In every man and woman’s life comes a time where you have to face the facts of life and come to know of the mysteries behind raiding and being in a guild, come let me lead you through these troubled waters of uncertainty and onto the shore of raid readiness.
Preparation: Coming to a raid without any food, drinks, flasks and pots that give buffs is perfectly normal as nothing cements guild kinship as going from person to person begging for food and stuff does. Remember to NOT thank anyone who gives you anything as that is what a guild member is for, providing you with free stuff. For extra points bitch about the buff you get as it shows you are paying attention.
Repairs: Coming to a raid without doing repairs to your gear is a clever thing to do as lets face it you will rack up a serious repair bill during it so you might as well wait till you have finished and only pay the once; I mean its not like it will affect your stats…
Being on time: When was the last time you actually saw the doctor, dentist or hooker on the time actually specified on your appointment? If most professionals see it fit to be fashionably late so should you. I mean these people will understand you finishing off that last bit of cake or talking to that fit Swedish bird on msn that everyone else calls Dave…Its not like these guys have partners, children and jobs to be dealing with is it…
Roles: In every raid there will be one jumped up little tax man spouting on about tactics and what to do and what not to do, ignore him completely he is only rabitting on as he is in love with his voice. You are the best player ever in your class so if you keep wiping it must be the others not being able to keep up with your awesomeness and nothing to do with you not following their rubbish tactics.
Now one thing most people don’t realise is the whole point of raiding has nothing to do with downing bosses, achievements, gearing up or badges, it’s all about the dps meter. You have only one aim to come top of the dps meter nothing else matters no matter what class or role you are it’s your job to come top and prove to everyone what a massive e-peen you have. If the tanks can’t grab aggro from the mobs that have just appeared and have been hit by your AoE before he even sees them then that’s his problem for being a crap tank. Same goes for healers if he can’t keep you up when you have aggroed the entire instance then he is crap as well.
People Skills: You are an awesome player that is a given and the guild is lucky to have you, fact! So if there are ranking systems within the guild you must look down with derision and contempt on those lower than you. You must go out of your way to insult them at every opportunity, belittle their crap skills and rubbish gear, whinge like a dingo that has been shot in the backside with a pellet gun to the fact that why have they been allowed to raid and if they even dare to roll on gear that is about to be disenchanted threaten to storm out of the guild taking many others with you. Also note anyone above you in rank only got there by blowing the GM.
LootLooting: rules are only made so you can screen the crap players and low level rankers, these don’t apply to you as you’re awesome. Fact! If you see something that your other character with his off spec might just need then you need like a bitch on it and if anyone dares to roll against you now is the time to bring up how many times they died on such a run or messed such a thing up (if you can whip up racial or nationality hatred into the mix you get extra kudos points).
Also if you see something you don’t need but one of the other guild members need desperately but have been disrespectful to you earlier that week or even refused to drop their britches and bend over when told to then need just to block his ass.If by some mistake an officer or GM decided to give any item you wanted for yourself or an alt character to anyone but you then there is only one thing to do… bitch like mad at every officer and guild member available but make sure you do it in whispers and be sure to insinuate a dodgy relationship between the two into the mix. If you’re really good you can create factions against each officer to make things easier to get on their nerves when needed.
Appreciation: Raiding isn’t easy few people can match your level of awesomeness so when things aren’t going to plan and you are wiping constantly there are certain things to do and not to do. Things not to do: don’t think on where you are going wrong or what you could possible do better or differently as that’s just crazy talk, also don’t try to boost morale in the group as that’s just being too soft on them and they don’t deserve it after getting you killed so many times. Things to do: pick out people you don’t like or perhaps made a mistake and scream at them for being shite, tell them they are a pimple on the arse of uselessness and if they make one more mistake you are personally going to come round and insert your keyboard into an orifice of their choosing. This is tough love and is for their benefit.
And there you have the basic know how of raiding next time we shall go over advanced techniques such as faking disconnects and spamming chat.
This presentation has been brought to you by Nslash and his brand of sarcasm if you don’t understand the tongue in cheek manner then you are either American, Ita or in need of watching some Monty Python… good night.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
The History of Kent!
Got disconnected again when we started on trash to Leo so i decided to write another blog input...
I’m gonna start to talk about what background i have with games like WoW which is actually nothing before wow...Used to be a very active football player but got injured when i was 19 that’s when a friend of mine said that I should try this game and i never looked back on my decision seeing I would never get to play in some major league :Pbut back to my story about the chars:
Klerien (mage) was really made cause my mate had a 60 mage at the time (pre tbc) this was a char I enjoyed to play on but got boring after a while so I made my warrior which you guys know as:
Alkale (the tank) was made when I got into this game and saw what classes/abilities and professions there was out there, just getting the hang of things with my WoW life, that’s when I decided "the tank is born". I had now lvled up a bit as melee dps but mainly tanking low lvl instances not much dpsing so I thought I want a melee pure dps (no fucking can u tank shit) so I made my rogue
Seleko (rogue) Is my ultimate dps'er in fact, I’ve beaten some sick geared people by just focusing on doing it right but in raids I want something responsible to do which explains why I got invited to the guild on Alkale as a tank but since this got boring I decided to roll a very versatile class
Silsera (the all-doing druid) when I had these previous chars to 70 it got boring after a while (like everything does) so decided to gear up a druid, really enjoyed to lvl as a druid, except the f***ing retard druid quests around, it went fast, smooth and I rarely needed to drink/eat seeing I was feral...but seeing I had a tank and wanted to do something different and i had a competition with the same mate that i mentioned earlier to get to 70 first and get the best gear in a short amount of time (think it was 2 weeks or something)He won by far but was fun as hell, so 2 weeks after i got to 70 I started to tag along the KZ runs we had, got 80% epic in these 2 weeks (including badges ofc) and won that competition :P
My next projects are Visker (the lock) i really hate locks, not to lvl or play in general with but in PvP so wanted to see what made them so OP, he is 47 now but is kinda on ice cause i found something more fun to lvl :D
Konny (the shammy) what’s not to like? totems, can heal, can dps like crazy but soooooooooooooo slow to lvl before lvl 40 (dual wield) :Plvl 33 on his way up, just need to find time to lvl in between work and raidsI’m not sure about hunter, Pala and priest though, if I’m gonna handle lvling all these I’m gonna have to quit my job or else the chars won’t be 70/80 until 2019 so I’m picking the chars I want the most...last time I didn’t have a job I left the guild acted like a total dick to my new guild mates (seeing I’m used to call Ita a bitch/c**t I needed to find some1 in that guild to call the same words...one night the ‘Drunky’ in me came out and to make a long story short, I wasn’t allowed to go Karazhan with them seeing I acted like the dick ‘Drunky’ can be :P )
I’m balancing work, wow and my social life pretty well now and I wouldn’t trade the time I have ahead of me for anything (hmm maybe Jennifer Ellison) and I look forward to raid with u guys in MH/BT I know we can do it, only need to, as Melk would say, screw our best heads on and down the bosses we have ahead of us!
Well it’s late now and no internet so I’ll call it here
Thank you for reading
Kent, a.k.a Silsera
I’m gonna start to talk about what background i have with games like WoW which is actually nothing before wow...Used to be a very active football player but got injured when i was 19 that’s when a friend of mine said that I should try this game and i never looked back on my decision seeing I would never get to play in some major league :Pbut back to my story about the chars:
Klerien (mage) was really made cause my mate had a 60 mage at the time (pre tbc) this was a char I enjoyed to play on but got boring after a while so I made my warrior which you guys know as:
Alkale (the tank) was made when I got into this game and saw what classes/abilities and professions there was out there, just getting the hang of things with my WoW life, that’s when I decided "the tank is born". I had now lvled up a bit as melee dps but mainly tanking low lvl instances not much dpsing so I thought I want a melee pure dps (no fucking can u tank shit) so I made my rogue
Seleko (rogue) Is my ultimate dps'er in fact, I’ve beaten some sick geared people by just focusing on doing it right but in raids I want something responsible to do which explains why I got invited to the guild on Alkale as a tank but since this got boring I decided to roll a very versatile class
Silsera (the all-doing druid) when I had these previous chars to 70 it got boring after a while (like everything does) so decided to gear up a druid, really enjoyed to lvl as a druid, except the f***ing retard druid quests around, it went fast, smooth and I rarely needed to drink/eat seeing I was feral...but seeing I had a tank and wanted to do something different and i had a competition with the same mate that i mentioned earlier to get to 70 first and get the best gear in a short amount of time (think it was 2 weeks or something)He won by far but was fun as hell, so 2 weeks after i got to 70 I started to tag along the KZ runs we had, got 80% epic in these 2 weeks (including badges ofc) and won that competition :P
My next projects are Visker (the lock) i really hate locks, not to lvl or play in general with but in PvP so wanted to see what made them so OP, he is 47 now but is kinda on ice cause i found something more fun to lvl :D
Konny (the shammy) what’s not to like? totems, can heal, can dps like crazy but soooooooooooooo slow to lvl before lvl 40 (dual wield) :Plvl 33 on his way up, just need to find time to lvl in between work and raidsI’m not sure about hunter, Pala and priest though, if I’m gonna handle lvling all these I’m gonna have to quit my job or else the chars won’t be 70/80 until 2019 so I’m picking the chars I want the most...last time I didn’t have a job I left the guild acted like a total dick to my new guild mates (seeing I’m used to call Ita a bitch/c**t I needed to find some1 in that guild to call the same words...one night the ‘Drunky’ in me came out and to make a long story short, I wasn’t allowed to go Karazhan with them seeing I acted like the dick ‘Drunky’ can be :P )
I’m balancing work, wow and my social life pretty well now and I wouldn’t trade the time I have ahead of me for anything (hmm maybe Jennifer Ellison) and I look forward to raid with u guys in MH/BT I know we can do it, only need to, as Melk would say, screw our best heads on and down the bosses we have ahead of us!
Well it’s late now and no internet so I’ll call it here
Thank you for reading
Kent, a.k.a Silsera
Monday, 30 June 2008
What keeps me playing WoW?
Something that Melk brought to my attention recently and to be honest, sometimes I do actually wonder what keeps, me playing.
I’m going to put this together into two parts, this being the first, the second I want to talk about end game stuff, raiding, guilds etc. I’m not going to go on too long, just want to add my thoughts on various points.
I guess a number of obvious reasons (to me) come to mind at first. Because I love the lore of Warcraft and because logging into such a massively multiplayer gateway with a character that I have created and invested so much time in, have made so many plans for, and have experienced so many things with, with so many different people, kind of makes me feel all fuzzy inside – yea I know that sounds really lame, but I don’t believe anyone who that denies that when they have played the game for so long and are still playing it today, and being established in a successful guild really helps! Because logging into such a wonderful gateway with this missing is not fulfilling – for me at least.
Everybody has their own reasons, which I’m sure change a lot... sometimes daily! But for me, because the game is so multifaceted, and because it involves at least two instantly definable separate meta games within a larger whole, these being:
And
My reasons for playing, and why I keep playing, are suited to each meta game respectively and not as one big whole. Simply because they are different.
Are yours? And if so, can you relate to what I’m writing here?
I level characters because I still love wandering around Azeroth, and remembering stuff I did with people I’ve only met through Warcraft and have had great times with. I level characters because I have a thing for female Dreanei. I level characters because I want a nice selection to choose from once WotLK hits. I level characters for my own little RP reasons. I level characters because I like the payoff. Basically there are many reasons that keep me playing, some more important than others.
Makes sense right? :-)
Shal (aka Sassha)
I’m going to put this together into two parts, this being the first, the second I want to talk about end game stuff, raiding, guilds etc. I’m not going to go on too long, just want to add my thoughts on various points.
I guess a number of obvious reasons (to me) come to mind at first. Because I love the lore of Warcraft and because logging into such a massively multiplayer gateway with a character that I have created and invested so much time in, have made so many plans for, and have experienced so many things with, with so many different people, kind of makes me feel all fuzzy inside – yea I know that sounds really lame, but I don’t believe anyone who that denies that when they have played the game for so long and are still playing it today, and being established in a successful guild really helps! Because logging into such a wonderful gateway with this missing is not fulfilling – for me at least.
Everybody has their own reasons, which I’m sure change a lot... sometimes daily! But for me, because the game is so multifaceted, and because it involves at least two instantly definable separate meta games within a larger whole, these being:
- Levelling a character with intent on reaching level cap. Choosing two professions and reaching their respective level caps.
And
- Reaching level cap and switching your goals to maintain your character, become involved in gear progression and to be the best you can possibly be – this being the ultimate aim of the game (or this meta game)
My reasons for playing, and why I keep playing, are suited to each meta game respectively and not as one big whole. Simply because they are different.
Are yours? And if so, can you relate to what I’m writing here?
I level characters because I still love wandering around Azeroth, and remembering stuff I did with people I’ve only met through Warcraft and have had great times with. I level characters because I have a thing for female Dreanei. I level characters because I want a nice selection to choose from once WotLK hits. I level characters for my own little RP reasons. I level characters because I like the payoff. Basically there are many reasons that keep me playing, some more important than others.
Makes sense right? :-)
Shal (aka Sassha)
Monday, 23 June 2008
No place like Home!
Hey guys, I just wanna say something since Melk has shared twice already :D
About a month ago I made a rather stupid decision to leave AnV for MoM...
They made huge progress and I learned a lot but that was never the place for me...You guys have been my friends and fellow raiders for the last 10 months (minus the one I wasn't in AnV) so I asked very subtly to Ita what my chances would be to get back in and I was surprised about the welcome I got even though I left all of the sudden.
Anyways I've learned something out of this also, and that is to never say never...
1st: Never say that you can't perform in BT with the amount of S**T gear you might have :P
2nd: Never say that u won't be surprised by people and finally
3rd: What the fu** made me make a stupid choice like leaving you :D
I come back as a bigger person, you took me in and made me feel welcome again, I've learned some tacs in BT that can be usefull and I've made some new friends that always can help me/us out...
We got a great crowd of people in this guild and I know we can do well but after I got forum accsess again I've been reading up on some old threads and we have everything compared to MoM.
I'm not bad mouthing them in any ways but it was a TOTALLY different atmosphere there, I felt that we weren't allowed to write in guild chat and no1 was ever on vent, only during raids and guild runs somewhere :P (kinda strict there)
So treasure this guild, that's what I'm gonna do now that I'm in again and please dont complain cause of little things we have it MUCH better then u might think we do... Sorry for taking your time but I hope you read it.
Cheers -Alkale- Aka Kent :D
About a month ago I made a rather stupid decision to leave AnV for MoM...
They made huge progress and I learned a lot but that was never the place for me...You guys have been my friends and fellow raiders for the last 10 months (minus the one I wasn't in AnV) so I asked very subtly to Ita what my chances would be to get back in and I was surprised about the welcome I got even though I left all of the sudden.
Anyways I've learned something out of this also, and that is to never say never...
1st: Never say that you can't perform in BT with the amount of S**T gear you might have :P
2nd: Never say that u won't be surprised by people and finally
3rd: What the fu** made me make a stupid choice like leaving you :D
I come back as a bigger person, you took me in and made me feel welcome again, I've learned some tacs in BT that can be usefull and I've made some new friends that always can help me/us out...
We got a great crowd of people in this guild and I know we can do well but after I got forum accsess again I've been reading up on some old threads and we have everything compared to MoM.
I'm not bad mouthing them in any ways but it was a TOTALLY different atmosphere there, I felt that we weren't allowed to write in guild chat and no1 was ever on vent, only during raids and guild runs somewhere :P (kinda strict there)
So treasure this guild, that's what I'm gonna do now that I'm in again and please dont complain cause of little things we have it MUCH better then u might think we do... Sorry for taking your time but I hope you read it.
Cheers -Alkale- Aka Kent :D
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Solo Instances?
Listening to some podcasts recently a topic was brought up that discussed instances, weighing up the pros and cons of playing in a dungeon or part of the world that is cut off from the rest of the community.
I'd like to take up the discussion, share some of their observations and some of my own.
For anyone that isn't familiar with how an instance works let me give you a brief explanation pulling from a handful of games I've played. World of Warcraft call their instances 'dungeons' which can be found throughout the world of Azeroth. They vary in level requirements and complexity, the most complex dungeons currently require Twenty-five players and maximum level cap to enter.
Smaller dungeon exist and cater for five man groups, these are a good place to start if you wish to gear up your character before progressing into bigger instances.
In Guild Wars the world itself is an instance with the main cities providing the hub to mix with the community. Any time you leave a city you enter the world on your own or with the people you're grouped with. Recent expansions have seen players start to mix in these instances, 'Factions' suggests that players will work against each other to achieve their own agenda. Unfortunately I have not experienced this side of Guild Wars so I'm poorly equipped to discuss this with any real depth.
Meanwhile Tabula Rasa adopts a similar approach to WoW with instances found in the world that require groups to complete effectively. A game that appears to stand out as unique is Everquest 2 (which I have never played) which present their bosses in the open world where anyone can come together to take on the challenge.
So there you have a number of ways that an MMO presents its content, let's discuss which of these work.
World of Warcraft seems the best place to start, with over ten million subscribers clearly Blizzard have done something right when it comes to playing an MMO. Their dungeons are celebrated as well thought out encounters, superbly designed and once settled they are well balanced. If we're to criticise WoW though we should look at what their dungeons miss out on...
Entering an instance in WoW does cut you off from the world of players, it's just you and the friends you take with you. This limits what can happen in that instance, you'll throw yourself into an encounter and you will either beat it or it will beat you - that's all there is. Imagine if the instance was played out in the world of players, or in other words imagine the world bosses that are available in WoW. If you were to take on an encounter in such an open environment then there is the possibility of unexpected surprises that could affect your encounter.
You might have almost killed a boss, your players are dropping like flies and you think the battle is lost but out of the blue a group of players that happened to be passing by chip into the fight and help you finish off the boss. You've snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and thank the players that came to your aid.
Equally of course this has the chance to go sour, you've almost killed a boss and from out the ether a rogue saps your tank or your healers and control is lost. A gang of opposing players may swoop down in the middle of your fight and claim the victory as their own.
These sort of stories are a staple of Everquest 2 where open world bosses make up the game's raid content. This lends itself to a dynamic experience as you can never predict how something will turn out on the day.
Is that fun though?
In WoW you're spared the opportunity of being griefed but at the cost of that dynamic 'anything could happen'. Arguably this makes the experience quite clinical, if you have the gear and the competence then the encounter should be straight forward.
I think that's a harsh way of viewing an instance though, but it does challenge Blizzard to make their encounters as diverse as possible. They know that when you put a boss on farm then it becomes routine to kill it week in and week out, so to combat this you need to throw in some curve balls that keep players on their toes.
Agro reset, random spawns and hot spots keep a raid moving and focused on the fight. One person that takes their eye off the ball can be enough to wipe the raid, look at Hydross in SSC and Leothoras as such examples. Lady Vashj requires you to move and work as a team, Al'ar in The Eye will force your raid to spread out and keep moving.
Could you do such things in open world combat? Having not played Everquest 2 I can't say (perhaps you can) but I would argue that surely the open world bosses have to be easier to manage because you just don't know how a team will approach this boss. If you bring 120 players to an encounter then do tactics really count? I'd hate to try and organise so many people so how much of a challenge would it be to create a boss that caters to such a group?
With WoW Blizzard set their own standards, they know what your setup is likely to be and so they're free to play with that. Arguably you could say they are confined to this setup, they know you'll have a tank and healers in your group but they can't count on your having a mage or a hunter...
That opens up a whole new topic though, how can Blizzard balance their encounters and is it fair to force your group into a particular setup. I know Blizzard don't like that idea, say that you need a Mage in your group, but we can get into that in another blog.
To wrap this up I need to spend a few minutes on Guild Wars. Personally I think this game failed in the way ithandled its content. Playing in the world on your own is hard work, especially as you hit the level cap. Monsters become too numerous and too hard to take on by yourself, so you're limited in what you can achieve if you don't group up.
Should you mingle with the community you'll likely find it very immature. It's a free game to play which attracts the younger audience which unfortunately means you're likely to end up with some idiots...Some effort is made to help the single players, AI characters can be hired to help you out but they really are next to useless.
Out in the world alone also defeats the essence of a 'Massively Multiplayer' game, where is the multiplayer in an empty world? Factions I guess goes some way to address this, but it falls far short of a world such as WoW. Players will never grief you or rescue you in Guild Wars which is kind of shallow. I guess if you have a group of friends to play this with then the experiene would be wholly different, if you don't though then this world is not satisfying.
It may seems that I've trumpeted Blizzard's horn in this blog, I don't wish to unfairly criticise other games so I should point out my experience with other MMOs is limited. However I do think my arguments for WoW are fair, as long as Blizzard stay on top of their game when they draw up an encounter then WoW will continue to be the best experience in the market. If you'd care to disagree then have your say!
Melk.
I'd like to take up the discussion, share some of their observations and some of my own.
For anyone that isn't familiar with how an instance works let me give you a brief explanation pulling from a handful of games I've played. World of Warcraft call their instances 'dungeons' which can be found throughout the world of Azeroth. They vary in level requirements and complexity, the most complex dungeons currently require Twenty-five players and maximum level cap to enter.
Smaller dungeon exist and cater for five man groups, these are a good place to start if you wish to gear up your character before progressing into bigger instances.
In Guild Wars the world itself is an instance with the main cities providing the hub to mix with the community. Any time you leave a city you enter the world on your own or with the people you're grouped with. Recent expansions have seen players start to mix in these instances, 'Factions' suggests that players will work against each other to achieve their own agenda. Unfortunately I have not experienced this side of Guild Wars so I'm poorly equipped to discuss this with any real depth.
Meanwhile Tabula Rasa adopts a similar approach to WoW with instances found in the world that require groups to complete effectively. A game that appears to stand out as unique is Everquest 2 (which I have never played) which present their bosses in the open world where anyone can come together to take on the challenge.
So there you have a number of ways that an MMO presents its content, let's discuss which of these work.
World of Warcraft seems the best place to start, with over ten million subscribers clearly Blizzard have done something right when it comes to playing an MMO. Their dungeons are celebrated as well thought out encounters, superbly designed and once settled they are well balanced. If we're to criticise WoW though we should look at what their dungeons miss out on...
Entering an instance in WoW does cut you off from the world of players, it's just you and the friends you take with you. This limits what can happen in that instance, you'll throw yourself into an encounter and you will either beat it or it will beat you - that's all there is. Imagine if the instance was played out in the world of players, or in other words imagine the world bosses that are available in WoW. If you were to take on an encounter in such an open environment then there is the possibility of unexpected surprises that could affect your encounter.
You might have almost killed a boss, your players are dropping like flies and you think the battle is lost but out of the blue a group of players that happened to be passing by chip into the fight and help you finish off the boss. You've snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and thank the players that came to your aid.
Equally of course this has the chance to go sour, you've almost killed a boss and from out the ether a rogue saps your tank or your healers and control is lost. A gang of opposing players may swoop down in the middle of your fight and claim the victory as their own.
These sort of stories are a staple of Everquest 2 where open world bosses make up the game's raid content. This lends itself to a dynamic experience as you can never predict how something will turn out on the day.
Is that fun though?
In WoW you're spared the opportunity of being griefed but at the cost of that dynamic 'anything could happen'. Arguably this makes the experience quite clinical, if you have the gear and the competence then the encounter should be straight forward.
I think that's a harsh way of viewing an instance though, but it does challenge Blizzard to make their encounters as diverse as possible. They know that when you put a boss on farm then it becomes routine to kill it week in and week out, so to combat this you need to throw in some curve balls that keep players on their toes.
Agro reset, random spawns and hot spots keep a raid moving and focused on the fight. One person that takes their eye off the ball can be enough to wipe the raid, look at Hydross in SSC and Leothoras as such examples. Lady Vashj requires you to move and work as a team, Al'ar in The Eye will force your raid to spread out and keep moving.
Could you do such things in open world combat? Having not played Everquest 2 I can't say (perhaps you can) but I would argue that surely the open world bosses have to be easier to manage because you just don't know how a team will approach this boss. If you bring 120 players to an encounter then do tactics really count? I'd hate to try and organise so many people so how much of a challenge would it be to create a boss that caters to such a group?
With WoW Blizzard set their own standards, they know what your setup is likely to be and so they're free to play with that. Arguably you could say they are confined to this setup, they know you'll have a tank and healers in your group but they can't count on your having a mage or a hunter...
That opens up a whole new topic though, how can Blizzard balance their encounters and is it fair to force your group into a particular setup. I know Blizzard don't like that idea, say that you need a Mage in your group, but we can get into that in another blog.
To wrap this up I need to spend a few minutes on Guild Wars. Personally I think this game failed in the way ithandled its content. Playing in the world on your own is hard work, especially as you hit the level cap. Monsters become too numerous and too hard to take on by yourself, so you're limited in what you can achieve if you don't group up.
Should you mingle with the community you'll likely find it very immature. It's a free game to play which attracts the younger audience which unfortunately means you're likely to end up with some idiots...Some effort is made to help the single players, AI characters can be hired to help you out but they really are next to useless.
Out in the world alone also defeats the essence of a 'Massively Multiplayer' game, where is the multiplayer in an empty world? Factions I guess goes some way to address this, but it falls far short of a world such as WoW. Players will never grief you or rescue you in Guild Wars which is kind of shallow. I guess if you have a group of friends to play this with then the experiene would be wholly different, if you don't though then this world is not satisfying.
It may seems that I've trumpeted Blizzard's horn in this blog, I don't wish to unfairly criticise other games so I should point out my experience with other MMOs is limited. However I do think my arguments for WoW are fair, as long as Blizzard stay on top of their game when they draw up an encounter then WoW will continue to be the best experience in the market. If you'd care to disagree then have your say!
Melk.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Things I've learnt about being a GM
Hey Everyone,
It's approaching a year now since the Acta non Verba guild was formed. In the last 12 months or so there has been a whole host of issues to deal with, plenty of drama and a good pinch of progress as well!
So what have I learnt from all of this? I'd like to take a few minutes to share a top five list of lessons I consider valuable and essential to running a successful guild:
1) Set the example
This is a quality any leader must possess, if you're hoping for other people to fall in line then you need to raise the bar on your own approach to the guild.
It may come as a surprise to some (it did to me) that people will 'look up to you' in some form and may even imitate the way you handle things. It is therefore an absolute must that you dicipline yourself when you take on a leadership role. If you're late to a raid how can you expect others to be on time? If you get involved in guild drama then who will remain objective and sort out the mess?
Nobody should expect you to be perfect, we're all human after all, but having an awareness of your responsibilty will set you up to be a decent guild leader.
2) Choose your officers wisely
When I took on this guild I had this 'ideal' that everyone would be equal in the guild. Part of me still really dislikes things such as 'officer chat' but when you look at these things closely you realise how important it is to get these things right.
Your officers will help you run the guild, keeping things in check and chipping in to pick up things that you might not be able to handle. I know I can't be online all the time but the officers in Acta will be about to act on my behalf. If these people aren't put in place then you risk alienating the people that want to help, which in Acta would be a huge mistake! I'm overwhelmed by how many people volunteer their time and effort to help keep the guild (in various forms such as the website, raids etc.) running and I owe them a huge debt of thanks.
3) Everyone makes mistakes
Or as we like to say in Acta 's*** happens!'
It's never fun to get into an instance and wipe over and over, nor is it fun when you've almost killed a boss and your main tank disconnects or that Greater Heal just failed to land in time.
These things happen, if they didn't then imagine how easy and tedious the game would become! So don't beat yourself up, or those around you, over these things. If you do then you bring about a bad atmosphere, people don't like feeling as though they've been picked on or unfairly criticised. If you persist with a grumpy attitude then people will lose their enthusiasm to raid and find excuses to not turn up or play another character nobody knows about!
When the chips are down you need to be up there cheering the guys on. Point out how well they did at something rather than how 'X' fell apart. Nurture a positive attitude and you'll build a focus that brings progress.
4) Set aside the time you need to manage your guild
I'll have to admit here that this is something I struggle to maintain. When you take on a guild you do take on a 'job'. It's up to you to make a final call on something, it's up to you who the guild should recruit or where you should raid.
Your officers will help of course, but they're looking to you for some guidence or advice and if you don't give it to them then who is really in control? If you're not then eight, nine or ten different voices are vying for control and you'll instill chaos!
So make the time you need to sort these things out. That might mean you're looking at the forums rather than playing the game. It may mean you're updating spreadsheets, looking at recruitment posts or any variety of odd jobs that a GM gets. It's crazy how much time you could spend tweaking so many little things!
Someone has to do it though and if you want the job then you need to make the time to do them!
5) Don't disappear
Ok I might be clutching at straws a bit here for my last point (hey I'm new to this stuff) but point five does have some valid issues.
You can't expect to run a guild successfully if you're not around, especially if you're not playing the game. Equally though you can't hide behind an alt character and expect the guild to manage itself.
We're coming full circle now when I remind you that you set the example, people look to you and how you act. If you're not a well known (and arguably liked) character then your guild will be kind of faceless. It's up to you to instill the personality and character your guild needs to be an enjoyable place to hang out, so be there to do that!
I'm going to draw this to a conclusion now.
If you want to take on managing a guild then think hard before you do so. There is a lot more to it than what first occurs to you and if you want it to succeed you need to give a lot to make it happen.
When it works it's awesome. I have an absolute privelige to head up the Acta guild, the community we've developed is second to none and is the reason I still play the game.
Thanks for indulging this train of thought!
Catch you in game.
Mike (aka Melkejal)
It's approaching a year now since the Acta non Verba guild was formed. In the last 12 months or so there has been a whole host of issues to deal with, plenty of drama and a good pinch of progress as well!
So what have I learnt from all of this? I'd like to take a few minutes to share a top five list of lessons I consider valuable and essential to running a successful guild:
1) Set the example
This is a quality any leader must possess, if you're hoping for other people to fall in line then you need to raise the bar on your own approach to the guild.
It may come as a surprise to some (it did to me) that people will 'look up to you' in some form and may even imitate the way you handle things. It is therefore an absolute must that you dicipline yourself when you take on a leadership role. If you're late to a raid how can you expect others to be on time? If you get involved in guild drama then who will remain objective and sort out the mess?
Nobody should expect you to be perfect, we're all human after all, but having an awareness of your responsibilty will set you up to be a decent guild leader.
2) Choose your officers wisely
When I took on this guild I had this 'ideal' that everyone would be equal in the guild. Part of me still really dislikes things such as 'officer chat' but when you look at these things closely you realise how important it is to get these things right.
Your officers will help you run the guild, keeping things in check and chipping in to pick up things that you might not be able to handle. I know I can't be online all the time but the officers in Acta will be about to act on my behalf. If these people aren't put in place then you risk alienating the people that want to help, which in Acta would be a huge mistake! I'm overwhelmed by how many people volunteer their time and effort to help keep the guild (in various forms such as the website, raids etc.) running and I owe them a huge debt of thanks.
3) Everyone makes mistakes
Or as we like to say in Acta 's*** happens!'
It's never fun to get into an instance and wipe over and over, nor is it fun when you've almost killed a boss and your main tank disconnects or that Greater Heal just failed to land in time.
These things happen, if they didn't then imagine how easy and tedious the game would become! So don't beat yourself up, or those around you, over these things. If you do then you bring about a bad atmosphere, people don't like feeling as though they've been picked on or unfairly criticised. If you persist with a grumpy attitude then people will lose their enthusiasm to raid and find excuses to not turn up or play another character nobody knows about!
When the chips are down you need to be up there cheering the guys on. Point out how well they did at something rather than how 'X' fell apart. Nurture a positive attitude and you'll build a focus that brings progress.
4) Set aside the time you need to manage your guild
I'll have to admit here that this is something I struggle to maintain. When you take on a guild you do take on a 'job'. It's up to you to make a final call on something, it's up to you who the guild should recruit or where you should raid.
Your officers will help of course, but they're looking to you for some guidence or advice and if you don't give it to them then who is really in control? If you're not then eight, nine or ten different voices are vying for control and you'll instill chaos!
So make the time you need to sort these things out. That might mean you're looking at the forums rather than playing the game. It may mean you're updating spreadsheets, looking at recruitment posts or any variety of odd jobs that a GM gets. It's crazy how much time you could spend tweaking so many little things!
Someone has to do it though and if you want the job then you need to make the time to do them!
5) Don't disappear
Ok I might be clutching at straws a bit here for my last point (hey I'm new to this stuff) but point five does have some valid issues.
You can't expect to run a guild successfully if you're not around, especially if you're not playing the game. Equally though you can't hide behind an alt character and expect the guild to manage itself.
We're coming full circle now when I remind you that you set the example, people look to you and how you act. If you're not a well known (and arguably liked) character then your guild will be kind of faceless. It's up to you to instill the personality and character your guild needs to be an enjoyable place to hang out, so be there to do that!
I'm going to draw this to a conclusion now.
If you want to take on managing a guild then think hard before you do so. There is a lot more to it than what first occurs to you and if you want it to succeed you need to give a lot to make it happen.
When it works it's awesome. I have an absolute privelige to head up the Acta guild, the community we've developed is second to none and is the reason I still play the game.
Thanks for indulging this train of thought!
Catch you in game.
Mike (aka Melkejal)
The Acta Guild Blog
Hey Everyone,
Welcome to the Acta guild blog.
This is a place where Acta non verba guild mates can post their views on pretty much anything Warcraft related.
If you want to post your thoughts then draw up a draft, mail it to Melkejal and have your say!
Bear with me as I customise the site.
Enjoy this space.
Melk.
Welcome to the Acta guild blog.
This is a place where Acta non verba guild mates can post their views on pretty much anything Warcraft related.
If you want to post your thoughts then draw up a draft, mail it to Melkejal and have your say!
Bear with me as I customise the site.
Enjoy this space.
Melk.
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