Those that have followed my posts here since I started writing know that I’m a two-faced WoW player. =) I don’t mean two-faced in that way. I mean it in another sense.
I belong to two guilds. Unpossible, and Team Sport. Both guilds are fantastic, and I’m so proud to be in both of them. I always consider myself a multi-faceted player. I like progression, and I also like casual. Each guild provides me with a different part of that.
We’re all in the mood to pound our heads against the new content. Whether you’re struggling or conquering, it’s always exciting to battle new bosses and collect your new rewards. It’s something we’ve all come to love about raiding or just gaming in general. What about some of the little things that bring you joy?
Unpossible
Lodur and I have definitely bonded since we started talking. I had been looking for a new place to send my priest, since my last guild wasn’t working out. I wanted a place that was progression-oriented but had the same “family” feel that Team Sport does. When we started talking about Unpossible, my eyes lit up. It seemed (on the surface) like everything I was looking for. It wasn’t brow-beating its members into submission. Family and real life always came first, but they were all there to conquer the endgame content.
The application process was complex but well worth it. I was being asked to join raids, main nights as well as off-nights. This is one of the oldest surviving guilds on the server. Most of this team had cleared Vanilla WoW content together. Needless to say, I felt like an outsider.
There were two moments that absolutely solidified my feeling of being a member of Unpossible.
The first, was our first walk into Icecrown. No one had seen the..
Instance not found.
Our palms were sweaty with anticipat…
Instance not found.
Okay, let’s at least try to get a warlock inside so we…
Instance not found.
Sweet, we’re all in! We manage to get the first couple of mobs down until the huge Skele on the wall spawns. Almost reminiscent of the terror that the Statue of Liberty spreads in Ghostbusters II, we lose a couple healers and a couple DPS. It’s okay, let’s have them rez and run back. Everyone rebuff…
Instance not found.
You get the point. All joking aside, stepping into Icecrown and figuring things out from scratch made me feel like I was truly an Unpossible member, even if we only got one attempt in on Marrowgar.
The second solidifying moment came a week later. Now that the initial instance server issues had been somewhat resolved, it was easy to actually get our whole team in there. We cleared Marrowgar with little difficulty, and it was time for Deathwhisper. With our raid leader hollering out orders, demanding we step it up and get the hell out of Death and Decay, Deathwhisper’s health dwindled. People died to the invincible ghosts. Healers started to drop. We were seconds away from the enrage timer. Then, she enraged. Tanks were one-shotted. Healers were brushed into non-existence. Two people remained, and the DoTs were ticking away. 1%. 0.7%. 100k Health. 47k Health. 6k Health. The final raid member at 4,000 health. “You have defeated Lady Deathwhisper.” Screams echoed through Ventrilo. It was the first time I had been there for a guild first. So satisfying. I’m truly a member of Unpossible now. Killing a tough boss is one thing, but bleeding and sweating for that first kill with a new guild is amazing.
Team Sport
I’ve been gaming with most of these guys since early BC, when my warlock was 40 and had just gotten my first mount. We’re a rag-tag group of knockarounds, but we love the game, and we love trying to do our best at it. There may be people that disagree, but people generally really enjoy adding us to their raid. We’ve got about 18 members with varying schedules, so it’s tough to get our own raid together. We don’t mind. We all knew this signing up. Anyone that applies to Team Sport (yes, we even had someone server transfer to play with us) knows this as well. This doesn’t mean we’re lackluster about raiding. When we can get enough people on, we jump all over it.
Is each and every member totally top notch? No. No team is totally perfect. Even I’m not completely on my game (I’ve had a few too many “Diet Cokes”). Personally, I was a little worried about some of the coordination needed for some of the ToC fights. After initial struggles with tanking Northrend Beasts, we made it through Icehowl, and one-shotted Jaraxxus.
Here’s where it got interesting.
A lot of guilds have CC rotations and full-on strategies for Faction Champions. Druids, Warlocks and Mages alternating their crowd control. Rogues and Warriors locking up healers. I initially tried to craft a CC plan. We tried it, and we failed. So we did it the Team Sport way.
Team Sport is known for our love of PvP. We have various Arena Teams, and we do Battlegrounds galore. Our pally tank, Dralo, is one achievement away from his Battlemaster title.
“Everyone go into your PvP spec, and let’s just kill Horde”.
And we did. In one shot, and it was easier than any Faction Champs fight I’ve ever done.
This, was my moment of pride with Team Sport. We’re still struggling on Twins, but we annihilated the Faction Champions with ease. Yes, I know this was after the nerf. Yes, I know that overall it’s easier. Still, we got such a kick out of doing that fight, because we did it the Team Sport way. We trusted all 10 of us to know what to do, and we came through. THAT is some group synergy right there.
How about you? Is there a little thing about the game or your guild that makes you happy or brings you pride?
“Big” image courtesy of 20th Century Fox
As another two faced WOW player (one 25man raiding progression oriented, and one casual 10man “Real Life comes First” raiding group) I loved this article. Being in just one of these guilds would leave me unfulfilled and dissatisfied with the game that I pay for. Being in both these guilds (on the same server no less) satisfies me, even if it does call for a little bit of extra time on my part to support both when I can. As a “part time” member (and new too!) it often feels like I’m not really part of the crew. But shared experiences of joy and aggravation like stepping foot into Icecrown really did a lot to counter that. Yay to great guilds!
.-= @valkyrierisen´s last blog ..New Content agony =-.
What makes raiding fun is the meters. Nothing inspires people to get better like competition. DPS eeking out every last drop of damage, healers jumping on top of any little bit of damage, and tanks even fighting over who is easier to heal. Our guild has been kicking around the idea of letting most improved get a priority roll on gear.
.-= Skonged´s last blog ..Battle over the hilt =-.
I have always felt like a bit of a two-faced WoW player as well. While I enjoy raiding and like to take it seriously while I am in a raid, I also don’t enjoy raiding most nights of the week. I’m an altoholic so I need a few nights a week to mess around on my various alts (If I don’t get this raiding starts to feel like a job to me). Throughout my time in WoW I have been in guilds that either raided seriously or were casual but I could never find a good balance of the two that suited me. That all changed when I came across Chivalry on the WoW recruitment forums. Chivalry is a wonderful guild whose main goal is to provide a support structure for its members to do whatever they enjoy most in the game. We have both super casual members as well as members who would be able to pull their weight in a progression guild if they had the interest in joining one. I take pride and find joy in the fact that we are able to hold fun events like level 1 gnome races, gnome darts, and old world raid achievement runs one day and then the next get a group together for a well organized and focused 10 man raid. The fact that I have found a single guild were I can be a combination of casual player and raider is wonderful. I am having more fun playing WoW now than any time since I started in 2005.
RE: the little things in game that give me joy … It’s going to sound incredibly sappy but our healing team in Aftermath makes me so proud. I could give a ton of examples where they made me think “… wow, you guys rock.” Playing with teammates who not only do their job but also understand how it fits into the larger picture, who can pick up eachothers’ slack, and who can be counted on when things get tough–I count myself lucky to be in that kind of company. ^_^
.-= Vixsin´s last blog ..T10 Gating – Start Saving Your Emblems of Frost =-.
skonged you my sir an an idiot.
and one that probably uses gearscore (btw I was at 2939 on wow heros which tops alot of realm “winners” in regards to healers)
a lock I run with goes demo… oO yes demo for raid buffs.. as do others.
I as a disc priest own everyone but our resto druid with a val and a holy pally… again… wow meters. ok WMO.
point is, meter looking gear worried about fools not apply.
my guild isnt the greatest but downed all available content. including heroic.
so… take your “most improved” idea” and shove it up your ass.
we actually pass loot to people who can use it more, and show up.
hmmm wow we are kicking ass, and take your annoying blog link matt should disable the fuck out of your sig, because dude. you are bad.
It makes me sick to look at bads posting shit like its truth on the “intermawebz”
the “251” hilt is a piece of shit, that most of us are well beyond, yeah you are gonna nab pvp’ers on it and nubs that just farm, but really no raider is paying shit for that.
get off the internet or name yourself “fail nub”
Love this blog. TY. I am not a two-faced WOW player but love my guild on Whisperwind (Forsaken Leagon) because it is made up of both casual and raid players. We all have fun and help each other and mix well.
My two faces contradict each other. On one hand, I would love to see endgame raiding and get the best of the best gear. I’ve never been in that top tier of players rocking the latest and greatest of the current tier. On the other hand, I have the most fun in the game when the raid I am in is more laid back than most progression raids, and its members are more than just raidmembers: they’re friends. My BC guild was the latter to a T, and it was, is, and probably will be my favorite guild I’ve ever been in. But I always have that nagging voice telling me to find a progression guild. “You’re a healer, it won’t be that hard to find one,” it says. I only have one 80, and I intend to keep it that way, so I can’t really split two characters off into separate guilds.
You seem to have hit the jackpot with Unpossible. It sounds like it wraps my two desires into one awesome guild that is full of awesome and possibly more awesome.
…..Are they recruiting Shaman healers? =P
I’m two-faced in more ways than you! I have an Alliance-side guild I raid with, and a Horde-side guild I currently just experience community and casual events with. Of course I don’t even have two level 80’s yet on my account, but nevertheless, I completely understand the pull to have a getaway or something completely different even from the raider’s perspective. By the sounds of it, I would definitely fit in with Team Sport. Just go get em!
.-= DFitz´s last blog ..Achievement Hunting Vol. 4: Merrymaker =-.