Friday, March 21, 2008

Is Good Ideas and Informations Over There

Me friend Windshadow of the Dainty Elf Butt done wrote a most excellent article abouts being guildless and looking fer a home and what you should be doing. Lots and lots and lots of pugging, mostly. Plus, she's got this nifty metaphore about a hot chick looking for a stable guy (is a guild looking to recruit) and a young dweeby guy looking fer Ms Right (is guildless adventurer). It were most clever. Go checks it out.

Meself, I think I mighta made some different choices last spring and summer if I'd understood these concepts better. I tried doing some pugs when I first got to Outland - Hellfire Ramparts and the like. Didn't go too well. Usual stuff. Last invited to join a group, but then gotta wait outside the instance while people finish they's quests. Hunter insists on pulling, fires a multi-shot, then goes straight to his pew pew rotation while the mobs is still running towards us. Nobody wants to mark or establish a kill order. The priest and the mage make everyone wait while they fight a duel. And of course, every wipe is followed by "our tank can't hold aggro" complaints. It weren't no fun, 'speciallies since I were still learning and didn't realize how much of it weren't me fault.

Compare this to our small, uber-casual, run-one-instance-a-week-if-enough-people-show-up guild runs. Sometimes we was a well-oiled machine, sometimes more like a troop of clowns, but always fun, always happy to help each other. Didn't take long before I said "screw pugging" and spent the time between our infrequent guild events doing rep grinds and farming and dailies. Got me a buncha tabards, some nice gear, and a cool dragon to ride. What I didn't get were too many connections outside of me guild. And then me guildies stopped showing up.

Now, If I'd been using me time differents, I might've had some options. I might've had some connections. I certainly woulda had more confidence and experience tanking instances with different group makeups and skill levels. Woulda been in a good position to follow Dainty Elf Butt's advice and taken me show on the road. But instead I were all dressed up with Kara-ready gear and a shiny new key, but no hot girl to dance with.

Fortunatelies fer me, this story gots a happy ending. Because I writes this silly blog what you buggers waste time reading, I's found more things ta do with more different peoples than ya can shake a stick at. And that don't even include tomorrow night's date with the power forward of the Gnomregan-in-exile Women's Basketball team. But some of you buggers may not be so luckies. So go reads DEB's article - is worth yer time, I swears.

12 comments:

Dorgol said...

Pugging as a tank is a pain. You really have to either outgear the instance, or have a healer you know and trust behind you. I've pug'd a few with my pally as a tank, but it's not something I look for everyday.

On the other hand, I think pugging as a paladin healer is easier than it is on other healing classes. I'm extremely durable, can go completely immune if it's too much, and I can heal forever without mana concerns. This allows for more mistakes on the part of the tank and DPS than, say, a holy priest could take.

And I for one am glad you write this here waste of time. Yours is pretty much the blog that got me into reading all of the sites I visit daily these days. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Ratter,
I'm really glad you found a home. Maybe one day you'll be able to come out of the closet and confess to your guildies....
"BRK, TJ, Fio, Cay, et al.,
I'm an Orc."

I'm sure they'll be very understanding :-)

Anonymous said...

I bet that when the new expansion finally hits store shelves you will see all of your old guildies again.

Rimunathah

Anonymous said...

WUM BA. Consider it.

Sixty-seven now. I'll need someone to heal.

Anonymous said...

Waste of time reading this.....
hmmm...

Not sure I see the waste.

GL with finding others to go into Kara with ya. I'm sure if you look up the forum for your realm on the Blizzard site you might be able to find some guilds willing to take ya into their fold.

Ratshag said...

@Dorg - lots a dang fine blogs out there. Glads I could lead ya to some of them.

@Eus - I's pretty sure they knows already. Is why the serve dinner on paper plates and hide the cat when I comes over fer dinner.

@Rim - Rim! Nothing'd make me happiers than leading you buggers inta Utgarde Keep! I's keeping everything the way y'all left it at the Purge Secret Headquarters. Except Galertuby converted Mr Hoof's Shrine of the Elements inta some sorta undead unholy unintelligible church thing. Oh, and I think Ellspeth's been wearing some of Zinzi's jewelry.

@Eartho - Grats on 67! Would love to run some instances with you, man. I just need one of them whatchacallits, personal assistants, to help me schedule when to do all the things I wants to do with all the fine peoples I wants to do them with.

Ratshag said...

@Sonvar - I quite agrees, I could find peoples to run Kara with. But I'd be starting the search from Ground Zero. My point were if I'd been pugging/dating from the getgo I'd've been farther along and better prepared for it.

Anonymous said...

I admire your courage pugging as a tank. When I levelled my priest I did it a lot to get healing experience, being a complete healing noob. I certainly learned to get stroppy fast and bale out if it looked like a bad group. As far as the healing goes, it was bit of a baptism of fire and I managed to keep some pretty dire groups up! My warrior though is languishing at level 64, I'm not confident at all about tanking and there's no way in hell I'd ever consider doing a pug with her!

Ratshag said...

@anon - I only did a few true pugs, where I didn' know nobodies, and in hindsights I think I just had bad lucks with who I ended up with. Maybes if I'd done more things woulda balanced out. *shrug* Like Dorgol said, though, if ya know ya can trust yer healer, it be a lot easier. So if yer doing the heals in pugs and keeping yer people up, I's happy to tips me hat to ya.

Anonymous said...

I consider myself to be an Olympics(tm)-caliber time-waster...but I'm not ashamed to say I enjoy wasting time reading this blog a lot more than some of my other more mundane time-wastings.

Good stuff, my friend. Too bad we're on different sides of this silly Alliance/Horde fence: I'd be honored to heal your green self through any instance.

Bell said...

Kestrel - just mind control him first. But then I guess you'd have to pull double duty and tank for him :P

Anonymous said...

@ Bell: I'm pretty sure I do not EVER want to get into that Orc's head!!!!!