Wow, okay this has been a week. The teachers raided my store. I spent most of the week shut into my office frantically ordering anything teacher-ish in a vain attempt to stay ahead of their buying. To say we’re a success with them is putting it, erm, mildly. >.>

As a result, I had to back out of almost all raiding this week. Coming home exhausted was the norm, as was falling asleep on the couch while the Olympics played out on the TV. I’m refusing to give up tomorrow night’s ZA guild run tho. Dammit, that’s our fun run! I need silliness! I need carnage! I need… well more sleep.

So no drama (/cheer!), no raiding (/boo!), and no me to tease Breana with cries of “I have fountain pens and youuuuu dooooon’t! /cackle”. Thanks to those that listened to the Twisted Nether podcast and my insane ramblings. God knows why I was deemed interesting but hopefully I was at least entertaining (please feel free to not delusion me :D)

But there is something that I found in my screenshot gallery that I had to show. Something… odd…

Wait… what was that? HUH?!

…

::throwing down gauntlet:: Damn you, Bre, you taunted me into it. I rolled a ‘lock. A GNOME ‘lock. She’s lvl 11. I got her that far on my “crapIhavenotimeGAH!” schedule this week. You. Will. Pay. Remember: I still haven’t shown you the paperclips! MWHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaAHHAHAHAH!

Cut to today’s WoW: yes, I read WoW Insider and yes, I read the weekly guild drama recaps. Some of the time I giggle cos it’s so silly, and sometimes I just sigh cos it’s so pointless. But for the most part, I read them with a sigh of relief that “it’s not me”. But then I have a brush with the drama llama and I’m reminded to not get cocky. That it happens to everyone and when you least expect it.

The problem with raiding with another guild as a guest is that sometimes drama over loot happens. We’re all human. We all want that “omg shiny!” item. Hey, I admit it: I’ve had my moments of avarice and loot whoring over the smallest thing. Hell, I have the Baron’s Cloak from Strath still in my bank as a “war trophy” (god I hated him). The group The Boyfriend and I are running with is doing okay in SSC and TK. The whole time I’ve run with them, I’ve never seen anything that made me stand up and put my name in for loot when they’ve called for loot council. Wednesday night that changed when I got the Rift Stalker Gauntlets. Last night, Bands of the Celestial Archer dropped off of TK trash. As I was still wearing Stalker’s War Bands, once again, I figured wth and tossed my name in. I was given them, but apparently that caused drama with some people in the guild. At this point, there’s little that I can do. I put my name in, they checked my gear. But, to make peace, I now have an alt in their guild, as well as The Boyfriend. It’s light drama, and something that’s handled, but it’s still drama. ::sigh::

So how do you handle inter-guild raiding loot drama? Avoid it and not take anything? But then you gimp yourself and not help the raid which means there’s no point to you taking a spot in their raid. Ignore any snarking that occurs? Never been fond of the hide the head in the sand approach (even if I occasionally practice it). Confront it headon? Well then that’s where fights can break out. Yeah so not happening.

I will say this: I’ve deliberately not taken loot before if someone else rolling on it needed it more. I’ve waited and checked others’ gear before putting my name in. I try to be a good guest when I’m not in a group with my guild. So I toe a fine line: being a good guest, getting geared up, not gimping myself but trying to not step on toes. ::sigh::

Tonight? I get interviewed by Breana and Fimlys for a podcast after hopefully doing Kara. Tomorrow, I’m off with friends for an evening of Real Life fun. Sunday, Mount Hyjal! Monday, … I pass out. >.>

Last night, we waterwalked over to the Leo trash in SSC, skipping Hydross and Lurker. Once we got to Leo, we had the same thing happen there that had happened at Al’ar: messy, all over the place, and once we got Phase 1 over with, complete chaos. But that last attempt at him, something happened to the raid. You could feel it. Everyone was ticked, since the previous week they had one shot him. He was mocking the raid. This was WAR. Everyone snapped into focus, and we had a great kill with just seconds left on the enrage timer.

For loot, this guild runs something I had not come into contact with before running with them: Loot Council. To me, it’s not better or worse than other distribution methods. It’s just a different method. Every method has the chance to be abused, so you just shrug and go with it as long as it’s being handled fairly. Last night, for the first time since I started raiding with them, I saw something I wanted. There were 3 others there who wanted it and I figured they’d get it before me, but I tossed my name in and linked my gear it would replace as requested. I think I just about fell over when I got it.

So now, Siana’s the proud owner of Rift Stalker Gauntlets. I’ve already regemmed to bring my hitcap back down to max instead of way over max, and gained quite a bit doing so. I just have to get them enchanted tonight before raid and I’ll be all set.

Here’s hoping I get everything done tonight before raid that I want to. ::crosses fingers::

But enough of that. What about WoW?!

Last week, I took off gaming except for a ZA run with friends. Why? Well there’s that whole store thing that was going on. And honestly, I wanted to have my focus be on that instead of trying to be all things all the time. This week, my schedule’s packed: Tuesday-Thursday 25-mans, possible Friday Kara, and a Sunday 25-man. Oh, and on Friday, I’ll be recording some podcast run by a couple of nutcases I know. /dies

And in all of that, I’m still reading and trying to absorb the changes that will/might be coming when Wrath is released. I mean, I’m thrilled about more stable slots. Some of the tree talents look to be droolworthy changes and are making me purr. But not of it’s really sinking in, since I’m not involved with the beta (at least not right now, I’m holding out hope for a beta invite tho /prays to random gods). My first thought when I see new stuff come in is “ooo!” then “oh yeah, raid tonight, and I need more money for repairs.”

See, I still have a lot to do in the current game. As Big Bear Butt has said over on his blog, there’s still a lot of content in the current game. Not everyone’s killed everything in the game. Not all the bosses have been downed by everyone. Me? I’d like to stick my nose into Black Temple at least once before the next expansion. Yeah that’s right, I said it. I haven’t been to BT. So nyah.

The group I’m raiding with now is Tier 5 and flirting with Mount Hyjal. Am I enjoying the raiding? Yeah, but it feels like everyone’s lost focus on the bosses in front of them. Don’t get me wrong, I have my off-nights too, where it doesn’t seem like I can focus to save my life. Last night for some reason I was terrified I was going to have a mob targeted while everyone was buffing and accidentally shoot/send pet after the mob, thus wiping the raid. And last night, that wouldn’t have been good. Things were too fractured and disjointed.

So tonight, we go into SSC and hopefully kick much butt. I’m hoping that everyone’s had their off night for the week and we really go in there and just own the place. Even more, I hope I have fun. Cos if it’s not fun, then I know of some PS3 games I could be playing instead.

For those that are interested in the whole morbid thing, here’s a link to pics on how we went from this to this.

And now if you all will excuse me, I’ll be up to my eyeballs with attempting to hire one more person and not be completely dead from exhaustion by the end of the week. ^^;

“Yeah it’s gonna be a moment for this next pull. I used my Avenger’s Shield on that evil squirrel a second ago.”

At least none of us was in a hurry.

Back when I was in high school, I was in marching band (yes I was a band geek, feel free to mock. I was also an art geek and math geek, triply damned). Through a bizarre series of events, I ended up having to be a substitute marcher in 11th grade, and got moved around week to week, depending on who was sick. I learned the routines anew every week, half the time on the fly. As a result, I ended up being a student trainer my senior year, because of all the moving around, fast learning, and quietly doing what was my “job”: marching and not screwing up while being directed by a excellent but demanding director who actually scared the hell out of most of the university band directors in the southeast. It made me a better marcher and I got to see a side of certain sections of the band I hadn’t before, since instruments tend to clique together (at least in high school they did). Yey for pointless experience! (”Why yes, sir, if you need something marched to a jazz version of ‘My Favorite Things’ with 5 instant tempo and time changes, while keeping up with 249 other people and wearing a wool uniform in 90 degree weather, I’m yer woman!” “Um, we just need these ads made.” “Damn, there goes my big chance! /sob”)

In WoW, lately, I’ve been raiding as a guest on another guild’s raids. Why don’t I join their guild? Kinda attached to mine, and really, don’t wanna switch guilds. Right now, I’m getting my raid fix in and having fun. I have other friends that are also guest raiding with other guilds on other servers. It’s the summer slowdown/pre-expansion ennui that’s hitting so many guilds right now, so there’s spots open for more and more people on other guilds’ raids.

But there’s something that I’ve noticed, something that once again is pretty common with “casual” raiding guilds. Most of the things that I’ve muttered over with over in my “When raids go bad” post crop up again and again. But this time, it’s different. This time, it’s another guild, one that does things differently from the way you’ve done it with your guild or other groups you’ve been with. Even “better”, it’s a group of people that all know each other (whether they like each other or not), and are used to the way they all work together. And here you come, into a raid with a different setup and mindset than what you’re used to. What’s a guest to do?

Well first, actually be prepared. Being a guest is a weird situation: sometimes, you feel you almost have to be better than everyone else in the raid so you don’t have that “why the hell did we bring THEM?!” feeling (Hey, this may be my own paranoia talking, YMMV ). And while you might not have to be “better” than everyone else, you at least owe it to these strangers to show up on time, prepped, repaired, having read all the strats/watch the movies for any new bosses, with consumables ready and ammo to spare. Did I mention on time? Oh raid leaders loooove that.

Learn who the raid leaders and/or class leaders are. Ask if you need to be in a special channel, like a healer channel if you’re there to heal.

Be polite. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with who’s an alt of who, even in your own guild. When dealing with other guilds, it gets even dicier. That ‘lock you just called a “noob” could actually be the usual healing lead stepping out for some DPS action.

Keep any bitching and whining to other channels. The other guild doesn’t care that you’d waited for months for that upgrade and some “scrub” from their guild just got the Shiny Pony Idol of Uberness. Guess what? They’re there to gear their guildies. The good raids will actually consider those guests that come regularly and really assist the group in their gearing decisions, but don’t count on it. Bottom line: being a whiny loot whore doesn’t win you friends, or spots in the next raid with them.

Finger-pointing isn’t your job. It’s the raid leader/guildmaster of the other guild’s job, unless you’ve been asked to specifically do that. See: “being polite”.

Do your job. Don’t try to tell everyone else theirs. If you think something could be done another way, offer suggestions in /tells to class leads or the raid leader. That’s suggestions, not orders or demands.

Be situationally aware, awake, and ready to switch what you’re doing at a moment’s notice. You’re a hunter that’s being cruising along DPSing away while the other hunter MD’s everything, but they suddenly get disconnected? Be ready to MD in their place. The nature resist tank for Hydross has a sudden family emergency and you’re on your rogue instead of your awesome tank? Be ready to switch characters. In short, be ready for anything that might happen.

So be polite, friendly, prepared, on time, read up on new bosses, and ready to turn on a dime mentally. Sounds like a lot, but it’s really not.

But what about the other guild? Don’t they have any responsibilities to you? Me, I’d say yes, but keep in mind this is just me talking, after listening to friends vent at me on their experiences.

1. Don’t air your guild’s dirty laundry in raid chat or on Vent. Nothing like having your guests feel uncomfortable and not want to come back, or even better, warn others from guesting with you.

2. State the loot policies up front and follow them. If you make any changes on the fly, explain why.

3. If a guest offers, politely, a suggestion on a situation that the raid is having trouble with, either listen politely or ask them (again, politely) to post it on any website/message board you may have or discuss it after raid. It may be worthless advice, but it might also be something you can use to help everyone get more phat lewtz at a faster pace.

4. Treat the guests as you’d like to be treated if you were guesting with their guild. I’m not saying suck up to them. Just treat them with some respect, especially after they’ve been with you on a couple of runs and prove themselves to have a braincell or two. If they’re not up to where you think they should be, then fine, tell them you don’t think they’re a good fit for your raids, but don’t be a jackass about it. Word does get out when you’re an asshole and it can taint an entire guild’s reputation.

It’s amazing how much all of this boils down to politeness. No, you don’t have to be sitting around a table, drinking tea (mm tea), and inquiring after each other’s family between pulls. No, no heartwarming stories need to be shared, no bonding needs to be performed. But a simple “Hey, thanks for coming!” and a “thanks for having me!”, neither delivered with a snarky attitude to each other, along with some trust that the person you brought just -might- know what they’re doing, goes a long way into building better guest/raid relationships.

And I tested it out the other day. I can still SO do that one-beat 180 degree spin-turn I had to learn in marching band. That’s gonna get me far in life! I just know it!

This past week, I took off of WoW. I had a good reason: the store that I’m going to be managing as soon as it’s finished, stocked, properly licensed, and has one more employee other than the one I hired last week. Right now, it’s in yet another critical phase, with upteen boxes of merchandise all sitting in a (conveniently empty) store next to mine. All of those have to be opened, checked, priced and put out onto the floor. The floor that still needs some guys in here to move some stuff around, since I can’t move huge fricken metal shelving units. Strong? I have my moments, but they’re more nice spurts of “POWER WOMAN!”, not sustained “excuse me, I need to move this house I’m carrying and you’re standing in the way” kinda moments. And when I say umpteen boxes, I’m not kidding. Friday, a semi showed up. Thankfully, it wasn’t all for us. Just the 5 pallets, 42″x42″ square and 6 to 7 feet tall each, stacked high with art supplies and held together with wonderful heavy duty cling wrap. Guess what didn’t fit through a standard size door? You guessed it! So Mom (down visiting and helping get everything set up), The Boyfriend and I frantically unloaded the pallets to get the sidewalk they were on free and clear again.

Oh yeah, the store isn’t in a mall. It’s in the middle of the downtown area on a street, in one of the renovated buildings. Lovely place. Parking’s not great. But damn, the deli 3 stores down is amazing!

So this past week was getting computer systems set up, stock unloaded from trucks, training from the company that sold us the systems, interviewing another prospective employee, having Employee #1 fill out her forms and get started on setting up the teacher supplies section (holy crap teachers have a lot of stuff to buy these days), and close on my house back in Georgia. Yep, house finally got sold. Thank god.

After ALL of that, I’d have to be insane to play WoW, right? Apparently, I’m insane, cos Saturday I walked into ZA after the longest damned time away with a group of guildies. It didn’t start well. We wiped on the last group before the bear boss twice before we got it down and tackled him. We lost out on the timer chests, but we did clear out all of the animal bosses, which was as good a job as we’d ever done when we were serious about it. Then someone said “Hey it’s kinda early, anyone up for a speed Kara run?”

Not only am I insane, I’m a dumbass, too. I heard myself saying “Sure! Count me in on Siana!” Next thing I know, we’re in Kara and cruising along. 3.5 hours later, I left with my badges, tossed them into the bank, then saw I had 100 badges. Wait, wasn’t there something I wanted? Oh hells yes! So Siana is now the proud wearer of Leggings of the Pursuit, gemmed and patched (even if it’s not the patch I wanted, at least it’s something).

The next day, I was in bed most of the day with a headache. That’ll learn me. ::sigh::

Aww yeahhhh…

Once we got done with VR, the guild leaders did some chatting and decided that since they didn’t have the raid makeup they wanted, we’d go on and beat up Gruul instead. Beatings did occur, and while the High King and Gruul did drop lewts for their guild, I had my humbling moment early on in the High King fight.

See, back when my guild was doing the 25 man stuff, I was one of two hunters that Nature resist tanked the shaman. It got to the point that the Class Lead and I were doing it in our sleep, and on good nights we could get him almost dead with just the two of us before the raid came to kill him. This guild we’re running with now asked me if I could help NR tank, I said sure, watched where they were going to tank him, put on my gear, buffed, ran in… and died in 10 seconds.

I sat there with my jaw on the floor, blinking, then started swearing at the computer. The Boyfriend glanced over to see what was going on while he was tanking something else and said “oh, I think your healer got feared.” Oh joy. So for 4 minutes, I chatted in another channel while the rest of the raid went and killed the High King. End result of the evening? #3 on DPS and Damage Done. Still a good evening.

Ah WoW: you know how to humble us right when we start to feel good about ourselves, don’t you?

PLAY WOW!

I couldn’t join the raid last night, because after 11 hours of going over art materials and ordering them from a vendor (even if he was a very nice man) fried my brains. So I came home and collapsed, sighing somewhat over the fact I couldn’t get into raid right before I fell asleep.

But today… mmm RAID! TK Raid too! But instead of running to Loot, erm, Void Reaver, the Powers That Be said “Hai guyz! Go read up on Solarian and Al’ar!” Gah. One hour of frantic reading later, off we went to TK.

Al’ar? Owie. Mucho pain. Fire bad. But we now have food for thought on the fight. Solarian? Well we only got one shot at her before the repops started to hit for us. Ah well. But ah man it was nice. #4 on overall DPS and #3 on Total Damage. :;happy purrs::

Tomorrow night? More TK. The rest of this week? Who the hell knows. I have more Real Life stuff trying to chew on me, so we’ll see what happens.