Guildwatch: More common than you think

We've seen quite a few guilds go back lately and take on Sarth 3D for the first time. Of course, it's got to be much easier now with Ulduar-level gear wandering around, and ToC giving out gear and tokens relatively easily. But especially if your guild has the time, why not go grab an "Of the Nightfall" title for everyone? That's what our friends in The Risen here did, and they look pretty snazzy.

Lots more guild progress, as well as recruiting and drama, in this week's edition of Guildwatch, which starts right after the break. If you have a tip for us about your guild or one you've seen on the forums, please format it just like the news you see below and send it along to guildwatch@wow.com. Thanks! Enjoy!

DRAMA

• I think this is probably more common that we might think. That One Guild on Turalyon had most of the people in it thinking that Soulin was the guildmaster, considering that he served, we hear, as the recruiting officer and website and Ventrilo administrator. But actually, Nowyousééme was the GM, and when a rift opened between them, Soulin found himself /gkicked from the guild. As our tipster says, "the /gquits started to fly" after that, and the guild is now reduced to a shell of its former self, with most of the expat guildies heading off to WinterMyth. I'd imagine that happens quite a bit -- someone in the guild is really being driven nuts by the leadership, but doesn't feel they can leave the guild anyway. Resentment builds up, and when someone finally takes action, that's when it all blows open.

• We're not quite sure who's right and wrong in this one, so here's the story as it is -- we'll let you decide. A few months ago, a raiding alliance on Cenarion Circle was having trouble with a healer, and so they asked him to leave the raid until he could improve his healing. The healer just happened to be Elros, who just happened to be GM of Darklight Resolution, one of the guilds who had a lot of members on the raid. After he didn't take it well, a few members of the raid who were formerly in DR decided to leave and reform as Golden Aegis. A little while ago, however, Elros decided to cut ties with the raid completely: he told officers of DR that they could leave the raid or stop being officers in the guild. They chose option c: leave the guild. They've all reformed as Essence of Darklight, and we hear that Elros has lost most of his guild. On the one hand, sure, he probably should have just left the raid on their own. But if you've got a healer that's having problems, shouldn't you as a raid help him out. Without knowing what he was doing wrong, we're not sure how it could have been fixed, but instead of breaking up a guild, wouldn't it just be easier to help a healer get better?

• This thread starts off with just a standard VoA ninja, which we've said before were so common we won't even bother posting them here. But it gets into some serious guild drama -- the ninja was apparently in Succession, and when someone from Pirates Never Die calls him out, it just quickly devolves into them making fun of each others' guilds. Eight pages later, they're still going at it, and a few pages after that, people just start posting about how long the thread is. Was the realm down or something? Don't you guys have raiding to do?

• The Midwatch on Maelstrom "isn't a raiding guild. It's high school." And their former guildie opens up on just what he thinks of them in this forum thread.

• The GM of End Game on Boulderfist apparently took the guild bank once day, faction and server transferred, and left his guild in the lurch. But we're sure he feels really bad about it. How do we know? Emo movie that he posted on the website. Seriously, that music makes it sound like someone's dog died. If you want to step away from the guild, dude, great. But don't take the guild with you, leave people out in the cold, and pretend like it's a great tragedy.

• 25-man ToC killed Time is Mana on Burning Legion. And that really seems to be the case -- while there are a few hints at deeper drama, there's nothing substantial. Just seems like the raiding got to be too much for them, and once a few people started /gquitting over lack of progress, the rest of the guild followed. Too bad.

• This one's almost scary -- a few months ago, Humble on Crushridge stole Archon's raid ID, and locked them out for two days by camping 25 characters in Ulduar so they couldn't progress. A little while after that, a shaman named Marvingaye applied to Humble and got accepted as a raider. On the week that Trial of the Crusader's hard mode was released, Marvingaye revealed his true self as a sleeper agent for Archon: he went back to Ulduar and ToC after a raid, began the Algalon timer, activated the keepers, and extended the lockout. Then he went to ToC, both 10- and 25-man, and used all of their wipes up (remember, this is the first week it was open, where all of the server firsts were up for grabs). Very epic. Moral of the story: don't ever, ever cross Archon on Crushridge. They know how to get their revenge, and they're patient enough to wait on it.

• Our tipster sent us a TLDR about this one (seriously, pages and pages of why this guy Mauriac/Alleyra is such a chump -- trust us, you don't want to know), but basically it boils down to their supposing that this guy not only tore apart three different guilds (they didn't exactly tell us how, just that he was so crazy and selfish that they fell apart, and he apparently ninja'd the bank for good measure), and they also claim that he had some part in ripping off an anime charity. Frankly, we have no idea what they're talking about -- we couldn't make heads or tails of what they sent. But just in case you're intrigued (this is Guildwatch, after all) and want to see just where all of this is going and what these people are saying about this guy, you can start with this forum thread. Good luck. It's quite a sordid tale of nerds spurned and scorned -- if you can figure it out.

• Finally, some good news: Trillien (Mom), a priest, and Aurionna (Dad), a tankadin, from Area 52's guild Legion of the Abyss welcomed their son Zachary to the world in July. They've finally gotten back to playing WoW and informed their guildmates that their son plans on taking after both Mommy and Daddy by playing a Druid dual-specced as resto and bear tank! Sounds good to me. I'm not sure how GW became the place for guild birth annoucements, but we'll take em -- be sure to send us some baby pictures if you want those posted, too!

DOWNED

• Quintessence of Bloodhoof-H has continued to make marked progress in 10-man content -- they've finished off everything in Ulduar but Algalon, and have downed Sarth 3D for their titles as well. 25-man content is next -- they're recruiting for more over on their site.

• Integrity of Stormrage just finished off ToC, and they sent along this snazzy video to prove it.

• Peaceful Annihilation of Thunderhorn started a casual progression group and had their first raid, where they one-shotted FL, Razor, XT, Kolgarn, Auriaya, Hodir and Freya all in a row. Good show!

• Dark Heroes (EU Bronze Dragonflight) downed Yogg-saron on 25-man after many weeks of work. Hard modes next, and then on to 25-man, we hear.

• SRC Guild on Malfurion was started just about two months ago, but they're up to #28 10-man progress and #31 25-man overall. Sounds good -- if you're interested in joining them, hit up the website.

• The Knights of the Shadows completed 25-man ToC with a textbook downing of Anub'arak (the druids, we're told, carried the team). 25-man ToC is being worked on, and they say it should be down before the patch. Good luck!

• The Risen on Thorium Brotherhood finally did Sarth 3D, but they didn't bother with anything smart like "tactics" -- they just zerged him down. On the 3rd attempt, a hunter hit 7k DPS, and that was enough -- he was down and they had their titles.

• Dimensional Death, a casual social and 10-man raiding guild on Elune-A, cleared ToC 10-man on their first time in there as a guild. Every boss ended up dead, capped off with a two-shot of Anub. Nice work.

• Converge on EU Silvermoon-A downed 25-man ToC the other week, and got a nice surprise as well: they picked up The Traitor King achievement, and apparently it was a realm first and #14 in the world. Congrats!

• Raving Lunatics on Eonar just started up on Onyxia, and they had a fun kill the other day -- with only a pally tank and a disc priest left (and 1.7 million health on the big black dragon), they got him down after 22 minutes of phase 3. Sounds exciting.

• I think he left this in a comment elsewhere on the site, but Routhgar of Eternal Wrath on the Dunemaul-H server finally got all the mats for his chopper together, and his guild decided to make it epic: they raided Ironforge so he could make it on their forge, the oil mixed with Ally blood. Good times.

• Fallen Nightmare on Baelgun has downed OS 1D and four bosses in Ulduar so far. They're also recruiting two healers and two tanks so they can head off into 25-man raiding. They've only been around for three weeks, but they're already making solid progress.

• Denique on EU Saurfang has dropped Mimiron and picked up Firefighter as well. Algalon also got beaten, with just one second left on enrage. Close call, but nice job.

• Underworld Assassins on Argent Dawn finished off Anub on 10-man ToC after nabbing a guild first of the Twins reight before that. On notice: 25-man Anub. Good luck.

• Alkahest on Steamwheedle Cartel has downed Yogg-Saron 10-man, and are working on ToC both 10 and 25-man. They're recruiting many class roles -- look for them ingame to apply.

• Shot Glass Troopers and Fallen Nightmare of Baelgun have decided to merge into the latter guild to strengthen their 25-man groups, aiming to finish off both Ulduar and Naxx ASAP. 10-man ToC is up after that, and their goal is to get ready for Icecrown just a few weeks after release. Sounds like a great goal, keep up the good work.

• Grey Death Legion is a casual guild that raids on Area 52-H and has in the last week placed Onyxia and VoA 10-man on farm, took down Hodir, and taken some good shots at Thorim in Ulduar 10 (he's on notice for next time. ToC 10 has gotten a nice thrashing as well.

• Fates Legacy on Aggramar has one-shotted Freya, five-shotted Mimiron, and one-shotted Vezax on a raid that also cleared out ToC, VoA, and Ony 10-man, all in just a few hours. Over on 25-man, Hodir is on notice, with Faction Champions due for a kill soon after.

• Blood on our Hands on Bronze Dragonflight disbanded late last month when its leadership left WoW, but not before beating ToC 10-man, and Yogg Saron in Ulduar. Grats -- hopefully the leftover members will pick up the pieces and get back to work.

• Envy on Frostmourne-H did their first full clear of ToC 10 on their first run in there as a guild the night after shutdown. It was the first time most of the people in the run had seen any of the content, and most kills were two-shots. Grats!

• Pendulum on Sisters of Elune has successfully downed ToC-10 on their first lockout in there. They one-shotted both Jaraxxus and the Faction Champs as well as Anub himself (wait, does that count as a one-shot if we'd killed him before a few times?). Congrats to the guild!

RECRUITING

• Remnant on Kirin Tor-H is an adult raiding guild comprising skilled players who are well organized and motivated, but enjoy an atmosphere of fun and camaraderie. They are clearing 25-man ToC and Onyxia weekly and have independent 10-man groups doing the same. They're seeking skilled DPS with Ulduar/ToC gear and the performance to match, though as long as you have the right levels of skill and maturity, they'll take anyone. They offer up a role on a server with a friendly community, good economy, and active Wintergrasp PvP.

• Free Tacos (winner of this week's Best Guild Name award) is a raiding guild on Grizzly Hills for skilled players who don't want to (or can't) commit to a five-day-a-week raiding schedule. They raid three nights a week, but very efficiently, plowing through 10-mans. They're moving up to 25-mans, but need a few more talented, dedicated players (18+), especially rogues, warlocks, and an elemental shaman, to come join the fun.

• Purge on Skywall-A is a casual guild that's seeking some new level 80 members -- specifically healers and DPS but all specs are welcome to apply. Raiding isn't a requirement to be in the guild (all you have to do is act maturely and be active within the group), but they do raid on weekends and make sure that everyone has a great experience. Hit up the website to learn more.

• Tribute on Duskwood-H began as a 10-man guild earlier this year by virtue of roster size, but they're quickly transitioned up to 25-man raiding, and they're still accepting all classes and specs to create a stronger raiding team of players who share the same competitive drive as the current core raiders. They go into 25-man content three times a week, so if you want to join them, seek out their website.

• Silence of Dethecus has been growing and adding members lately to take their 10-man guild up into 25-man content. Heroic ToC is starting this week, and they're working on finishing up everything after Faction Champs in 25-man ToC, plus a little Ony and VoA action. "Come join the fun," they say.

• Funco (server?) says they're not dedicated to raiding or improving a gear score -- they're just dedicated to playing a game and having fun. They'll help you level up, make some jokes, have a weekly trivia contest, and just have a good time, so if you're any race or level and looking for enjoyment, seek them out ingame or on the website.

• Forsaken Night of Zangarmarsh is a guild of mostly older, more mature players, and many of them are parents of young children and/or work full-time jobs. They have fun joking around, running heroics and raiding four nights a week at 7:30 pm server time. They're running 10-mans but have an eye on 25-man content, so any level and class is welcome to join, especially droods, shamans, warlocks, and warriors.

• Start The Takeover of Magtheridon-H is looking for some more people to round out their 25-man roster. Healers are especially needed (resto druids a big plus), as well as caster DPS. They're 5/5 in 10- and 25-man ToC, and farm Naxx, Ulduar, and other 10-mans to gear alts and fresh 80s up. If you want to help them progress into Trial of the Grand Champion and eventually Icecrown, they want you.

• Cryostasis on EU Sporeggar-A raids three times a week -- they've finished off the 10-man content, and need a few more for 25-mans, especially hard modes and heroics. Any classes or specs are welcome, and you don't necessarily need raiding experience, just a good knowledge of your class and a willingness to commit to raiding.

• Legion of Sorrow on Ravenholdt-H is looking for new players to join their 25-man raiding group -- they've cleared ToC 25, but are still working on Ulduar 25-man (up to Thorim so far). Lately they're about five players short, so they could use a little bit of everything.

That's it for this week's GW. 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!