omfgwtfzomgwibble
The server-transfer went through and may just be the best WoW decision we have ever made. Well, except adopting a wolvar norphan, of course. Also, I’m glad I’ve finally overcome my server-transfer phobia. I don’t know why it felt like such a big deal but I spent an insane amount of time administrating myself so that I came through with the equivalent of three portmanteaus, a dressing-case, two hat boxes, and a large luncheon-basket. It was kind of like when we went to Edinburgh – for some reason, possibly the six hour train journey, we became obsessed with the notion that we would run out of reading material. So we ended up rocking up to Scotland with three socks, two changes of underwear, and about sixteen books between us. Because aren’t there bookshops in Edinburgh? What the hell? This time round it was bag space – I hadn’t realised I’d become psychologically dependent on my tailor. So Tam materialized on his new server bristling with infinite infinite dust and damn near infinite frostweave bags. But, after all that, Azeroth was exactly the same on the other side.
The server-transfer thing turned out to be one of the most positive WoW experiences you could imagine – we checked out numerous servers and met an array of fantastically cool people. I’m pretty sure we would have been happy wherever we ended up. Possibly there’s just something wrong with ED – it has some niceness repulsion field that drives people away from it. Or perhaps we’ve been incredibly unlucky. Truthfully, I do have a slight blogging qualm. What are we going write about, if not endless failpugs?
But, anyway, by way of a welcome the new guild took us to 25-man Ulduar.
Holy.
Fucking.
Fuck.
We were not prepared. We had thought they were joking. So, we didn’t have the requisite downloads, I hadn’t even bothered to check out how that Vent thingy works but there we were, along for the ride. I have to confess I was slightly reluctant – as much as I wanted to see Ulduar I didn’t want to be ‘boosted’ but despite everyone having to go a little more slowly and despite some initial failing … I think … I think I wasn’t too much of a drag factor. Also, blessedly, I got to play with the healing team since DPS is not my strong point – but if some folks are sweeping you joyously to Ulduar you can’t exactly trail along behind them wailing “but I don’t wanna be shadow” like a spoiled brat.
While I trying to get Vent working, everybody jumped in vehicles and sped off … whoops … but somebody came back for me … and I shot at things ineptly … and then we faced off against Flame Leviathan.
Okay. Right. Flame Leviathan. I gotta have words.
When I hear the words ‘Flame Leviathan’ I’m thinking kraken meets phoenix, you know? I’m think tentacular wings dripping fire. I’m thinking awe. I’m thinking terror.
I am most assuredly not thinking GOLF CADDY.
Flame Leviathan:
Something like this!
Golf Caddy.
Not Something Like This
I feel strongly about this, so let me do that again:
Flame Leviathan:
Something like this!
Golf Caddy:
Not Something Like This
SOMEBODY TAKE NOTE!
Or maybe I’m just looking at this the wrong way. I mean, I guess the titans are allowed a hobby just like the rest of us. And that it takes 25 guys in heavy artillery to take down the titans’ golf caddy, well, I dread to think about going up against their stamp collection…
Truthfully the whole experience was a bit of blur. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a 25 man anything so it was all a bit overwhelming, and I managed to get Vent working (at least, in the sense I could hear people but not speak to them) about halfway through, which, again was totally disorientating. It was kind of like suddenly admitting 25 boisterous geeks into your bedroom, even though nothing like 25 of them were talking. Also if a cavalcade of new names to learn is hard enough, imagine the same thing but with voices. One of them sounded so bewilderingly like Spike from Buffy that I remember leaning over to M’Pocket Tank and whispering: “Why is William the Bloody leading this raid?”
But bosses were downed, healing was done, I hope I didn’t fuck up too badly. I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been hit by a train. I mean, concentrating, and trying to learn, and angsting to myself, for an extended period of time really took its toll. I seriously shouldn’t feel this fuxxored outside of a major hangover, or perhaps having been run over by a car golf caddy.
On the other hand, ye Gods, was it a massive pile of fun.
So, uh this just in. Raid healing massively different to 5-man healing. No wai! Honestly, the last thing I did before leaving ED was invest in a Glyph of Prayer of Healing and I was starting to think to myself “well, that was a bit of a waste wasn’t it?” In 5-mans I hardly ever cast PoH unless I have serendipity up or the group is taking a lot of damage in a slow, predicable way – but usually, by the time I’ve cast, everybody is dead anyway. It was turning into the new Queen Susan’s Horn of my arsenal. But, yeah, I was pretty happy to have that glyph in Ulduar, let tell you.
I think the way I’d articulate the difference between 5-mans and raiding is that individual contribution becomes much less meaningful and measured. I don’t mean you can slack at the back or anything but, from what little I’ve seen, you role is likely to be a relatively narrow one. “Keep the raid alive” – there’s very little room for imaginative healing. Or maybe there is, but it’s liable to much less effective than spamming AoE-healing. So in that respect it’s much less interesting than a tight and tricky 5-man. But, in other ways, it’s much more interesting. The investment in team success – both within the raid as a whole and, in a smaller way, as part of a healing team – and the first time you see them (and, who knows, maybe on subsequent occasions) the bosses are glorious set pieces, even the flaming golf caddy. Well, actually, no. Not the golf caddy. Nothing was saving that. I’d read up on the tacs, of course, but my internal response to pretty much everything explanation was something along the lines of: “We have to do WHAT? And WHAT? And HEAL?” But somehow people were healed, the DPS did whatever insanely complicated thing they were doing, and the tanks took it in the face for the rest of us (also complicatedly).
Kologarn did for us in the end but it was pretty late by then anyway.
The other thing that’s struck me is the need for a psychological shift. I think I was already halfway there without realising it but making things explicit to yourself is important. One starts WoW as a wide-eyed noob, and, under those circumstances, I was adopted by a passing Cow and gently inculcated into the mysterious mysteries of the game. But then Cow moved on and I flew the nest and, essentially, grew up into a WoW player in my own right, putting aside noobish things and all that (yeah, like I ever). And by the time you hit 80, you know your favoured class(es) very well, you’re, on average, generally better that at least 50% of the randoms you PUG with and, without you ever noticing it, the internal identification as a noob has gone.
Learning, like anything else, is a habit – a habit we lose, to an extent, when we leave formal education. That’s not to say we don’t continue to learn things but the natural identification with the role of student has faded and, whenever we do find ourselves forced into the position again, there’s reluctance, resistance, a stubbornness that must be overcome. Some people never do. How depressing is it, to be sitting in a room, on some training course, when those around you are pointedly refusing to learn, and acting out like 31 year old 14 year olds to the person who is trying to teach you.
Equally, I think it’s like this in WoW – for me, at least. I’m not conscious of actual resistance to learning but it’s disorientating to be a student – a noob – again. WoW is not, for the most part (as my previous post should indicate) a pleasant learning environment – I’ve been lucky in always having had people around me who have been willing to teach, and not to condemn. As I blundered my way through Ulduar, trying not to fuck up, I had to accept: it’s back to noob school for me. There really is a lot to learn here, not just the basic things like the tacs, but how to fit the team, the way the group functions, how to heal better as part of a raid (how the hell to actually talk into Vent), for example – so I’m hereby committing myself to being the best damn level 80 noob I can be.
I think the problem is I’m so used to everything around me in WoW being hostile and impatient and critical – who wants to be the person who asks the stupid question or who gets lost and holds the whole group up. But, ultimately, until I know better I am going to be that person. I’m probably even going to be the person who drags Kologarn’s eyebeams through the raid (although only once, only once). But I will learn, and I will learn graciously and gratefully, and hopefully moderately quickly. And, equally, I have to trust that those around me have the same degree of awareness – I mean, you don’t take two inexperienced raiders along with you unless you also expect them to mess it up a bit, right?
I also realised just how much the string of not entirely good experiences have completely warped my perception of things. Everybody was so unbelievably fucking nice to me, that I actually caught myself eyeing the monitor suspiciously and thinking: “why are these people being so nice … what’s wrong with them?” I was basically a pile of wibble on the floor for most of the raid but various people petted me as they went by and more than a couple whispered encouraging things. And after my eyebeam fuck up (didn’t go far enough forward), somebody took the time to whisper some good advice which, again, was really thoughtful. And also about a gazillion times more sensitive than doing it in a raid warning. Oh, and somebody else gave me a white tickbird hatchling – it was in the middle of the raid so I was too busy wibbling to do anything except stick it in my pocket but I thanked him later. It is super cute and it flies.
So, yes, I went to bed dazed on Ulduar and kindness.
I guess this is how it should be, huh?
But…shhhh, don’t say anything. I don’t want to jinx it. Also, apologies, this post is totally incoherent. It has about 85 competing ideas in it.
But if you’re going to take anything away from it, take this:
Flame Leviathan:
Something like this!
Golf Caddy:
Not Something Like This
Yay – I am so pleased for you both for finding what looks like such a lovely home!
Raiding is a different ball-game and 25-man even more so for healers seeing as you need to work alongside so many others and work with them without stepping on people’s toes but while also being prepared to help out if they flounder. It’s great fun though!
It’s a bit of a cliche, but we keep telling our new people that we want them to ask questions. Doesn’t matter if they seem stupid, better to ask than not!
This really brightened up my day! (well, apart from the fact that you didn’t choose us – so I am feeling slightly rejected…
)
Fingeers crossed anyway – I’ve probably jinxed it and they’re going to throw us out… Anyway, you’re smelly Alliance, so what do you expect =P Seriously, though, faction-transfer was always absolutely a very last resort. I think I invest slightly too much in my characters to be able to lightly change them into something else. It’s silly, I know, but I really couldn’t see Tam as a dwarf or a draeni and haven’t suffered through the *awful* haircut he acquires when he runs CoS, I am definitely anti-human
Yes, judging the difference between “perfectly under control, thank you” and “GARGGGH!” is really really tricky. In the past, I have been inclined to prickle when people jump into situations when I’m convinced I have them “perfectly under control thank you” but having raided even a little bit more than previously now I totally don’t care.. The point I take away from it is “well, what if I *hadn’t* got it perfectly under control. And usually these days, when I see a bit of extra healing coming in, my primary emotion is relief and gratitude =P
The worst thing about asking questions is that most of the time I discover I should have asked them in the middle of the fight. So, somebody explains the tacs and that all makes sense … and there are you are running away from the eyebeams and I’m thinking to myself “Goddamn, I should have asked how *far* I need to run and what happens when I hit this wallllllll….!”
Congrats on surviving and enjoying your first foray into 25-man Ulduar! (Even if you were up against a Titan’s golf caddy.) May there be many more times you and Chas let 23 boisterous geeks into your room for good fun. (Or something that sounds less like the intro to a nerdy Penthouse forum letter…)
I was reading the full post faithfully right up until the point you said that your raid leader sounded like Spike, at which moment, I must admit, I floated off on a cloud of longing-for-my-raid-leader-to-sound-like-Spike and didn’t come down again until the final Golf Caddy bit.
Damn Brits with your damn sexy accents! I’m pretty sure my own 25-man raid’s resident Brit is Jude Law. He sounds like Jude Law, and I suppose if Jude Law were to play WoW, he would choose to play a wickedly good dwarven rogue engineer who hugs my little Taz on occasion. Right? Right??
Wonderful and witty post as usual… but you’ve ruined Flame Lev for me now, Tam you creative bastard.
Taz, you made me laugh too! Our resident Aussie is (sorry if you read this buddy) a terribad lock. He’s so bad, “IF you brought your soul shards” has become a cliche in our guild vent. He’s so bad a recent undergeared recruit beat him out by well over 1000 dps in his FIRST raid.
But he SOUNDS good. He SOUNDS smart, and sexy, so he MUST be good, right? Make him the GM now, quick!
The Flame Lev was *ruined* anyway =P Seriously. I mean, I know the courtyard section *feels* like a seige, which is nice, but … yeah … watching the Flame Leviathan trundle towards us through the carnage was, err, not exactly soul-shivering.
Wonderful and witty post as usual… but you’ve ruined Flame Lev for me now, Tam you creative bastard.
Aussies sound smart and sexy? Pffft
Just so you know, Taz, all English men look like Jude Law. It’s true. Fact. Actually I pugged a Naxx run last night (story incoming, I’m sure) and the RL *didn’t* sound like Spike and, let me tell you, I felt massively massivey cheated.
Thank you for the good wishes – and I’m still a getting used to the non-penthouse version of the 23 boisterous geeks. Again, possibly I’m just too English, but it feels shockingly intimate (again, in a non penthouse way). I mean, my bedroom is a private space, it’s where I sit around in my dressing gown and bedsocks … wait … what am I saying … it’s where I sit around in a tweed 3-piece suit, smoking a pipe.
But, yeah, I suppose I’ll get used to this vent thing…especially if more of my guild sound like characters from Buffy. WTB Tara plz!
hehe! That is awesome! So glad you were able to find nice people in your server transfer!
btw, the new Onyxia drops moose ears (ok… it’s a leather helm thingie), but for some reason, the ridiculous moose ears made me think of teh prettiest elf.
MOOSE EARS?!!! ZOMG, I must roll up a leather wearing class, get them to 80, find a raiding guild, gear up through Naxx, Ulduar and CC … and get myself some moose ears!!!
*goes out to become hardcore raider*
found the link again:
http://community.livejournal.com/wow_ladies/11507703.html#cutid1
Ohmygod *wants*
I hope you do enjoy Ulduar, especially as you dig deeper into it. Personally of the Wrath Instances so far (And even of the TBC ones) I tend to like Ulduar the best simply from the way it’s set up.
It actually feels like you are assaulting a Titan city, from the armies you have to clear in the beginning, to the guardians inside. Trash wasn’t mindless “AoE this down, pull next, repeast” and the bosses are actually entertaining (The only bosses I don’t enjoy there are Auriaya and General Vezax). And bosses test everything from splitting the raid up (Thorim) to DPS coordination (Freya) to “Don’t stand in this, that, the other thing, and dear god move away from this” (Mimiron) and to “Manage your mana, don’t just blindly spam heals/DPS” (Vezax).
If you are using Vent, if I may suggest (If you haven’t already) invest in a nice headset. It cuts down on the feedback a lot when you start talking, and you will, because a lot of raiding is about communication.
Also, as you are new to this whole raiding thing, two things. First, swing by Tankspot, they have basic instructional videos for all of Ulduar, ToC and Naxx (They help by showing you in addition to actually explaining certain mechanics). The second is, if you don’t fully understand something, speak up and ask before the ready check. It might annoy the raid leader to repeat something, but it’ll annoy the raid leader a whole lot more if there is a wipe or a silly death because of a misunderstanding (Such as Iron Council, in which Green Circles = Bad, Blue Circles = Good).
As a note, if it is a golf caddy, I want to know where I can get a golf caddy that has orbital bombardments that it can call down…”Won’t let us play through? We’ll see about that…”
What do you get the golf fan who has everything? A caddy with orbital bombardment!
I was a bit too busy wargling to to really appreciate Ulduar the first time round (although I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it
). I have a really blurred impression of it – I remember it as being big, like *really* big. It does have that a wonderfully epic feel – although I do believe the trundling golf caddy intereferes with it slight, hehe!
Thankfully the vent thing isn’t a priority since I don’t think I’ve got much to say that I can’t type at the moment, although being able to listen in to other people is really handy, especially when it’s things like get out of the goddamn eye beams Tam =P
I’ve spent most of this morning – in between doing some work, of course – buffing up like the swotty kid. I don’t know how much it’ll help, since the only way to learn a fight is really to do it, but at least I’ve got a better overview of what I *should* be doing.
As I think I said above, the thing about asking questions – which I usually do if they occur – is that I only realise the questions I *should* have asked, when I’m in the middle of the fight… because although things seem perfectly understandable when you’re first told, it’s only when you’re running away with a gravity bomb on you that you think “wait, how *far* do I run?”
WOOT! I do have to tell you its a bit disconcerting watching you breaking into 25-mans as I’m falling out of them, BUT I am so happy that you’re having a super, lovely, golf-cart ass-kicking time.
Tell those guildies of yours to keep it up, or we’ll have to roll alts and harass them!
I don’t think I broke in so much as fell in helplessly flailing =P
But thank you for the woots
The only way to break-in to content is to do the content ^.^ My “noobs” we really pleased that I always kept Naxx on the calendar, even when running Ulduar, because it gave them some much needed practice running raids.
Getting in the door is the hard part — the rest is just hanging in and improving what you don’t know yet.
I love raiding with the people that I play with. It is so much fun to grab some friends and smash some content. I am glad you finally just said “F U” and left ED.
Also, for vent.
Step 1: Microphone plugged in (or headset which I prefer).
Step 2: Set it up for push to talk and assign a key.
Step 3: Profit!
Yeah, I feel totally mad for not being on an RP server all this time. I’ve met a couple of interesting nutjobs and a few semi-incompetants but *nothing* like the sheer asshattery I found on ED. Also it’s just really nice to PUG a group and have everybody in it called something vaguely fantasy-esque rather that ARTHZLOLZ or IPWNEDU.
Yeah, I’m sure I’ll sort out the vent thing. I’m pretty much a luddite, in case you hadn’t noticed… also I think there’s something kind of microphone facility on my computer because when I skype my friend in California I kind of just yell at the monitor and that seems to reach him…
How exciting! And cheering – perhaps I will yet find a guild to love and cherish me (cue the small violins; perhaps the pretty tickbird plays?)
I don’t mean to be all zeal of the converty at you but having a guild is an absolutely transfiguring experience, and it’s something I’d priortise. Of course, again, it’s something that gets easier at 80 because it means you’ll know what everyone is talking about. When I was not at 80 and in a supposedly casual levelling guild, I found myself a a bit adrift becasue everyone was talking vh-hc and badges and wtf? I’m sure you’ll find a guild (hell, if I can find someone to take me in, that’s evidence that miracles do happen
) and maybe you’ll get lucky and hit it off with the first one you encounter … or maybe you’ll be like us and go through hellfire and damnation first, but, hey, it’ll be worth it in the end 
/cheer
I am so excited for you Tam! It sounds like you guys found a good home to call your own.
Just don’t forget to go out pugging once in awhile…kind of like a job, so you have blog content!
Actually I have run a couple of pugs on this server – and they’ve all been broadly positive. How shocking is that? M’Pocket Tank and I did a 3-DK DPS run yesterday in about 20 minutes and it was *fine*.
*packs up blog into red-spotted handkerchief…walks sadly into the horizon*
Naw, I’ll reckon there’ll always be blog stories.
don’t worry about being on an RP server, nobody forsooths and whatnot, even when RPing. Usually for dungeons and raids it’s kept to a bare minimum as it’s all srz bzns! as well unless it’s expressedly stated ahead of time. At least that’s how it usually is on NA servers, not so sure about EU servers.
I’m glad you found a good group, hopefully the honeymoon lasts a long time. In the meantime give Sara a kiss for me, she really does need it.
Yeah, we’re only semi-serious about the forsoothing. I do occasional skulk around wondering how one gets any RP on a RP server – not that I’m really sure I want any but, y’know, just for curiosity’s sake. Also, RP-speak is now a running joke with M’Pocket Tank and I: “thou noob, I shall pwn you!”
oh and it’s supposed to be a tank, though it’s a really funny looking tank with a cowcatcher ram on the front. Don’t know how that works tbh.
you can blame mimir for that invention. later on you’ll get to see version 2 and you’ll learn to hate it
Yeah, I know it’s supposed to a tank but … it *trundles*. Tanks don’t, or shouldn’t, *trundle*.
“But, anyway, by way of a welcome the new guild took us to 25-man Ulduar.
Holy.
Fucking.
Fuck.”
Priceless!
And welcome to the big leagues now, friend.
…. I guess I’ll finish the article now
Ahaha, I think if I’m in the big leagues, I’m the mascot … running Ulduar in a chicken costume….
I’m glad your enjoying yourself again, and that picture you thought was the flame leviathion is one of my favs.
Thank you
I haven’t the faintest idea what it’s actually a picture *of* – I just googled for a cool, flamey thing that would represent what I thought a flame leviathan should be.
Gratz on the server transfer and gratz again for finding such a nice guild. The change from 5man to 25man is really big, specially if you haven’t done the 10man version before. Ok, place is the same, bosses are more or less the same (with some exceptions) but the amount of things going on on screen is ten times bigger, specially when everybody unleashes some aoe spell. Ye Old Gods! I can’t barely see what’s going on! Not because the computer slows, it’s just difficult to focus. Is the tank taking too much damage? where’re the healers? I’m in range of some dispeler? and so…
the first time I saw Fl I also got dissapointed… it’s just a tank, not specially big. And where’re the flames? but the rest of bosses are much better. Kologarn is great. In all meanings. The boss is HUGE, the fight is funny and not complicated. And really leaves you with a great feeling when he’s down. You’ve downed a boss the size of a hill! The only exception (only been in siege and antechamber areas) is XT. The robot is cool, but that voice… omfg!! Who put Michael-Jackson-on-helium’s voice in a robot the size of a building??! Sick designers, I tell you!
I rofled with the golf caddy
Anyway, seems you’ve landed in Big Game Land, so enjoy it! And never miss the goal: to have fun.
Best wishes for both of you and your new guild.
Thank you and, yes, we are much happier. Server transfer = best decision ever. I think we’d have been better off wherever we’d have gone, to be honest.
25-man stuff is … overwhelming and exciting, just for the impact of it, I think – 10-man is probably more “interesting” in the sense that your involvement counts for more and you can be be slightly more thoughtful about your healing rather than “spam PoH, spam, spam, spam!!”
But, yeah, I’m glad I didn’t have to do much except blow shit up becuase when the Flame Leviathan trundle out, M’Pocket Tank and I were giggling with helpless anti-climax.
I have to say Kologarn looks a wee bit comical to me as well – and, oh dear, the less said about his habit of fisting players the better!!
Haha, Golf Caddy!
Glad that you are in a guild that fits you well. This is the way a guild should be. And BTW – Ulduar just starts at kolo. The really complicated stuff starts right after that (F-ing Cat lady!!!!!)
I think you nailed it on the head when you say “complicated” those who are new to ulduar just dont understand how complicated it can be compared to naxx. I mean, good god, as a melee dps im running around more times than I am standing in dps. Heigan Dance has nothing on hodir!!!!
Yes, hopefully all is happiness and rainbows – and we’ve finally a found a guild fit. Also the guild is big enough that we really only have to find a fit in a very small corner of it
And don’t talk to me about Hodir … since posting this we did some Ulduar-10 and, yeah, I got hit on the head by snowy mountains more times that I comfortably care to admit.
/fail
/shame
Wowee! Gratz, you guys!
I’m so glad you found a new home and people willing to foster and teach you what you need to know to become the ubar-raider. Really? The hardest part is finding 24 other people you like enough to spend several hours a week with. Looks like you’ve done that.
I have to say, when I was a healing lead, some of my most rewarding moments was helping inexperienced healers become crack raiders. Sometimes people just need to be pointed in the right direction, firmly but kindly. It’s like watching your baby Tickbird leave the nest for the first time when they start surviving every fight. *grin*
Thank you kindly
And for the comparison the baby tickbird … great … yeah … thanks for that too =P
Actually this baby tickbird is feel like he’s left the nest a bit prematurely and is doing to nose-dive straight onto the concrete floor below…
Truthfully, I don’t think I have the time, commitment, or lack of frivolity to become a serious uber raider or anything like that.
I’ll settle for competence, and think myself a King among men
Oh Tam I laughed so hard at that! Thanks for that!
I have a super awesome picture for you for tomorrow’s update
I am so glad you guys found a guild that fits you.
And welcome to the addiction that is raiding
Any time – I’m glad my feelings are the GOLF CADDY are shared. I was so disappointed
And, yes, the picture lived up to expectations – it was, indeed, super awesome
I’m making efforts to control incipient raiding-addiction. After raiding 3 nights in a row (Ulduar-25, Naxx 10, Ulduar 10) last week I suddenly realised I going quietly mad. So I’m on a brief raiding holiday and trying to get cows to like Tam (not succeeding massively well).
Maybe one of these days I’ll be excited about raiding and actually see Ulduar. Everybody I talk to says it’s their favorite raid EVAR, but I don’t think anything can top my memories of Zul’Aman. Honestly, I didn’t ever talk in vent EVER until I started leading raids in ZA. And only then because there was a lot of pressure to start talking because we were working on Vashj at the same time and she kinda demands that people speak up.
Yeah, I don’t understand how someone ended up putting the name “Leviathan” on a giant tank. I mean, sure, I get that it’s big, but it completely misses out on the entire “sea monster” connotation. If I had to describe what I think a Flame Leviathan would look like, it’d probably be a fiery sky-whale or maybe an enormous red dragon. Not a machine.
(By the way, what’s that pic from? It totally needs to be a warlock tier set =D)
I think Ulduar is worth the seeing. I don’t have, well, anything to compare it to but it looks pretty damn awesome, I have to say. It’s very flavourful as well – it’s not just all the same old same old.
And, yeah, I’m totally with on the flame leviathan. There are no flames. It is not a leviathan. FAIL, Blizzard, FAIL. I mean, if they’d called it a juggernaut or something. Or, hell, a tank. But not a leviathan. There is no excuse for that.
I have no idea what the pic is – I googled for cooling flaming thing and found that
And, yes, it would be fantastic warlock gear (much better than the infamous faberge egg).
Wow congrats. I have to say, I read this post out loud to my boyfriend and we were both rolling laughing at your description of Flame Leviathan.
Your new guild sounds nice… it’s so amazing after being in a bad situation to be showered with kindness. I’ve recently fallen into that kind of guild myself. The day immediately after I joined, one of my new guildies sent me several stacks of Northrend gems to help me level my JC! I whispered him, part grateful and part apprehensive, to tell him that at level 65 I couldn’t cut Northrend gems yet. And he replied that it was his job to make it easier for me when I could.
It’s such a good feeling. And you can bet that now that I can cut them they’re going to find their way into the guild bank.
Anyway, congrats again, enjoy your new raidiness!
Thank you
The Flame Leviathan was definitely one of those WoW moments. Build up … build up … build up … wow … Ulduar … golf caddy?! It doesn’t help that it *trundles*. Tanks should not trundle.
Gah, reading this comment in the context of your last post is really depressing – it sounded like you’d found an amazing guild and I was about to go “weeeee!” and “wooooo!” (or wooteth, as we go on RP servers). I hope we didn’t jinx it
A guild in which you can feel comfortable makes WoW about 100% better. I’m so glad we transferred to Argent Dawn. I mean, I can usually find something fun to do in WoW but this makes it way easier.
Grats on finding a new, good guild and having your first really good raiding experience! I remember my firs time raiding, it was in Karazhan and I DCed all the time, not impressive!
But it’s really a whole new world to discover…
Thank you – it was a very positive introduction to the brave new world of 25 man raiding! Eeeee!
So… is your new server a secret? Or did I just miss it in the shuffle? [And am I too lazy to go re-read the wall o' text? Yes, yes I am.]
WoW players are a cross-section of the world population at large. Many people have no sense of courtesy, many are stupid [everybody's dumb sometimes, & I have no problem with dumb... but stupid is the chronic, persistant, and non-medically justified condition of dumb], and many are just plain assholes. But every now and then, you find a group of people who are actually worth being around, and it is for those people that I am eternally grateful.
Glad y’all got in with the guild you did.
Sorry, I haven’t updated it yet – we’re on Argent Dawn. It’s not a deep, dark secret or anything
And apologies for the wall o’text. I do seem to keep doing that
I’m finding the server generally pretty decent in terms of the people I’ve encountered actually – even the folks we have pugged with so far have been not too stupid and pretty courteous. Shock =P
The guild is great – it’s pretty big so I only know a few folks in it, but hopefully that’ll grow over time
Wow! I’m so happy for you guys, here I was thinking you would find a nice 10 man guild and you jump straight into a 25 man Ulduar guild GOGO guys
So, make sure you get your vent working, you work out which mods your guild require you to install. I think you’ll find as a minimum you’ll need Deadly Boss Mods & Paladins will need Pally Power. They might have other mods that are require so check out their website and get it all set up and downloaded before your next foray
Ok and if you are going to be a raid healer, when your feeling a bit less overwhelmed consider looking at downloading Vuhdo for raid frames, it really really makes raid healing heaps easier. Cass & I are writing a post on Vuhdo at the moment and go through the benefits so have a looksie if your intrigued.
Again congratulations on finding a great new server & guild and look forward to hearing more of your adventures!
Our VuhDo post is up BTW.
Oh Tam. New guild. New voices. First 25 man? Ouch. I’m amazed your head didn’t explode.
I’ve always thought Flame Leviathan looked a little like a toy truck that has been enlarged and powered by (only slightly) evil things.
If you got up to Kologarn (I, too, fail at eyebeams quite a bit – I think you can’t quite duck underneath and infront of them) did you do the optional Razorscale and Ignis bosses? What did you think of XT002?
The best part of raiding with a good guild is that it’s absolutely not about the individual – a team success is all that matters.
I think you’ll find your skill as a healer (and as a raid member) will jump up significantly in the next few months – and what’s more exciting than that?
Was Chas DPSing? Tanking? Having fun?
I left love on your Vuhdo post
I’ve previously used Grid but I totally adore Vuhdo. Makes me a very happy healer.
I know, I know … I think it’s testament to the guild, really, that I didn’t die of shock at any point in the evening. I think I might have done, had everyone not be really understanding.
The Flame Leviathan definitely gets my vote for silliest boss ever … even including XT002 and his petulent, squealing voice. We did Ignis and we did Razorscale as well. Razorscale struck me as Onyxia-lite (it kept saying ‘Razorscale takes a deep breath…’ and I’d freak out, except, bah, meant nothing =P). Ignis struck me as quite a cool fight though – crotch pocket, eewwww!
I bloody well hope my skill as a healer improves – otherwise I’d better hang up my circlet of sanctifaction =P
Chas was on DPS, since making her tank her first 25 man, five minutes after joining the guild would have been actually crazy. But fun was had by all
Thank you – we decided to go for a big, vibrant, stable guild in the end – it was genuinely a bit shocking (a bit!) to go from struggling through Naxx to Ulduar 25 man but, hey, it was also *awesome*. It’s great to have these opportunities – even though I never dreamed I’d have them =P
Vent is now working – check!
The only mods required by the guild we didn’t have installed by default anyway is EGthingamie, which I’ll install before I go raiding them again. I do have Omen but I tend not to have it on when I’m healing as it stresses me out too much if I see my threat creeping up. I mean, it’s not like you can stop healing =P But, yeah, I have DBM (wouldn’t go out without it
) and I’m a complete Vuhdo tart. I love that thing. I used to use Grid but, in a way, I found the customisability of it got in the way. I like Vuhdo because it does vaugely what I want straight out of the box, with only a few tweaks.
Vuhdo *MWAH!*
LOL! What a great experience. Loved the idea of the golf caddy >.> you should see what Teresa did with that idea in our efforts to recruit a new tank. *snicker*
HAHA! That’s brilliant
I’m happy that you now have a chance at Ulduar ! I love this instance, it’s beautiful, it’s fun, I love the easymode/hardmode options. I love the fight mecanisms.
A golf caddy… Seriously… XD
10-man tonight, all going well … so hopefully I’ll be able to appreciate more, instead of just wibbling and stressing
I’m excited 
Also it’s *totally* a golf caddy =P
Zomg! You deserted Sithicus! And all he has to remember you by is collection of fabulous shirts! He will wear the pink one evermore in tribute to your amazing hair.
How dare you! I did not! I left the Prettiest Elf on ED – he is always available to stand behind you, while you get hit in the face
I just had to share this with you two, no idea if you’ll like it – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc
I got it on repeat, and it’s completely stuck.
That … is … weirdly … addictive …
Oh, raiding. Can’t give advice in Ulduar, since I only did it back in BC, but is good to hear that you and Chas are doing fine in your new server.
About raiding in general, there’s the obvious stuff, install raid frames, Omen, Deadly Boss Mods (the duh stuff that you should already have covered), get a push-to-talk button (trust me, avoids really awkward moments, like That Kid crying on Vent or That Wife/GF That is Nagging Her Husband for Getting Him off the Computer or That Mom Nagging That Kid) and coordinate with others things like cooldowns (helpful for all those one-shot abilities that Blizz LOVE putting in bosses).
Besides that, do your thing, trust other in doing their things and kill some bosses.
PS: In other subject, you know that you are an old-timer when nobody else understands “You are not prepared” jokes after a wipe.
I couldn’t tell much about Ulduar myself – despite having been there. It’s all a blur, but oh such a pretty blur. Blizzard kind of excelled themselves.
Yep, we are modded up and ready to go. I wouldn’t dare go out of the house without DBM
Vent is still touch and go, in that I’m getting better at using the thing but a lot of the time I’m so used to typing everything, I actually have much to say on it.
Thanks for the tips – I’d be depressed if people didn’t get the not-prepared jokes
I’m very glad you liked it (that’s how it sounds anyway), and all the reasons you describe is why it is so enjoyable for all the rest in the guild to bring “n00bs” along. We honestly don’t mind wiping, even several times from the same mistake from you guys, and that eye-opening experience is always rewarding to witness.
The kindness is there to compensate for the very mean thing of bringing someone fresh from kiddiesoccer into the UEFA Champions league (“Just stay on this side of the field, and when you get a ball, punt it between the white poles”).
And now I am nervous that I sound like William the Bloody.
I’m sorry I said you sounded like Spike – only a little bit, on certain words. And actually if you’ll scroll up you’ll see it’s considered a definite advantage by a several members of the blogsphere, who consider themselves impoverished because their RL *doesn’t* sound like William the Bloody.
Yeah, we had a great time (in both raids), even though it was pretty hair-raising. A lot of the things that Blizzard does in an attempt to be “epic” leave me completely cold (walk behind Thrall as he lays the smackdown on Arthas, thanks for that Blizzard) but Ulduar is epic in all the right ways. It’s huge and exciting and, best of you all, you get to participate. Also I really like the way Hos and HoL look so that kind of Indiana-Jones-meets-steampunk-meets-whatever-the-hell-we-fancied vibe works really well for me
I guess the raiding thing is something you can only learn by doing, hence the learn to swim in this shark-infested water technique, but it’s still a little awkward to be the one causing the wipes.
Hooray! I’m delighted to hear that your server transfer was such a positive experience. I did this myself fairly recently and was chock full of trepidation, only to find that I, too, was quite happy with my decision in the end. Welcome to the ranks of the raiding healer! If you have any questions, feel free to chat me up. I’d love to be a support to you, so long as you know well in advance not to be asking me to carry all that ridiculous luggage!
Grats! =)
Also… thanks for the flame leviathan vs. golf caddy visual feast of hilarity!
Thank you – as for the server transferring, I don’t know how I managed to build it up into this terrifying ordeal. I fully expected Tam to be out of commission for days and weeks of angst and agonising – but it took an hour and was perfectly fine. The major stress was me trying to make sure I went to a new server sufficiently supplied with, err, hatboxes and cucumber sarnies
Glad to hear your own server transfer was a success as well – I don’t really consider myself a raiding healer… I’m not sure I ever will really. But likely there will be questions. And I’ll buy a kodo for the luggage
Oh and this just in (I find myself returning to this blog because the writing is fantastic and nuanced):
“And after my eyebeam fuck up (didn’t go far enough forward)”
is in fact a very valuable statement for me as a raidleader. I imagine myself going “aargh, why do we have eyebeams in the raid >:@”, quite possibly even on Vent, and that’s where I need to take a step back and realize that there are two (or more) people who are currently shitting themselves because they think we will hate them if they fuck up (Hint: We won’t, unless it’s the, like, fifteenth time. Then it’s become a running joke and we still won’t hate you, cause hey, running jokes are funny).
You were not aware how far forward you were supposed to run before taking off to the sides. Hell, I even distinctly remembering NOT telling people that the eye beams in fact do AoE damage to people around them and that people generally should stay the fuck out of the fire (fire = everything in a raid situation that is bad). Who’s mistake is this? Mine just as much as yours. I tend to go the vague route to help people relax and not fret, but sometimes (like, XT) you have to be really specific since the bombs have different danger radiuses and you can’t run too far, else the healers won’t reach you.
Maybe I should stop writing long winded comments in the middle of the night (more like morning) and write in my own damn blawg.
Just wait til you get to see Mimiron! >:D
Just when you think you’re out, we pull you back in
Looking back on it all, it’s quite comforting to realise that as long as I don’t auto-shoot the boss while the raid is nomming fish, I could be probably be doing worse
As I think I’ve said a few times above, I think it’s just the nature of the business, that you don’t realise what you should have said, and what you should have asked, only in the context of the battle itself. I mean, you always asked “any questions” before we threw ourselves into combat, and we all very dutifully answering “no,” but it was only after the eyebeams suddenly trained themselves on me the first time that I realised I should have asked “how far forward do I run” and only as I careened madly between the melee and the raid that I realised I should have asked “and how far to do I run” and only as I collided nose first with the wall that I realised I should have asked “and what happens when I run out of platform.” Hehe.
But also if you get too much information before the you take the boss (you need to move forward precisely 1.3 centimeters, stand on one leg and then break into dance or the raid will wipe), again, due to lack of context, it’s just becomes too much to hold onto and then you glaze out again.
I think it’s easy enough to remember that learning is hard, but teaching is hard too – although I reckion you’re already well aware of this
Also there’s this frustrating interim stage between having a clue what you’re supposed to be doing and actually executing it. Take Oh Dear’s bloody snowballs.
Don’t stand under the snowballs, Tam, don’t stand under the snowballs TAM GET OUT OF THE SNOWBALLS *smash* Doh.
And, yes, you should update your blog, since it is good reading, but your comments here – at whatever length they naturally occur – are very welcome here
Just wait til you get to see Mimiron! >:D
I’m a server-transfer, too. My guild on my original server fell apart and the only guild farther progressed than us was full of not-so-great people so I decided server-transferring was the best idea. I do not regret the decision one bit.
It’s great that you found a guild with super-nice people! My guildies are nice, too, but have odd ways of showing it. (Like if you died, they’d be sitting on top o’ your face in a… loving way?) In fact one of the druid’s rez spells is macroed to /say “, you’ve officially been treebagged!” I, uh, like their sense of humor. ><;
[...] 4, 2009 by Euripedes I’d like to direct you to a post over at Righteous Orbs, though really the only relevant part to my own post is this part: When I hear the words ‘Flame [...]
[...] time in the place except for a fail FL only run that never made it to FL. I had no idea that he looked more like a golf caddy than a dragon but I adapted quickly. Being a gunner for Arioch was a blast, I gotta say. I had started to shoot [...]
[...] to say Righteous Orbs. Tam and Chas are just so… smart. Their posts make me laugh every time. Flame Leviathan imagined vs Flame Leviathan in polygons: [...]