Motivational Raiding

So since I have this gold that I really don't know what to do with it. No, this is not an opportunity to explain to me why you deserve some gold so don't bother. I decided to make raiding this week a little bit of a competition, offering prizes for the week based on specific performances. These include Add Damage, Healing, not getting hit by crap, and any other fun thing I could think of. Basically I am going to be rewarding people on specific fights for being the top in each category for each boss. Then on each boss someone will be in a "pro" category for being let's say the top 3. Also since there is a pro category there has to be a fail category being reserved for the bottom 3.

As an example, bonespike Damage on Marrowgar. The Top Damage on bonespikes gets the gold reward and the top 3 get on the pro list. While the bottom 3 would be on the fail list. Then at the end of the week the person with the most (pro lists) - (fail lists) will get the big money reward at the end of the week. Which will either be a hog or the money for one. The raid itself will also be rewarded for boss kills with no deaths and wings with no wipes. Of course, this is all in good fun and basically a way to motivate people for an instance, which they have been doing for 9 months.

To all of you that are thinking I am crazy for giving away close to 100k gold away for the week. You are probably right and yes it will probably delay my quest for 1,000,000 gold for a couple weeks. It is fine with me though if people will be fired up to come to raid and see what they can do that night in a little friendly competition for the good of the guild and for progress.

I'll be sure to tell you all how it goes.

Ask Gauss

So it is Sunday, end of the weekend and time for Ask Gauss. The time of the week where I go through my stack(inbox) of questions and decide(think long and hard), which ones I would like to answer the week. Shall we see what was chosen this week?

So Llane is down for 24 hours on Tuesday what are you going to do?

Play Battleship. Well not really. Who knows? Guess I will make it a spur of the moment kind of thing and see what happens. I actually will be really disappointed if Ruby Sanctum is live on Tuesday and I am not there to try it. Although from what I have heard it will be the following week. If you question is am I going to go crazy and kill people because I can't play WoW for 24 hours. I will say probably not, but you never truly know how you will be feeling when you wake up in the morning.

How is it you can always get a group of random people to listen to you?

Well they don't all always listen. Ever been on a For The Horde when I say "Don't run up the stairs like a mindless retard?" Then only to see 10 people run up. The point is not everyone is always going to listen, but if they don't and you let people know, you mean what you say they will tend to respect you for it. There is also that carry over, because I run a lot of groups and people come back or have been told how things work. So it is not like I am some random person that people don't know what to expect. So if you are having trouble be firm on what you expect. I try to add a little joke here and there to cool the atmosphere and all is well. Keep at it and you will have people semi doing what they are supposed to in no time.

Can I get your Real ID email so I can add you?

That is not going to happen.

That is it for this week hope you all had a good weekend. Keep coming to Thunder Bluff I will keep defending while I can, and of course next week's Reader Post will be about what you do when the server is down.

10 Mans, What Fun

Not that this is a new thing to me but I hate 10 mans. I try probably more than I should to make sure people are happy for the 10mans I setup each week. There is this thing that if you are not in Gauss' group it means it is ok for you to fail, because you are not in the "good" group. To me this is beyond crap. It makes me consider just making 1 group since the other group tends to be unproductive, or just not make 10 mans part of the guild at all. Leave them for after the raid or on off nights if you want to waste the guilds time.

Of course doing so would probably cause problems of a different sort. 10 mans, the way they currently, serve as practice or a tutorial for 25 man guilds. The content is easier and you get expierenc in most if not all situations before you do so on 25 man. Also with this being such an issue lately makes me quite fearful of Cataclysm.

Why you ask? Well if there is no incentive to do 25s then 10 mans are going to be the way to go. Which of course means the joy of making groups in terms of maximum progression for the guild. This of course means stacking groups so that they would progress the fastest. This would most definitely make people think they just aren't good enough. In turn people get upset, leave to do their own thing, or just hang around and complain how they are getting screwed over. Oh I can't wait, how about you?

Reminder today is the last day to get in your submissions for tomorrow Reader's Post. For those who don't remember or can't look back and check Sunday's post. The topic is your opinion of the best leader currently in the game. Keep on keeping on.

Ask Gauss

Sunday it is. Before I get to Ask Gauss I just have to mention something that I read about today.

The Grim Batol raid instance will be called the Bastion of Twilight, and you get to fight Cho'gall as the end boss! If you manage to defeat him in Heroic Mode, a horrific secret will be revealed when he dies.

I'll just let you all chew on that. So now that you are probably quite distracted after reading that, time for the questions.

So I recently heard you are both the Guild Leader and Raid Leader for your guild. Isn't that difficult to pull off?

At times it is harder than I would like. As a guild leader you are trying to build a guild where people get along and achieve the goals at hand. As a raid leader you want to assemble the best possible raid for each and every encounter. Now sometimes I find myself being more of a raid leader and not always thinking about who or what I am bringing in. Meaning will the recruits have the raid time? Forgetting about personalities and how they may crash. Also it can go the other way. Am I letting too much slack because I am concerned how they will react and not treating them how a raid leader should.

I think I have learned to balance it. Also being one has its advantages at times. I don't have to deal with a raid leader thinking he is above everyone. I report to myself basically and know exactly what does need to be done each raid or each week in the guild. While recruiting I can bring in people and can do all the checks at once and can bring in people with going through others. Not that this is always a good thing, but is helpful at times.

So like anything ups and downs, but it can work if you have the patience to get it right.

Do you think Garrosh will make a good Warchief?

One thing I want to stress is that in everything that I have read is he is acting Warchief. This I assume is because Thrall is captured. This is also part of the reasons the Goblins join the Horde. If you think though, does Thrall really have a successor besides Garrosh? Maybe this will allow Thrall to see if he would be the right person for the job. I will say though I love what Garrosh does to Orgrimmar makes it a true warrior city.

The main arguments against Garrosh is that he is the Anti-Thrall. I don't disagree that he is at all. The point being in these times that will be upon Azeroth we need someone who is more hands on. Maybe Thralls capture will teach him to be more hands on, and maybe with Thrall gone Garrosh could learn to be more diplomatic. Therefore in the end we could have 2 people that would be what the horde needs.

Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.

That is it for this week. The NDA on the alpha is not completely lifted, but there is some information being given to the press. So take a look there are some interesting developments. I will probably do something regarding these developments in the next day or two. Lastly, the next Reader Post will be who you think is the best Leader currently in the game.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

Tale of Two Guilds

For those of you who don't know I am the Guild Master and the Raid Leader of my guild, Three Score. Although I find it hard to believe that you read my blog and don't know this, but that is beside the point. Anyways, once a month I am not on for a raid and to deal with general guild stuff. Now I have officers that I trust, and no doubt in their abilities to take care of things for a night. Sometimes when I am gone things go perfectly everyone shows up and does their thing without a hitch. Other times things happen like last night. People find a way to pick a fight over the stupid and most retarded things possible. Things they would never think about doing if I was around.

Now this gets me thinking. Do they not do these things because they respect me, because they are scared, or just the need to be an asshat when I am not there. Now if they are scared that is really not what I want my guild members to think towards me. Now if they respect me I would think they should respect those I put in charge when I am not there. I have been doing this for a long time, but honestly need a way to break this substitute teacher attitude that comes out.

Maybe it is sort of an accomplishment that I am everybody's glue. I don't expect anyone to be me when I am not there, but I do expect people to act the same as they do when I am. I am also curious if this is an isolated thing with my guild or if it is something which happens all around. Is it actually that it is a Tale of Two Guilds.

A New Raid Leading Strategy

Yesterday during my guilds raid I discovered something I wish I found out a long time ago. I always assumed the best and treat it as if they actually understood what I was talking about. When of course yesterday after there was a "mess up" with an iceblock I decided that enough was enough and we were going to pretend to do the encounter before we actually did it. Now of course this was rather humorous probably to partake in and everyone probably felt a dumbass, but the thing was the next pull was perfect. Everyone went where they were supposed to! I don't know if I should be happy or if I should be sad that it took this in order to execute something correctly. Now I guess I should always do things in this way. Assume everyone is a dumbass and success will follow you. I feel like I have been given the secret to WoW...

Raid Focus

So after my quotes post I have received a lot of emails asking me if I am really such a big of an asshole to raid with. Now I will tell you I am not, but feel free to ask any of my guild mates or people I have guilded or raided with over the years and I am pretty sure they will all say the same thing. I am a nice guy, but if you piss me off well then that's another story.

I want to relate this to Raiding since most of the quotes I listed if not all of them have to do with that as their focus. I don't lead raids in order to wipe pointless for no reason. I lead raids to be successful. No matter the content that is always my focus at hand. If you have had the opportunity to be in one of my guild's Buy ToC gear runs well then you will see me in a different light. I am very calm I make jokes, but for the most part I know there are going to be bumps where people mess up, because well I am a lot of the time bringing people in who have no idea what is going on. For guild raids it is different I expect everyone to know about the encounter they are going to take part in. If they don't I expect them to ask in order to find out. There is nothing worst and you look no more idiotic then running around like a chicken with your head cut off while 24 others stand and laugh at you.

This being said raids are successful because 25 people come to achieve a goal. If 20 people come to do this and 5 people are just happy to be there bad things will happen. It is even worse if say 15 people come to kill shit, 5 people are happy to be there and then 5 people just want to do whatever the hell they want. This leads to you doing something you shouldn't, which will most likely cause a raid wipe. I am find with wiping for a purpose, when there is a reason behind it and maybe it was out of someones or the raids control. Just got bad luck with the encounter, it happens. Come back do everything again and get it done. The best example of this was when we lost out on server first KJ kill because the server lagged, which caused a wipe. Sometimes things are out of your control, live and learn. What I don't stand for is when someone who did something because they had no clue what they were to do and caused a wipe, or maybe they did know and just didn't do what they were supposed to. They didn't ask and it resulted in wasting every ones time. This I take personally because it is my job as a raid leader to make sure this doesn't happen. So nothing makes me more pissed off then someone doing something they should never have had the opportunity to do. So yes some of those quotes were said at times like this, maybe they were funny, but they got the point across. You are here to do what needs to be done to succeed don't purposely waste peoples time. People are going to say it is just a game, and I am over reacting. Well think of it this way. If you were playing a board game and someone playing took the board and through it across the room sending everything flying you would be pissed. This is the same thing to causing a wipe without knowing what to do or just being an idiot. You mess it up for everyone else. it is just the way it is.

So again I am a nice guy, for the most part, JUST DONT MAKE ME ANGRY. Reminder today is the last day to get in your excuses for being late for raid for tomorrows post. Keep sending them would love to hear them.

Ask Gauss

So it is Sunday time for me to go through the masses and find something you all might find interesting for me to answer. So here is what we got for this week.

How do you stay objective as a raid leader when you have friends and such in the raid?

Well this is quite challenging at times. I have to do this not only as a raid leader, but as a guild leader in general. I may think of someone as a friend, know them in real life, but I cannot treat them any differently then any member of the guild or the raid. I have to react the same way if someone makes a mistake or does something well. They need to be told what they need to do better or avoid doing. I try to build the guild for success. This means that yes there may be people in the guild I may not particularly mesh with, but if I get them to preform and listen then this is the key. Goes both ways for friends in the guild. I can't just let things go I need to show there is no favourites and act according or what happens is chaos. When it is time to mess around that's all well and good. That is an important part of this game to. Have that relaxing time. It isn't for everyone because sometimes people can't be that person who seems like a robot. As long as there is an on and off switch you're fine.

Since you are well known and all how do you tell if someone is using you or not?

Well this one I guess I am still working on. I am a guy who gives people the benefit of the doubt. Probably not always the best thing in the world, but if you burn me once I will not give you the opportunity to even come close do doing it again. This doesn't mean I don't give second chances, but what happened is always in my head. So they would be stupid to expect the same freedom and such that I may have given them before. Of course time can heal wounds, but I guess that all depends on the situation at hand. Now I hope people would give me the same benefit if I wronged them so maybe that is why I do things like this. You can always have a second chance, but you should never expect you will get anything after that.

If you could do one thing what would it be?

I would say sorry.

That is it for this week. Next weeks reader post will have a slightly different focus. Things you wish you did differently in your WoW existence. Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

Understanding Those Who Understand

So running a guild in addition to leading raids can be quite stressful at times. It is not that I don't enjoy it because I do. The whole leadership thing is something, which has always been natural to me. I have a way of thinking and a mind set to go at problems full force. I guess this comes from my Mathematical background or what makes me good at mathematics in the first place. I will get back to you on that if I ever find out the answer. This brings me to my point. Sometimes there are just people who don't get it. No matter how much you explain, no matter what way you say it. They will never get it through their head. Obviously in a guild raid the problems are different then in my For The Horde's or Old School runs. I would say mostly because I have assembled people in the guild who are like minded and want to succeed as much as I want the guild to succeed. Of course this doesn't mean there are not a fair amount of mistakes, but just of a different variety. The other raids people may just be there for the run to get that achieve or just to see what they haven't seen. They are less focused or generally not of the same mind as myself. These people may enjoy wiping pointlessly or don't see the purpose of having to listen to someone who knows what he is doing. Or maybe they are just what I like to refer to as "a special kind of stupid".

Now I see how this makes me sound. Like I think I know more than everyone and I am better than them. My answer to this question is the same every time someone asks it. "Not everyone". I will never say I know more than everyone about anything, but the difference is I know more than a lot of people about specific things, and I am well versed in others. If I don't know or I am unsure I will let it be known, but I will always have an opinion and that opinion and focus will always be in the best interest of those involved. I don't like my time wasted, so I pledge the same to others.

Ashdod gave me the brought my attention to this photo, which I feel helps the way those not understanding my point. So take a look.

Of course there is humor to this, but it has an underlying point. Don't get in over your head listen to those how understand what is going on, and respect them. You can voice your opinion, but realize that it is an opinion just like anyone else. Enjoy the last day of your lockout.

Ask Gauss

So I have been getting a lot of emails lately. With which I have had a terrible time trying to reply to them in what I think is a timely manner. 2-3 days in my opinion is too long, but I am working on improving this. With this in mind many people have just been asking me for advice on specific things. So I had this idea. I can just make this into a weekly thing where people can ask questions and I will answer them right on the blog. Of course these would be questions which would actually benefit answering for everyone on here. So if you ask me if I have a dog named Pi, I am not going to answer that here. I guess we could make this a Wednesday thing since well today is Wednesday and I am starting it today. So on with it then.

How is it possible you can make so much gold?

This is not a gold making blog and I don't intend to make it one, but I can give you all a few tips. First off you really have to have gold to make it a lot of it. To get started off you need a basic or small purse of it. Getting this basic amount of gold can be done through dailies and running the random heroic. You can get the badges buy gems and sell them to the countless people that will buy uncut gems. Or you could cut them and sell that way. One thing to think about is purple gems only use 10 badges and sell for about 20% less than reds which use 20 badges. So be smart. Keep in mind also all the greens, junk, and enchant mats you can get doing these heroics.

If your interested in making a lot of gold the best way to do it is to expand the amount of things you sell. Don't focus on one thing. Because just like the real world markets can crash. Try to focus on items with high turnover rates like Vellums and Bags. Of course there are others, but I can't give you al lthe secrets. Also you have a profession(you should have otherwise this is another topic all together) use it, the cooldowns are easy money. If you want more tips on this I will lead you to a couple of people I get ideas from Just my two Copper and Greedy Goblin.

While Raid Leading are you super serious or do you joke around like you do on here?

I play this game for fun. It is a game. What you have to realize though is everyone who is raiding with you is also there to have fun. No one likes wiping for pointless reasons. So as I do joke around I also make sure the raid is focused on the goal at hand. I don't want anyone to waste my time so I keep that in mind. If someone isn't doing what they are supposed to I will tell them. If keeps happening well then it is something that has to be dealt with. If it is a new fight I expect everyone to be prepared and read up. Although I will admit some of my write ups are long and wordy, but I also give a basic run through to see if people completely understand the points I was trying to get across.

I also try to develop strats that work for us as a group. There are many sites out there that do write ups, but you know your guild and what they can do. The basics might be the same but there might be some tweaks you work in to work for your group of raiders.

So to answer I guess I am serious, but I try not to loose sight of the fact this is indeed a game.

Why do you hate ret pallys so much?

Do I really have to have a reason?

So that is basically how it will work. I'll do 2-5 questions based on how long the responses are. I will ask from now on if people want their names included with the questions. Also be sure to keep sending in your new macro suggestions you have till tomorrow night.

You Fail At Raid Leading If...

So it's Tuesday and if you have been reading long enough you know that means it's time for the "You Fail" post. If you didn't know well you do now. So sit back enjoy and poke fun at the people who do these things.

You Fail At Raid Leading If...

• You don't have and interesting pull macro
• You do ready checks to see if people are ready for ready checks
• You forget to put it on Master Loot
• You put a resto shaman in a group with hunters
• Melee DPS makes up half your raid
• The entire raid can hear you drinking or eating over vent
• Your best explanation on a fight is "Don't Die"
• You allowed Bagellord into your raid and it wasn't for comic relief
• You are ordering people around while your mom is yelling at you in background
• You miss click your pull button before knowing everyone is ready
• You give the Disc Priest raid healing assignments
• You die to the very things you said you would kick people out of the raid for doing
• You wing it comes to planning strategy
• You believe playing with jetpacks adds to intense focus
• You throw emo fits because in your opinion it makes people respect you more
• You try to compare all aspects of the encounter to real life situations

and finally

• You're a ret pally

Keep on sending in your Noob of the year submissions. They have to be in by Thrusday evening to get a shot at appearing in the post. Keep enjoying the holidays and may you never group with Wally.