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The Classifieds: Raegwyn solos Kael'thas Sunstrider
Yesterday, the world as we knew it came to a shattering end. It's a whole new game out there, even if it's a few more weeks until Cataclysm crashes onto our desks. It's a great time to tip our hat to Raegwyn, who has released a video of his solo kill of Kael'thas Sunstrider. The video takes place at ludicrous speed. You get a great idea of Raegwyn's technique as he maneuvers the kills. While the death knight clearly has some advantages over old raiders when the content was contemporary, this is the only solo kill of Sunstrider I can recall seeing. It's really quite the testament to Raegwyn's skill. Make sure you check out our feature interview of the solo artist to get more information.
The Classifieds: Riders of Gilead
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. This week, we'll lead off with one of the best stories we've heard in a while. The <Riders of Gilead> is a well established guild on the Ysera (US-A) server. They're recruiting for raids on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and use the Shroud point system for awarding loot. You can check out their web site here. This may all seem like fairly standard stuff -- but what sets them apart is their strong sense of coordination and teamwork. Some time ago, the <Riders of Gilead> helped an old-world PUG work its way through Mount Hyjal. The raid leader was a level 71 holy paladin who seemed to really, really want to tank the content. The Riders were fine with that; it was old-world content, and the whole event was just for fun. But the paladin kept getting more and more belligerent as he repeatedly died. After all, even at level 71, a holy paladin can lack the tools to tank raid content. Finally, after a lot of wipes, the paladin got frustrated and switched away from group loot to master loot. This wasn't an issue of loot. Hyjal loot isn't very meaningful in the Wrath era; instead, switching the loot to master loot was an insult, like throwing down a gauntlet. When Jinna, the guild leader for <Riders of Gilead>, was unable to reason with the paladin, he asked in TeamSpeak for the guild to get out of combat. Amazingly, the entire group did so. Jinna negotiated the loot back to group loot and ended up leading the remainder of the raid. He did not kick the paladin who'd started the fight, and the PUG went on to complete the instance. Moments like these are what binds a guild together and shows why leadership is so important to a successful group. It's more than just loot; it's shared teamwork and vision.
The Guild Counsel: A closer look at guild management
Ask an MMO player what he thinks of when you say the word "guild." The common image is that it's militaristic -- a highly structured organization with draconian by-laws, a rigorous recruitment process, and high demands. It can be, but today's guilds have evolved into many different forms, and in some cases, have a different name entirely (clans, corporations, etc.). Some guilds are more like a sports team, to which the guild leader is more of a motivational coach. There are set expectations, but members have a bit more room to freestyle. Still other guilds are similar to a book club, in which players gather to share their common appreciation for an MMO but aren't required to sweat blood for their guild. There are some basic minimal expectations (don't be a ninja raider), but you don't always have to do what the pack does. About nine months ago, I again jump-started my guild-themed podcast, called A View From the Top. It's a podcast that's focused on guild leadership and social networks in MMOs. Originally, my co-host and I focused on interviews with guild leaders, community managers, and game developers. But over time, we've found that what people really wanted was advice on guild issues. For the bulk of the past 10 years, I've been leading guilds in EverQuest, Vanguard, and EverQuest II. I've also gotten to know guild leaders in several other MMOs through the podcast and hear their stories of guild management. What I've learned is that no matter what the MMO, there are common issues that every guild deals with. Some issues are so big, that if not handled well, they can lead to guilds disbanding and players leaving the game entirely. Unfortunately, because MMOs tend to encourage competition among guilds, there really aren't any central hubs for guild leaders to get together and counsel each other on how to deal with some very difficult issues. I hope that this column will serve as a spot to seek advice about guild management and look at the variety of guilds across MMOs. Given all that, where should we begin?
The Classifieds: Seven hours of Gondria
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. This week, we'll lead off with one of the best stories we've heard in a while. Do you know Gondria, the spectral cat of Zul'Drak? It's a rare spawn beast that is highly sought by many hunters who are looking for a truly unique pet. It can take a player months to find Gondria, and there's never any assurance that Gondria will actually be found. Unless, apparently, you have a truly awesome guild. Solaraxe tells the story of how the guild <Circle of Blame> on Stormrage (US-H) held Gondria for over seven hours. As a team effort, they defended the cat against the Alliance and accidental death. According to Solaraxe, they eventually kited the spectral kitty all the way to Grizzly Hills, where the guild's hunter was finally able to log on and tame the coveted beast. The real trick of the story, again, is that members of <Circle of Blame> kited the kitty for seven hours. This is truly an epic accomplishment. If finding Gondria and helping guildmates weren't enough to make it an act of uberness, the sheer timeframe of seven hours makes it amazing. My hat is off to <Circle of Blame>.
The Classifieds: This was Halloween
The WoW community is a big place. It's a village and a social network and a huge group of people who all somehow seem to interact as a big, friendly family. This is Halloween is a great example of the WoW machinima community coming together to create something special. Obviously, the song is a take-off on the old Nightmare Before Christmas version, but it's every bit as awesome as we might hope. Check it out and let us know what you think. Be sure to see the YouTube page for the huge group of people who worked on this video.
The Classifieds: A little old, a little new
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. One of my favorite things about BlizzCon is that it's an easy location to get together with your guild friends. It's an obvious time to gather up a handful of WoW geeks and rock out in the presence of our mutual hobby. And since the party is put on by Blizzard, there's always a handful of fun things to enjoy. But now we've seen the BlizzCon parties and are looking forward to the Cataclysm. If you've not already started advertising for Cataclysm raiders, now's a great time to start putting out your message. After all, the release is only about a month away, and when the expansion officially hits the servers, we're all going to be very, very busy. There are a few things you can do to help us feature your guild's recruiting. First, if you can include a link to your armory or web site, that helps The Classifieds be certain we're referring to the correct people. Second, keep your promo message to two or three sentences in length. There are a lot of folks looking for new guild members, and space is limited. Take a look at how we tend to publish the recruiting ads to get a better sense of how it's done. With that being said, let's get started with the Random Acts of Uberness.
The Classifieds: Scilla guilds rally for breast cancer awareness
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. One of my favorite things about the WoW community is the various ways that we, as players, promote a certain level of social consciousness. Sure, you hear all these horrible stories about ninjas and terrible vulgarity. But for everyone of those, you hear about something incredible. This story is one of the incredible ones. Sure, it's an online video game rally, but that's the fundamental point: create awareness where previously there was none. Fayvren and Mahjarette from Scilla (US-A) decided to promote breast cancer awareness month by changing their guild tabards to pink. Other guilds on Scilla were inspired by their example and followed suit. Encouraged by this reception, Fayvren and Mahjarette farmed massive amounts of pink material to create the necessary costumes for the rally you see above and after the jump. They definitely want to thank the guilds <Resurrected Phenomenon>, <Party People>, <EVO>, <The Panic Attacks> and <Official>.
The Classifieds: The uber edition
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. By intent, we use The Classifieds to share community news among the, er, community. We pick up a little recruiting news, a little general new release information, and whatever odds and ends seem to float across our desk. But the items we get really excited about, of course, are the Random Acts of Uberness. For better or for worse, the WoW community sometimes gets caught up in a bit of negativity. It's somewhat natural; WoW is a game about progression. Anything we perceive -- rightly or wrongly -- as interference with that progression can create immense frustration. We're passionate about our play. But that can lead to a lot of frustrations and hurtful things. This is why we love the Random Acts of Uberness so much. It gives us (all) a chance to kick back and celebrate the good news. So, without further ado, let's get to the good news.
The Classifieds: Tarnished for the best luck
As a married man myself, I love stories about couples who begin their new lives in some awesome way. I spend every day delighted and enchanted by my own bride, and I'm constantly hoping for the very best for other newlyweds. That's why I absolutely loved this story sent in by Skarnu from Agamaggan (US-H): I just wanted to drop a quick note to say that the people who work as GMs are just awesome! I'm getting married on Sept. 25 and knew that I wouldn't have much time to play the game. As a bit of a joke, I contacted a GM in game to ask if Blizzard would be getting me a wedding gift. Fast-forward to two weeks later and I finally get a chance to log in. I have a message from GM-Rhyalie congratulating me on my upcoming wedding and providing me a wedding gift of two Tarnished Silver Rings. I thought that this was was an extremely nice gesture on Blizzard's part. I know that we often forget that it's the people behind that game that make it great, and today those people brought a smile to mine (and my soon-to-be wife's) face. Well, not to be sappy, but they brought a smile to my face, too.
The Classifieds: What do you call a pack of rampaging dwarven hunters?
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. Hundreds of dwarven hunters swarming through Kharanos and into Blackrock Mountain astride their trusty rams -- what's not to love about this player event? Reader Liessa tipped us off to this recent Warcraft Hunters Union event, designed especially to suit the guild's current level 30 level cap. The event's objective: the dastardly Overmaster Pyron. "Clearly, Pyron was too easy," admits WHU organizer (and WoW Insider hunter expert) Brian "Frostheim" Wood. "But the idea stuck in my head and wouldn't go away. I knew we'd slaughter him in no time now at level 30, but I just loved the idea of the WHU army marching on Blackrock Mountain. I thought that would look so cool. So I scrapped the original intended target in favor of marching on Blackrock Mountain. I'm certainly glad I did, 'cause I think it looks cool as all hell." We think so as well. Sound like fun to you, too? Join the level-capped, all-hunter action with your own hunter at Warcraft Hunters Union. Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Sing that Sindragosa to me
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who makeWoW memorable. I've seen nearly as many methods for maintaining a raid's morale as I have seen raids. Everyone does something a little different. I've even participated in "strip raiding" before. (I really try not to talk about it, you know? Let's just say that wipes affected more than just one's repair cost.) My point is that every raid tends to have its own version of the old carrot and stick. Elexiari of <Kingship of the East> from Emerald Dream (US-A) tells us that her raid has a rather unique method of keeping spirits high. She says, "We take turns singing after every boss kill, and sometimes at random times for a morale boost." I agree that it's a pretty cool way to keep the guns blazing. Elexiari does say they're struggling with Sindragosa a bit. Our own Mathew McCurley says this group may need to ... ... change its tune. (He then put on sunglasses and drove into the sunlight.)
The Classifieds: Wisfest and lots of hiring
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make WoW memorable. One of the best things about WoW is the friendships you make along the way. It looks like this group has done plenty of that. Long, awkward silences between new acquaintances? Not this gang. The Ancient Order of Wisdom on Arathor (EU-A) has had a very busy week. We celebrated our fifth anniversary yesterday with a "Cattle Run" -- a bunch of level 1 taurens doing the run from Mulgore to Thrall (made more interesting since half the guildies there are very much pro-Alliance and didn't know exactly where to find him!). Naturally, we had to do this on a different realm due to the number of altoholics we have. There were a few hiccups on the way ... (by "hiccups," read grizzly deaths), but there was much laughter on Vent and prizes for the winners! In recognition of this rather superb achievement, we also had the first ever guild meeting last weekend. "Wisfest" took place in York -- and had a weekend where real life was a parody of WoW. An ancient walled city with dungeons and ghost tours! Naturally, we had to sample some of the local ales. Fifteen of us turned up to meet and gel our online friendships into something more. I'm very appreciative of all those that came -- in particular Stony, who travelled all the way from Belgium. We had an absolute blast! Needless to say, Wisfest 2011 is already in the calendar for next year. Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Introducing someone a little different
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make WoW memorable. Hello, folks. My name's Mike. Be gentle. I'll be joining you on further adventures flipping through the Classifieds, taking the time to peruse community news across the entirety of Azeroth. I'm sipping some wonderful coffee while writing this, so I do hope you all are either sipping coffee or tea. (I threw in the tea out of respect for Rupert Giles, but I'm strictly a coffee man myself.) This week was a little light on news and Uberness, so I want to make sure to encourage you to send us that stuff also. While The Classifieds frequently are jam-packed with employment offers and recruiting, we also like to see what's going on in other arenas of play. With that brief plug, let's get started.
The Classifieds: Why I wanna kill Arthas, in 500 words or less
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make WoW memorable. "The Llane forum has a great contest going from a guild named <Monolith>," writes WoW.com reader and enthusiastic tipster Gimmlette of <Spectacular Death>. "They have been around since the server went live, and with some of the top raiding guilds on Llane folding their tents and going home, that alone says a lot. The contest is ingenious and falls in the 'I wish SD had Arthas on farm so we could do this.'" What is this ingenious contest, you ask? <Monolith> is taking up to two players a week to ICC-25 to slay the Lich King -- and it's not gold they're asking for. What is this mysterious payment they're asking of applicants? "Well ... you will have to tell us why you want to kill the Lich King," writes <Monolith>'s Beruthiel. "You can do this in any number of ways: a short essay, a piece of fan fiction, a short comic or a roleplay story are all acceptable submissions! Regardless of your method, what you need to convey to us is what makes killing the Lich King important for you. We don't care about your gear, your GearScore or how amazing a player you are. What we do care about is why it is important for you to kill the Lich King. Creativity is encouraged!" If you're a Hordie on Llane who'd like to give this a whirl, visit the forum thread linked above for all the details. This sounds like a creative contest from a classy guild -- best of luck to all involved! Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Daily Quest: You guys wanna join my guild?
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. I pretty much fell in love with my current guild the moment I joined it. In the six (nearly seven now, isn't it?) years I've been playing World of Warcraft, I've belonged to very, very few guilds, and there's a reason for that -- once I find one I like, I stick with it. Despite belonging to only a handful of guilds in my WoW lifetime, I've run the gamut from casual to hardcore raiding to RP to casual raiding. Each guild was run a little differently, and each guild had its own methods of recruiting. Today we've got a handful of posts about guilds: Hots and Dots has an oldie but goodie: 10 tips to successfully apply to a raiding guild. Tastes Like Battle Chicken gives us a list of 5 things you should know before you app. World of Matticus has some words of wisdom when a raider is not a team member. Lastly, Bible of Dreams talks about leaving your guild without burning bridges. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
The Classifieds: The Open Ticket
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. When I receive an especially tasty tidbit or tip to tuck into The Classifieds, I usually nudge it quietly into my 15 Minutes of Fame or World of WarCrafts folder so that I can give it a little more breathing room and chat with the creative force behind whatever's going on. I could do that for the lead of this week's The Classifieds, too -- but I'm not going to. The folks behind TheOpenTicket.net have cast a mind-bogglingly huge net of humor and parody over an entire web site, twisting current world and WoW news into wry stories, cartoons and videos. Want more? Just explore the site -- it's all there. "TheOpenTicket.net ... (no ads, just fun) that has been writing fake news stories about Azeroth since WoW open beta," writes co-creator Caldwel. "The site is written, designed, and illustrated by myself and one other from the Shadowsong (US) guild <Redridge County College>. Up until this past January, our stories were just published solely on our guild site, but after prodding to write more stories, we decided to move it off to its own site. We do one story a week and try to tie in some timely world events. ... Our current story which mimics the iPhone4 fiasco and has the head of Gnomish Engineering handing out free rubber bumpers for the malfunctioning devices." Ready for something a little more (ahem) actual, factual about the WoW community? Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Puzzling over the world of Azeroth
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. While we at WoW.com are hard at work puzzling out the latest round of changes from the Cataclysm beta, we've got something for you to puzzle over as well: a "Where in the World of Warcraft?" crossword puzzle from The Puzzle Hub. This one's themed around places throughout Azeroth, Outland and Northrend. If that mind-bender strikes your fancy, there's a "Who in the World of Warcraft?" version, too. Thanks for the tip, Benji -- these look they'll most assuredly help keep our minds off the agony of watching beta test class changes scritching and scratching back and forth. Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: She'll be coming 'round the mountain
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including your shout-outs to perpetrators of the famous Random Acts of Uberness. Have you ever wondered what lies on the other side of the mountain? What's going on down there below your flight-path flyover? Wonder no more: The Glitch Hunters have arrived to show you the unspoiled areas of vanilla WoW in all their pre-expansion glory. Contrary to their name, The Glitch Hunters explore entirely on live servers with no exploits or trickery. They use simple tactics to gain access to difficult-to-reach areas, including Levitate, Slow Fall, vehicle mounts, Death Grip and the liberal use of pally bubbles. "We're traversing the continents and documenting all the weird and unique landscapes and borked terrain before the Cataclysm revision hammer destroys them for good," explains Glitch Hunter Alyssa of Dawnbringer (US). Explore the entire series -- now some six episodes deep -- on The Explorers League YouTube channel. If the scenery of classic WoW leaves you feeling nostalgic, wander through our growing collection of galleries devoted to zones that will soon feel the sweeping hand of the approaching Cataclysm: Undercity, Scholomance, Eye of Eternity, Shattrath City, Sunwell Plateau, Azshara, Tirisfal, Redridge, Stranglethorn Vale, Western Plaguelands, Quel'danas, Trial of the Crusader, Deadwind Pass, Teldrassil, Tanaris, Blackrock Mountain, Thunder Bluff, Feralas, Mulgore, Moonglade, Ironforge, Westfall, Darnassus, Thousand Needles. Vanilla WoW holds many charms -- but if it's more current news you're after, let's crack open The Classifieds!
The Classifieds: Back for more
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including your shout-outs to perpetrators of Random Acts of Uberness. They came, they went ... And now <There and Back Again> is -- well, back again. This Thorium Brotherhood (US-A) guild, formed specifically to quest its way through a farewell tour of vanilla WoW Alliance content from start to finish, has hit the level cap, marked its territory and is preparing to launch a similar effort Horde-side. "After starting with over 100 members who joined us (in most part due to your article!), we ended up with around 35 who stuck through to the very end," reports GM Mistigris. "Lots of adventures along the way! Foot races through Stranglethorn, marches through Dalaran, cooking contests, random dungeon madness, tons of visits to the NPC that turns off XP ... We did ZG and Karazhan at very close to level cap, and there is a robust kernel of folks who are gearing up for 80th heroics and raiding." Time now for the flip side of the coin. "We're going to nest within <Imminent Rueage> on Thorium Brotherhood (US-H)," Mistigris continues. "Our starting date is Saturday the 24th of July -- starting zones and guild invites galore! Level cap for the day is 12th; we'll be gathering the following week at Crossroads for our first 'official' event." If you've been looking for just the right way to wrap up the pre-Cataclysm era, look up <Imminent Ruage> and give all things Horde-side one more for the road. We've got plenty of other news from around the WoW community this week, as well ... So let's crack open The Classifieds.
The Classifieds: Where in the world is Sofa?
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Send it to TheClassifieds@wow.com. Waldo's for noobs. Carmen Sandiego belongs in the kiddie pool. The name of the game for deep-diving members of <Kumpania> (Turalyon [US-A]) is "Where in Azeroth is Sofa?" You see, <Kumpania> GM Cowpies is no couch potato -- he's got "Sofa," his alt, running all across Azeroth to find the ultimate hiding spot for a hide-and-go-seek contest awarding the lucky winner a cool 4,000 gold. Each day, contestants poke through clues posted on the guild forums and make their best guesses in guild chat. "If the guess is close enough to his location, he logs into the contest toon," explains guild officer Mellyne, "and if you're in line of sight, you win." A few sample clues: Sounds like a CLASSIC from 1973. When you figure out what these have in common, it will help you down the road: Benjamin Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Joan of Arc, John McCain, Hellen Keller, David Letterman, Phil Collins, Carol Burnett, Michelangelo, Barack Obama. It would be hard to put a square peg here. ... If I face NW of my location, I feel the bitter sting. You must "listen" and be "turned on" to get some clue as to my location. Sound like fun? <Kumpania> members think so, too. Despite a winner last week, everyone had so much fun that Cowpies/Sofa is starting another round with an all-new location and all-new clues. "We're not a raiding guild, we're a social/leveling guild that occasionally makes a Naxx run," Mellyne says. "This contest does wonderful things for us, bringing members together and getting them on our website. Even for the folks not participating, it's truly funny to watch everyone making their guesses." Kudos to Cowpies for donating the time, prize money and creative energy to make this four-year guild tradition such a resounding success. (And by the way, Sofa's location from the photo above is listed at the end of this week's column.) Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
