My WoW year in review
Thanks to Psynister for the tag!
1. What did you do in the World of Warcraft in 2009 that you’d never done before?
25man raid progression. In TBC I did Gruul’s Lair a few times, Black Temple once (post nerf), and TK once (pre-nerf). 2009 was the first year I actually got to do actual 25man raids with a guild that raided 25mans consistently. It was a revelation. I can’t believe I spent all this time playing WoW in Vanilla and Burning Crusade and never really got into the raiding scene. I’ve never had as much fun playing WoW than I’ve had raiding in 2009.
2. What was your favorite new place that you visited?
I’ll have to go with the newest place I’ve visited–Icecrown. It’s pretty epic in there and I’m having a great time with the fights so far.
If you asked me at different points this year I might have told you Naxxramas (and then I got really, really sick of it), then Ulduar (ditto, blech), and … actually, I never liked ToC all that much. Point being, I’ll probably start hating Icecrown soon enough.
3. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A Troll Druid. Day One of Cataclysm I’m paying to change the race of my cow druid to a Troll one. Cannot wait.
4. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Literally, would have to be Loremaster, that was pretty intense. I spent a lot of off time ravaging the two continents dredging up quests, and then when I thought I was going to be stuck with fifty or so to go, I realized I missed all the Zoram’Gar Outpost quests and some other random ones in Ashenvale. Probably one of the bigger surprises I’ve had in game.
… You know, scratch that. My biggest achievement is definitely getting Insanity in ToGC-10. The most fun I’ve had this year is progressing through that place, finally downing Anub after a week or two of attempts, and then week after week watching us finish with more and more attempts remaining, unused. Then finally, one epic night, we got the penultimate achievement in that raid and downed everything with no wipes. That was most definitely my biggest achievement of the year.
In terms of not actual achievement achievements, I am ecstatic that Demo and I took over the guild during the summer. I think the success we’ve had lately in terms of progression is thanks in big part to the direction that Demo and I steered the guild in. Implementing DKP did wonders for improving raid attendance and dedication and negating any loot drama, and a consistent raid schedule and core promoted a professionalism and degree of skill among our raiders that has honed ES into the primo guild it is today.
5. What was your biggest failure?
Not killing Yogg-Saron. I really want to go back and do it, but I don’t think the will is there with the 25man group. Ulduar as a whole was a big disappointment.
6. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Cataclysm! I cannot wait for the next expansion. Everything about it sounds amazing.
Also, the 3.1 prot pally buffs were awesome.
7. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stress about raiding. I’ve been kept up at night worrying about a gquit, or had way too much anxiety over a series of wipes on some boss. I’ve let certain raid stresses get to me, which I’ve carried onto vent, and that’s not good at all. One thing I will definitely do differently in 2010 is take raids more easily.
8. What was your favorite WoW blog or podcast?
I have a couple that I really enjoy reading: I Like Bubbles, for the hilarity of Amber’s rage; Forbearance, for the surprising wisdom that each post has; Have Mace, Will Raid, for Antigen’s intelligent humor; Avenging Wrathy, through whose 25man heroic raid exploits I live vicariously; The Big Bear Butt, for the great stories. Many others too, that are too numerous to name. There’s so much talent in the WoW blogosphere. I’m privileged to be a part of it.
I don’t listen to podcasts, unfortunately. I really should.
9. Tell us a valuable WoW lesson you learned in 2009.
People respond to incentives in WoW just like in real life. Roll systems are well and good, but for the development of a serious raid core you need some kind of dkp system, or at least a system that rewards attendance in some form. Give raiders a reason to come back every week rather than swooping in and collecting purples when they feel like it.
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In response to 9:
Amen! Back when we were bound in a /roll system I thought the days of the guild were coming to an end. Attendance was flaky, people who did come and help consistently lost their upgrades to people who were almost never there… It sucked.
Rolling may be a nice equalizer but equality isn’t really something you should strive for when it is between core raiders and people who roll in when they feel like it once a month. It may suck for those people to realize they have little chance to win anything but who should you work to help more, the core raider or the horribly played casual?
Take care of your core and they will take care of you. It has worked well for us so far.
I actually did the opposite when it comes to raiding. I have gone strictly 10 man. My guild raids 2 nights a week for 3 hours each and we still get things done. Lots of achievements, and downed bosses.
So far my only regret for this year has been not getting my rusted proto drake. We still need firefighter and yogg+1 but attendance has been pretty bad recently due to college finals and the holidays. Not finishing ToGC 10 is pretty disappointing too. We could not get past heroic twins :/
I like #4. The “Insanity” night was one for the books. I think we were super excited the night we first killed heroic Anub, but the time we owned the place in a perfect symphony of ES ass-kicking and got that Achievement was awesome. Any time that you get a collective cheer in Vent after a fight is a great time.
Besides, I won the roll for the Swift Horde Wolf :)
Great post.
I am a big fan of dkp for big raiding guilds. The guild I have joined upon moving to this server for the last month is having to constantly pug the last spots of a 25 man raid which I would prefer to focus more on 2 full 10 man runs on ICC and even some of the heroic form 10 mans. When I run the 10 mans I try to keep the same group though and I don’t worry about dkp because we have more fun in the 10s and everyone gets stuff they need.
merry christmas and happy new year epic tank.
jong’s last blog ..Go
@Rhidach
23 December 2009 at 12:46 pm #
Thanks man, to you and yours as well!
Rhidach’s last blog ..The one night raid week
@hazmacewillraid
23 December 2009 at 3:15 pm #
Thanks for the shout-out! I hear ya with the troll druid; I just wish you could get one of those badass trolls from ZA instead of the frail, malnourished Darkspears.
Have a good Christmas man, here’s to getting some purpz in that stocking.
Oh, and by the way, I tried tanking Halls of Reflection as a snowman… Definitely can’t do ANYTHING, even taunt. Thanks for killing the winter spirit, Blizzard.