Saturday (1 January, 2011) - Annual New Year's Post

Saturday (1 January, 2011) - Annual New Year's Post

Here we are once again. Wild and company celebrated a seventh New Year's in the world of Azeroth. Time for a look back at the year that was.

First are the numbers, and I am going to have to incorporate both TSN and blog numbers in the new accounting of visitors. The site meter for the blog only tracks visits and views, not posts. It would be a big pain to manually count every post, so I am dropping that stat. TSN doesn't track visits, but I will count TSN posts as a visit

On New Year's 2009 here is how the numbers looked:
TSN: 1,916 posts - 74,358 views
Blog: 1,475 views (I did not note the visit number)

Total: 1,916 posts - 75,833 views

New Year's 2010:
TSN: 2,308 posts - 120,142 views
Blog: 3,004 visits - 4,914 views

Overall for 2010: 5,312 posts/visits - 125,052 views

Wild's /played:

I haven't done this specifically in past annual reports, but the following lists each toon's level as of the end of the year:

The Wildshard clan
85 - Wild
80 - Philly
80 - JB
63 - Melasahnd
56 - Mery
46 - EZ
32 - Java (alliance)
23 - Jocey
22 - Happy
20 - Chaitee (alliance)
16 - Hap
13 - Rakta (alliance)
11 - Lost (alliance)
11 - Slash
11 - Deth

?? - Naithipe

The DER/Sis clans (I can't tell with some toons who was with who so ya'll get lumped together)

80 - Sis
80 - Sin the Elder
80 - DER
72 - Lao (Gratz! for gaining two levels since I last saw you!)
59 - Myst
59 - Red
48 - Ando
30 - Daeth (alliance)
29 - Unbleached (alliance)
29 - Sin the Hunter (alliance)
28 - Sin the Warlock (alliance)
28 - Sin the Younger
28 - Esor (alliance)
20 - El
20 - Andro
14 - Neek (alliance)
11 - Jab

At the dawn of 2010, the Fall of the Lich King patch had just been released, unleashing Icecrown Citadel. The first guild run with Wild in attendance happened on 30 December, 2009. Icecrown Citadel would dominate Wild and his guild for all of 2010.

Every year there is guild drama of one sort or another. Every year Wild ponders his guild situation and frets about how much raiding he gets or doesn't get. Soap opera fans love this stuff, but hey, I'm only reporting the facts.

As the new year unfolded Wild was a member of FS and a full time regular raider of the primary focus raid at the time, Trial of the Crusader (ToC). That was ToC25. The ToC10 group Wild was running with, led by Lady Hunter, was struggling and was near folding. Wild was raiding only irregularly. Two other ten man groups were still functional, but they did not have any spots available. Wild had friends in the MM guild, and began running ToC10 with them when it didn't conflict with the FS ToC25. Icecrown Citadel was open, but FS had not started ICC25 runs. The two ten man groups had begun to explore ICC, however.

FS was having issues, though. The ToC25 raids were starting to have trouble filling, and when FS had to start canceling those raids, Wild made the decision to put the MM Toc10 as his first priority over the FS ToC25. Wild explained his situation to the FS ToC25 raid leader, Rh, who understood and supported the decision. He joked with perhaps a bit of seriousness, telling Wild, "but don't forget about us!" Wild would remember those words much later. At the time, though, Wild was just happy to be raiding again.

On January 7th the MM guild, with Wild in tow, cleared ToC10 for the first time.

Meanwhile, in an effort to put some life back into FS 25 man raiding, FS leadership began talking with a team of more than ten raiders who had recently transferred to the server. Liking what they saw, the group was invited into the guild. Despite the tension it caused with some existing FS guildies, the infusion of new, well geared guildies helped get ICC25 raiding off the ground. Wild missed the first FS ICC25 run as he'd already committed that night to the MM ToC10, but Wild was considered a regular and began running ICC25 with FS. FS still had no spot for Wild on an ICC10 group, even though there were now three groups operating. The third group was made up entirely from the group of new guildies.

On 14 January Wild joined his first MM ICC10. Wild's first clear of ToC25 was with FS, although that run was effectively the end of ToC25 as the guild focused on ICC. At the end of January Wild had this to say about his guild situation: "There is the specter of the guild going more and more toward hardcore raiding, as there are really no high visibility "social guild" type players around anymore to balance things. Wild is something of a remnant of the days of "casual raiders" and some already disenfranchised friends have warned Wild privately that my days of raiding with the guild may be numbered. All I can say is that I've been through this cycle numberless times, and Wild is still here and still raiding. The way I see it is that the raid either still sees value in having Wild in the raid, or they can't figure out how to fill a raid without having Wild along. I know I'm not the best player and never have been. But I hope that Wild's reliable attendance, positive attitude, and willingness to pound my head against new bosses for as long as it takes carries some weight."

As February turned into March Wild continued to straddle the line between the two guilds, participating in ICC25 with FS and ICC10 with MM. The two guilds appeared to be going in opposite directions, however. FS was on the fast track with ICC25 and their ICC10 groups. New bosses were going down each week. Wild was very much a part of that ICC25 success, and was getting some nice gear as a bonus. The MM ICC25 effort floundered, went on "temporary hiatus," and was never resurrected. The two MM ICC10 groups were forced to combine into one, but continued to have problems filling and ten man raiding became an iffy thing for Wild. Wild's situation with FS then took a turn for the worse. New rules were announced. The new loot rules Wild had no problem with. The new rules that determined who would be invited to the ICC25 raid, however, placed Wild in the Tier 2 category, which effectively meant that Wild became a fill-in instead of a regular raider. Over the next 11 raid nights Wild was in game and ready for 8 of them (and gave the guild advance notice on the three nights I couldn't make it), but raided just twice.

Wild's raiding was on the skids, so it seemed appropriate that a revival of the clan's alliance cousins occurred around the same time. On 13 March alliance members of the three clans formed their own guild, Tea Green (TG). The guild primarily waged war against the horde on the field of the pvp battlegrounds, but also crashed any number of dungeons in the hunt for higher level and better gear to kill horde with.

March became April, but Wild's raid situation had not improved. In fact, it got worse. The MM guild still could not field a consistent ICC10 raid. Wild got only rare invites to the FS ICC25. There were some good moments, however. On 17 March Wild helped diffuse a conflict between the two guilds when an MM guildie invited into the FS ICC25 got kicked from the raid. Wild acted as the go between the two guilds, and in the end FS apologized for kicking the MM guildie. Wild's old friend, a shaman, returned to the game and to the FS guild on 30 March, although it was depressing to talk about the state of FS and what it was going through. Wild got to play moonkin for the first time in an ICC25 raid - actually, it was the first time Wild had ever raided with FS as moonkin, period. The raid downed six bosses that night.

Wild hit a new low in April. The lack of raiding pushed Wild behind other raiders gear-wise. Wild's healing in the ICC25 raid (when he could get a spot) became an issue. In one raid Wild was switched to DPS to get the moonkin buff and the raid opted to go one healer short, so little did they think of Wild's healing. The raid leader, surveydrood, took Wild aside and helped me work on improving my healing mechanics. It helped, and Wild certainly appreciated the advice and assistance, but it didn't change the lack of opportunity to acquire better gear. Wild's close in game friend and sometime confidante, P-Jo, had all but left the game. Lady Hunter, another good friend who along with P-Jo made up a large portion of the social element of FS, left FS for MM. FS raiding was still flourishing, having downed 10 of 12 bosses in ICC25, but it had become deadly serious business with much of the fun squeezed out of it, at least from Wild's perspective. Yet Wild had no where to go. MM raiding remained moribund, and he couldn't imagine trying to hook up with some other unknown guild. At the end of March Wild set his primary goal: "Do whatever it took to get to the Lich King before Cata arrived." That goal seemed far, far away.

Other family members were having a blast! In April Philly and Sis both DINGed to level 80. Weekly pvp battleground wars raged on both the horde and the alliance side. The secretive Naithipe kept popping up here and there. Lost became the alliance side Auction House trader with great success.

As April rolled into May, things started to unravel in FS. Even as the ICC10 groups brought down the Lich King for the first time, ICC25 raids lost attendance and focus. It was clear that raiders would show up to take down bosses already on farm, but had little interest in pushing past the first two wings against the tougher bosses.

Wild remained in denial, though. On 1 May Wild said this: "If Wild had left FS any of the previous times that we had gone through this, Wild would have missed out of opportunities to raid the best 25 man dungeons in the game, from Mount Hyjal to Naxxramas to Ulduar to Icecrown Citadel. The 25 man raiding will return, even if it goes dormant until Cataclysm. And Wild doesn't want to miss that. FS has survived longer than any other guild Wild would have jumped to, and despite it's problems is still a strong guild. I like MM, and have invested Philly in their future, but there is no overriding reason for Wild to join MM, and every reason to believe that FS will rise to the challenge of the 25 mans when the time comes."

Philly joined MM on 3 May. Wild had one last fling with FS ICC25, winning the main hand mace [Frozen Bonespike]. Wild claimed that the mace was so good he'd still be wearing it come Cata. He was right. But FS ICC25 raiding ended on 11 May when FS suspended it - permanently. On 4 May Wild joined the restart of MM ICC10 raiding and we downed three bosses with Wild leading the healing.

The suspension of ICC25 in FS cost the guild many raiders, including a lot of the newer ones who came to FS specifically to raid ICC25. FS also dropped back to two ICC10 mans, but later were able to put a third group back together. By July Wild was an FS guildie in name only, but he still failed to realize that. On 15 Jul Wild said: "Wild is getting some mild pressure again to move over to the MM guild, saying it would be easier to include Wild in MM guild events, and that the last of the old timers from FS would come with him if Wild only agreed to come. I doubt that is completely true, but Wild is tempted. Always tempted. I hold on to the thought, though, that the best place to be doing 25 man raids once Cataclysm arrives is still FS. Wild will continue to straddle both worlds."

While Wild maintained that the old guard FS guildies that still remained true to the social side of the guild were not an influence - on them or Wild - by remaining in FS, he couldn't deny the impact it made when P-Jo announced she was leaving the game for good.

22 July: "Wild finally made the decision to change guilds. The decision has been building for some time. In one sense nothing much will change, since Wild has had virtually no interaction with FS for quite some time. My friends in FS will still be my friends, even though Wild is no longer in the guild. And it'll make communicating with MM friends and learning about MM guild events much easier. It still makes Wild pretty sad, though." Wild joined FS on 8 May, 2005, as a level 36. Wild held uninterrupted service in the guild for 5 years, 2 months, and 14 days.

In news that no longer directly affected Wild, a piece of FS broke ranks on 28 July and left to form their own guild, WC. Long time friend and raid leader, Rh, became the WC guild leader.

In July and August the MM guild pushed deeper into ICC with two ICC10 groups, G1 and G2, and later added a third group, the Nooners (for alts). Wild was a regular on G2, and G1 and G2 had friendly but fierce competition on who would reach the Lich King first. During this time Philly also got into the act, getting into her first ICC25 on a weekend run that was part guild, part PUG.

Deathwing and the pre-cata events arrived in September and quickly became serious competition for time with Icecrown Citadel. The G2 had come up against a wall called Professor Putricide, but the pontificating professor finally fell on 16 September. MM made an effort to revive ICC25 raiding, starting a co-op with another guild for a weekly Saturday raid. We made surprisingly good progress, but the ICC25 co-op ended after four weeks to make way for the coming Cata patch 4.0.1. Wild did get two heroic mode kills (the Gunship and Lord Marrowgar) from the short lived co-op.

Wild's concern that the pre-Cata events would be the end of ICC raiding proved unfounded. The weekly raids continued, but progress was slow. It took until 31 October for all three raid groups to reach the Lich King. That included the Nooners, which had coalesced into a strong group of it's own and not just an alt farming group. None of the groups had killed the Lich King, and it seemed that time was against us. Wild, who went through a period when he was more absent than present in the raids, had yet to set hoof in LK's domain. We had five weeks to kill him.

All three groups had locked their raids, so that the sole target each raid night was the Lich King, and only the Lich King.

Wild got his first look at the end game boss on 2 November.

The G1 killed the Lich King on 10 November. That ended the hopes of G2 to be the first MM group to win the Kingslayer title, but we were ecstatic at their success and cheered them on even as we came up short once again.

On 23 November "The Shattering" ruptured Azeroth and reshaped the world. Time was running out.

And on 5 December, just two days before the full launch of the Cataclysm expansion, the G2 brought down the Lich King. "On 14 January Wild joined his first MM ICC10. Two hundred and ninety-four real life days later Wild got his first look at the Lich King on 4 Nov. That was the first of nine nights of battling the Lich King over 32 days. We fought the Lich King a total of 77 times before finally bringing him down on our 77th attempt."

Although I could not reach Naithipe for comment, the below is an attempt to track his sightings. Make of it what you will.

Naithipe Sightings:
http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/02/weekend-13-feb-naithipe-surfaces.html

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-day-weekend-30-may-ruffling.html

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/06/monday-31-may-happys-dreams-come-true.html

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/06/monday-21-jun-secrets.html

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/07/sunday-4-jul-jbs-naithipe-obsession.html

15 jul: "In the meantime Naithipe moves through her world oblivious to all the drama around her. Her latest demand is for khorium ore. A lot of it. Of course it is rare. Of course it is expensive. And of course it will take hours and hours of someone's time to collect it. Of course, that doesn't bother Naithipe at all. "

20 Jul: "The latest Naithipe news - Naithipe was fishing when she started getting badgered by an alliance wanting to duel. The alliance was three levels higher than her. When the allie repeatedly asked for a duel even with Naithipe declining, Naithipe pulled her hook out of the river and turned to face the allie. Instead of accepting the duel, Naithipe flagged herself for pvp and waited to see what the allie would do. You want a battle, Naithipe decided, let's make it a real one. Funny, but the allie suddenly lost interest and left. Which, when Naithipe thought about it later, was probably a good thing, because when Naithipe flagged she was still holding her fishing pole instead of her weapon. "

22 jul: "For Almond, from Naithipe - Thanks, Hun. [Don't tell Naithipe I said this, but I think Naithipe even smiled - a little] "

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/09/monday-30-aug-all-over-map.html

If you'd like to see what the prior year was like, here is the link to the 2009 New Year's Report:

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2010/01/friday-1-jan-2010-new-years-2010.html

It's now 2011. Cataclysm is here. Icecrown Citadel must and has already become a fading memory. Goodbye, Lich King.

It's all about leveling and dungeon runs right now. But on the horizon broods Baradin Hold, Blackwing Descent, The Bastion of Twilight, and Throne of the Four Winds. Raids. They're coming. If you don't believe that look at the achievements page of the FS guild. Baradin Hold is a one boss raid. They've already killed him. So has Rh's new guild, WC. Wild's MM guild takes a slower path. But we'll get started down that road. Soon.