War Machine 8.3 and beyond!

[eiellith]

Hi All,

Another expansion, another change in the guild dynamics. Welcome to post-BfA, post-Classic WOW...

We've just been advised that Dara and Tiao and moving on to more mythic pastures so that gives us a few gaps that need to be filled.

To start with:
- Yes, we're recruiting. It's slow atm but have had 4 applications in the past few weeks with 3 invites and 1 interview still coming.
- Anyone that wants to help promote WM from a recruiting perspective please let yourself be known, we'll let you know what we're doing and how you can help.

Officers:
- Active officers are now down again to Hummer, Haysha and myself.
- That's not enough, hopefully we can get some help.
- Please let us know if you want to know how you can help.

Raid Leading:
- With Dara moving on we need to work out who is comfortable taking on this role, and probably need a backup.
- It needs to be the right RL who fits the War Machine personality (patient, informative, friendly, firm, not an ass)
- Typically Hummer or myself will step up when required but it would be good to have a main RL and an extra option.
- Hummer and Eie are not viable main RL options, it needs to be someone else unfortunately.

All about me:
- my outside commitments (scouting) is probably about to ramp up a bit as I get more responsibility.
- This means I can't commit to Thursday night raids in particular as my normal scouting night is Thursday evenings, just before raids.
- yes, I could pick WOW over scouting but it's kids...

Please, discuss, ask questions, offer help/support/options.

Eie

[eiellith]

OH! We've also started to set up a WM community in WOW. Let's see how it goes.

This allows us to link in non-guild/off-server friends for raids and such. Helpful when we're short of Raid members, but why should we stop offering when our coffers are full?

Eie

[eiellith]

Guild Ranks:
- Yes, I've been updating a heap of Guild Ranks, it helps me/others manage the Guild
- If you've been inactive since the Vanilla reboot came out then I've changed you to the "Old Member" rank
- Yes, this included someone I see physically most days of the year and he's younger than me
- If you were a trial and became inactive soon after invite I actually kicked you, not something we normally do but I don't have the time to hold onto "could-have-beens"
- To put the "could-have-beens" comment into perspective I'm still keeping "Old Member"s from 4-5 years ago. WM is about guild longevity.
- If you're "coming back" to Retail then mail/whisper me or another officer, if we remember you you'll be promoted back to Member (One-of-us), if not it might be a quick chat and you'll be promoted if everything seems ok.

Eie

[choco]

So how do we join this community?
I have been very busy with RL activities that have made regular attendance on Azeroth difficult at best. It appears that this will continue for a few more months at least. My Wife is the Treasurer of the Canberra Hot Rod Association and, by association, I'm involved. She's also the coordinator of the 30th Canberra Rod and Kustom Krooze which takes place over the Australia Day long weekend. Again, I'm involved by association, apart from my regular roles as MC and CRAKK Book author/editor/publisher. Then we have the Goulburn Regional Nationals over Easter, which we are both involved. It's a National event, so it's a big one, and I'm the MC and Program Editor (again). I am also in the middle of painting my 49 Hudson Coupe while the weather is warm, and this is my personal priority.
I really long for some time-out to play WoW, and I will endeavor to MAKE the time or I'll go crazy. I am also under a cloud in that I have had my license suspended for 6 months while I undergo tests for Absence Seizures. For a car guy, the loss of your license is like a death knell, but I am sure I'll get it back because all the tests so far are positive. I had to spend a week in a funny hat to measure brain activity 24/7, and I DO NOT want to EVER have to do that AGAIN!!
I have signed up for the inaugural raids on my Hunter, and hope to see you all there. I'd love to put my hand up to help out in some way, but I'm not diverse enough with my toons (Priest and Hunter - that's it) and I'm a bit slow on the uptake for things like Loot Master. Maybe when things calm down a little, you might find a spot for me. As a pretty long standing member of WM (I joined during at the start of TBC and left for a brief period to do Lich King because of a run-in with the then GM) I am keen to help in any way I can, but just being a loyal ninja will have to do for now!
It's sad to see a few others drift away to do end game content in a more serious environment, but I did this myself once (during WotLK I was with Naughty, number 1 on the server) and, while exciting and rewarding, it can take its toll. I'm glad I did it, but coming back to WM for Cata was the best thing I ever did.
I'll try and make it on Wednesday night, but I'll be flat stick because the CRAKK run begins (for me) on Thursday. After that, it will be clear for a few weeks before I'm off again.

[eiellith]

Thanks for replying Choc!

As discussed this morning I've added the Community invite link to the Guild Information.

Any Guildie is welcome to join and let me know (chat/mail) if you want to be promoted to a "Leader" so you can invite others to the Community from outside the guild.

I do ask that any invites that go out can you please put a note on them saying who invited them so I know who to talk to if needed?

Cheers, Eie

[choco]

One of the things we USED to do well was communicate. Back then we only had this forum. Now we have FaceBook and Discord, but it seems we just don't want to discuss stuff like we used to. We used to get all the Healers together to discuss strategies, healing allocations (tank vs raid), boss strats etc. We had a separate chat channel (WM Healers) where we would strategise boss-by-boss. The Ranged DPS and Melee had the same set-up and the Tanks discussed their strats with all of us.

These forums would fill with stories about "last night's raid" and the top DPS (usually Zesh) would get ragged. I would be awarded with the coveted "Ninja" title, someone else would score the "Noob of the Week" for standing in the fire, etc etc. We'd praise our officers and Raid Leaders, then shoot them down for swearing in Guild Chat, failure to switch gear (how many times do you tank in DPS mode?) and woe betide anyone who pulled early! They invariable wore the "Nipple of Shame" for the rest of the raid!

I miss those discussions, the banter and the piss-taking. it made us more "real" instead of just a voice on Discord.

Now I'll wait and see how many respond!

[voodoo]

I think as the game evolves, so does the player base & the guild as we have players coming and going.

I remember back in the day, some boss encounters the main tank needed a dedicated healer, and it was paramount that healer do NOTHING else but spam heal the tank or it would be a wipe. I don't recall any current bosses who need this same strategy now-a-days.

My favourite raiding time with War Machine was Frozen Throne, and how difficult that was and such a dance & team work strategy required to get Arthas down and the cheers & excitement when we finally did! Such gaming satisfaction. I also remember different guild rules back then, I don't think it was written law but it was pretty much gospel that you wouldn't go and raid with any other guild or pug group and get kills ahead of the guild groups progression, and a particular mage alt "accidentally" got the Arthas kill before the guild did, and tsk tsk, everyone frowned and it was probably never forgotten, but I look back with a smile & joy at those times

Oh and how could I forget! The epic "You're in my spot" guild quit while on Festergut, what a classic!! An angry Boomkin that guild quit & left the raid & guild so immediately because someone was in his spot! Threw us all off as we all didn't know how one could claim a "physical spot" in round room. Left us all stunned and literally looking at each other blank faced and in awe wondering, did THAT REALLY just happen? For month's after, we quoted it many times and stood in each others spot!

Not many of the guild members that I killed Arthas with are currently playing or still in the guild at the moment, but that doesn't matter. I've made new friends in guild, met new personalities & dynamics. I've also changed as a player and evolved and probably not the same player as I was back then. I've had breaks from the game and come and gone too. I miss the good old times too, but happy for the new times, new personalities & dynamics, and just like life, the only constant that is guaranteed is there will always be change.

[choco]

I agree, but I just wish that we came back here (or even Discord or FB) and talked about it more often. Even the off topic stuff was fun. Maybe I'll update the thread where you posted your RL events to put a face to a name! Or a car!