am I paying $15/mo to not play where I want to and where I should be entitled to per the sign-up list?
The raid leader keeps talking about “the best thing for the guild.” Should it be that, or the best thing for those playing? Do those that already play 80 hours per week be allowed to keep playing at the personal expense of those who have to sit out on “their night to play?”
I might add to this soon, so check back later, if you care to.
—————————
Addendum:
Why even have a sign-up sheet if you’re just going to base the composition on who is there and who fits your ideals for a raid?
I was at the point where it was: if I’m going to be repeatedly denied access to MC rep and gear, then I might was well not sign up or be a part of the guild. I’ll get my Dungeon 1 and Dungeon 2 sets some day, some how, and play with the same people that I’ve enjoyed playing with all this time.
I just refuse to be yanked around all the time, expecting to get to play and be told no. I have to deal with that enough in my romantic relationship of expecting to go here or there and eat this or that only to concede to the wishes of the other person. WoW is MY time to play, and if I’m not going to enjoy it because my plans are repeated ruined, then I’ll find others to play with or find another way to play the game.
I think that about covers it as far as my feelings go. I’m out unless I can be assured that the DKP I have earned can be used to get the gear or weapon that they are saying I don’t have. I hope that the members of the guild realize that this is strictly a raid organization/leadership decision, not as a reflection of the members of the guild itself. I certainly didn’t burn any bridges with the people, and was getting my fair share of whispers from people after I was kicked.
Ugh! That sucks so bad… On one hand, I know how hard it is to organize a raid. I have the utmost respect for a guild leader, and the position that they are put in to get the right people in the raid, etc… But on the other hand, if you have a sign up system, as your guild has, they should definitely stick to it. Sorry to hear about this.
NOTE: I am posting Tox’s reply to the forum’s notice of my departure for him. This is not his post on the blog itself, just in my defense of my case to the guild leadership:
Gitr is my roommate and coworker – so I’ve heard a lot about what’s going on in the past little bit.
One comment that was made to me seems relevant. I know, with few exceptions, that spots are not guaranteed. Since signing up only sort of matters, rather than have people adjust their social lives to still not be able to attend, I was wondering if we could do one of 3 things:
1.) Only put people’s names on the list (the one Tal maintains) who are guaranteed* a spot, so that people don’t rearrange social schedules only to watch themselves get excluded when invites start going out. If people otherwise post messages indicating that they wish to participate – but are not as well prepared, then they would be considered available, but not on the list officially, so that it was understood that they may not be able to get in the instance in all cases.
2.) The offshoot of this is doing something mentioned a long time ago – the institution of the “raiding” subclass. Make the membership of this group linked to whatever you want…gear, dps, attendance, etc.
If not a raider – then spots are not guaranteed – but I don’t know how ugly that would get.
3.) Less attractive, if there are questions about dedication such that there are concerns about handing Tier 1 epics etc to people otherwise not so well equipped (dessert?), then put underperforming people on some sort of probation, and limit their ability to spend DKP.
NOTE: I am not a fan of option 3 – as it seems contrary to FoA ideology – and general attitudes of casual friendliness. Moreover – poorly geared people will see the biggest jumps in performance with new gear.
*denotes those who are either named Fish, a class leader, or otherwise particularly effective in their class role(s), as expressed by the raid leader.
Sounds to me like they don’t have a specific set of rules in place that can help you determine your chances of attending a raid.
For instance, my guild has too many warriors (relative to other classes). Simple rule: tanks take precedence over dps. If you are a dps warrior, you may be superceded by a tank. You are a warrior and want to join the guild? Fine, your warrior becomes an alt (which means last dibs on gear) and you roll another toon as your main. Thus, warriors know their chances up front.
Frankly, being so hard-ass about specs and the such is kind of unnecessary. My guild had its first Luci kill about a month ago, mostly with people in blues&greens who had never seen MC before. Last week, we mopped up the first 7 bosses in around 7 hours total. This was with at least one priest who is shadow specced, a couple of dps warriors, a feral druid, and at least one fire mage.
Your former guild should try removing the large stick from their asses, and stop using bullshit excuses like specs and gear to justify their loot-whoring.
The problem, as far as I see it, isn’t that you are a ‘casual’ player, or that you have a life which is causing problems for the guild.
The basic problem is that your guild has too many active warriors competing for the warrior slots. No matter how the guild leader deals with it, he’s not going to have an acceptable solution until the guild loses some warriors.
In this respect, you may be better off finding a guild that is in more need of warriors. Or levelling an alt in a class with less people.
Though the gear excuse is silly. You can’t gear up without going on raids, so being disallowed from raids because of gear is a Catch-22.
Oh, and congratulations on the fiance thing! Though if your girlfriend reads this blog, won’t it be less of a surprise for her?
Basically, you got screwed.
I hate to hear about stories like this because I went through the same thing on my first 60. Somewhere along the road to clearing MC my guild changed. Instead of valuing all people in the guild, the leaders valued the people that would show up to every single raid. It didn’t matter how long you had been in the guild. If you didn’t make the cut, then your spot would be given to someone else, probably a new recruit. The guild wasn’t about the people in the guild, but about which bosses the guild had taken down.
So I quit playing WoW for a while, and then returned to a new server and a new character. Now I am one of the people running a casual raiding guild. I have so much fun because the guild is about the people first, and the progression second.
You’ve just basically described EXACTLY why I will never – EVER – join a raiding guild. Not in a million years. I am not expendable. I am not a resource to be mined. If not bending myself over a chair to be reamed by some an imaginary internet bureaucracy means never being decked out in epic gear, I’ll call it a fair trade.
I’m really sorry to hear that your main toons have been treated so badly. Does that mean you’re going to start focusing on Priestr, then? =)
I will be concentrating on leveling Grimr, my 36 hunter to level 40 for the immediate time being, but only when I’m not on UBRS, LBRS, etc for my Valor set.
I am interested in your opinion of my healing ability, whether I should put my effort into Priestr or if I should take the easy solo road of Lockr, who is already a 19 with every blue Deadmines has to offer. If a priest is a viable option for me, then I will seek the assistance of Tox and ‘Neb to get that gear from DM because I can’t stomach another PuG in THAT place after running it 20 times on Sen’jin with that Priestr.
The guild’s leaders sound like morons anyways. Try to join up with a more organised bunch and leave the 2nd rate guild to themselves.