I really haven't forgotten about Waradwen in all of this Pox Arcanum madness. Really. I haven't played him a lot because of some Guild Drama that has essentially made it Not Very Fun to be online lately.
There has been a lot of turnover among the Slackers lately. As both the Kalimdor Slackers and Slack Attack we've tried to strike a balance between being a more casual, family guild and a guild that does some raiding. We're not in Black Temple, of course, but we're in Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. According to WowJutsu we're #17 on Arathor (#6 Horde-side). Not bad, I don't think, especially for a family guild.
Lately we've taken a turn towards being more raid-focused. It's not that we're demanding people raid nightly to stay in the guild, but it seems like there's a large fraction of the guild who is just there for raiding. Guild chat is often silent, other than people looking for specific gems to be cut or for enchants for their gear. We've also had a more than a few people come in lately, gear up through Kara and our routine one-shots of Gruul, then jump for a more hardcore raiding guild, which really bums everybody out. I've complained about this change in attitude a bit on our guild forums but it doesn't seem to be changing. Progression is the order of the day. Having fun in other ways is less important.
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I've been a Slacker since I started playing WoW (not a huge amount of time, I realize, but still significant) and don't really want to leave, but at the same time I'm not sure I like where the guild is going. We've lost a bunch of people lately, especially from the more family-oriented members. It's just...it's just not as much fun now as it was six months ago, and what's the point of that? Avoiding the problem isn't a good long-term solution. Pox Arcanum is significantly more fun, so I'm spending more time on that project but poor Wara is getting neglected, which totally sucks.
Any advice, readers? The options that I see at this point are: (a) stay in SA and try to get into the raider mindset; (2) stay in SA and feel like a second-class member because I'm not working towards Progression; (iii) leave and try to find greener pastures elsewhere. I'd love to see the end-game content, but I haven't even finished a complete Kara run yet. I've been in on a Gruul kill, but I suspect that could've been 24-manned if I weren't there. Maybe I need to find a guild who is still clearing or has just recently cleared Kara and jump in there, not try to start serious raiding in TK and SSC. Hmm. I just don't know what's available. Anybody looking for a Boomkin for Kara?
4 comments:
Similar situation chief. I was in a guild that was efficiently clearing Kara weekly, and was forming alliances to begin T5 content. Unfortunately for them, I preferred to play with my friends - the people I don't raid with, but dungeon with all the time. I know that progression for Urthona means progression through raid content, but I can't bear to spend my nights with people I'm embarrassed by(My Kara team was composed of some serious know-it-alls and bullies.). So I'm guildless, and for now, quite happy. I don't have a set schedule, and I can do things I want to do, like actually help people or fool around on alts. No pressure makes for a very happy moonkin.
So my advice to you is do what makes you happy. Whatever's more fun. Whatever's more engaging. I know it may mean dropping the character you consider your first love, but you'll never let go completely. You can always come back.
What I'm most impressed by is your list of gear goals to the side. I come here often to see how Wara is doing with regard to your efforts listed there. So there's another thing: Having those goals doesn't mean you need to raid Karazhan, SSC, or otherwise. I know it seems lonely and counterintuitive to buck the system, but attainable goals are healthier than pipe dreams.
:-)
I'm kind of in your same situation, but on the other side of it. I'm in a guild that hasn't even cleared Kara yet, and there are a good chunk of us who want to take raiding more seriously. Honestly I don't even know that 25-man content is for me, but I would like to finish Kara, and maybe play around in ZA. Mostly though, I'm not as concerned with progression, I just want the raids to be taken seriously and go smoothly. This means NOT showing up 10-15 minutes late, NOT being in the middle of a battleground when we're trying to put the group together, NOT taking long afk breaks right before a boss, then coming back and saying you don't know the strategy and need it explained again . . . NOT WASTING MY TIME!!!
Unfortunately, the time-wasters think that because we're a casual guild we don't need hard-and-fast raiding rules, when most of the rules we want to implement are just common courtesy and respect for the 9 other people in the group. It's definitely causing friction, and things have been strained the past several weeks as they try to come to a compromise.
The other thing that annoys me is that, while Kara is becoming less and less fun for me, and I'm in the minority in wanting to take it more seriously, the guild really doesn't do much else together. They sometimes form premades for BG's (which doesn't interest me at all), but 5-man runs are few and far between. It's like we're a guild of solo players, and that's not cool. It's frustrating when you have enough people to run Kara consistantly and yet you still need to PuG 5-mans.
/sigh Sorry to hijack your post, I'm just feeling some similar conflict, and have also been throwing myself into Pox Arcanum to avoid some of the drama that's going on. So, long story short... you're not alone.
I agree with Urthona. You should really do what makes you happy. Raid because you want to, not because you feel like someone else is expecting you to.
Also, you're feeling bad about moving on from Slack Attack, but maybe it's actually Slack Attack that's already moved on?
My advice would be to go where the fun is right now. The end game will still be there whenever you're feeling more hungry for it.
@Nas
I keep hearing that "we're a casual guild" excuse for folks being late for raids. I'm sorry, that's just rudeness. I realize that there's a lot of debate over the definition of "casual," but it definitely does not mean that you can wander in late just because you felt like finishing another run of WSG first. There are 9+ people waiting on you. Common courtesy... sheesh.
It sounds like you're ready to move on to another, perhaps more serious (or at least mature and committed), group. I'm happy to hear that the Poxers are potentially going to be a happy diversion until you find one!
@ Urthoa
Thanks! I really appreciate your insight and I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in this sort of situation. I'm glad you like the gear goals, too. I did it mostly for myself, to help me focus (otherwise I'd be totally overwhelmed trying to remember everything), but I thought it might be useful for other people, too. Plus it's always fun to cross off items from a list. :-D
@ Nas
Gruul is hella-fun and I suspect that the later raids are pretty cool, too, but I totally empathize with your situation. Like Ess said, casual does not equal rude. Those rules don't sound like real "rules," either, just common courtesy, as you said. Rules would be saying that everybody had to raid at least four nights a week or they're out.
With the new badge loots coming in 2.4, I think Kara will be a really good way for more casual players to get some nice gear before Lich King. (Why do I keep typing that as "Lick Kink"?) Yeah, it'll take you a while to gather 100 badges, but the gear in Kara is decent and how long does it take to get each piece of tier 4 (or 5 or 6) for each guild member?
@ Ess
You guys are totally right. This is a game and it's supposed to be fun. That's a lot of why I'm so excited about Pox Arcanum. It's fun. Leveling more deliberately is going to be interesting, I think, and I think we're going to have a great time running tons of instances together.
I don't think I'm quite ready to abandon SA yet, but you might be right about it having moved on. It's still home, but it's not the home I knew six months ago. Worst case, I decide I don't like it and I spend my Wednesdays with you guys and the rest of my time knitting. Or working towards graduation. Craziness.
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