Breakfast Topic: Is your guild structured and sure or chaotic and competent?
by Dan O'Halloran 
Jan 31st 2008 at 8:00AM
I would think the more structured guild would be ahead, but the more loosely organized guild is moving along nicely. So nicely, in fact, that both guilds are progressing at about the same rate.
How does your guild do it? Formal or casual? And does your guild's style work for you or are you enduring it to get what you want from the raid?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Breakfast topics, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Seraya Jan 31st 2008 8:08AM
As we finish content we move raids off the raid calendar. Anyone wanting to lead a pug for Karazhan, Gruul or Magtheridon can do so, as a non-DKP run and their own loot rules if they so choose. Content we're still working on remains scheduled and uses the guild DKP and loot rules.
KneverMind Jan 31st 2008 8:08AM
structed?
Mike Jan 31st 2008 11:22AM
I noticed that, too.
Síhrtogg Jan 31st 2008 8:23AM
I'm a proud member of Pie (Emeriss). We have Kara on farm and just had our first down of Gruul last week. Our schedule is loose and whatever classes are online and needed for the raid will be invited. However, it is encouraged to post at the forums which days you are unavailable. There are no required raid days. This system works really nice for me and I'm a happy raider in Pie. By default, Kara will be cleared first and ZA/Gruul will be announced some days ahead.
The guild atmosphere is very nice and learning new fights like High King Maulgar and Gruul went really smooth; we downed Maulgar on the 5th try and I think Gruul at around 8th.
I have been in another guild where mistakes were immediately punished with - X DKP or a guild kick and didn't progress at all, nor did I like it there. I think a nice atmosphere helps people do the right thing.
Neil T. Jan 31st 2008 8:25AM
The guild I'm in currently just invites everyone who is online to a raid group, and then the officers eliminate excess people until there's 25. Works quite well, those that don't make the raid still get a recorded attendance and it's usually quite balanced. Friday and Saturday are open for 10 man raids should anyone want to do one.
The guild I was in before had a raid calendar, but raids were frequently cancelled due to a lack of signups, even though there were enough people online at raid time. Suffice to say it disbanded not long after.
Lori Jan 31st 2008 3:53PM
My guild does something similar but a little in reverse. Everyone (usually 35 - 40 lvl 70s) is expected to be at the raid start and someone selects those they want for the particular encounter. Those not initially included in the raid are supposed to hang around for 3 - 4 hours to be swapped in to rebalance the raid group or to get certain drops. Raids are cancelled if the leaders don't feel there is enough of a class to be successful.
At least thats the way it used to work. I haven't been on a raid since the 2.2 patch lag problem stopped me from raiding.
Khail Jan 31st 2008 8:31AM
Im a proud member of Frozen Legion on Emerald Dream-H (europe server). We have Kara and Gruul's on farm, also we are currently getting thru SSC and Mag. But we are a really casual guild, which uses the wonderfull tool called "groupcalendar". anybody who signs get to go raid, but if some are missing or spots open, we just find whoever wanna go :)
Peace!!
Mirina Jan 31st 2008 8:32AM
We're structured...we maintain a raiding calendar (that changes slightly--I do need to post the modified version now), only specific ranks can raid, etc. I will say that it's annoying as anything when people who were told from the start that their guild rank prohibits them from raiding, and then they get mad at us--even though we are very upfront about it in the beginning...you come over with a raider we've recruited, we probably don't have slot for you. Now, those people can start up 10-mans without question, and the rest of them will still help out to do Kara, Heroics, and whatever else they might need.
Tetelestia Jan 31st 2008 8:36AM
Perhaps you mean "structured"?
My guild is mixed in terms of structure. I'd prefer either completely structured or none at all. Blending both is kind of annoying.
Zumwalah Jan 31st 2008 8:41AM
Im in Whiskey Brigade (Eredar US). we are completely casual. who ever is online when were raiding uaully gets in, were big enough that we do get some choice with certain classes. we cannot even raid some nights due to number. but regardless we have Tk 3/4 and SSC 2/6 on farm. gruuls usually haqppens when ever we have alot of newer people online who need gear. Badgezhan is treated like a 5 man in my guild, yhou throw a grp together and get her done :)
i love my casual guild
Ardeas Jan 31st 2008 8:47AM
My guild Dragonflight on the Frostmane(US) server is pretty well structured, we clear Black Temple & Hyjal in about 3 days now and usually go to SSC or TK on a off day and free time for the rest of the week. Loot is decided by officers & one special thing we do each night is have all non-officers /roll 100 and the 2 highest per night get to help decide on the loot that drops. Pretty much everyone in the guild is friendly to each other & we get along really well.
Cheese Jan 31st 2008 9:07AM
I'm in a guild called flames of tranquility on the emerald dream server in europe. some 70's in our guild can't even do a normal lvl 70 5 man, so It seems the time has come for all the competant lvl 70's to leave. This seems to happen all the time in this guild but the guild leader doesn't have a clue on how to play the lvl 70's she has let aloan, help people play theirs.
Maybe its just me but have you ever been in a guild that asks for help all the time and then you give it but its like they don't even listen, I a way its like they want you to do it all for them. Could just be me I just thought I'd ask if anyone else had ever felt like that
Bloodwind Jan 31st 2008 9:28AM
Structed?
You really MUST go back to school and demand a better education from your teachers!
Naix Jan 31st 2008 9:21AM
DKP is such a joke. Why you wouldn't just roll based on who can use the drop and who needs the drop is beyond me.
I LOL when someone in the group says "Ok everyone click pass and then we roll"
I always follow that up with "Ok lets just ignore the in game roll application and use EQ rules"
theRaptor Jan 31st 2008 9:26AM
Because loot has low drop rates, and people do not like to run instances for months and see their one drop taken by someone on their first raid. Why would you do progression raids and get no rewards when you can just wait for the farming runs and just /roll your way to loot?
My pre-BC guild was destroyed by loot vampires that didn't show up for progress raids.
SilentBob Jan 31st 2008 11:03AM
Wow, you are a true loot whore aren't you? DkP is there so when a guild is pushing through progression content, the loot is distributed according to effort invested. Why should a "new" member get a T5 drop when he hasn't had to spend countless nights spending 40g+ in repair bills? Not to mention, the same "new" member may not be as reliable for raiding, so what good does it serve progression to have useful loot go to members who won't really USE it? My guild is currently pushing through TK (3/4) and SSC (4/6) and as we get the bosses on farm, we begin to get in our "younger" members so they can benefit as well but only after the core raiders have the upgrades they need to push on to higher content.
Bliz definitely made our lives easier with sensible loot tables and 25-man raids, but when dealing with progression, different rules are needed.
All I can say is I'm glad you're not in my guild b/c loot whores aren't tolerated one bit.
Freehugz Jan 31st 2008 1:32PM
Why anyone couldn't understand the simple concept/purpose of DKP is beyond me.
And I can't remember anyone ever saying "everyone pass"
theRaptor Jan 31st 2008 9:22AM
The "structured" guild sounds like a bunch of scrubs aping the rules of decent guilds. Arcane resist for curator? lol. Karazhan is my main raid, but AR for curator? lol. Curator is a kitten after all the nerfs he has suffered, my mage can tank the astral flares.
I can see a reason to all the BS if they had actual progression, but they aren't even out of Kara. If you are in a guild that thinks Karazhan is serious business you need to get out before they drag you down. Any guild that has a glimmer of competence should be able to blow through Kara, Gruul and loot reaver.
As to the topic, my guild uses GroupCalendar and sticks to it fairly strictly, and we have fairly fixed kara groups. But it is still fairly loosely organized compared to hard core raiding guilds.
Matt Jan 31st 2008 9:30AM
I'm with you, these ridiculous requirements are why they're still dicking around in Kara instead of going somewhere good.
Rob Jan 31st 2008 1:05PM
Ah trolls. First off, troll, you acknowledge that Kara is your main raid. So is your guild also incompetent? For all the thousands of guilds that have struggled through kara, are they also incompetent? Because that's all it is, right? We all suck? No. Our guild has spent months on kara, learning the fights, progessing through them. When we first started, nobody was in T4 gear, the best of us had half PVP stuff. Now we clear though to Prince every week. That took 3-4 months of work, gearing everyone sufficiently. Yeah, the bosses are cake: 1) once you learn their tricks 2) once you are sufficiently geared to tackle them. If your guild was T5/T6, yeah kara is easy. Its supposed to be that way, its called progression. if your guild is undergeared, its surely not easy!