An Update for June

I know I have recently fallen back into being a lazy blogger and neglecting this blog some, but I certainly have not been neglecting World of Warcraft. After being on raiding hiatus for over a month, I’m back into the swing of things here on Khadgar-US raiding with my new guild <Concedo Nulli>.

Last week was our first week raiding together as a guild, and we cleared 10 man Naxxramas in about 3 hours, OS +1, Malygos, and both bosses in Vault of Archavon, as well as jumped into 10 man Ulduar and downed 4 bosses and smacked around a 5th who most people had never seen before. We are growing very fast as a guild and I am hopefully we will step foot into 25s in just a few more weeks.

Like any new guild, we are of course short in a few departments. We have absolutely no Ranged DPS currently, and only have Shaman Healers. We are looking to buff up our numbers and are currently recruiting to fill up our rosters before we embark into 25 man raids:

<Concedo Nulli> means “never back down”. We are a raiding guild located on the Khadgar-US server, and are recruiting to rebuild our 25 man raiding team.

Our founding members are highly knowledgeable, skilled players from other servers who came together to create an exceptional new guild – where building a strong core raid team is just as important as progressing through content.

Both new and seasoned raiders of ALL CLASSES AND SPECS are welcomed to apply. Raid experience and gear are preferred; a strong drive and desire to be in a successful raiding guild, and a deep understanding of your class and game mechanics are a must. Must be a team player.

Currently, we have a VERY high need for RANGED DPS and non-shaman HEALERS. However, we are not full on most classes and welcome all applicants.

Our 10 mans are currently scheduled for 11:45pm-3:00am EST, Monday – Thursday. Our 25 man raids will be similarly scheduled.

Please visit our website at: http://www.concedo-nulli.com to fill out an application, or speak to one of our officers in game on the Khadgar-US Server: Kreeoni, Kathoid, Tracerec, Thespia, or Sahne.

As you can see, I am an officer in this guild, which is great because I have so sorely missed being one. I am also in charge of recruiting, so if you decide to apply to our fantastic guild, please mention me on your app! Also of note, is the fact that our Guild Leader is Kreeoni, who you probably know from my last post on Druid Glyphs that he co-wrote with me, and also from his Twitter and his Blog. As a guild we are pretty active on Twitter, and have had many Tweeters reroll new characters just to join in on the fun!

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I have also finally broken down and purchased Dual-Specs and decided to go Resto instead of bear! I haven’t played around with healing, but I have certainly done alot of my favorite thing in Tree form: /DANCE!

Leap of Faith

The other night I did something I never thought I would do: After more than two and a half years of calling the Dalvengyr server home, I have uprooted my entire Druid life and transferred to my new home: Drenden.

Yes, I had been actively looking for a new guild, and therefore a new server, but somehow in my heart I still believed that “Leviathan” and it’s leaders would snap out of it and realize how idiotic they were being and truly accept me back into the mix, listening to all my ideas on how to bring the guild to greatness. After all, I helped formed the guild, helped recruit members, created the guild’s website, and helped teach many of the fights to new members. I did a lot more than that too; I became friends with many of the members on what I thought was a deeper level than just raiders and guildies.

I really truly cared about these people, about the guild, and about progressing with them into Ulduar. They felt differently. And after the last straw fell there was too much broken to ever repair. So I quickly said my goodbyes to the people I will miss the most, signed off for the last time, and paid for what I hope will be my only server transfer ever. Even though I felt very confident in my decision to leave Dalvengyr, I still feel that it was done too hastily and I should have done more research into my destination realm.

I really like to think things through, but I followed my gut and my heart on this one.

And I don’t regret it one bit.

Once I arrived intact on Drenden, there was a guild ready there to catch me: “No Vacancy”. I know the Guild Leader, Kreeoni, from both his Twitter and his Blog. As a fellow Feral Druid, albeit a Bear, I knew he would be understanding and accepting of a Feral DPS Druid. In fact, he was actually the one who sought me out and recruited me. On Dalvengyr no one really understands a Feral DPS Druid nor wants one in their guild. Here, I don’t feel so out of place or that I need to explain my existence. Here in this Guild I feel accepted and appreciated even after just a few days, something that took years to feel on my old server.

I thought the hardest part of this whole transition would be leaving all the people I thought were my friends behind. But even with only one person on my friends list I don’t feel so alone here. Nobody knows my past here, so I get to write my own future without all the drama and baggage that Dalvengyr had.

Are you on Drenden? Please let me know!! My name is, of course, “Kathoid” and I would love to add some new people to my friends list!

Looking For Guild

UPDATE: I have found my new guild: “No Vacancy” on the Drenden-PvE US Server!

Alliance Night Elf Feral DPS Druid “Kathoid” seeks an established, serious, professional, highly ranked Raiding Guild for an immediate raiding position.

My Armory

According to WoW Heroes, for Dalvengyr-US, ranked by gear score :

• #1 Alliance Feral Druid
• #2 Feral Druid Overall
• #3 Druid Overall
• #23 Character on Dalvengyr Overall

I do approx 3.5K DPS in raids, but it fluctuates depending on the boss. I also tend to be a little bit lower if I am Raid Leading. I have raided all current WotLK content on Normal and Heroic Modes, and Hard Mode Sarth 1D and 2D. I have lead raids in Naxx 10, and have been Loot Master on many occasions in all raids. I have also raided much of the Old World and BC raids. I am on the PTR but I have not raided Ulduar, but am more than willing to.

I have Off Tanked in Naxx 10 and in some instances. While I plan to make tanking my other spec when Dual-Specs arrive, I have absolutely no intentions of tanking in raids, so please do not ask me to join your guild to be a tank. I tank in a pinch, and like to keep it that way.

Ideally I would like to join a guild that has room for advancement. I have been a Guild Master of a small leveling guild and an Officer in every guild I have raided with and I feel confident in my abilities to be a honest and fair Officer. I have also created and maintained several guild websites.

I would prefer a guild that has other female Raiders and has a more mature age range (20s+). I am respectful to all other guild members and expect the same of them. I would prefer a guild that uses Loot Council to one that uses DKP or similar points system for loot. Yes, I am a female gamer – and if you have a problem with that I do not want to join your guild.

I work until 8pm EST three nights a week, so raid times must be approximately 8:30 PM EST. I don’t mind raiding several nights a week, but do not want to raid more than 5 nights a week. 3 nights is ideal, but I understand that it is to be more likely to raid 4-5 nights once Ulduar is released.

Please note that I am on a US Realm. I am also currently on a PvP realm, and prefer staying on a PvP realm, but would also be interested in moving to a PvE realm if the right opportunity came up. I do not care what time zone the Realm is in, so long as I can meet your raid times.

If you are interested in me, or know a guild that is looking for a Feral DPS Druid, please send me an email at: druidkitty AT gmail DOT com.

March Madness

I have been a bad, bad blogger and I know it – but this March has been rough for me. There’s been a lot going on for me both in the game and in real life. I’ve been so overwhelmed with things going on that I’ve kinda pushed this blog onto the back burner. I have tons of ideas for posts, and I’ve started writing some, but I keep running out of steam or hitting some major writers block.

I have checked out the PTR some – unfortunately I haven’t raided Ulduar yet, but I have been inside it empty and the place is beautiful and huge. I’ve also played around with creating what will be my 3.1 Spec, so long as Blizz doesn’t do a massive change of things again for Ferals. Primal Gore, which grants periodic damage from Rake, Lacerate, Rip the chance to crit, is awesome and I think will help bump up our overall DPS numbers. The change to Improved Mark of the Wild which now increases all attributes by 2% is a welcome change for myself, as I have picked up the talent because I often end up being the only druid in 10 mans, and want my group to have the best buffs possible. I have also been checking out MMO-Champion daily to look over the Feral changes, new gear, and new weapons. (I hope to have a post up soon with more 3.1 data.)

Two things are apparent about the above picture. One is that I have been doing a lot of quests, the other is that I am guild less. I got my “Seeker” title a few weeks ago, without even realizing I was that close to completing 3,000 quests. I have done many more since then, as I am working on getting the “Loremaster” achievements and title. (I have roughly 200 quests left to go). I have been working on achievements hard core this past week because I’m not raiding, because of the guild less thing.

I left my guild <Leviathan> about a week ago because I wasn’t happy with the direction the guild was taking. Being that I was basically a Co-GM type of Officer, it was kind of a big deal to all the guild members. The other officers who were same rank as me were starting to miss the point on a lot of things I thought were major points on how to run a guild. They have this idea that in a serious Raiding Guild there is no place for “nice”. I wholeheartedly disagree. I think that there needs to be a balance of tough and nice, strict and respectful. They are fine with being assholes to everyone from fellow Officers to Trial ranks. I am of the mindset that the name over my head says a lot of me, and if I can’t stand behind my guild I can’t be in it. So I left. They just assume I will come back even though the officers are not really acknowledging the problems, and are not wanting to do anything about them.

So am I LFG? Maybe? I don’t know if I want to transfer to a new server. But for the record:  Alliance Feral DPS Druid seeks highly ranked Raiding Guild. 3.5K DPS, 5K Achievement Points. Have downed all bosses Normal and Heroic. Downed Sarth 2D. Highest ranked Alliance Feral Druid on Dalvengyr according to WoW-Heroes. Raids after 8PM EST. Prefer guild with other female raiders, no annoying teen players, and room for advancement.

I have a lot of new posts in the works. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things here soon. Thanks for the continued readership.

Slow start to the new year…

Sorry for my recent absence here on DruidKitty. I have been very busy with my guild “Leviathan”, and now that I am an Officer and running the website, the guild is taking up even more of my time.

I promise I will get better at blogging. Expect a real post this weekend.

Naxx Cleared!

In less than a week of being in existence, my guild has cleared Naxx 10.

Starting Fresh

A brand new year is a great time to start over fresh, and WoW is no exception. I’ve certainly gone through my fair share of getting dealt the short end of the stick lately, and its been time for change.

So, I went ahead and made that change.

I honestly expected my first real post of the year to be about finding a great new guild on a great new server, and about making a whole batch of new friends there. After I began looking at other servers, I found many new opportunities awaiting me across many realms. Many sounded promising and would give me the chance to be rid of all the drama, grief, and other baggage Dalvengyr has given me over the years. I had even found a guild so promising I started seriously looking at what I had to do for a server transfer.

I was so excited about this other server and guild that I just had to tell my friends. I had long told them that if I was going to leave I would tell them in advance. So I logged onto their guild vent to talk to them, of course when their GM (yes, that GM) wasn’t logged on, to tell them what I was thinking.

And I think it was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”.

They had been toying around with the idea of starting our own guild for a few weeks now, ever since all the drama between their GM and I began. They even went and created the guild, just in case. Despite all this, I still wasn’t sure how seriously they had thought about leaving “Paradigm Shift”, especially as it seemed not everyone knew about the existence of the back-up guild.

I’m not sure if me talking about transferring was what kicked them into gear, but it sure felt that way. I think a few of them honestly believed that their GM would get over all the made-up issues and I would eventually be welcomed back with open arms. He didn’t get over anything; instead he just started calling me the “C” word. He was becoming more and more a tyrant, kicking anyone who flat out didn’t agree with him. And everyone was growing weary of his behavior.

We made our plan: they would all GQuit the next day, after they talked to the GM to try and leave on good terms. I was hopeful, but still not convinced they would actually leave and all join the new guild. They set out to talk to everyone who we wanted to follow us, stayed away from the GM’s “lapdogs”, and spread the word. I hoped that this time it was for real.

The next day I log on, half expecting to see them all still in “Paradigm Shift”, and with them all having changed their minds. Much to my delight, and surprise, a few had already made the switch over to our new home: “Leviathan”. And slowly but surely, one by one, everyone logged on, GQuit, and joined up with us in our new home.

No one had any luck in leaving on a good note. I’m not sure what was said, but I do know that he didn’t like anything he heard. Eventually so many people left “Paradigm Shift” to either join us, or other guilds, that he disbanded the guild and took the remaining members to another guild. It has only been a few days now, but we are having more and more of them trickle back to us. We’ve even been yelled at for poaching his members. We aren’t. He doesn’t realize that people can think for themselves, and see when something is wrong. He doesn’t realize that one qualification to being a good GM is to be nice, to be fair, and not to be an asshole.

I am honestly sorry for him, but more sorry for the guild he has invaded with his hopeless followers. But, like with all things, the truth will eventually come out. More people will see how messed up he is, and I’m sure that a few of them will follow our lead to “Leviathan”.

In the few short days that we have been a guild, we have already downed 10-Man Obsidian Sanctum, and all Four 10-Man Naxxramas Quarters, with several attempts on Sapphiron tonight. No drama, no fighting over loot, just good times. I was even able to get my fiancé’s Rogue into the raid Naxx, his first ever, as he just dinged 80 on New Year’s Day. After just a few days, we now stand at #20 (according to WoWjustsu) on our server over all.

I know what you all must be thinking. How do I know I’m not going to get screwed over again? After all, it is still essentially the same guild, just minus one key member, and with a new name. I obviously can’t know that; no one can know something like that. But I never do anything half-heartedly. And I trust these guys. After all, they were the ones that stopped me from transferring. Not by saying “Hey don’t transfer!!”, but by their actions. And we all know, actions speak so much louder than words. And they let my fiancé join the guild, without having to apply this time! And, and… and!!!

Ok, so I have a little more reassurance than that. We have no GM. Technically, we do, because we have to. But all the guild leading functions, actions, and decisions are shared by a group of Senior Officers. And they made me, yes me, a Senior Officer. Which means there is no way they can make stupid rules or invite stupid people or do stupid anything else without my say on the matter. And they have also made me in charge of our guild’s website, which deserves a whole other blog post of it’s own.

My biggest reassurance, however, isn’t a rank they can give me, or something they can put me in charge of. No, my biggest reassurance is that I know these guys, and I know that they really are good guys, despite what some idiot GM said or did. I trust them. And we all respect each other.

I never really saw how hard it was for a girl to gain any respect gaming until my whole experience with “Paradigm Shift” and its GM. But this whole entire experience has proved to me why it is so important to gain that respect, and why it is so, so very worth it.

A Year in Review

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I had never stepped foot inside any Raid instance. Back then I was still running my first real guild “Order of Cenarius”, trying to recruit a solid 10 members so we could finally raid Karazhan. I was level 70, trial-and-error learning my way to how to tank. DPS was something I only did soloing, or when we found a better tank. I certainly wasn’t an expert at anything I was doing then, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to ever become a “hardcore” raider.

In early 2008, after losing many members to larger guilds, the most active members of “Order of Cenarius” and I set out to find a new guild to call home. After trying to PUG Kara, and joining other Kara PUGS, we knew we couldn’t do it on our own. We decided to find a guild that would take us all, and that guild was “Brilliance”. We quickly embarked out on Karazhan, learning everything as we went, growing stronger and stronger with each week of experience and loot. I became a raid leader and main tank for my Kara group, and after many attempts we finally cleared all of Kara. As a guild we progressed on to defeat Gruul and Magtheridon, and eventually on to Void Reaver who we downed once. Yet, after all these successful raids, the guild began to crumble beneath us due to disputes and drama. Many of the members, including me, splintered off into a new guild, named “Intolerance”. I however quickly lost my tolerance for them, then decided to set off on my own to find a new guild.

After applying to many guilds, and a few short stays with some guilds I really didn’t like, I settled down with “Maelstrom”. I took a step back in my own raiding progression to join them, heading back into Karazhan raiding and prepping for 25 mans. We raided together very sucessfully through the summer of 2008, downing Gruul, Magtheridon, and Void Reaver yet again. As the summer waned, people started raiding less which in turn led to more drama and then once again, the guild fell apart due to disputes and drama.

By this point I was spending only part of my gaming time playing WoW, as I was participating in the Wrath of the Lich King Beta. I put my raiding career on hold, as Wrath was only a few months away, and spent the time I had playing around in Beta and farming gold in BC. I rejoined my old guild “Order of Cenarius”, which at this point had become just a bank for all of my characters’ junk.

In early November I decided it was time for me to start looking for a guild who planned to raid in Northrend. After a lot of searching, I came upon the guild “Luminosity”, and joined them as a trial member. Next thing I know I am in Black Temple, killing lots of baddies. I eventually backtracked with them and saw some more TK, SSC, and Mount Hyjal. I never got to down Archimonde or Illidan with them, but the experience of being in those big 25man raids was enough. This guild, too, suffered from more problems and the guild dis banned. Many of the members reformed as “Evolution” which also bit the dust after not very long. Once again many of the members reformed into yet another new guild. This one being “Paradigm Shift”.

Then we all got what we were really waiting for: Wrath of the Lich King. The members of “Paradigm Shift” quickly leveled up and began gearing up for Naxxramas. Two weeks after WotLK hit, I was already level 80. Next thing I know we are in Naxxramas and wiping, next thing I know after that we are in Naxxramas and downing stuff. It was definetly quite a high. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. A few weeks into raiding and I am out of “Paradigm Shift”. I don’t need to rehash out all the details, and frankly it all doesn’t matter anymore.

With just a few days left to the year, my boys of “Paradigm Shift” finally hang up their hats with that guild and that GM, and join our new guild, “Leviathan”. All my friends have come together to be in this guild, and we are running it right this time. We haven’t started raiding together yet, but that will all come in the new year. I will not be screwed over in this guild, I know it. We all respect each other more and know each other so well. I’ve also been made a Senior Officer, which is basically a Co-GM-type rank that a few of us share. I am also in charge of the guild website. It feels nice to be in this kind of guild. I’m looking forward to a lot in 2009 with these guys.

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I started this blog in early August of 2008 to document all of this. In the beginning I barely had any traffic, other than my fiancé and one or two friends. I really began blogging for myself more than for anyone else, that people were reading and enjoying my blog was a huge bonus, but just a bonus. I started using Twitter not long after, and then became friends with many of the so-called “WoW Twitteratti” on there, which increased my blog traffic slightly. Then thanks to another WoW Blogger, Matticus from over on WorldofMatticus.com, and a link featured in an article on his site, my blog traffic went up exponentially. In the entire month of November I had a whole 52 views. In all of Decemeber my views had gone up to 836. While I haven’t gotten near the almost 200 hits I got on the day the Matticus post went up, I have averaged around 50 views a day since.

One of the more satisfying things for me though is seeing how many people come over from links and searches, versus how many come to the site without being referred through another site. The traffic from Google searches has certainly gone up a lot, with my Winter Veil guides I have written bringing in many people. But the thing I have noticed lately is that the number of people that come to the site directly has climbed higher than the number coming in over links. Which means I have a lot of people that come here on purpose, to read my bloggings.

I have a lot planned for DruidKitty the blog and Kathoid the actualy Druid Kitty for the year to come. 2009 will be a great year for me.

Thanks to all my readers that have made 2008 an amazing blogging year for me.

Love, Peace, and Best Wishes for this brand new year ahead of us.

-Kathoid

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

Ah, dilemmas, dilemmas.

I’ve been trying to keep all the guild drama out of my bloggings because I really want this blog to be about being a Feral Druid; questing, instancing, raiding, and doing some achievements along the way. But not matter how you put it and no matter how you play, at level 80 you need a guild. It would be near impossible to be successful at raiding without one, especially on a lower population server, like my current home Dalvengyr. It’s also been extremely difficult for me to find a good raiding guild on Dalvengyr after I split with <Paradigm Shift>.

Long story short, Guild Leader (herein: GL) forgot to mention that when I rejoined I had NO raiding spot at all. Many of the members are very mad at him. GL is spreading lies about me. Members miss me. GL won’t let me back in. Now GL is running raids with no druid at all – No MoTW, No Innervate, No BRez. Not very smart, in my opinion. Not to mention they are missing out on my DPS, which is always higher than GL’s DPS – he being in all epics, me only having 4. He’s kicked me and banned me from the guild vent, which he doesn’t even own or pay for. The member that does fixed it so I can go back in vent and took away GL’s ban privledges. GL thinks I am only in Vent to make him mad. What I think, and what a member thinks, is that he is mostly mad at me because I get more respect than he does.  GL thinks that I sit around all day thinking up ways to make him mad. Truth is, no one spends that much time thinking or caring what the GL thinks. I miss the boys there – most of them are extremly nice and very respectful – and I think most of them are getting very tired with GL’s dealings with thing. Some want to leave and make a new guild, but they have been saying this for a few weeks now. (Ok, not so “short”…)

I have tried looking at other Guilds on the server. I have apped to a few, and either haven’t heard back or I just wasn’t impressed enough to join. I’ve talked to a lot, and I really was hoping there would be some better quality guilds on the server. The good ones have raid times that don’t work for me.

I have a few options, but I’m not really sure what I should do.

• I could sit around and wait for the <Paradigm Shift> members to leave or for the guild to fall apart, then reform a new one with them. This might take a while…
• I could start my own guild, and try to recruit. I have run my own guild before, and found recruiting on this server to be very hard.
• I could server transfer. And leave all my friends behind.

It’s tough to figure out what is right, and what is best for me, and what will work out best in the long run.

I welcome any and all advice. I’m really confused as to what to do. I’ve only really ever played on one server before, and I’m not really sure of the best way to start looking at other guilds on other servers.

Please Help!

Here we go again.

Apparently whatever decision I make on what guild to stick with I am going to have some feeling of regret. Or maybe I’m just still feeling unsure?

After a very long and honest conversation with my old GM from <paradigm shift>, and the realization that <Static> was a huge guild of nice people but lacking the talent I was used to, and that a server transfer would break too many hearts, I decided to rejoin <Paradigm Shift>.

I feel really shitty for dumping <Static> after such a short stay, but it was merely a fling. The boys of <Paradigm Shift> may be crude and unruly, but I missed them. And they missed me. They didn’t 10 man raid Naxx last night. I think I might have affected them more than I knew.

We discussed the issues at hand, and they just didn’t realize that they were upsetting me so much. I guess that is what I get for sucking it all up and trying not to let it get to me. (At least I didn’t blow up and cry in vent this time…) The GM also had realized things were getting out of hand prior to this, but this made him realize he has to do something about it.

The good thing that came out of this was me figuring something out. If the guys in this guild weren’t so badass there would be no way we could have made it so far with such a lack of organization or orderly anything. We just pwn.

Yes, I am being careful not to get my little druid kitty heart squashed again, but I see good things from here on out.

Thanks all for your support.