I really really hate the ready button and the sound it makes. The button in itself is a good idea, but it just seems things get way too serious.


Sorry, but that's just about the only way to make sure everyone *IS* ready. :) Though Blizzard is adding this exact same functionality in patch 1.11 to the core game, so maybe it won't make a noise or the noise can be disabled or something.

You say that it makes it seem way too serious, but have you considered the alternative?

Instead of putting up a simple button on the screen that all you have to do is freaking CLICK, we'd otherwise have to tell everyone on Vent to sound off one by one before continuing on! I mean as a purely casual, fun guild, how would you feel if everyone moved on while you were AFK, leaving you alone in a hallway in UBRS or something?

I think you have to bear in mind that this functionality is INTENDED for casual guilds like us :) using this, we can stop and take all the breaks we want to, and take our time as we do things without rushing! Most Raiding guilds don't allow that - they don't need this kind of functionality because they NEVER STOP, even if it means leaving someone behind just standing there. It's not a joke that the most "SERIOUS" of raiding guilds actually do subtract their vaunted DKP for unplanned breaks, moronic though that sounds to us.

Think on it!!

As to your other comment I agree completely. I've had mostly negative experiences with PUG's, so I simply don't bother with them. As many others have noted, I'm in the instances and even raids because I love the challenges they represent and I love playing with our guild members. Like almost everyone else here, of course I like getting upgrades, but it's hardly my main reason for playing, so I'd rather just wait for our guild runs, whether spontaneous or planned. :)

O/T but, that's the reason I quit playing my priest. She reached the level where, as holy spec, I kinda needed support and the guild was non-existent at this point. After being bossed around and yelled at by a mage with a god-complex and then a pug with almost two hunters and three squishies... well... you lose your taste for it.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled raid discussion...

I know that more than five is a raid, but I think the 'raid mentality' only kicks in when it's a group of 20 or more, trying to be cohesive and follow very specific instructions. That's when I feel like it's a raid. Anything else is just a party :D

True dat :)

IMHO, a raid is just a party with TWENTY people chattering on Vent at the same time, half of them drunk! WOOHOO! There's another logical argument in favor of that Ready button - with this guild, we never know WHO is off mixing up some booze! ;)

But seriously, I think we can all have a great time together, whether 5 man, 10 man, etc. Setting aside concerns over gear and all that, the only major difference is that boss strategies become exponentially more important at the higher level stuff, which means we need to make sure everyone is aware of it via Wiki, Forums, and Vent. Other than that though, it's still a party!

Oh and we also need to make a new rule that Palirio can't roll on purples. Not without singing in that sexy voice of his!

I wanna hear Brown sing Michael Jackson.

I wanna hear Brown sing Michael Jackson.


THAT'S IT!

So much to choose from!

Next time something drops that Pal wants, he totally has to go old school and sing Thriller! ;)

I had the 'zombie dance' in my dance recital one year... head bobble and everything. AND I moonwalked to Say Say Say.

I'll be Paul. Can I be Paul?

SING TO US BROWN. <3

Also Jorack, I don't know if this helps, but I went into the interface options and turned off the sound, and just listen to music when I play, so I don't get the annoying ready noise. :)

My problem is that sometimes I forget the purpose of the ready button, so I click the ready button and keep on talking, so that Gleja has to remind me that now is the time when Ing shuts up about her cats already.

(I am so the crazy cat lady.)

"shut the hell up and kill the summoner."

*wipe*

We did NOT wipe!

....did we?

There was a summoner?

Ok, I'm back.

Hey, where is everyone and why is there is a big fucking angel in my face? Oh, Shit!
*vanish*

We did indeed wipe, but it wasn't ENTIRELY because I wasn't killing the summoner. It was also because we got feared and pulled a whole other group.

... ... but it was mostly because I was totally not killing the summoner. I don't know, Gleja said, "Ing, you're the offtank," and I heard, "Ing, please tell us stories about how your cat is very fat," and when he said "Kill the summoner first," I heard, "Please stand out in the hallway where we fought the dragons staring out at the eggs." It was a simple mistake, because the words sound so much alike.

(This is also a very good example of what I mean by giving someone well-deserved, but well meaning shit when he or she is not doing his or her job.)

"So Ing, when I said 'kill the summoner,' you heard, 'serve the summoner tea and crumpets and knit him a hat while telling him crazy cat lady stories about Midge, your incredibly fat cat.'"

"Um... yes?"

"Okay. So, by 'kill the summoner,' I mean hit him. With your mace."

"Righto Chief."

We did NOT wipe!

....did we?


Yes.

I really really hate the ready button and the sound it makes. The button in itself is a good idea, but it just seems things get way too serious.

It's not a joke that the most "SERIOUS" of raiding guilds actually do subtract their vaunted DKP for unplanned breaks, moronic though that sounds to us.


In my raiding guild (which is DKP based) we never get DKP deducted for being afk ... if that were true, I know one hunter who would be in negatives quickly (no, not me). His nickname is 'afkchina' (since he's asian).

Also, if you're curious about how DKP works, my raiding guild's dkp site is public:
http://finalunion.nrgservers.net/fudkp/viewnews.php

EDIT: After actually going back and reading the entirety of this thread, here are my thoughts, post discussions with Ing and Linnaris and Jamisia and Aro (who is indeed sensitive to the word can't =p) and as a person who is still a raider.

I don't think, necessarily, that you need a certain spec to overcome content. For example, my brother is in a raiding guild who just killed C'thun tonight (the screams hurt my ears) and NONE of his warriors have a SINGLE POINT in protection. You don't HAVE to spec a certain way to succeed. It just HELPS, especially when encounters are new and you're not armed to the gills with epics. But it's not a dealbreaker. If you're doing your job, it doesn't matter. I think this guild is very capable of progressing into ZG and beyond, if that's what it wants to do. If that's not what it wants to do, that's fine. For me personally, I'm okay with whatever you guys want. I mostly just want you to know that as someone who does raid, I'm happy to share tactics and tricks to help you out. More important to me personally is that you're all happy, because I love those aforementioned people like burning, and my desire to help you with raiding is only to further your enjoyment of the game.

This is because I do feel raiding is rewarding and enjoyable. Storylines do exist within the end game dungeons, and some of those stories are, to me, fascinating. One of my favorite fights is in Blackwing Lair, against the red dragon Vaelastrasz. Prior to this fight, Vael gives a speech (which is, like a number of events, voice acted) about his suffering and his insanity and how he doesn't want to fight you. During the fight, when a member of the group dies, he says "Forgive me, friend! Your death only adds to my failure." I find this utterly charming, especially given that Vael's voice is laden with pain and remorse throughout. In a similar vein, all of the ZG animal aspect bosses thank you for killing them, because they are now released from Hakkar's enslavement.

In AQ40, the voice of C'thun whispers to your raid as you navigate the Temple's tunnels, telling you that you will betray your friends, that you will die, that your friends will abandon you, etc. It's a nice creepy touch. The questline which leads up to the AQ gate opening is rich in story too. I felt a little moved when I watched Tyrande come to Moonglade to tell Eranikus that Elune still loved him and everything was gonna be OK.

This is all just to say that, yeah, sometimes it gets tedious. But I have found reward in raiding far beyond acquisition of loot.

I'd just like to touch on Widget's post a bit. Just responding to a few things you said but for the most part i'm just throwing my thoughts out on tank/raid discussion in general. I'm at work and I have some time to kill. Sorry for the mini novel in advance. I have to disagree that a protection warrior has more of a place in tanking than any other spec (MC and beyond - yes I think you need some solid protection MTs but UBRS, 5man, solo, pvp - no). It is totally possible to tank with zero points in the protection tree. I'm total fury and I do it all the time. Strat, UBRS, DM, etc. Protection gives bonus benefits to defensive stance. I may not get those bonuses, but I still have defensive stance and most of those skills along with my shield and gear.

I've been protection (hated it), the cookie cutter MS warrior, an odd fury / protection, you get my drift. Taunt and sunder carry you through most everything if you know how and when to use them along with other aggro holding and hate building skills such as revenge, heroic strike, etc. About pvp - I love being fury in pvp. You will not see many protection warriors there. Since we can't hold player aggro, dps is the way to go in battlegrounds (for now, anyway).

Dps control is important. If party members dps too much, they will bump the tank from the top spot in a creatures hate list and go after them. The major cause of chaos in instances. (and that will be minus 50 DKP for joo!)
It's especially hard for players to control their aggro if there are damage meters running. Players may get the perception that dps is more important than beating the encounter and then you'll find yourself in another chaotic situation soon enough. It's distracting and shouldn't even be running in something like UBRS. I think it may be a nice tracking tool for MC (and up)raid leaders to see who's pulling their weight.

Working with the other tanks is one element. Working with everyone is the key element. It really is a team effort to keep things fluid and successful. Have one designated puller with a backup. This avoids confusion and eliminate bad pulls and unexpected pulls from non assigned pullers. If you're a cloth wearer and you've grabbed aggro, run towards the tank - not away. I'll never catch up with you and you'll be dead. Protect the healers! So important. Healers can not heal if they are being attacked.

I play what is fun for me and I enjoy playing with others that play how they want. It's just a matter of fine tuning the specced classes you have on hand for the instance you're attempting. I do not want to sound like a "know it all" because I surely don't but I am speaking from experience and I hope some of this info helps. It's just a game so the bottom line is to have fun. That's all that matters.

All my opinion, of course. Back to work I go. Man, it's a late night. Zzz..

And that is why we do what we do, Ava.

Cookie cutter builds are for kids that don't know what they are doing.