4th time's a charm??

Andenthal — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:09:13 GMT

So I've up and decided to make my own guild. Reasons for leaving the previous guild are maybe for another blog. Long story short, I did not like how the guild was functioning (or not functioning) mostly due to how the officers were handling (or not handling) certain aspects of the game.

This will be the 3rd time I have picked up roots to start new. Granted this time is on the same server with the same character, but it's a new start as far as I'm concerned.

My first character was started shortly after the WoW release. Ditched him due to mucho guild drama and went over to my dad's server. On there, started a Priest and got to do every instance pre-TBC except AQ40 - didn't make it all that far in Naxx, but did get to do it. Then more guild drama and we left servers again, this time to the Horde side. This is when Andenthal was born. Back to my main topic.....

I "stole" about 5 players from the old guild - and most of them were officers and certainly very "core" members of the guild. Not normally my way of doing things but I can justify my actions. One was my RL dad, and one was my GF. One was on the verge of leaving to join a guild capable of actually killing 25 man bosses anyway, and I talked him into this little venture. The other was a RL friend of that member, and someone I had known since I was just a low level 40. The other is someone we had aquired from a guild merger, and was also talking to me about her displeasure in the guild - possibly moving to another one.

We've got some additonal bodies since the signing of the guild charter. 2 brothers - a Feral Druid and a Elemental Shaman - have signed up. The Druid, especially, seems rock solid. We have a Holy Priest that knows his class very well, and will work wonders for us as long as we can accomodate his schedule. My RL brother has changed shifts at his work and will be able to raid with us now. I may be forgetting someone - sorry if I am. Last count I had 9 players that I could constantly rely on for raiding 10 man instances. Heals and tanks are covered, just need another competent DPSer and we're good to go.

The majority of my fears are to not make the same mistakes the other guild did. They were stuck on Karazhan farm mode for about 3 or 4 months, not able to get players to log on for 25 man instances. They (IMO) had no backbone in telling players "your gear/spec/DPS is not where it should be, you can not come to this instance." They wanted every single player that was in the guild to be able to come to every single instance - even if it made it incredibly hard, or impossible to kill the bosses. And I think that's where a lot of the problems stemmed from. There were something like 10 officers in that guild. 5 of them never said a word in officer chat or on the forums. 2 or 3 of them would just agree with everything said, but would still continue to do the same wrong actions. There were about 3 of us that stood up and tried to make the right desicions for the guild to better it. But, they were inevitably shot down by those that wanted every player in every raid, even with Blue quality gear.

So I'm trying to do things right now. I've selected officers that I think have good ideas - even if they are different than mine. I only have 5 officers. I choose a mix of personalities, playstyles and backgrounds. I am making a ton of documentation that I will post on our website for all players to read. We will be utilizing guild ranks for raid invites and Gbank access. I want our players to have fun, but raiding will be a very serious endeavor. I am wanting to be very firm when it comes to raiding, but more slack with other aspects of the guild. Our goal is to be a "raiding guild" not a "hardcore" guild, or a "friendly" guild. My officers and I want to complete the entire game - killing every boss available. We don't need to be the first guild to do it, we just want to do it.

"Well...what if.....???"

Andenthal — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:43:12 GMT

I've seen a statement on this website (and many others as well) that kinda irks me. It has nothing to do with the individual making the comment, nor usually the topic of discussion. I think it's just part of the territory of being a Main Tank. You are looked upon as a leader, a mentor, and one who always knows what to do.

I'm going to try to use a generic topic that I see fairly often. Don't get so much caught up in my example - it's just an example!!!:p

The statement usually goes like this:
OP: I rarely worry about gearing for +hit or expertise, as I feel that gearing for EH gives me a bigger advantage on bosses.

PosterA: While that is nice there are times where you NEED to gear for threat, such as where survivability is a non issue.

PosterB: Avoidance is gooder than EH lolz!!

OP: Well...what if my healers get silenced/need to move/killed/banished/go to the coffee shop/get abducted by UFOs. That way I can survive 1 extra hit, and dont have to rely on my avoidance or procs to do so.

Something along those lines....you get the idea. Now don't get me wrong. Each poster has valid points. The OP it not wrong gearing for EH, especially depending on the encounter and his state of progression. I think it's widely accepted that the faster you progress, the larger the benefits of EH. Plus, he never said the other options were inferior, just stated his preference.

PosterA is also correct in that you should keep threat in mind when gearing. Half of your job as a tank is to mitigate damage. The other half is to hold aggro on the mob. Completely ignoring either one of those duties makes for a bad tank.

Poster B - while crude - also has a valid point. There are some fights where Avoidance is far superior to EH. It's also been said that maximizing Avoidance when you all ready meet the EH minimums for a boss yields far superior survivability. Also, in my mind, a tank that only has 1 set of gear is gimping himself and his raid. Gear for the encounter if you can help it. Learn what's ahead of you, and how to best deal with it.

Now, the part that really chaps my hide is when the OP retorts to both posters. He did good on the first post, but blew it when he opened his mouth a second time.

Firstly, in his original post he is just stating his opinions. He does not say, "this is how it should be." That alone does not require you to defend yourself. If I say that I like Pepsi better than Coke, no one can call me on that. I did not say Coke was bad, I simply stated that my preference was something other than Coke. Now you can disagree with me, that is your right. But your disagreement does not mean I am wrong.

Secondly, it's the way he defends himself. He's using an example that could happen in any scenario. If something happens to your healers as a tank, you're likely toast. There are somethings you can do depending on your class, but most times you die. If you bring healers with 8/8 T6 into Karazhan, the possibility of death is still there. Illhoof could sacrifice them, while DPS ignores the Demon Chains. Prince could drop Infernals on their heads every 15 secs.

So here's what I'm trying to get at.....
No one can be prepared for every single situation. It's impossible. What you can do is be prepared for likely situations. "Gee, this boss enrages at 20%, I should save my cooldowns for then if I can help it." If you are tanking a boss and a healer dies, what do you do? Pop a trinket? Chug a potion? What if 3 healers die? Blow Shield Wall? Last Stand? What if all the healers die? What if this, what if that......

I'm just tired of seeing tanks - well respected, well traveled, Main Tanks - riding the "What if?" train. Get off of it all ready

Each member of the raid needs to be responsible for their own part of the raid. Eating a crushing blow is usually due to the tank missing an ability (special bosses aside). No heals during silences are due to HoT classes not paying attention. Low DPS is usually due to DPSers not standing in the right place and dieing. Can you compensate for 1 person's lack of trying? Of course you can. But that's not your job. Your job is to be the best you can be. Your job is not to make sure you can over come obsticles made by other people. Your job is to make sure you do not create hurdles for others to have jump over. This goes for all 25 members inside the instance - not just the MT.

If 1/2 of your healers die due to either unlucky events, or just plain not paying attention - it is not the tank's job to fix it. It was the healers job to not stand in the freaking fire in the first place. Trying to have the menality of "I need to fix anything that could possibly go wrong ever" is inherently flawed.

Most encounters in WoW are extremely scripted. If performed well, you know exactly what will happen. With the exception of the first few guilds downing the newest of bosses, there's no big surprise what will happen at any point in the encounter. Due to that, you should prepare yourself as such. Per the example above - a boss enraging at 20% - easy to predict, and easy to prepare for. Pocket Watch? Check. Stoneshield pots? Check. Haste potion? Check....wait...Haste potion??? WTF??? Well... what if 4 of my top DPS guys die and the boss is at 2%?? What if?? Then you wipe, and try again. Tell the DPS to get out of the freaking fire/hellfire/void zone/cleave range/cave-in/worm hole - because that's thier job. YOUR job is to tank the mob to the best of your abilities. Ensure you mitigate enough damage for your healers to heal, and output the maximum amount of threat so your DPS can do its job.

I say again. It is not the tank's job to ensure every little thing that could possibly go wrong is covered in the tank's backpack. Are there scenarios in a raid where a tank should pull out a few tricks? Of course there are. That's why you're main tanking and not the guy with 44 points in the Fury tree. That's your specialty - to pull freaking rabbits our of your hat when crap hits the fan blades. That's why you talented for Last Stand, that's why you have Shield Wall bound to space bar :eek:. But there's somethings you can not prepare for - nor should you.

Each member of the raid needs to do their own job. A Rogues job is to stab the crap out of the mob. This typcially means they ought to say alive long enough to do so. That's why Blizzard has given them tools to do so. Cloak of Shadows, Vanish, Evasion. Etc, etc, for every class and role in the raid. A tanks job is to tank - plain and simple. It is not the tank's job to ensure he can stay alive when there are only 2 of 7 healers left alive. It is not the tank's job to DPS the boss down that last 1% of health because the Hunters forgot to move. That belongs to other members of the raid. For most fights - you do not expect someone else to take over tanking duties should you die. Why do tanks somehow feel the need to compensate for other player's goof-ups? Tanks need to stop holding the hands of members in their raids. They will learn from it, trust me. Your raid did not come from Attunmen to Illidan without learning a thing or 2.

Trial by fire - mess up and do it again. Having every possible potion, every possible trinket, every possible wrench in the tool box only softens your raid. All they learn from that experience is: if I mess up, the MT will save my ass. What they need to learn is: if I mess up, the raid wipes.

Tank your mob(s) - let the raid handle what they are supposed to be doing. I can just about gaurantee the individuals, and the raid will be stronger for it.

**Disclaimer***
I do not mean that a tank should come unprepared to a raid. Bring everything you think you will need...as a tank.... Leave the other roles to other members of the raid. But try to find that balance of being prepared, and holding the hands of those that are not.

TankSpot - Blogs - Rantings of a mad man by Andenthal

4th time's a charm??

"Well...what if.....???"