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Thursday 13 January 2011

Moving on, is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard.

Over the past few weeks, myself and my husband have been thinking hard about our guild, and how the game was feeling in general. I've been honest that I have been falling out of love with the game, feeling that running heroic instances were unachievable, finding the grind for reputation dull, feeling I would never get to raid (which is after all the main reason I play...to get to that point. To experience people working in perfect unison) and ultimately losing confidence in my ability play, and feeling I must be a complete failure at healing.

I cant even count how many times my guild tried to run heroics, and after countless wipes we would decide to try an 'easier' instance, only to continue wiping. We weren't even getting close to completing a run.

I wasn't sure what the problem was, I felt like the wipes were my responsibility because I am the healer, it made me frustrated because I knew I was trying my absolute hardest - I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I feel that whilst I may not yet be the best healer, I'm not the worst either. Perhaps the issue was becoming a lack of confidence. Unfortunately the DPS in the runs we were doing wasn't the best. We were getting between 3k-8k, the fights were going on too long and because of that, they were becoming more difficult and I was running out of mana. The people in our guild, were really lovely people, but at the end of the day the DPS was just not high enough.

Perhaps another part of the problem was my lack of patience. My husband said to me that eventually the DPS will improve, and I did see some massive improvement, he also said to me that I should give people a chance, just like people had given me a chance. I felt I did this, I don't know much about other classes, but I tried to be helpful, we directed them to places to read up on their abilities, and my husband offered other constructive advice, but the fact of the matter is this: I started playing, in order to level up my character in the hope that eventually I would be able to raid with my husband and guild members. He's told me about what a hard, but enjoyable time raiding is, and the feeling you get after achieving what you set out to achieve. I've worked hard within the game to get to where I am. Everyday I look out for new posts on blogs and forums that will enable me to become a better player, I look up people on the armory, who I know are great players and constantly strive to make myself better, and yet I feel that if I can do that, why cant people spend a few minutes just looking up their appropriate stats or trying a new rotation and it was that frustration that made me take my next decision.

My husband has played WoW for a long time, he has created good friends within the game and has been involved with numerous guilds before. When he started chatting in-game to a friend who is a guild master of a successful guild, one that we belonged to when I first started playing...I began to ask myself if sticking with our guild was the best plan. It was me who made us leave our original guild in the first place because I felt the members of that guild would be laughing at my newness, of course they weren't (although maybe they were a bit, and who could blame them?). But after the time that has passed I feel more confident now, and felt that being in a guild like that would be the best option for us. I can get advice on what I need to do to improve, and my love for the game will come back.

So we decided to quit our guild we had built from scratch. It was bitter sweet. Some of the members of our guild are brilliant and friendly people, and I couldn't help but think, does it really matter if I can't do what I want to do in game because they are really nice and decent people? But, it doesn't work like that. Its not real life and I play WoW to have fun, not to be stressed and frustrated. Quitting the guild has done wonders for my confidence. We have been in the new guild about 24 hours and I've already gained the confidence to do 3 heroic pugs. We did the Deadmines and I got the achievements Ready for Raiding, and I'm on a Diet we wiped twice in the entire run, unfortunately the tank decided to quit after our second wipe which was at the final boss so I didn't get the chance to complete it. I did Grim Batol and got the achievement Don't Need to Break Eggs to make an Omelet, and Lost City of the Tol'vir. I had attempted Lost City with a guild run but it became impossible to kill the first boss General Husam due to the amount of bombs that littered the floor because the fight took so long. Doing it as a pug I barely noticed the difference in that fight.

Then I took the plunge and offered to heal for a guild run with the new guild on a random heroic. I think I offered without even thinking about it... I was feeling confident after my successful Grim Batol and Deadmines run. I've always been in awe of these people and felt inadequate, they are already raiding and they are very experienced having played for a long time. It was my first attempt at heroic Stonecore"were they feeling as frustrated with my healing that I felt with the DPS in my own guild?" I will take on board constructive criticism and tips on how to improve...afterall, I want to be the best player I can be.

So did we do the right thing in moving guilds? without doubt. In a space of 24 hours I've completed 4 heroics that I had tried to do for weeks with my own guild.  Am I enjoying WoW again? Absolutely. Do I have a lot to learn? Definitely, and even though I am only a social member of the new guild, so raiding isn't an option for me, I know that once I have spent the time earning reputations for new gear, equipping heroic gear and improving my skills, I will be raiding much sooner than I would be in my own guild.


the new guild tabard:


The new guild I joined can be found on Blade's Edge EU and is called Drama.

6 comments:

Nuad said...

Yeah I'm sad that we weren't able to make the guild we started together into the guild we really wanted to be in. It's really tough to find people who play the game like we do. There is so much competition from other guilds to attract members that we were never able to find enough players of a certain standard. There were a few obviously, but not enough.

It's nice to be able to log on and not have to spend half the time trying to recruit new people. It is so hard to find a guild that suits the player, because you really have no idea what they are like before you join.

I know that our new guild is full of players that really enjoy the game, and really try hard to be good players. Most of all I know that many of the members are dependable and friendly, and i have good memories of raiding with them in the past. Maybe when I'm up to raiding standard - little while to go yet - we can get to see some of the raid content.

Achloryn said...

It's so awesome to hear stories like these... stories where people had left behind a... I won't say a BAD situation, but a less than desirable one, and come into a good situation where the difference is palpable. Congrats to your new guild... sounds to me like you found a great fit for what you want to achieve in the game, and that's really what it's all about.

Congrats to you for that :)

Itsmeh said...

hey its me Itsmeh . . . i wasnt online when u left but was quite shocked to say the least its a bit of a shock to all the guildies tbh ...

anywho im glad uve found ur footing tbh maybe its worked for the best ... fire asked me to help lead i refused as i am a hardcore raider and wouldnt want to spoil it for those who are more fun based etc ... although it seems firebird has taken my advice and is aiming for raiding , as it stands well be raiding in weeks ive completed all hc's now so im doin 3-4 guild runs a day to help others... and were not far of having a 10 man raid team :D so long as fire gets teh ppl in we will be well away :D

were moving all toons below 80 to a alt guild where they can lvl in peace mean while phantom is gonna be 85s only other than those at 80 atm ... simply a raiding guild ... tbh i was gonna leave to get progress done but it seems staying may be pretty kwl as we are starting to progress fast ... im raid rdy atm and 1 or 2 others are ready so i cant see it taking long now :D

again sad to see u leave shame u did tbh but seems its sorta kicked ppl in to shape all inactives are gone and things are looking up for such a new guild im quite shocked. GL and HF guys after all thats what its about.

Nuad said...

I wish you the best of luck Itsmeh but I can't see you raiding any time soon with Phantom Council unless you recruit players with more than 4K DPS.

The fact that as a tank I was almost always higher DPS than our guildies - with some rare exceptions, means that everyone was fundamentally underprepared for raiding.

Prove me wrong and you can call me a noob or whatever, but you won't be raid capable for months. Maybe I was a bad leader, perhaps Firebird can do what I could not.

I know you Itsmeh, and Synergy and perhaps 1 other were ready for heroics - not raids.. and you will soon as individuals be ready for raids, but as a guild.. you'll need a lot of patience.

I know I'm not a great tank, but I am learning... and I was always willing to wipe after wipe after wipe... as long as it was mathematically possible to defeat an encounter. Dragging our guild members along to HCs showed us that they just weren't ready and their rate of improvement is slow.

Churel said...

Thanks Achloryn for your comment, I do really feel like I fit in this new guild.

Itsmeh, thank you for your comment also, yes you were off line when we broke the news, but had been discussing it for a week or more beforehand. We broke the news to firebird and handed over as best as possible on the day we decided to leave.

I don't want to get into a slanging match but at the end of the day, we didn't have enough members with high enough DPS. In the couple of days I have been in the new guild I have already successfully completed 5 heroics, with minimal problems. There is something in that, when we couldn't even complete one. It's no fun running heroics for the first time when party members are so drunk they can't remember how to play.

However, having said that I wish you, and the Officers and Members of Phantom Council, the very best of luck with raiding. I'm sure you will be greatful of us wishing you luck, and I don't doubt that one day you will get there.

All the best for the future.

Churel.

Itsmeh said...

sorry if i come across as bitching it wasnt what i intended naud :P i always word things to look bad ppl always say i have a way with words that gets under ppls skin xD

dps has improved though and hc's are easy with most guildies and those that will be raiding are doing great the lowest dps ive seen in a guild run recently is 7k highest being 11k... fire has been recruiting like mad xD i asure the guild is not to far from raid rdy we are missing a healer and tank thats about it ( those i can borrow if needed from another guild ) and ofc ppl need gear still other than that its all good :D ( I say we will be raiding but im unsure about staying myself atm ive had a fiew invs to other guilds that are ready to go xD )

again sorry if i touched a nerve i was just trying to update u and say shame u left etc ..