Guildwatch: When GMs go bad

Ah yes, the sinking feeling you get when you see that someone has ninja'ed your guild bank... and it's your guildmaster. Never a good thing, for the guildies, the GM, or the guild. Actually, it's a great thing for the GM -- they get to walk away with thousands of gold (and most of them, through some twisted logic, even think they deserve it). That's why I recommend you do what I do: pack all of your ingame stuff in a virtual mattress somewhere. Sure, your guild might not appreciate a lack of bank contributions, but at least it'll be safe, right?

The story of the picture above and much more drama, downed and recruiting news all in this week's GW. Click the link below to read on, and if you've got news for us (everything but recruiting, please -- we are uber full on that one lately), hit us up at guildwatch@wow.com.

DRAMA

• Apparently the guild that used to be Having Fun Yet on Moonrunner is in chaos -- the GL took a break from a little while ago, and left the guild in the hands of what she thought were two capable leaders. Not so much, though: we hear they broke away and tried to reform the guild under a new name, Resurgence. Which would be fine if you're just renaming the guild, but apparently not: they tried to "poach" members from the old guild, and even cleaned out the guild bank when they left. And now, to top it all off, we hear one of the members, named Zeuss, is advertising his guild as "doing all 10-man content." Including Ulduar, which our tipster tells us means they're PuGing a bunch of people and wiping a few times on the first boss. Ouch.
  

• The husband and wife leadership of Bloodline (formerly known as Exitium, on Anetheron's Horde side) abandoned the guild and transferred away without letting anyone know. The guild has been going through rough times and losing raiders, and we hear things were so bad that some of the guildies were having trouble getting into PuGs just from the name (which is why they renamed as Bloodline). Rumor has it they headed off to Aegwynn to join a guild there, so if anyone picked up a husband and wife duo of Mages, make sure they're drama-free.

• Rusty Musket and Made in China, both of Maeiv, broke apart within hours on the same night the other week -- apparently both guilds had their core raiding teams up and split to form their own guild, now known as Downtime in Paradise. As you might imagine, not everyone's happy, specifically not the people who were left in the respective guilds that broke up.

• And as if that wasn't enough for Maiev, Plan B also had their leadership up and ninja the guild bank before transferring off the server.

• If you think Reawaken on Staghelm is just going to get away with big progression in Ulduar without a fight, think again. There are all kinds of accusations flying around in there, from the hours they raid to their reasoning behind skipping Ignis. Page 3 gets really good, when a level 60 alt starts counting their hours up. We agree that raiding either 40 or 60 hours a week is a little much (doing anything but sleeping for that long per week should get you a salary, right?), but they downed the content, so why give them crap about it?

• Maintaining unofficial guild progression sites is serious business. Just ask the folks behind Skywall-Horde.com, who advertised on the guild forums for a little help, only to find out that someone had already been working on HordeofSkywall.com. And drama ensues. Surprisingly, it's really, really thick drama -- like pages and pages of TLDR arguments and screeds. Color us surprised -- usually it's only loot that brings on this kind of smouldering flame war. Who knew documenting guild progression was so very important?

• The picture above is of former Infection of Malorne's GM, Coz, hastily withdrawing lots and lots of valuables from the guild's bank. The guild has been on a decline lately and rather than try to fix things, Coz just decided to call it quits and without notice, took all he could carry. His three compadres, Gezeus, Boneskul, and Lumindemin, also got in on the action, and we hear they split more gear among themselves. Be on the lookout -- their former guildies certainly will be.

• Forum thread got deleted on this one, but Orion over on Galakrond was apparently disbanded early this month when the former GM also decided that, after a long absence, she was no longer in control of the guild. /gkicks went out for over 150 characters, and almost 10,000 gold in the guild bank went directly to her and her husband. A few leftover members and officers have reformed as Beginning's End, but it'll probably be a long road to refill all of that gold.

• This is a good one -- Harmony just recently transferred to Deathwing, and they were met with some cynical glances when they got there. A few established guilds on the realm went looking at Armories, and they found out that though the guild claimed they had gotten all of 10-man Ulduar down, only one guildie had actually gotten there. Thus begins the drama, led by a few folks from Core Fusion, complaining that yet another transfer guild is bragging about something they can't do. But there's a twist: right around page 10, post 185, we hear that Harmony actually stepped into Ulduar-10, and one-shotted pretty much everything in there -- the whole instance down, including Yoggy, in about three hours. We don't even know if that's possible, but if it is, damn. Sure, Meshj seems like kind of an arrogant jerk, and we hate to fuel his smugness, but sorry, CF complainers, we do believe you got owned.

DOWNED

• OVERRAIDED (server?) has now downed 3 of 14 in Heroic Ulduar, making them the fifth-ranked Alliance guild for raid achievements on whatever server they're on. They're also recruiting: mature and dependable raiders with determination to push progression to the limits. Specifically seeking Shadow Priest and Resto Shaman.
  

• The Zug Initiative on Kael'thas, inspired by their cupcakes (featured a little while ago), finally managed to complete a full Naxx 10 clear as last week. Two shots at Saph and three at Kel'thuzad. Malygos next, and then Ulduar is on the horizon.

• Malleum Majorem on the Lightning's Blade server picked up a realm first Dwarfageddon achievement, and a realm second on the 10-man Shattered achievement. Congrats!

• Palladium on Quel'Thalas has cleared all the way to Thorim and should be clearing Ulduar this week if not already. They are also recruiting some DPS classes.

• A 10-man group from ULrebels on Uther-A downed Leviathan, Razorscale, Ignis, XT-002, Kologarn, Iron Council and Auriaya. Very nice -- it was almost everybody's first time in there, too.

• Mirrored Reasoning of Kargath downed Flame Leviathan and XT-002 Deconstructor. Nice job. We're putting Ignis on notice for next time.

• PFJ, a four person guild of family members on Terokkar, and Beowulfs Fang, a similar four person guild of their own family members, have been working on clearing Naxx 10 for a while now, and just recently they did it. Naxx down with eight people, featuring every member of two guilds. Awesome job.

• Mystery Men is a relatively new Horde guild on Perenolde that's already downed 7/10 in Ulduar (and probably more than that since they sent us an email). They're also recruiting for a second 10-man Ulduar group, and more to fill out the bigger raids.

• Pantheon on Steamwheedle Cartel-A has downed easy-mode Yogg-Saron. First in server. Hard modes are up next -- good luck!

• Knights of the Forgotten on Muradin is a family/casual guild that have been around for a little more than a year and a half. Just recently they headed into Naxx for the first time, and they were able to clear out the Arachnid Quarter. Big victory for a casual raiding guild. And they want to dedicate their run to Agglil, a guildie they recently lost in real life. They "will miss her terribly." /salute

• The Seventh Circle, of Malfurion-H, downed Yogg Saron Heroic for a server first kill. Grats!

• Coup de Grâce on Azjol-Nerub completed The Dedicated Few achievement, as well as a number of other tough achievements in Naxx. Next up, they're after The Undying.

• Remains of Light, a casual guild on Elune, went up to Kologarn in Ulduar, and then found Sarth pretty easy to do -- they finished off both versions pretty easily. With only 10 people. Pretty snazzy, taking down a Heroic with a normal group.

• Who Pulled (winner of this week's Best Guild Name award) on Aman'Thul has cleared the Siege Quarter in Ulduar. Iron Council is down as well and Kolo is up next. They're also seeking a Paladin healer.

RECRUITING

• Rinascita is a brand-new guild on Twisting Nether-A that's dedicated to the idea that casual raiding can exist even into T8 content, and that progression raiding can be successful without drama or pressure. They're looking for skilled players interested in farming T7 content, progressing through T8, and doing so in a fair, fun atmosphere.

• Vanilla is a classic content Horde guild on Borean Tundra for players on level 60-capped accounts. They're in the process of forming a casual team of players for MC/BWL/Ony/World Dragons/ZG/AQ20&40 as well as the High Warlord PvP honor grind. All classes and specs welcome, but you must have a capped-at-60 account, which means no Blood Elves or Death Knights.

• Clan Braggadocio on Dark Iron is recruiting devoted raiders who can raid on Thursday and Saturday nights. They've cleared 25-man Naxx, EoE, and OS and have a core group who are committed to progressing through Ulduar. They're filling in spaces, so they have no problem running the current raid content if you need a little help gearing up, so long as you're going to be there for Ulduar.

• Dissolute on Bonechewer-H is looking for mature players to fill out a second 10-man Ulduar group and start working on the 25-man roster. They have quite a few experienced players already, so please have some experience before you apply. Most DPS and Healer classes welcome, but anyone worth bringing on will be considered.

• Bloodthrust Clan on EU Shadowsong-H is recruiting. They took down 6 bosses in Ulduar-10 in the first week, and the Heroic raid is quickly catching up. They go out on a three night Heroic raiding schedule with normal raids on off-nights.

• Perseverance of Area 52-H is recruiting all classes for all 25 man content.

• Balanced on EU Auchindoun is a semi-hardcore raiding guild looking for more to start in on Heroic Ulduar. They've cleared out all T7 content so far, and are anxious to get started on the latest endgame. Ret and Holy Paladins, Shadow and Holy Priests, and Resto Shamans and Druids are sought.

• The Scarlet Champions on Baelgun-H is recruiting late night raiders. Raids start at 10pm server (Pacific) Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. They have two 10 man farm teams and want to build a reliable 25 man group as well. DPS is needed mainly, but exceptions will be made if called for.

• Nocturne (Moon Guard-H) is recruiting a few lucky folks to fill out the Ulduar ranks. They're looking for three great DPS and "an amazing healer."

• Pacifist on Auchindoun-H is a raiding guild seeking a few more core raiders to finish off Ulduar. They'd like one more OT (who can switch DPS if needed), and a good healer or two, though DPS can come too if they're worth it.

That's it for GW this week. We are way backed up on recruiting posts, so if you really need to recruit people into your guild, you might try the forums instead. Until next week, happy raiding!

That not enough guild news for you? There's lots more Guildwatch in the archives, including an honest-to-goodness /gkick contract, and lots of red-handed bank looting. Wherever people /gquit or are /gkicked, that's where you'll find GW!