And now the times are changin'
Look at everything that's come and gone
Group one ended their raid week last night. More importantly, it was the last official 10 man raid that the core team, that has existed in part since around the time when Firelands tier came out, will ever get to do. Because EQ is officially going 25's until WoD puts us into 20man Mythic.
The raid comp has changed over time, people dropping out, leaving, reforming under a different banner, struggles to find the right person at times to fill key spots here and there. It's been a hell of a run. Getting our first heroic kill in Firelands. Me walking off heroic gunship just before spine, which we got our first heroic kill on Blackhorn that very pull. That feeling when our raid team starts off an entire expansion at the very start together, all of us playing, leveling as fast as we can, chatting on Mumble while we play. Then getting our first dogs kill in Mogu Palace. And then later killing the Disco Dogs. Making a hell of a run through ToT where we decidedly took the lead as the number one horde raiding team on Eldre'thalas. Then SoO, where we stomped all our competition, and even made a second 10man team that also stomped the competition and is the second best horde team on the server, not that far back from ourselves.
To the ones that have stuck with us, those that have had to leave and have been able to come back, and to the newer members that have joined us in MoP, I want all of you to know, it has been a pleasure, an honor, fighting by your side. We've done some truly heroic deeds, shared in the glory, taken down some of the toughest stuff Blizz has ever thrown at it's players, and we've beaten them. You are all amazing players, true raiders, and I feel privileged to have been able to play with you.
Thank you.
Oh, when I look back now,
That summer seemed to last forever.
We go to 25man starting next week. There still are things to iron out. Still some decisions to be made. We grow, become bigger, stronger, meaner, faster, all those things. Before long, I'm predicted maybe three months from now (feel free to call me out when Mythic doesn't hit around the end of May*wink*), we'll be seeing stat nerfs, and what their vision of 20man raiding will be, and then not long after that, they throw us into WoD. But until then, the Equilibrium banner will fly a little higher, as both cores add in a few more, and we see how the team works with a lot more people going at these bosses at once.
It's been a really fun past few months, getting our second team ready, for this very purpose. We've had a server merge with Korialstrasz, and that has been pretty fun too, picking up a LOT of really good players from that server that, frankly, were not being utilized at all. Which leads me to my next bit.
Leadership.
This is something that I think Korialstrasz and Eldre'Thalas have been missing. I see other servers where there are many many progression teams, and I see these two servers where there are very few, almost none horde side, and a small handful on alliance. Well, we, EQ, have proven that there are leaders out there. We can get a group, several groups, together, and do some serious work with them. But it goes beyond that.
I'll tell you what it takes to make a real progression minded guild to work though. It takes someone that can foster relationships with everyone. That can take time to get to know people, not just raiders, but general gamers, people that you want to play with, spend your time with. Cillie, and our officers, you are the most amazing people finders in the world!
The meat and potatos.
When you are looking for solid raiders, you aren't looking just for those types of people. You are looking for everyone, good personalities, friendly, sociable. You are looking for people that want to just fly around and hunt rares, who like to farm crafting mats, people that play the AH, the BMAH, people that pet battle, people that pvp, rbg, people that theory craft, people that play other games even. A raiding team is not built out of just raiders. It's built out of everyone. Some of our best raiders are friends of friends in the guild. We absolutely never would have had the teams we have right now if it wasn't for all the cool, fun, "non-raiders" that we have in our guild. That's all you "fill ins", members, etc.
All of us, not just the "raiders", make these teams. You are all part of this experience. Any of the achievements, our progression, our kills, we owe it to youguys and gals as well. Every person in the guild contributes, daily, to it's success. All of you, from new members to our GM, are the reason why we're where we are today!
WoD is going to be coming soon-ish. We're supposed to be getting an info dump fairly soon, which means beta access starting to filter out to the masses not too long after that, with a quick road to launch behind it. I'm going with about a three month time frame from when beta starts, to launch of WoD. That's when a new era of raiding starts, and I know we're going to have some of the best people ever on our raid team, and in our guild playing a game we all love. Here's to you, my guildies, my friends, and our future together!
For the Horde mon!
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