Baracko

Sorry Gord, but I just can't commit anymore time to the game right now. I wish you all good luck, though! - Bar

Happy Bday, Lomar!

*gets out the pics* Guess we should show these to the grandkids... *grins evilly* Happy Bday, Momma Moo!

That video is hysterical! ;p

No words... *laughs*

Congrats, guys! ;p Good luck with the new addition! *prays for sleep for you both*

RAWR!! Goodluck in the sand, Eigun! You will be missed!

lol Remm... nice!

Bah! I'm not leaving completely! Just not doing the 25 man anymore. We still have 10 man achievements and a red drake to procure on Sunday mornings, Remm! ;p ________________________________________________________________________________ I appreciate the kind words, everyone. I'm still gonna be around to do this or that.

Happy Birthday, bud! ;p

Instead of explaining in tells to alot of people singularly, I just thought I would make it easier on my fingers. This week will be my last week with the 25-man raid. I will still be doing the 10 man stuff as per normal. I'm sure many of you think the timing of this is interesting, and I can't say that I blame you. However, its been on my mind for awhile, and recent events have just had me thinking about it more. The reason I have waited to make a decision or post responses to the rotation thread was because the issue, in my mind, kept being clouded by other things. First, for awhile now Ive struggled with the time of the raid. Its oftentimes difficult for me to get home in time for the raid, and when I do, I typically don't get to eat. That needs to stop. I pushed back the start of the raid a little to help this time, but its not enough. Second, Im getting ready to hire some help, and more of my patients are needing to come to the office a bit later, getting me home just before raid start at times. With this recession RL comes first, and I need to be able to take care of that. Furthermore, Im involved in some RL stuff that Ive neglected due to the timing of the raid. I miss many meetings that I should be attending primarily cause Im the raid leader. To be honest, I gave serious thought to stepping aside at the end of the last one for this reason. But, when I got all the tells of thanks for both Cal and I when we stopped BT, and so many people said they were ready for the expo, I had a hard time letting it go. I don't regret the choice to keep it running, but I realize Im not going to be able to do it. If I ever was good at it, I know I'm not very good currently. Considering recent events, I also think my wants/desires have somewhat changed or have become more intense. I know many of you share my desire to progress, but I don't like the way I feel/act while Im leading the pursuit of those things. That being said, Zuworty is going to take back over in totality, and I think he ultimately plans to make the raid a little more lowkey. I think this will solve some issues, and ultimately make the raid more enjoyable for most of you. He will be leaning on some of you to help him as his RL job and pursuits also take new turns in this global recession of ours. No, Im probably not going to stop raiding. I've got some feelers out to WW, and I still want to raid. I just don't want to be part of the leadership. Why not just be a part of the raid I was with? A) Because Ill almost always be late. B) Because its really hard to keep your mouth shut and be a lemming when you used to lead it. I'm looking forward to just showing up to something and just doing the job, although I know Ill have to mute my mic for quite some time. Im about 75% to be heading over there. I don't know if it'll be next week or in two or three. I should know more in the coming days. I know many of you will react differently to this. Some won't really care, and will keep on going. Others will think me a traitorous lootwhoring ###### and might never want to talk to me again, feeling betrayed. I know many of you are dealing with scheduling issues, too. You might even think me a pompous ###### for writing such a long post. But understand this: Ive torn myself up about it alot, but I think its the best thing for me. When I made the decision yesterday, it was like a big weight was lifted from my shoulders, leading to one of the best days at work Ive had in awhile on Monday. I hope that we can just all go on being friends. Just now your friend, Baracko P.S. I'm going to ask Morgh to "put me out to pasture" as it were and make me a longtooth. I don't think I should be one of the elders of conquest(Raids) given this change. I'm sure there is someone who is ready to step up and take over ;p

Eigun and Elrikk.... if you see this in time, check your mail.

Due to last minute losses, we dont have the healing/firepower necessary to take down Maly. We'll pick back up on Tuesday night. - Bar

Congrats, Guilo! ;p

Guys, I'm gonna create a maxdps thread below for this sort of info so we dont clog up this thread. EIGUN: Would you mind making a post summarizing what you talked about above for max druid dps in the new thread? Otherwise, I can probably move the posts! Thanks!

*wipes a tear* Ahh, its so good to see you both working on this! Orcala, I think you really are on the right track... your dps has improved somewhat over the past week, and that makes a raidleader VERY happy! ;p Another idea to add to the discussion, that is pretty self-explanatory: One thing Ive learned in my short raiding time as DPS is that "time in battle" is key, especially on trash. Some folks wait a long time to engage... you multiply that by umpteen trash battles or bosses in an instance, and it can equal alot of lost dps time. My point is this - we joke with you about the afk's, but I think if you could focus more during our 3 hours, your output would increase alot. Couple that with changes Eigun and others are suggesting to gearing and really maximizing your rotation, and I think you could be a force to reckon with. NOTE: Engaging quickly has its disadvantages! Hence my often early deaths ;p Most times, though, I find the group falls into a rhythm and I barely have to look at the threatmeter to know when its safe to dps. Just keep an eye on it till you feel more comfortable.... correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Druid dps is that bursty, so you may not even have this issue. Good job, Orcala! ;p

RAWR! *cries* ;p

This is the kind of discussion I was looking for! Keep it up! I don't have to the time to respond the way I want today due to folks being in town/work, but I will soon. Good luck in Naxx tonight, everyone! - Bar

Hey guys! Great work in there! ;p Since its obvious that this post is going to be used on a regular basis, I stickied it to keep it on top for ya! Let me know if I can help ya! - Bar

Many have been asking me about the rotation, and I've heard a bit of grumbling here and there. ** Please read the whole post carefully before getting mad or making assumptions ** Just so we all know the logistics, here is the situation in a nutshell: 1. In the old raid, we struggled with consistency towards the end, using alot of replacements. It didn't always work out. 2. In an effort to make #1 less of an issue with this raid, I decided to bring in more than 25 to start. Due to RL and other issues, this hasnt happened/worked either. 3. As a byproduct of 1 and 2, we have 26 current raiders who have been pretty consistent. 4. Naxxramas is a snorefest, really only requiring about 6 healers, sometimes 7, while Ulduar is rumored to need 8. I want to plan to be able to tackle this head on when it comes out. 5. Almost all of us have lives of some sort, and a few of you cant make it on certain nights. This all being said, here is what I'm going to do about it/think about it: 6. If you can make a raid night, but are asked to sit, you will get a share of the dkp for that evening. Sitting + getting dkp = being there for the first 30 mintues of the raid, ready to step in at a moments notice. After the 30 mins is over, you are free to do what you wish. This is a small price to pay for a night's worth of dkp. If you are completely absent for an evening, you will not get dkp. The main raid post has been changed to reflect this. This way, you at least are not losing the dkp for the evening. 7. It might be a healer more often than not that has to sit at the moment, due to the nature of the instance. I'm also going to look at having Tiz/Remm respec more often to compensate at times. I have to do whats best for the raid, not just for the person, and right now, this is it. In Ulduar, the roles will be reversed, and it will be the dps who is at a weakness. I cannot help the raid mechanics. I am not going to make some elaborate procedure for who sits out. Ill try to do it as fair as I can, with the best interests of the raid in mind. 8. #7 being stated, the way the rosters' availability have gone it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that anyone will have to sit. RL and other issues have forced us to still find a replacement almost every night, so I don't anticipate this being a big issue. Please don't put the cart before the horse. 9. If any of us have to sit, it will most likely not be for the whole week, so I'm not going to plan it out so you can make other plans per se, because you will need your ID's for our group at some point during the week. For those of you who have offered to sit to limit drama, your offer is noticed an appreciated, but will not be needed at this time. Please don't stir the pot over this. From the bottom of my heart, I really don't think anyone is going to lose out. Please feel free to discuss this issue in this thread, but keep the discussion out of the main raid post. I am really excited again about this group, and I think we're gonna do great. Furthermore, I think Ulduar will be a great time for our group to shine, as we'll always done things like CC very well. - Baracko, your team raidleader

Enchanting mats policy updated on main post.

Barring spur of the moment social life opps, I should be there.

Kel'Thuzad has fallen to our heroic might. Unfortunately, this instance makes us *snore*.

HAR!

RAWR! RAWR!