Hello everyone,

BlizzCon 2009: Guild Leveling and Talents

by Matthew Rossi Aug 22nd 2009 at 7:30PM

This BlizzCon we're hearing a lot about the ways guilds will be changing in Cataclysm. Not only will you be able to contribute to your guild by doing the things you already do like daily questing and PvP, your guild will be able to use its new abilities to directly benefit the members in various way. Even more intriguing is the talk of being able to transfer an entire guild to a new server at once.

However, even as things change for guilds, one thing remains the same: you will not be getting a guild hall. You're going to have to keep hanging around on the streets with us Hoi Polloi, I'm afraid. Still, what we are getting is extremely thought provoking on its own.
Frankly, the idea of leveling up your guild is not one I would have ever had on my own, so kudos to the folks at Blizzard for completely blindsiding me. At present we're hearing that there will be 20 levels of guild experience, and that levels will be earned though things people in guilds do anyway like killing bosses, playing in the new rated BGs and arena matches, and through progression in professions and reputations in game.

As guilds level, they'll gain access to guild talent specs, with talents that can directly make life easier for the guild's membership.Talents that will allow for mass resurrection and reduced repairs have been mentioned, although we're also hearing that "We're not going to be character talents in the guild talents. We don't want to put talents players have to have in the guild talents, ie: they have to have this talent in order to kill this boss." That seems like a very smart move to me, making guild talents provide convenience and perks rather than necessary boss killing abilities. Other possibilities not yet confirmed but mentioned in the Systems Panel were allowing for mass Guild server transfers (rather than the situation as it is now, with individual members having to transfer and then recreate the guild on the new server) and allowing guilds to purchase bank tabs via the leveling system. Guild Achievements will also be a part of the new system.

Other parts of the new guild system are guild vendors (selling reagents for guild currency earned during the leveling process) and guild heirloom gear, also purchased with guild currency and allowing you to level faster. These items will be bound to guilds and thus leaving the guild loses you the item. There will also be a Looking for Guild system similar to the current LFG system for grouping, and there will be a variety of new Guild UI options, including being able to look at other guild member's profession books and a percentage of all gold looted being sent as a bonus to the guild's bank. You'll even be able as a guild to invite other guilds to events like raids.

This is all rather astonishing stuff that should help make guilds a more involved element of gameplay. I'm extremely interested to see how this all plays out.

I wanted to take this time to give an update as to how we are doing with raid progression as well as some goals that are going to be put in place.

When it comes to progression I feel like we have made some sild accomplishments for ourselves. We are capable of clearing 10-man OS and 10-man Naxx consistently and most of us are approaching the point where there are very few items within these two raid instances that will be an earth shattering upgrade. We are also working on helping gear up some of the newer 80's who havent been raiding as long. This is a great thing and i congratulate all of you who have been a part of this!

I know everyone is itching for new content and new gear. I am looking forward to embarking on 25-man content, 10-Man EoE  and last but certainly not least, Ulduar. That said, there are a few things that need to happen that I need help on, from each of you!

The item that will be changing is the amount of days we spread our runs over. After last weeks performance, I am fully confident that we have the power to shave significant time off of the amount of days we spend in Naxx. We will be scheduling Naxx for no more than 3 days a week. Our goal is to clear it in 2-3 days maximum. The days will likely by  something like Wed or Thursday, Friday, Sunday.

The reason for doing this is three fold.

1.  Most of you are able to attend raids but not necessarily 4-5 days of it. If cut down number of days, we get more static groups. This would enable us to seriously begin looking at running  two 10-man groups as well as open other days for other activities.

2.  Right now, attendance and timeliness is rather spotty. I am guilty of running late on the occasion but truly we need to tighten it up. Setting a firm time expectancy will hopefully encourage and motivate raiders to be on time and maximize there time. It also will cause people to have to be accountable. Accountability does not open the floodgate for everyone to kick anyones teeth in. If you have an issue or an opinion, speak with the appropriate people such as a Raid Leader, Jehanne, Ulari or myself.

3. As mentioned above, running multiple groups would be an enormous help to many of us. It would allow more people to raid and less people put on the bench each week. Gearing up would also become easier and faster.



I want to be clear on one final issue. We have had a problem with a few players being in a PuG raid of sorts come game time, players saving themselves to raids that we schedule. We need every healer and every tank that we have. It is a huge detriment at this moment for key roles like that to run off  causing the guild to not be able to raid. We count on you and everyone to make this happen. I also need EVERYONE without fail to check there calendars and REPLY to the event invites.We cant plan if we dont have a headcount. Please have consideration for your fellow guildmates and the people who put in time to organize everything.


In closing, we are looking to recruit new healers and tanks at this time. So, please keep your eyes open for good ones. Also, everyone needs to be running required raiding addons and if you are a class that can cleanse, cure, decurse or anything else of the like, It would be VERY helpful if you run Decursive. Talk with your fellow players and see what they are using. Ask questions, watch videos of fights, read articles. We need everyone on there A-game!

We would really like to see more participation on our website. Alot of pertinent information will be given ONLY through the website. Ignorance is not a good excuse not to know! :)


I'll see you on the battlefront!

-Anorexorcist

Well ladies and gentlemen we have now officially hit WotlK raiding full force. I am impressed and proud of the progress that we have made in Naxx and Obsidian Sanctum in only our first couple runs! Well done to all of you.

I do want to set down some ground rules so that there is a very clear expectation and so nobody gets their feathers in a ruffle. It will make raiding more possible  as well more pleasant for all of us. So without further ado, here it is.



Raid Attendence and Etiquette


1. You are expected to be logged on at least 30 minutes before our start time. This will allow you to get all of your consumables. I will outline at the end what mandatory consumables all raiders should have. Not being prepared may result in you not being able to run.

2. If you Accept or Confirm on the Calendar for an event but then end up not being able to go, you either need to change your calendar RSVP to "out" or contact either myself, Jehanne or Waywardson so we can find a replacement. The sooner the notice, the better so we are not scrambling at the 11th hour.

3. If you Accept or Confirm and then pull a "no call, no show" you will not be allowed to participate in a CB raid the remainder of the week or the following.  This may seem harsh but it is also harsh to not have consideration for other people's time and efforts. We will decide on a case by case basis if a person's situation qualifies for a "grace period" of waiting for them as opposed to just filling their raid slot. So, my suggestion is to keep communication solid.

4. Former CB members are generally not to be invited to guild activities. There are some exceptions to this because we have a handful of people who left to be in a guild of RL friends. The rule of thumb is, if they were CB and you are not sure, you must clear their participation with me. It is not fair to compromise current CB members experience or loot for former members. If a former CB member wants to rejoin the guild, there should not be any guild invitation offered until it has been approved.

  Required Raid Tools

In order to be as productive as possible in a raid you need to have certain tools.  This list is REQUIRED for everyone in CB to have and use in order to raid.
Ventrillo - Chat application - http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php
Deadly Boss Mods - A UI addon that calls out helpful information on boss fights - http://www.deadlybossmods.com/
Omen - A threat meter that is critical for watching when you might pull agro off the tanks - http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/omen-threat-meter.aspx  . You may also click on Addon in our navigation bar on our website and search addons to find them, download them, etc etc. I highly recommend WoWMatrix for keeping your addons up to date but I do not recommend using the "Launch WoW" button. Just update the addons in one shot, close it then launch WoW normally.

Basic Raid Essentials
 
Since you know your going to be raiding, it would be wise to keep a stash of these items in your bank so that if you are running behind schedule you do not hold up the group trying to buy your consumables.

Below is a very simple list of what every single raider should have with them. If there is a consistent pattern of people coming ill-prepared some sort of consequence will have to be implimented


Quantities shown are suggested minimum amounts.

1. Food (x40)
2. Drink (x40)
3. Class appropriate Flask (x1)
4. Buff Food (x20)
5. Healing Potions (x10)
6. Mana Potions (x10)
7. Spell Reagents (x40-80)
8. REPAIR REPAIR REPAIR


The above list is a very solid and failproof guidline for what you should have. You can obviously carry more of something but consider this your survival kit. Being repaired is self explanatory and the spell reagents for things like buffs or mage tables are an integral part of making the group perform at its peak potential. I also encourage you to look at http://www.bosskillers.com to learn what the bosses do or at the very least know the names of what you're going to be fighting. Knowledge is power. Waywardson has taken a lot of time to put up an ever growing library of raid info in our forum. Use it!

We also have a plethora of people who can cook and do all sorts of crafting skills that are relevant to items used in a raid. Don't be shy, ask them to make things for you! You can often save yourself gold by just buying materials and then having it crafted as opposed to doing frenzied, last minute Auction House shopping.


If you have any input or questions, as always, I am open to conversing and brainstorming.


I'll see you all on the battlefield,



Anorexorcist

It has come to my attention that there is some confusion as to our Guild Rules regarding loot distribution during raiding. Rules will apply to BOP items unless otherwise specified. The official rules for raid item distribution are below:

There is opportunity to discuss individual needs for any roll (in essence, to disregard these posted rules), and we pride ourselves on being a guild that will help out its members, whether that means giving an item to someone who is less "worthy", or running a person multiple times through something in an effort to get a specific item. This will be done as it comes up and is subject to approval by the Raid Leader and, for guild organized raids, to final approval by the Guild Leader.

1. All gear will be assigned on a practicality basis. This means the gear will ideally go to whoever it is collectively deemed that the gear was designed for. If the gear is meant (spec'd) for a Shammy, any present and properly spec'd Shammy's will have first dibs. If two Shammy's are present, and both claim they need an item, both will have the opportunity to roll on it. Item composition (leather, cloth, mail, etc.) and individual spec components (agility, strength, spell power) in their totality will determine gear necessity for a character. Anything not ideal (for example, a leather wearer wanting cloth gear with otherwise appropriate specs) will have secondary priority to the closest spec'd individual present (somone who can only wear cloth).

2. BOE Drops - Characters actively participating in the raid will have priority for gear that drops. Currently raiding players will have the opportunity to roll on gear for non-present alts, but only if no one present needs it for their character. If no one needs the item, everyone can roll "greed" and sell or DE the item.

3. Present character's main spec will have priority for loot. If someone has respec'd only for this particular raid, and the gear suits their normal spec, then their normal spec will have priority, and their current spec will be secondary to any more suitable present characters. For example, you respec to run as an off-tank for the current raid. The main tank is always spec'd tank and intends to stay this way. The main tank will have priority for appropriate tank gear that drops and you, as the off-tank who will respec back after the raid, will have priority for gear for your normal spec. This does not mean you can't roll on loot, just that you will have second choice at it, after the normally spec'd characters.

4. Disenchanting - disenchanting is the lowest priority. If 1. no one present needs the item, and 2. no one's alt needs the item,  then you have the opportunity to roll for an item to disenchant it. BoP items will be DE'd and then all present parties will roll for the shard, etc.
 
Just to reiterate, here is a breakdown of rolling priority for items:

1st Priority - MAIN SPEC. This means properly spec'd gear for main specs. Gear will most closely match a class' needs and specifications. If gear has a special spec that implies it is for a pally or a druid, for example, then they will have first choice.

2nd Priority - ALTS & OFF SPEC's. Meaning gear for an off spec (present) or alt (non-present) chars.

3rd Priority - DISENCHANTING. If a disenchanter wants gear they can, with approval, roll for an item that no one else needs (please ask before rolling, especially on BOE items, someone may want it for a heavily used alt, and that is ok).

*NOTE: As regards the practice of using a player's current gear to decide individual need for an item (meaning if someone has crappier gear, they are assumed to have more need for an item), Cybernetic Barnyard will not do this. It is not fair to wrongly reward someone who has not actively sought improved gear via raiding or pvp with "easy" item drops from raiding. There are many guild members who have worked very hard to run raids or pvp on their own in order to get gear, and it is not fair to punish them by giving better gear (i.e., T6) to someone who has not done this work. In addition, we cannot guess at what gear might be on an alt that is not present, nor can we always be assured that someone will truly volunteer their highest spec'd item of gear for comparison against other characters. So, if gear drops that is equally suitable to two players, both will have the opportunity to roll, regardless of their current gear.*

If you need further elaboration on anything addressed here, please speak to your Guild Officers or your Guild Leader, Anorexorcist.

xo-