I hope I made some positive first impressions myself.
The first raid, which was a full toc25 clear, heroic Beasts, and attempts on heroic Lord Jaraxxus, went reasonably well for myself last night. I did make some uncharacteristic mistakes, like dying to an Icehowl charge because I was stuck behind an elemental and couldn't see him, and a poor Twin Valkyr performance due to aggro issues. Still, I was pleased with my overall work. I only died early a few times - and that's a few times more than normal - but I also did top the meters overall and managed to do the few specific tasks I was given pretty well (occupying the rogue during faction champs).
What about my thoughts on the new guild?
They're not as 'nice' as my old guild. For some, this would be very important. On the other hand, their 'not niceness' was in a raid, and mostly focused on calling people out for mistakes. They were very efficient at recovering from wipes, and overall displayed a more 'hard core' attitude of seriousness about downing bosses. Overall, the healers top to bottom healed better, and the dps was much deeper - while I did top the meters, the 17th dps actually did pretty decent dps as well.
We had some problems getting heroic Beasts down, and Lord Jaraxxus didn't go very well, but all in all for a night's raid, I was pleased to see the potential for progression. We should get LJ down tonight on heroic and spend some time working on heroic Faction Champs.
I'm hopeful - and optimistic - that we're set up well for progression in Icecrown.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
3.3 PVE specs
3.3 specs
With the likely introduction of Icecrown Citadel next week, we'll be asking the question of what spec will be the most effective once again. Since I'm new in my guild, I'll have to be careful about my experimentation, but I do plan to examine each of the major raid specs in a raid situation once 3.3 goes live.
Next week you can expect to see me running the Elitist Jerks cookie-cutter Unholy spec. You can review Consider's excellent description of the spec here. If there's too much info there, the biggest change is that Scourge Strike has been hugely buffed and the mechanics of the attack have been changed. In addition, glyph of disease will no longer refresh at the original attack power, rather, it will refresh at the current attack power, making it a much weaker glyph for non-aoe fights. As a result, I'll be going back to a 2-hander spec to get the most benefit from huge Scourge Strike crits. At any rate, over the next few weeks, stay posted, and I'll be reviewing the various 3.3 specs on live servers in 'real' raids soon.
With the likely introduction of Icecrown Citadel next week, we'll be asking the question of what spec will be the most effective once again. Since I'm new in my guild, I'll have to be careful about my experimentation, but I do plan to examine each of the major raid specs in a raid situation once 3.3 goes live.
Next week you can expect to see me running the Elitist Jerks cookie-cutter Unholy spec. You can review Consider's excellent description of the spec here. If there's too much info there, the biggest change is that Scourge Strike has been hugely buffed and the mechanics of the attack have been changed. In addition, glyph of disease will no longer refresh at the original attack power, rather, it will refresh at the current attack power, making it a much weaker glyph for non-aoe fights. As a result, I'll be going back to a 2-hander spec to get the most benefit from huge Scourge Strike crits. At any rate, over the next few weeks, stay posted, and I'll be reviewing the various 3.3 specs on live servers in 'real' raids soon.
Guild Applications: Run the Gauntlet
So you want to join our Guild eh?
My recent guild swap directed my focus to getting people to like me.
Heh.
I've been on both sides of the recruitment page.
My frequent moves and schedule changes over the wow-years has forced me to change guilds several times, and being an officer/GM in the past has meant that I've spent hours with bleeding eyes reading applications from hopefuls.
In light of that, and a few reminders from being on the applicant side of things this past week, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on presenting oneself well when apping to guilds, especially when you don't know anyone in the guild you're applying to.
My recent guild swap directed my focus to getting people to like me.
Heh.
I've been on both sides of the recruitment page.
My frequent moves and schedule changes over the wow-years has forced me to change guilds several times, and being an officer/GM in the past has meant that I've spent hours with bleeding eyes reading applications from hopefuls.
In light of that, and a few reminders from being on the applicant side of things this past week, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on presenting oneself well when apping to guilds, especially when you don't know anyone in the guild you're applying to.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Turning a new leaf/leave
So yes, I did decide after discussing more with my spouse and the traditional 'vent interview' to transfer to to a new guild. I did one last raid with my old guild and said my goodbyes.
I still feel very sad and somewhat guilty about leaving them. But I am looking forward to seeing what happens with the new guild.
Obviously I'm predicating much of this move on progression. I hope I get along with the new guildies and I hope I can keep in touch with some of the old. But if my new guild doesn't do well, then it's clearly my bad decision to move.
What do I hope to gain?
1) progression. I want to clear Icecrown not just on normal, but on heroic.
2) new friends - even though I'll miss the old.
3) a tiny improvement in schedule. Being a bit later on start time means just a little more time with the spouse after the kids are in bed.
What do I lose?
1) A good guild that was solid, if somewhat mediocre. Of course, they could certainly reverse that and if so, I missed out on the opportunity to be a part of it.
2) most of all, I'll lose the friends. That can't really be overstated, but once again, my personal choice is to progress. Definitely a tradeoff.
I'll keep you posted. :)
I still feel very sad and somewhat guilty about leaving them. But I am looking forward to seeing what happens with the new guild.
Obviously I'm predicating much of this move on progression. I hope I get along with the new guildies and I hope I can keep in touch with some of the old. But if my new guild doesn't do well, then it's clearly my bad decision to move.
What do I hope to gain?
1) progression. I want to clear Icecrown not just on normal, but on heroic.
2) new friends - even though I'll miss the old.
3) a tiny improvement in schedule. Being a bit later on start time means just a little more time with the spouse after the kids are in bed.
What do I lose?
1) A good guild that was solid, if somewhat mediocre. Of course, they could certainly reverse that and if so, I missed out on the opportunity to be a part of it.
2) most of all, I'll lose the friends. That can't really be overstated, but once again, my personal choice is to progress. Definitely a tradeoff.
I'll keep you posted. :)
Monday, November 30, 2009
To Leave or Not to Leave
How do you know when it's time to leave a guild?
The last few months have been hard on guilds. While the loot in Trial of the Crusader has been very good, a large number of people have been unsatisfied with the quality of the instance as compared to Ulduar. Both the blogosphere and my guild have been rife with people quitting wow, going on wow hiatus, or leaving their guild.
In the past, nearly every move guildwise for me has been largely driven by scheduling issues. Having moved several times and changing time zones has made it difficult for me to make a previously workable schedule tenable.
On the other hand, over the past few weeks my dissatisfaction with my current guild hasn't come from scheduling issues.
The last few months have been hard on guilds. While the loot in Trial of the Crusader has been very good, a large number of people have been unsatisfied with the quality of the instance as compared to Ulduar. Both the blogosphere and my guild have been rife with people quitting wow, going on wow hiatus, or leaving their guild.
In the past, nearly every move guildwise for me has been largely driven by scheduling issues. Having moved several times and changing time zones has made it difficult for me to make a previously workable schedule tenable.
On the other hand, over the past few weeks my dissatisfaction with my current guild hasn't come from scheduling issues.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Turkey week
Turning out that posting from my iPhone is a pain, which is why I haven't done it!
Thanks to those of you stopping by, and I'll be back in the saddle on Monday!
Enjoy your Turkey Day, USAers, and to the rest of you I'll see you soon. :)
Thanks to those of you stopping by, and I'll be back in the saddle on Monday!
Enjoy your Turkey Day, USAers, and to the rest of you I'll see you soon. :)
Friday, November 20, 2009
Back to the (raiding) DK stuffs
There's been a ton of DPS chain traffic here, and welcome to one and all. Happy you stopped by!
This is a DK blog after all, however, so I need to post about my DK, eh? :P
First things first:
GUSH NUMBER FIVE about Shadowmourne!
WOW.
Using the current EP values offered in the unholy thread by the EJ theorycrafters, I get an approximate value of 3659 for the Shadowmourne, not including the proc! The weapon's epic precursor, Shadow's Edge, comes in at an EP of 3075, making the legendary appropriately... legendary. Of course we'll have to vie with Warriors and Pallys, but all in all... drool.
On to dps. Things will definitely be changing for 3.3. Scourge Strike will be appropriately powerful again, while the T9 set bonuses which are frankly overpowered will be nerfed. I've enjoyed rolling diseases, but really, that's not the way the class is 'supposed' to be played. For now, however, GOD is the way to go.
Interestingly, in tonight's raid I decided to sidegrade roll on Ony's little Deathbringer, and thought what the heck, I'll give it a spin. I had the Lion's Maw (232) in my offhand. My dps increased noticably, but not hugely, even when keeping my 2H dps spec! I'll have to get another 245 and try a slightly tweaked GOD DW unholy spec and see what happens. Interesting, but not surprising. DW tends to outscale 2H at the high end of every tier. I'll let ya'll know if I switch to DW until 3.3.
I'll be out of town for the next week but will try to keep blogging - and more importantly - keeping the DPS chain stuff updated, while I'm gone.
This is a DK blog after all, however, so I need to post about my DK, eh? :P
First things first:
GUSH NUMBER FIVE about Shadowmourne!
WOW.
Using the current EP values offered in the unholy thread by the EJ theorycrafters, I get an approximate value of 3659 for the Shadowmourne, not including the proc! The weapon's epic precursor, Shadow's Edge, comes in at an EP of 3075, making the legendary appropriately... legendary. Of course we'll have to vie with Warriors and Pallys, but all in all... drool.
On to dps. Things will definitely be changing for 3.3. Scourge Strike will be appropriately powerful again, while the T9 set bonuses which are frankly overpowered will be nerfed. I've enjoyed rolling diseases, but really, that's not the way the class is 'supposed' to be played. For now, however, GOD is the way to go.
Interestingly, in tonight's raid I decided to sidegrade roll on Ony's little Deathbringer, and thought what the heck, I'll give it a spin. I had the Lion's Maw (232) in my offhand. My dps increased noticably, but not hugely, even when keeping my 2H dps spec! I'll have to get another 245 and try a slightly tweaked GOD DW unholy spec and see what happens. Interesting, but not surprising. DW tends to outscale 2H at the high end of every tier. I'll let ya'll know if I switch to DW until 3.3.
I'll be out of town for the next week but will try to keep blogging - and more importantly - keeping the DPS chain stuff updated, while I'm gone.
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