I said in June that my intention was likely to resume raiding in WoD. Well, the expansion comes out next week and raiding starts in December. It's time to assemble the team.
Much of what follows is taken from the post I made when I created the 10man team for SoO, and I'm including it here to remind people of the purposes of this team and how I plan to run it.
I'm creating a new Heroic team for WoD.
I'm running it a lot like I did the 25man AM Raid Team and the 10man SoO Team.
This is NOT like many of the alt runs. My expectations for raiders will be very similar to what they were for my previous teams. You will have to earn a spot on the team, you'll be expected to know the fights and your role, and you will be expected to show up. If you don't meet those expectations, you will be removed. In return, you'll get a raid leader who is prepared, and a raid that will almost always run. In over two years of being a raid leader for the AM Team, I never had to call a raid because people didn't show. I may have had to pug some spots at times, but we ran. When I carve time from my schedule to run a raid, I will see to it that the raid runs. We had a few difficult times with the 10man team in SoO when I couldn't find a replacement for a last minute cancellation, but I'm making a change (see below) to decrease the likelihood of that with this team.
This team will only raid six hours a week.
Wednesday night from 7pm-10pm, server.
Thursday night from 7pm-10pm, server.
That's it. No third raid day. No extra pulls until 10:30pm. No catch-up days.
We'll have different goals than the AM or PM Teams.
The AM and PM Teams are hardcore progression teams. They min/max everything, are concerned about rankings, and will be working hard to beat mythic bosses in the current tier.
My heroic team WILL NOT have that goal. If we form this team, I can guarantee you full heroic clears. That's it. Compared to the Mythic teams, you might rightfully consider this a "fun run." Our idea of progression, given that we'll be raiding 50% of the time of the Mythic teams, will be to clear each tier on heroic mode. If we start being able to reliably clear the entire instance in 4 to 5 hours, then our raid ends early for the week.
Who would enjoy this raid?
Raiders who can't make the regular raid times of our Mythic AM and PM teams. Anybody who has had to retire from raiding because they didn't have the time to put in for a hardcore raiding team and are okay with progression being measured in heroic mode. Raiders who want to have relaxing, fun runs with the same group of people each week, while still having plenty of time to do things outside of WoW.
What if I join but secretly want this to become the top-rated mythic team on the server that only runs for six hours?
You'll waste your time and mine. Here's new information that I've inserted for the Heroic Team: The 10man SoO team sometimes had trouble running in April, 2014, when we started playing around in hard modes. Sure, we killed 8/14 bosses in hard modes, but that came at a steep price: When I needed to pug a player for hard modes, I was hard pressed to find that kind of talent who (a) wasn't already locked, (b) wasn't on a toon that had inadequate gear, or (c) fit our group composition and met the needs of the encounter. Sometimes that resulted in us not being able to run because somebody couldn't show for raid and I had nobody with which to replace them since it was a 10man team and we had exactly 10 team members. I will not allow that situation to be repeated. I'm telling you right now that this heroic team will not step foot into mythic raiding. The amount of organizational demands that mythic raiding requires and the bench of back-up players that I would need to develop in order to ensure we could field a mythic team every week is beyond the scope of this team. If you want mythic raiding, you really need to apply to the AM or PM Teams.
If you're just focusing on heroic mode, will it even feel like progression?
Yes, I believe so. We'll only be raiding half of the time of other guilds. That "half" is when they do a lot of their progression. Since we'll have dramatically less time each week, then heroic mode will take up considerably more time, leaving much less time for progression boss wipes. We also won't have the mythic gear from previous tiers, which is a big reason why Mythic teams have a considerable edge in beating heroic modes and jumping to mythic modes as quickly as they do. Lower ilvl gear means lower health, lower dps, and lower hps. In short, you have to play better to get the kill. Mythic gear helps you kill mythic bosses. We'll have heroic gear, so we'll be adequately challenged by heroic bosses.
So it'll be just as hard to us as Mythic raiding is to the AM or PM Team?
Ha. No. But it will be challenging for a good, long while. Again, if you want to experience Mythic raiding, apply to the AM or PM Teams, or try to pug a Mythic spot on the weekends, since it will have a completely separate lock-out from our heroic runs.
You said this wasn't an alt run. Does that mean I'm not allowed to apply with my alt if I'm on the AM or PM Team?
I will treat the situation just like I did for people who raided with both AM and PM. Neither are alts. You now have two mains. That's how seriously I expect your commitment to the Heroic group to be.
What are the attendance requirements?
If your attendance will be lower than 90%, there's no reason to apply. While the Flex nature of Heroic will provide us with a little wiggle room, this will still be a progression team. We'll lose time on our farm kills if we're constantly re-adjusting our strategy because several different people want to be present/absent on any given week. However, I plan on giving everybody the week off during holidays, like Christmas and New Years. I also take a vacation every year, so I don't hold it against others when they do the same. But if you think you'll likely miss a day or two a month, then this is not the team for you, regardless of the new Flex system. The team needs to count on its members to show up.
What are the ilvl requirements?
I expect you to be in heroic dungeon gear (ilvl 630) by our first raid. Yes, you may have "those one or two pieces" that never dropped for you, but there are craftable pieces for every armor slot now, and you can wear up to three crafted pieces. If you can't commit to running dungeons to gear up for the first raid, then you don't have the time to commit to our raiding schedule.
Since it's only a heroic group, will there even be a raid leader?
Yes. Although the organizational demand is much less for heroic teams, you still need somebody who can cut off discussion and say, "Both strats might work, but this is the particular strat we're using on this pull," and one voice whose authority carries weight when a call in the middle of a fight needs to be made. I'll be that voice and I'll set the atmosphere.
What will the atmosphere of raids be?
If you're looking for somebody to yell at you, you won't find that from me. However, if you cause a problem or aren't pulling your weight, you'll have plenty of time to find somebody who can yell at you after I've sat you or pugged your spot. If you never ran with me, ask people in the guild who did. I'm friendly and firm. I don't threaten but I act decisively, and I mean what I say. I made it a point to ensure that raids were professional and fun. People could joke and tease (within good taste), but people got serious and quiet once strategy was being discussed and the boss was pulled. Vent was clear during progression, so call-outs could be heard and new strats could be thrown out when something bad or unexpected happened. Once the boss was dead, we were back to joking around. On farm bosses, the jokes and chatter tended to continue on through the boss kills unless vent was needed for call-outs.
What's the loot system?
We'll /roll for main spec gear, just as the 10man did. EPGP doesn't currently seem necessary for our purposes. Off-spec gear will be awarded at my discretion to people who actively switch specs for the team. To be clear on this point: off-spec gear still exists (e.g. only healers use spirit and items with spirit don't change with specs). After that, I don't mind giving it to people for personal off-spec use. One note, though: please be considerate of fellow raid members and know that, sometimes, it's okay to put your dice away and congratulate somebody who hasn't won anything yet, that week.
So are you wanting people to switch from the AM or PM Team to your team?
Absolutely not. If you can continue to raid with the AM or PM Team and still desire the best gear, the hardest bosses, and the time it takes to pursue those goals, please stay with your team! My team has drastically different goals, and frankly would not be appropriate for a number of folks on the other teams. If you have an alt that you pug each week, then maybe consider us. Otherwise, keep making the AM and PM Teams stronger with your help. If you've retired from one of the teams, we may be exactly what you're looking for.
What specs/classes do you need?
I currently have a resto shaman on the team. The raid composition beyond that is completely up in the air. I may have some folks from the prior 10man team who wish to return and, if so, I'd love to have them. But many of them have gone on to find new raid teams. Several of them helped the AM and PM Teams secure their first kills of hard mode Garrosh. That's heady stuff, and they may choose to remain in those spots, to experience all that Mythic raiding has to offer. If so, I'm happy for them and will continue to root for them and their raid teams.
How do I apply?
Respond here with an armory link to your toon, and also include with the post what your class and spec are. If for some reason you don't want to reply publicly, shoot me a PM through the website or hit me up in game.
I wanted to apply, but I see you already have casters/melee/tanks/healers who've replied.
This isn't McDonald's. First come isn't necessarily first served, though the earlier somebody replies, the better the chance that my plans will start formulating with those raiders in mind. But don't take your chance at being on the team away, simply because you came a little late to the party. Retired raiders, especially, don't check the website as often as others, so I understand and plan on waiting until WoD drops to see all of the replies I get before I finalize a team. Also, due to the nature of flex raiding, I'm able to have (and plan on recruiting) more than 10 folks. I can't take 5 healers or 4 tanks, but I have more wiggle room than before, especially for people who can play multiple roles.
So is this Heroic raid team a guaranteed thing?
No. If nobody responds, then expect to see me in /trade, looking for a pug.
But we still have the strength and good name of <Ante Meridiem> behind us. If I need to grab a few spots from outside the guild, I will recruit them. I like the people who make up this guild, however, so I always start here first.
I know a former AM member who doesn't check the website anymore, or a raider from another guild who might be interested.
Feel free to share the information with them if you think they'd fit in.
When would we start raiding?
Wednesday, December 3 at 7pm, which is the week that raiding opens in WoD.
What if I have other questions?
Post them below. If you have them, somebody else probably does to. You can also whisper me ingame or PM through the website.
You write a lot.
Some things never change.
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