One topic on Tobold's blog was about mistakes made in the Burnign Crusade. Tobold wonders if he should level faster to 70 or take it easy and enjoy the journey.
I said if he wants to raid he should level faster. And this goes against what I've said and how I want to play the game. But I'm basing it on my own guild's experience. So take it for what its worth.
This is going to sound a bit on the negative side, depending on your perspective:
In the guild I'm in the fast levelers hit 70, got their Karazhan key and started raiding with another guild. While it stings to know the first time our guild entered Karazhan it wasn't a full guild raid, I can understand it. Why wait and help the rest of your guild get keyed when you can work on new content for yourself?
The guild I'm in has some nice, fun people - so before BC I got lulled into remembering that we are a raiding guild first, social second.
The very competitive (with lots of free time) pushed to 70 within days of release and started working on getting keyed. For some reason I thought they would help us stragglers with instances and the like, but I was wrong and I really shouldn't have been surprised by it.
I've been left with this feeling of - get to 70, get keyed, get attuned on your own (which makes me wonder what is the purpose of being in a guild is) and if you make it there, THEN we'll group with you.
I have to admit I'm disgruntled by the fact (a fact I've known for a while now) you simply have to either not have any real life responsibilities or let them suffer in order to keep up. I have a feeling that someone will come here and say they have a full time job, go to school part time, have wife and kids and other hobbies and are still able to raid - but I beg to differ. I honestly feel that either your spouse or kids or school or work or something is not getting the attention it deserves if you're really a hardcore raider. But this has been discussed ad naseum.
Simply put, you have to keep up and run with the pack. No one wants to run an old instance (old as in Slave Pens, yeah 3 weeks since its been released and its old) when they can make attempts on heroic mode. No one wants to help you run your second alt through Blood Furnace. They've been there and done that and they want to improve their own character not your slew of alts. Does this sound harsh? Then you're probably in the wrong guild. If you fall behind its hard to catch up, if you dawdle you'll lose ground, because those who push content don't really take a break. And let me say I'm only talking from the outside looking in.
I have to make a decision do I want to continue to be a part of a guild that requires you to be competitive? Watching my guild's dynamics I have a feeling that decision will be made for me.
SETI and the player count problem
16 hours ago
3 comments:
I've been in the same Guild since I started playing WoW, well, the first Guild I joined. Now admittedly the original members, a group of long time virtual friends all left for other Guilds, then left WoW altogether (except for one guy who I still chat with). One Guildie was in the right place at the right time and the founding members made him Guild Leader before they left, he brought in several of his RL friends, and while he's now left WoW (for the most part, he still logs in occasionally) his friends all still play. We recruited other players as well, and during various times in their WoW careers they all left for Raiding Guilds, which eventually broke up (which happens sometimes) and they all returned to my Guild.
Our highest member is currently 68 and most of the regular players are still just mid 60s. So nobody is in any real hurry to hit 70, in fact it's possible most of us are reluctant to level too fast because replacing our Purple items with Greens is just too sad, although it has to happen eventually.
Most guilds are a dynamic of people with varying amounts of free time to play this game, with some rare exceptions where it seems the guild is there second job (or their first if you play like Death and Taxes..)
You describe a situation not foreign to any guild banging it out to 70. If the guild is a social one, then you might see more helpfulness to get those up and running to 70. If it's largerly made up of the competitive crowd, you'll largely be on your own.
My guild has both. I login and see folks in Shattered Halls while I'm smacking on quest mobs. I also see folks helping other players (aka priests) level up. I've also seen chunks of players leave our guild in favor of a more casual/family oriented style of play.
The good news is, in TBC smaller is better. The ultra-competitive players will likely leave or you will if the gap continues to widen. New guilds will form, old ones will die. It's the new way of things.
chicogrande, you're right. I think it bothers me more that I don't have the time to dedicate to really stay "with the pack". I definitely can't fault the guild for that.
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