Gone are the happy days of 2 hour Karazhan loot runs, happy runs through SSC laughing and belching our way to wipe on Lady Vag, unnecessary wipage on LootReaver, noobs falling off their tanking spots on A'lar; all done with friendly joking and camaraderie over TS.They were the heydays of Portugese Porkers. We didn't suffer burnout through TBC as we never completed TK and SSC before BT came out, we didn't complete BT/MH before Sunwell arrived and we didn't finish Sunwell before Wrath.
Wrath - The Guild Slayer.
But amongst other things Wrath has killed Portugese Porkers for many. Naxx 25 was practically on farm within weeks of 25 raiders getting to level 80, Malygos went down shortly thereafter.
People started leaving, not for other guilds but for a break. It wasn't just the raiders, it was officers, raid leader and veterans. NicePallyClassLeader and her bf, the hunter CL, left for an extended (maybe permanent) break. Most of the original crew were no longer turning up for raids.
New Blood.
A new leadership structure filled the gap; not the happy go lucky Portugese we were used to, but, I'm afraid to say, Brits who started taking things far too seriously, and the odd smattering of Polish.
People who were great (if not a little quirky) as raiders, but give them a taste of power and ... well you know the end of that story.
A Little Busy to Level.
This didn't mean too much to me as it was happening, I had my dying father to worry about, I had a wedding to organise and a house to renovate. I got to level 80 as quickly as I could, NicePallyClassLeader knew the situation and was fine with me grabbing the odd half hour here and there to squeeze some levelling in; she was keen to get me to level 80 as soon as was practicable so I could start raiding with them again.
All Change.
But then she went on extended leave, and so did others. People that cared too much about being petty little Hitlers and feeling self-important and not enough, by far, about the people behind the avatars took over the day to day running of the guild and raids.
People that thought it unfair that (when I was able to get online long enough to raid) I was allowed to go along to a Naxx-25 run and get upgrades that would otherwise be sharded. Go along to a raid that was sub-25 people anyway. Even filling spots in raid and still getting the under-21 raider achievement.
It's Not Fair - QQ Some More.
These people were saying I should be doing heroics and Naxx-10s to gear up before being allowed into Naxx-25 where the gear was sharded, when there was a spot open for me in N-25 farm runs.
Just because those first to 80 had to runs heroics and Naxx-10s to gear up. Because they couldn't get anywhere near to filling a N-25 without resorting to massive PUGage.
Good Guys vs Bad Guys.
There were still some old school Portugese Porkers hanging around who argued against this lame-ass attitude, that it was supposed to be a casual raiding friendly guild, but they were accused of not moving with the times and pitting the Old School vs the Now.
I finally hit level 80 at the start of Feburary, I started accepting raid invites and going to raids but was told that I could only bid minimum on items, because the new pally CL thought it would be best for me. That felt like a kick in the teeth at the time, I don't know whether he was really thinking it was best for me or not. It meant I could gear up on the cheap, but only on items that no-one else wanted, unless I was rolling against a triallist or other non-raider. But it also meant that I couldn't accrue DKP to be able to bid on the better items.
Demoted.
At this point I still had my Veteran rank but a few weeks later, within days of my father dying I was demoted to Non-Raider so I was not even invited to raids, I had to ask if there were any spots once the raids had been formed.
A month ago, after filling up most of my armour spots with ilevel 213 epics, I applied for my raider rank back. I was pretty well geared, had level 80 blue gems wherever a socket existed and at the minimum had TBC enchants on things.
Bitches.
The application turned into a bitch-fest about how I waltzed up after taking 3 months to level 80 and expected to go raiding again. How it wasn't fair that I hadn't slogged my guts out gearing up in heroics because there wasn't anything else to do anyway :P regardless of the fact that I was mostly Naxx-25 geared anyway, had been to Naxx and Maly many times and any upgrades (Weapon, rings and trinkets) would be minor upgrades and soon replaced in Naxx anyway.
Put in Some Effort.
To show willing I respecced to Holy, which is what I was wanting to raid as, even though I kept getting taken as ret. I went to heroics going for the minor upgrades to my non-213 gear, just so it could be upgraded again in the next raid (which is exactly what happened).
The PallyCL never even responded to my application, I'd done it all official like and the flaming began, and continued, in the public area of the guild forum until I asked that it be moved to the guild-only area.
New CL.
Then a new Pally CL was appointed, he was one of the assholes that had been more vociferous in his complaints. I was still not consulted about anything, apart from "gear up some more". HELLO?? Any serious upgrades are from Naxx-25. Raid buffed I could already sport about 1950 Spellpower. What is your fucking problem?
Enough is Enough!
So I've had enough, it's been 2 months since I hit level 80, it's been a month since I applied for my raider spot back. The guild never get a full 25 people along to raids and yet I have to beg for a spot. Most of the fun and capable people have left or are on a break. I'm out of here. I /gquit. I didn't do it at 5 in the morning, I did it quite late in the evening, but there were at least 3 officers online and many others. I stayed online while I composed and posted my goodbye post on the forums, and not one single response.
Good Riddance and as TJ would say "Up Yours!"
4 comments:
Wow...you stuck it out longer than I would have. I hate guilds where people can't get over themselves long enough to realize that it is just a GAME! I don't switch guilds very often, but all it takes is for someone to start taking it too seriously before I take leaving seriously. I enjoy the game and want to make the most of my game time. I will never put the game before things in RL. If a guild can't understand that, then its time to move on. If a guild can't use some common sense in dealing with things like loot and gearing up raiders, then its time to move on.
You did the right thing...good for you.
So you took your time leveling, so what? I know many people that took their time getting to 80, either because of time contraints, or just wanting to see as much of Northrend as possible. Guildmates should not get upset with people for playing how they want to play.
But you show up for heroic raids in crap gear and BC enchants (with the exception of items you got run through for), seriously? Wow, they had every right to tell you to sit out. It's sad that someone would rant about horrible new guild leadership (which in some ways you're right) but if someone shows up for H Naxx in some greens or crappy blues with old 'chants they deserve to get sidelined.
It's sad to read your post about how your old leaders ran people through and now you've got sand in your vagina because the new people in charge expect you to at least put some effort into your toon before you go to a raid.
It is just a game. You're right on that note. But just like you, lots of people have time restrictions, and no one wants to waste their time handing you shiney purples you don't deserve. Get over it.
I'm a bit late to this...but wow I think fred is the one with sand in the vag. Did you NOT read that he had all his slots filled with i213 epics and still was declined. And tbh if your guild has stuff on farm, it's better to hand people the gear they need then sharding crap for a rainy day. In many ways that's called a waste. And considering he had t6 gear on before Wrath AND was an old school raider with history of being a good raider he wouldn't have been carried that far due to skill and dedication to the guild.
fred, people like you are why hitleresque guild's die; so worried about who gets loot instead of improving the guild roster's overall loot so the guild can progress in content.
I think the writer did the right thing in leaving that guild. It no longer was the guild he raided in. And with that kind of mentality, it would die soon anyway.
~DS
@eggs - I stuck it out that long because it was home, because I had many friends there, those that left were possibly coming back when Ulduar hit. It was a "casual" raiding guild, with emphasis on having fun with friends who were all capable enough to raid. That was the only reason I put up with the changing landscape as long as I did. Some of the founding members/officers had left before me because they didn't like the direction the guild was headed, even the ones I didn't particularly get on with stuck up for me in the bitch fest, and said because of this new attitude they never had plans on running with the guild again.
@DS - I'm glad that you, unlike some, can read, you summed up perfectly!
@Fred - You made me question myself, which is why I haven't responded until now.
I was dragged into my first couple N-25 raids, as they were critically short of people, I explained that I was not ready or prepared to go and that I was not happy going with mostly T6 gear but they needed the numbers, we even got the under-21 achievement on most of the bosses.
Most of the gear was sharded on those runs except for what was given to me or alts that were being run through.
By the time I had enough time to seriously consider full time raiding again I had been running heroics to fill out my weak spots, the guild were still running sub-25 runs and were short of healers. The runs I did manage to get onto I would frequently pull off 2nd or 3rd on the healing reports.
Your guild, Fred, may still have been taking H-Nax seriously and having trouble with it, but my guild were treating it like Karazhan when main raid days were in BT.
Fred. Skill > Gear. I had a proven track record of being one of the guilds top healers, I had re-proven myself capable to heal with new Wrath Pally Healing Toolset, I was familiar with the encounters and I was running heroics to fill up spots that would only be sharded in Naxx or go to off-specs.
So to your final point, "lots of people have time constraints and don't want to waste their time handing me shiny purples I don't deserve"?? - So cancel the raid for not enough healers? Continually wipe because of not enough healer? You tried running N-25 with 18 people and only 4 healers? How is that not wasting peoples time?
I don't know what you do in raids, but when I go I do not put myself on follow and go /afk to watch Oprah Winfrey. I put in 100% effort, I play for the team. I put 4 hours of my time into the raids so that they could succeed, I took my fair share of durability hit and inherent repair cost, I saved the rest of the raiders some repair cost by contributing to NOT wiping by doing MY JOB. WELL. How is that not deserving of shiny purples that would otherwise have been sharded, or even not dropped because the raid had failed?
I joined a "casual raiding" guild full of nice people who could succeed without being arseholes. Who could have fun at wipes. Who valued each others friendships and helped each other out when times were hard.
That is NOT the guild that I left.
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