[1.Local]: A week of reader comments

Raiding and time management
Readers were forthcoming with all sorts of guild management ideas on various posts this week, starting with Alph's comment on our raiding and time management post: "I can think of a few guild leaders of 'RL-friendly raiding guilds' that need to read this. My former guild, before I burned out and just quit playing, never quite got that even though we only had 3 'required' days of raiding (and they sure loved to brag about that), they frowned upon the folks who didn't show up for the 2 optional days per week, and the expectation was raiders paid their own repairs and bought/farmed their own mats. 3 required days turned into SEVEN days a week in game for me. I have a family and am trying to get a promotion, no thanks.

"I still love the fact that even though they bragged they wouldn't boot people for stepping out of the raid program, they didn't hesitate to give me the boot 2 weeks after I stepped down and tried to play more casually.

"And gamers wonder why raiders have such a sullied reputation?"

We love you, but L2P
So you've set up a raid schedule that suits your members. What do you do about the guy with a heart of gold -- but skills of pure copper? Cailleach walks us through the method that's worked for him: "Been here, dealt with it. Here's how it worked for us: Step 1: WoWWebStats. Officers commented publicly in gchat and forums on their own performance and what they needed to do to improve. All officers. Everyone can improve.

"Step 2: Class class. We got all the members of class X together along with at least one member who was teh uber. Everyone talked strategies, cast/ability rotations, dps/healing, gear, buff stuff, and talents. Those who DPS went to Dr. Boom and had DPS Wars - one tank of mana (or a set time for melee dps) to do as much damage to him as you could. Everyone had a turn, we saw who 'won', and discussed what they did to make those numbers. Then we all got to repeat. People realized where there spec needed fine tuned or spell rotation changed and did it. We hadn't really healer problems, but with the help of a couple of tanks willing to get beat up and healed repeatedly it could sure be arranged.

"Step 3: Gear up. Once we figured out who needed gear, whether that be loot drop, the spiffy trinket they never picked up, or what have you, we made sure that we got it. It didn't take all that long - we weren't uber-outfitting folks, just filling holes where they existed.

"Step 4: Reinforcement. More WoWWebStats and heaps of praise for all improvement, both individually and as a group. "WOW, guys, we increased our raid DPS almost 1000 over last week, and had 30% fewer deaths! No wonder we downed 2 new bosses! Great job!"

"Step 5: Profit. Since it was every class, and as many folks as we could get together in large or small groups, no-one felt too singled out. Having the folks on the top end of the charts vocally trying to improve instead of 'feelin uber' makes it a guild-wide activity. There's nothing but win with this strategy, I swear!"

We want your guild apps
While many readers had pointed and serious or flippant and wry guild application questions to share, some were more concerned about the very concept of filling out an application to join a guild. arcady0 noted, "Actually we've found the application to be rather useful. It tells us about the person playing the toons. As a primarily casual guild, that is very important. It also helps as a screen, and makes it somewhat clear to the under 18s that they wouldn't enjoy being in our guild any more than we would enjoy having them.

"WoW is a game, but it is also a social environment, and your guild is a social club. You want people there that will enjoy each other's company. Our application helps to ensure that."

The merits of WoW clothing
Do you wear your WoW on your sleeve? Addie relates: "I walked into the "Interaction Area" (Yes, I work in a grown up corporate office... and I'm technically a grown-up in my 40s.) wearing my For the Horde T-shirt. One of the women from customer service who doesn't look like a nerd in any way... saw it and said "For the Horde?!?" I briefly tried to claim it was my kid's shirt but she wasn't buying it, turns out she plays an Alliance Pally. I never ever would have guessed. O.o"

Bornakk speaks on the whole esports thing
Are Arenas simply an afterthought to the game of WoW? Eh? enlightens those who are unaware of the lore behind Arenas: "The arenas DO have a small place in the lore, more of a little side story than anything. If you don't believe me, just go talk to the old arenamaster in nagrand. Here is basically in a nutshell, the lore that gave birth to the arenas as is known at this point:

"According to the old arena master in Nagrand, when the Dark Portal was reopened and the people of azeroth rediscovered Outland, the goblins stumbled upon the brown orcs participating in a time-honored ritual of hand-to-hand combat in an arena setting. The matches were conducted with honor, reverence and in a small not-so-public arena.

"When the goblins saw this they saw instead a gold mine. They then did what goblins do best: "Moichendizing! Moichendizing! Moichendizing!" They took the tradition and ritual, greatly twisted and distorted it, and turned it into a gaudy, massive commercial affair that makes lots of gold. it proved to be so popular that they then brought it back to Azeroth with them where it exploded.

"That's basically where the comic can fit in. Remember, that the story of the kidnapped King of Stormwind is not an old story, it's supposedly happening right now as the current in-game story ends in Dustwallow Marsh with hints that the Defias were transporting the king to some undisclosed location but escaped. That he became an arena fighter is basically possible because of the rapid growth of the arenas the goblins brought back through the Dark Portal.

"Due to how recent this has happened, it's understandable that there isn't a lot of lore to support it and Blizz can easily build on it from here.

"That being said however, I agree that the current implementation of Arenas needs to have it's own set of rules apart from the PvE game. I don't think Blizz needs to excise them from the whole game though, variety is a good thing. Blizzard has shown that they are able and willing to learn from experience and this is no different. No one knows what Wrath will bring."

Pre-Burning Crusade endgame reputations
We wrap up this week's review of comments with an update from old friend Gimlette, a retro raider who leads her team through some of Azeroth's oldest and finest content: "Why is everyone looking at me? Yes, Spectacular Death (A-Llane), that retro raiding guild that seems to pop up here once a month, ran AQ20 this past weekend and has Onyxia on a once a month event status.

"Well, we "attempted" AQ20. We got the glitch where Rajaxx gets all of his HP back when he reaches 3% health and then EVERY MOB AND OFFICER respawns and attacks. While we do encourage spectacular deaths, this was not amusing the second time it happened. So, we went to AQ40 and died there, but at least it was different.

"All complaints on grammar, syntax and data aside, this was helpful for me to know where to put our emphasis as we progress through old world content. There is a groundswell amongst guildies to try to get to Naxx before it gets moved. I know about the cost but few others in the guild do.

"'Honestly, who goes there anymore?' We do and we've found that a lot of people, while they don't want to spend the time we do in the old world, missed one of the old world instances and want to come along when we go. These were exceptionally well done, with lore and battles and we find that you still need to prepare for Rajaxx just the same as you prepare for Attumen.

"Just because you're a 70 doesn't mean you can't be poisoned or stomped or bludgeoned or fried or any other way to die by some mobs in a level 60 instance."