Wednesday (23 Mar) - Guild News (of a sort)

Wednesday (23 Mar) - Guild News (of a sort)

Well, Wild couldn't stand it anymore. Things are so quiet in Wild's guild I sometimes wonder if there's anyone still playing. I rarely see more than 3-4 guildies in game. Things are deathly quiet in the MM2 guild, too - at least to Wild's ears. What the heck is going on over there? Wild decided to do a little sleuthing, since he couldn't catch anyone in game. It was pretty easy to find the MM2 website, and just as easy to register with the site. As long as you don't make waves I've never had any guild get upset at non-guildies on their website. Wild is still registered with FS, too. Most guild websites have guild only sections that require the site manager to authorize access, but that's fine. Wild just wanted to check out the site and see what was being said.

Wild found out some interesting things. Sh, the shaman who started the MM2 guild after leaving MM, is now co-guild leader with Wild's friend Bd. I knew Bd was a high ranking officer, but co-guild leader? Nice. Then Wild ran across a post from Sh about "raid penalties." The discussion centered around using a penalty system to punish raiders who do something wrong in the raid. The idea is that penalized raiders would work harder and pay closer attention. I tend to look at things from the perspective that this is a game and that "for the most part" everyone is trying to do their best. Personally, I get very embarrassed when I screw up, and having it pointed out and having fines/penalties assessed would greatly damage my raid enjoyment. Positive feedback works a whole lot better than negative feedback. Those trying their best but coming up short need personal attention and help to get better, not a penalty. Raiders that aren't trying their best likely won't care whether they get penalties or not. Those raiders should not be raiding until they get themselves straightened out. It's just under discussion so far, but the irony of this ... well, consider this:

The original FS guild that Wild spent most of his leveling and raiding life in was a balanced social/raiding guild. At its peak FS fielded three raid groups while it continued to have a strong social/casual element that injected a lot of fun into guild life both in and outside of raiding. During the Wrath expansion the more hard core raiders eventually drove out the social side of the guild. FS became more of a pure raiding guild with two strong willed raid leaders, and then soon after split into two raid focused guilds, FS and WC, when the two raid leaders parted ways. The driven out social element of the original FS joined the MM guild. MM, as our guild leader aptly pointed out some time ago, is a social guild that raids. The emphasis here has to be on "social," however. Then, in what was mostly a personality dust up between groups in MM, a group of MM guildies left and formed MM2. In my opinion MM2 wants to be a raiding guild with a strong social element. They at least have a core element of players who have raided together in the past and who personally know each other. But here's the irony - MM2 is largely composed of social/causal oriented players. How could they not be given the way the various guilds were formed? Yet, before they have even begun to raid regularly, MM2 is already bringing up raiding rules that lean toward the hard core raiding side. MM2 had better be careful, or they could recreate the situation in FS that caused the social side to break away the first time. Molding a guild composed of largely casual players into a functioning, serious raid group is a difficult challenge. If MM2 succeeds, they will have resurrected the original FS. And things will have come full circle.

In other MM2 news Lady Hunter has resurfaced and announced on the website that she will begin running raids again. Her work schedule has changed and the raid days are expected to be Monday and Tuesday nights. Should Wild get an invite, I'd be happy to sign up for Monday nights. Tuesday would be on a case by case basis. There's no conflict with Hunter Fortress as Lady Hunter has no problem with raiders who have hard stop times, which Wild will insist on for Tuesdays. The Friday MM raid is still Wild's first priority, and Wild will bow out of the Tuesday raid to avoid lockout issues if MM2 and MM end up raiding the same dungeon.

PS - Sh just announced that there will not be a penalty system. I think he got a lot more feedback offline than was evident on the website. Instead, there will be a Raider's Bill of Rights - basically, a list of things that guildies who want to raid should be doing to be fully prepared to raid. The initial Bill looked pretty practical and reasonable.