http://www.allianceavengers.com/ Alliance Avengers Guild en-us Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:56:03 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Alliance Avengers Guild News http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html http://www.allianceavengers.com/images/logo.gif http://www.allianceavengers.com/ http://www.allianceavengers.com/News/article/sid=7.html Congratulations on the first clear of Thorim and Iron Council. Great job Group 3!!! Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:56:03 GMT http://www.allianceavengers.com/News/article/sid=6.html Congratulations to our guild clear of Onyxia 10-Man. 10/8/09 7:00 PM Server In Attendance: Morningstone, Grigrilla, Arleen, Elviejo, Deadflowers, Zweli, Pyawacket, Deadspice, Julian, Roshara Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:29:03 GMT http://www.allianceavengers.com/News/article/sid=5.html http://www.youtube.com/allianceavengers Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:44:22 GMT http://www.allianceavengers.com/News/article/sid=4.html Thank you everyone for attending and congratulations! We finally did it!!! In Attendance: Byran, Elviejo, Coraelies, Furybrand, Sano, Draygenz, Bagle, Pyawacket, Grigrilla, Morningstone, Grassboar, Chaps, Salindria, Tatrina, Ldywlf, Uncleenzo, Drunkbeard, Neztam, Zweli, Arleen, Wash, Deadflowers, Elderbeard, Jedidais, Maddae Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:51:32 GMT http://www.allianceavengers.com/News/article/sid=2.html Naxxramas (or what to do next?) For the last two months we have gone to Naxx almost weekly but the results haven't matched our expectations, morale has had a few highs but also too many lows. We looked at what could be done to make our runs more enjoyable (and productive) and this do(edited)ent is the result of questions asked by members and several discussions the officers had. We want to confirm that we haven't given up on Naxx, we want to renew our effort to conquer it, and we want to explain what our new strategy is. Here are the main points. 1) Are we becoming a hardcore raiding guild? No, we are not, we remain a casual guild. We have dedicated guildies who want to go beyond questing and heroics and who want to see end-game content. Some have a fair amount of time to put into it while others, due to work/family obligations, cannot put as many hours. We also have members who cannot raid, due to lack of interest or reliable access to large enough blocks of time, etc. We want to confirm that everybody is most welcome to stay in the guild, whether they can raid several hours a week, or just a few, or can't raid at all. We also want to reassure you that even if we continue raiding, we will still be able to help each other with group quests and lower level instances. 2) Punctuality (a.k.a. one thing we really have to work on) Although we understand that life happens and we can't always log on when we said we would, everybody needs to be more respectful of their guildies' time, especially those who have less playtime or have to go to bed earlier. Starting now, here's what we will do to ensure we can finish our runs before people have to sign off for the night and the raid has to disband. Naxx runs will be posted at least one week ahead of time. Each run will be broken into 2 segments (2-3 hours each) on 2 different evenings, to allow guildies with limited time to participate and not feel bad about having to leave early. Clicking the "accept" button means "I will be available at that time", it is NOT the promise of a guaranteed spot "in case I can make it". If unsure you can attend, ask the raid leader or a moderator to change your status to "standby". A few days before the run we will close the event, look at the "accept and "standby" numbers and then ask members from sister guilds and friends if they want to be on the guest waiting list for specific spots. On raid night, if we have more "accept" and "standby" than there are spots available, those who are present will roll for spots (tanks, heals, dps) and both "standby" and "accept" will roll at the same time. For a raid scheduled to start at time = t t-15 mins: the "accept" and "standby" people log on (if not already online) and get their buff foods, potions, reagents, ammunition, shards, etc. t-5: the spots have been rolled for, we start inviting our guests and advertising for pugs as needed. from t-5 to t=0: last chance for the "accept" and "standby"people to join, ONLY FOR SPOTS LEFT VACANT (guests/pugs already in the group will not leave to accommodate latecomers). t + 15 mins: if we don't have a full group yet, which is very unlikely as there are so many players in small guilds unable to run Naxx, we will cancel the raid, EVEN IF MORE INTERESTED GUILDIES HAVE COME ONLINE IN THE MEANTIME. It may seem harsh but when a raid scheduled for 5:00 p.m. doesn't start until 5:40 p.m., that's an awful lot of wasted time for many people. We understand too that people with limited playtime are not always able to farm for buff foods or potions, the guild may have a few to give away but we strongly encourage everyone to try to bring their own. Finally, our regular/heroic dungeon runs will remain "casual" as they are less demanding, do not involve as many people and take less time to complete. 3) Getting geared for Naxx There is a progression: regular instances, heroic instances, Naxx and now, Ulduar. Anyone who, for example, has run heroic HoL, HoS, OK, or UP knows how difficult they would be for a group who has just hit 80 and is only wearing quest reward greens/blues. In a similar way, nobody could hope to pull their weight in Naxx if they don't have at least a few pieces of heroics/emblems gear. Especially when considering that Naxx is nowhere as forgiving to undergeared toons as 5-man instances are. It would be silly not to do any raiding until everybody is clad in purples from head to toe, as it would be unrealistic to expect to raid successfully if our gear doesn't meet minimum requirements. To get there, and beyond, we are asking all interested raiders to run at least one heroic instance in the week prior to the run, either for themselves and/or to help others. If anyone wants a specific piece of gear from a specific boss, ask and we will schedule a run. We still expect the first few Naxx runs to be difficult but as people keep running heroics and improving their gear, we will be able to progress past the arachnid quarter. Please note that as the wings beyond the arachnid quarter are more challenging, we will monitor the situation and we may have to set higher requirements (gear and performance) if we ever want to clear those. We are keeping the same loot policy: mainspec rolls first and then offspec if nobody rolled for it. Also, people who have won something will not roll again so that more people have a chance to get at least one new piece of gear. The exception is the token gear where you can roll again even if you have won something. 4) Divide and conquer! Each week, we will target at least one specific wing and its last boss achievement. Once we have cleared the wing of the week, and if time allows (another good reason to be punctual), we will revisit a wing we have conquered in the past (easy loot anyone?) or have a look at the next wing and try the first boss. Also, knowing ahead of time which wing we are going to raid, we strongly encourage participants to read about the bosses of the week so that we spend less time explaining the fights and more time getting the job done and collecting the spoils. And reduce our repairs bills. Once we have conquered all four wings a few times each, we will move on to the next phase and target 2 or possibly 3 wings in the same week. During that time, participants will still be doing weekly heroics, for that last piece of pre-Naxx gear they need or to help others getting it. Ultimately, with the combination of better gear and experience, we will be able to do a full clear in one week and this without any external help. Some people may find this approach too measured or too cautious but we believe that 1) it will allow guildies with less playtime to see/enjoy end-game content and 2) it will allow us to reach the final goal of a full clear with fewer of those demoralizing evenings where we set overly ambitious goals but seem to be doing nothing but wipe and wipe again. Finally, the guild will focus its efforts on Naxx-10 as we don't want to spread ourselves too thin, and succeed at nothing, by pursuing both 10- and 25-man versions. (Please note we will still run VoA/OS-10/25 as these no longer take much time and there are still good drops in there for many people.) Once we have cleared Naxx-10, we will be in a much better position to resume our Naxx-25 efforts with our sister guilds. People with more playtime will of course be free to pug Naxx-25 until the guild has matured and reached the point where it can run it. As for Emalon, the new boss in the Vault of Archavon, he will probably remain out of our reach until we all have Naxx gear but nothing says we cannot have a peek if the group wants to try. 5) Odds and ends Let's not forget that not everybody has a brand new spiffy computer and those who don't cannot fight well or move out of aoe's in time if they have too much lag. To help them (and the rest of the group), we are asking everybody NOT to bring their vanity pets out in order reduce screen clutter and lag. (Unless of course the pet is edible, like for example Pengu would be.) We also suggest that players who experience lag disable non-raid addons (questhelper, auctioneer, etc.) and, if needed, turn graphics quality down in that 15-minute window BEFORE the start of the raid. Also, things happen, like a family member (or pet) who needs attention, phone calls etc. but let's try to keep individual breaks to a minimum. We always had 5-min breaks at regular intervals throughout our Kara runs and we will continue the tradition with Naxx. Please remember again your guildies who don't have as much playtime as you do and that everybody likes to kill the last boss. 6) Last words We have come a long way since the first time we tried OS. Now, instead of wiping 2 or 3 times before killing Sartharion, instead of having half the players laying dead on the ground by the time *he* is dead, we can kill him with everybody still alive at the end of the fight. It took us a while to get there but all those gear/emblem runs and the increased awareness of each other have paid off. The same can happen with Naxx, provided we become a better organized guild with a more focused and disciplined approach. And Ulduar is next! The officers want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this do(edited)ent. The guild is helping you getting better gear and your efforts help the guild raid successfully, everybody wins. Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:28:36 GMT