Kara-ready again??

[Lilleth]

Bowing to pressure from the "Newly-Attuned" , last week SSX entered Karazhan once more.

Our first attempt back was...not so bad, considering the lack of cc we had. It was only meant to be a "look-see" anyway...to introduce some of our members who hadn't even hit 60 pre-TBC to raiding, SSX-style.

Our second attempt...better mix of classes (all-important cc in place!), some better gear showing...downed Maiden in about 3 hrs, ending on a very positive note!

Are we ready to tackle Curator again? Sticky question...

I'm all for trying. If we don't try at all, we'll never know.

As a side note, Kara is a 10-man run. We all know this, but when it comes time for the raid invites...some people might get left out. PLEASE don't take this personally!! I understand how it feels to log on, check the guild roster, and find the "Karazhan" tag beside other members' names...and you've been left out. I really do. Please understand that it takes a certain mix of classes and class specs, limited to 10 people. Hopefully, we can come up with an equitable way to "rotate" ppl through. Expect places to be filled quickly, and in some cases, be determined either by gear checks or /random 100 rolls. That means someone who is a different class than you, but fills the same type of role in a raid (ie, melee dps, caster dsp, etc...) might be rolling against you, or have their gear checked against yours.

No one likes to be left out. Please remember that in a guild like SSX, where friendships and goodwill matter, we as Officers try very hard to keep everyone "happy". When a member is left out, WE feel bad too Please don't let hurt feelings fester. PST an Officer you feel comfortable talking to if you want to get something off your chest (this goes for anything, not just Kara).

We will be working on starting raid schedules again in the near future. When we start raiding regularly, you will know beforehand. Check these forums. Check the guild MOTD. PLEASE do not keep pestering Officers if a raid isn't scheduled(as in "Are we running Kara tonight? C'mon! I see 10 70s online right now..."). Personally, I don't want to disappoint anyone, but if we can't raid, no amount of cajoling or whining is going to make it happen (from now on).

In the meantime...Keep running 5-mans/heroics/PvPing!!! Keep working on it! I'm so proud of the effort the guild as a whole has made during our Karazhan hiatus (and it's been a helluva lot of fun!)

[Mike D]

It is very exciting to see the desire to start raiding again! I think that it is important for us to start scheduling raids for specific days rather than just throwing them together when we have 10 people on.

In regard to the pressing question of who gets to go on the raids, I think that it should be based more on class representation(making sure we have diversity) and gear rather a random roll for spot. I think this will be the most productive way for progressing in kara. Once we get a better feel for the fights and more comfortable with the instance as a whole, it might be ok to random off for raid spots. In my opinion, to advance past the curator we need a strong effort from those who have put in the time to get gear first. If this means that I am passed up for a raid spot and have to continue grinding Heroics and BG's then Im all for it. As long as the guild progresses.

Obviously I am not an officer and dont have a huge say in what goes on , but I just wanted to post my opinion and see what others thought whether agreeing or disagreeing.

Keep up the good work guys and gals, the gear progression is very noticeable and it will make Kara a lot more fun!

[Lilleth]

Oh, I agree, Mike.

I should have been more careful with my wording lol. I meant gear check/class representation THEN roll-off if needed between two "equal" members.

It's been said before...Curator (the boss after the Opera Event) is the first MAJOR gear-check in TBC. He's where the guild got "stuck" last spring, and he's the major reason we stopped raiding Kara to gear up. (Trust me...wiping over and over, time after time gets frustrating. When everyone's frustrated, it's no fun )

We've been working hard for our gear. I think those of us who were part of the raids when we got stuck have gear more appropriate for the Curator and beyond. As for the "newcomers"...some of you became attuned just as we put Kara on hold, and have been working on gear for about the same amount of time as the "original" raiding group, thus have comparable gear. Some of you have only hit 70 and attuned fairly recently, and should be focusing on Rep with factions, 5-mans, Heroics and PvP/Arena gear FIRST. They really are your best bet for the level of gear needed for the guild to progress in Kara.

You may not be an Officer, Mike, but every SSX member has opinions and ideas that are valuable, and we want to hear them!

[QuantumDelta]

Considering what I've gleamed whilst popping on and off, and talking to peeps on msn, with consumables you're probably on for a fairly comfortable 2nd evocation kill, assuming everyone that's been gearing is there and you take the right raid for it

1 Tank, one designated target (doesn't matter who as long as they have some HP) taking the bolts (warlocks are best for this though), 3 healers and the rest DPS and you'll rinse it

[Ismona]

Ya, for the healers I would suggest the following :

1200+ healing for the first 4 bosses, shoot for +1500 after that ( Primal Mooncloth and proper items and this can be achieved ).

Main tank, I suggest using a Paladin...I know, I know Jay, but the whole instance is Undead and the Paladin can hold agro awsome in there.

Shadow Priests are perfect for in there..try to take one for the paladin's and the healers for Mana regen bonuses. Warlocks with love the bonus damage.

Download a Agro Meter and install it....keep an eye on it and you will not pull agro off the tank during fights.

Shackle, Shackle, Shackle.....Or Frost traps with Entrapment Hunters are always sick.

Anyways, I will help you guys out in any way I can if you need me. I am one of those people that repsec to help out on my toons, so you can ask anytime you need help.

GL to ya

[lili]

a dorf or a draenei holy priest would also be good for the fear wards so the shadow dorf don't have to drop out of shadow. All three tanking classes can tank, pally can front load due to undead, but there's no issues with waiting for a while. droods have swipe which helps with aoe tanking. i would also say bring a lock for HS due to the fact that the damn super healing pots doesn't even touch my hp bar *sigh*. the shadow priest lock combo needs to be very carful because of how much more dps each class can bost to the other they can pull agg very easily.

[Magdalena]

Ok, since I've been getting a lot of hurry up and get to 70, here's your task... be able to run me through this nekkid by the time I get to 70... so chop chop, get to work...




So being that I'm rushing through the grind, looks like you've got your work cut out for you


:P

[Lilleth]

Okay! So...we should actually work on scheduling a raid, then! I'm not sure if we're up for tonight (Fri, 7/9/07)...if we have enough online and willing, maybe.

How does an "official" raid for next weekend sound? That will give us the week to work out who we'll be able to take, and get all the various mats/etc together for pots, buff food, etc etc etc...

Fri, 14/9/07? Continuing Sat, 15/9/07 if everyone can make it? 8pm start. Optimally, we will know exactly who will be raiding and their role PRIOR to 8pm Friday night...lol.

Of course, we seem to have had lots of people online on weeknights as well...with the caveat that we may have to end earlier in the evening due to working/school the next morning...but it may give us more time before the instance resets? We could do a Tues/Wed sched, that leaves the weekend, through Monday, open to go back in if we need/want to?

NOT OFFICIAL YET (caps for emphasis...I'm not yelling!! lol). Just tossing it out there.

Thoughts?

[Wulfgrinner]

i think ill stay in for the night to give her a shot

[Mike D]

Ill be there on Friday, so count me in! Im pretty sure I have to work on Saturday though

[Callawey]

I am all about scheduling things in this game. My RL is usually schedule driven, so i'd prefer to treat these in-game challenges like anything else.(I love the fact that Monday night has turned into Garbage Knight I completely understand not wanting to start Kara until Friday, but I am seeing that Monday-Thursday nights are almost as active on SSX as weekend nights are. Seeing that we locked into the instance for a week once the first boss goes down, I'd rather that happen earlier in the week. I think that it would give the guild flexibility, and allow more people to familiarize themselves with Kara, over the course of the whole week, not three days. Personally, if we ended after Maiden on a Tuesday night, and I wasn't on again until Friday, then I'd be happy to find out that WE are now on Illhoof because the Curator wall came down Wednesday. But that's just me. I am in it for the fun of meeting a new challenge with friends, not for the loot, although the loot doesn't hurt...lol. Basically, let's have fun with Kara. It's a game for enjoyment, not serious business. I think that if we start treating it like that, we'll progress further and faster. Anyone else share my feelings?

[lili]

I do see quite a number of people on during the weeknight, but most of the time they are almost all dps. I think for the first few runs a schedule is a good thing so people don't feel left out. I can picture the "well i didn't know, if you told me i would have been there, i can't do it on weeknights and i said so, and such". and these have left bad taste in everyone's mouth before. But if the people on at a certain night feel that they really want to run kara, just get one started, but make sure everyone who's in it really want to go and are not forced to go due to pressure.

[Wulfgrinner]

im not having to work until the 28th of sept so anytime thru then is great if ya need a rogue

[JonisRahl]

Yes Friday/Saturday look good for this week. Have to work every other Friday for Football games give or take off weeks football wise.
Liz and I are there for this week

[RagingDeath]

this weekend cant make it but next weekend looks good

[Lilleth]

Okay...

So, if we have the right numbers (and the all-important healers/tanks/cc), looks like we're attempting Kara tonight, 9/14/07 (Friday).

If it isn't a go...then Jay and I will be online, ready for 5-mans (heroics?), etc

So, whatever happens, we're partying tonight!

[Callawey]

Hooray! Either Kara or a possible shot at my first heroic Mech? Win-win!

I have cleared the night with my wife. I went shopping for consumables yesterday and even picked up a new bottle of Grey Goose This is one paladin who is ready to party...lol.

On a side note, I have two bags full of items to d/e. I could use some enchants on my healing set and my tanking set. With the enchants on my tanking set, I will do 10 times better at aoe tanking the mobs leading to Moroes. I am going to try to get on early tonight, so if any enchanters read this, can you please message me in game. Thank you!

[RagingDeath]

fri 21st 730 ish kara bring your damage!!!!!!

[RagingDeath]

fri 21st 730 ish kara bring your damage!!!!!!

[Mike D]

I think we proved yesterday that we are definately ready to start up regular Kara runs. Downing 5 bosses in one night (not to mention 9 manning the first few bosses) is definately a great start! Grats to everyone on downing Curator for the first time.

On a side note, I personally think we should be a little stricter on the raid start up times. We kind of have a very loose start time of 8:00pm and then we start pulling at something like 8:27 (not exactly but you get what I mean). I think that if we set the time at 8:00pm then we should be in the instance, buffed, and ready to pull at 8:00. However, I completely understand that people have lives and cant make it in-game before 8:00, so I would suggest something like start at 8:00, and be in the instance fully buffed and ready to pull at 8:10. Whatever time works out best for the guild. I dont think we should be strict, but just a little more organized like we used to be (login at 7:30 and start raiding at 8:00).

Anyways, if Im off base with my thoughts just let me know and Ill shut up .

[lili]

10 min a a little short with lives interfering. I usually give people 30 mintes to pick out who's going etc just in case you have too many showing up. You don't want all 15 people at the entrance of kara ready to go when you can take only 10. I would say you know tank and healer be at the stone ready to summon while the rest of the group gets worked out. The entire bottom of kara plus curator under two hours is cake with a games. so pew pew away go go.

[Lilleth]

Mike and Weili, I agree. We definitely need a "stricter" start time.

For my part, I will do my best to make sure I have parked Lilleth at the stone earlier in the day if I need to, to allow for any real life "stuff" I've gotta do before I'm ready to roll. I could even take a minute to log on around 7:30, but would most likely be <AFK> for most of that time (and it's a bit more difficult when Jay's on nightshift and I'm soloing Bedtime...that's usually a 2-man Elite quest...)

I'll throw it out there...if we want to start pulling by 8 or 8:10, maybe we can make sure everyone who wants a chance at Kara on any given evening is logging on around 7:30? We'd have to deal with above-mentioned afks and such, but we could sort out invites and spots taken during that time.

I would also like to discuss the possibility of starting on a Tues night? That way we have the entire week to plug away at it...

Is anyone contemplating the dreaded "respec" to tank/healer? Just wondering...

I'm going to Ramble for a bit...just some ideas, open for discussion:

Being a "casual" guild, as we are (albeit, a guild that wants to raid more regularly), it's tough to get the same 10 every night. This leads to 2 possibilities:

1) We lead a Kara run for an entire week, filling the spaces each night with whoever is available and/or fits the class/gear requirements any given night (ie; those who are still working on gear could possibly "start" the Kara week from Huntsman to Opera, while those who have higher-level gear will continue from there? As ppl gear up, they will progress.) That way *everyone* is getting a chance to at least get into the instance at some point in the week).

2) We assess our numbers, gear levels and availability and seriously consider 2 Kara runs. We'd need (in total) 4 tanks and 6 healers, plus all the various ranged/melee/spell dps to fill out each raid. Since we have many members who are only available (due to work/school/time zones) during weekdays, maybe weekday runs are something to consider for one raiding group?

Alternately (I'll call it option 1.5), we switch weeks. One group runs one week, then the other group runs the next. This would take the same 4 tanks/6 healers...so we'd have to have the numbers for option 2 but we'd maybe have the flexibilty of option 1? (Meaning...if we find on week 2 that we don't have enough tanks/healers or 10 ppl from the 2nd group available on some nights, then ppl from group one can fill in if they are willing, without being saved already, and vice versa) That way...if someone wants to PUG on their "off" week...they are free to do so, with no hard feelings, because it isn't "their" week to run with the guild.

We would also need people willing to do the work to learn how to lead a raid...get the mods, learn the fights, etc. We have had wonderful raid leaders to this point (THANK YOU MIKE AND WEILI!!! ), but it's time for them to sit back and relax!! (IF they want/need to. Your guidance is always welcome and appreciated ). I'm just starting to learn the role. I'm still a n00b, but I'm willing to try (I'm hesitant to step forward if I'm not COMPLETELY sure I'm doing it "right"). Seeing as RL comes first, we'll kind of need a "stable" of ppl who are capable at leading the raid, in case a regular Leader is unavailable due to RL issues.

Oh geez...I've rambled too long. Talk amongst yourselves

P.S. Thursdays this fall are right out for me. CSI, Grey's Anatomy and ER, FTW! Now THAT'S real life, baby!

[Lilleth]

Oh! I forgot to mention...we still have guildies trying to get attuned! Sylvain still needs BM (as far as I know), and Zeik (Matt) is working on it too! If anyone else is still trying to get attuned (or knows someone who is), please post and let us know!!

[lili]

Warning I don't like to put in breaks while i'm writing it's just basically one though flowing into another so read at your own discretion.


You don't actually need 2 tanks and 6 healers for two kara runs. One tank and one arms/fury warrior for moroes is really all you need tanking wise. Healers i think at this point 3 is still needed for each run. If there is seriously consideration about starting a second run for alts or people less geared, i seriously suggest the best geared tank should tank the less geared run while the slightly under geared tank should tank for the more geared run. You can of course just figure out what you need from each boss and swap out that way. As far as tanking goes a warrior can get geared up in less than a week to tank (pretty much as you get to revered you've gotten pretty much everything you need unless you are just really unlucky). For a pally/druid tank this takes a bit more time imo (feel free to disagree) Earth warden for example although it is the easier to get to exhalted with CE than any other faction, it still takes work. Things that can help out: if you are a clothy healer moonclothset is your best bet. If you are dps: pvp stuff is very nice. If you are a tank well there's almost no tanks around on Manno now that does normal 5 men so put yourself out there and tank your heart out. Also if you are tanking Kara one of the most important thing is don't move from your spot. Know where you are and where the rest of the raid is at all times. If you get moved by the mob go back to your original position as fast as possible without getting moved further by the mob. Midnight for example when the huntsman mounts midnight (I love saying that) they do a random charge. Whoever's tanking should not go chase after them but rather turn toward him at the same spot your are at. There are also many trash with frontal cleaves etc so if you are pissed at a rogue or any other melee by all means turn it toward them . If you are a healer, your only job is to heal and that's it don't do anything else unless told to do so. The best kara's i've been to are 1 tank a rogue off tanking moroes and the ushers, 2 healers and the rest dps with only one of those dps being a hunter. Get to know what you are capable of and don't depend on salv. Ask for help and don't ignore the rest of the people who's not in kara with you.

[undrin]

I like most of the ideas except one. The one about starting the main raid in the middle of the week. I have to say that leaves me out and a few others. Yes this is a personal dislike since I will not be able to attened raids with the guild if this happens. We also tried something like this for MC but ended up back at the Friday Saturday runs due to people not willing to commit entire week night evenings to raiding everyweek, since they would also be doing it all weekend. We did get a few going but like I said it died pretty quickly. Though at the same time that was a 40 person raid whereas this one is only 10. SO who knows. If you do decide to do it during the week get geared up and run me through the 25 mans in 3 weeks on the weekend than.