Raiding Buddies

"They feared each other for their differences but were absolutely terrified at their similarities."

While a raiding environment naturally gravitates to an equal contribution between ten or twenty-five people, when the raid is over, those that participated split apart once again. This is alleviated by the presence of a guild, but even within the guild, individual cliques form and preferences are made for certain individuals over others. This is just natural human interaction. There are those that we prefer to be around, and those that we do not.

For newer raiders, or for raiders who have just joined a new guild, this can become a primary source of discomfort. It's hard to feel like you're part of a team when everyone else seems to have much closer bonds with one another. This is natural as well, given that the others may have been raiding together far longer -- but regardless, the sense of 'not belonging' still remains.

The 'raiding buddy' system is something I've seen evolve naturally over time, and it makes a lot of sense to me, from an outside perspective, so I encourage it. Especially for new raiders, this can help them feel more included and valued as part of the team. Raiding buddies are established by openness and communication -- a new tank may form a closer connection with his healer than the other raid members. A mage might end up closer to his focus magic target, just because they come to depend on one another in that small way. The healer may respect the one DPS who dies the least.

There isn't necessarily a set formula for finding a raid buddy. It's almost similar to experiences back in school, when teachers would ask students to exchange information with a classmate, in the event they were absent and needed to make up work. While having a raiding buddy isn't necessarily for convenience foremost, it offers another line of communication to the rest of the guild. In the event you cannot be online or are going to be late for a raid, it's much less of a stretch to imagine texting or IMing your raid buddy to tell the guild.

At the same time, new raiders will feel less alone. It's daunting to find your way into a new guild with no familiar faces, and it can be very difficult to adapt and find a niche, when others have already developed their cliques and groups. Even if it's something simple like running a heroic, or doing the PvP daily, having a raid buddy ensures that at least one person in a large network of guildmates knows you as more than just 'that shaman healer' or 'our third DK DPS.' And that connection is important; it becomes the foundation that determines whether we enjoy our place in a new guild or not, and whether we are comfortable with our new guildmates.

Worldwake

"All ends in obliteration- love in hatred, life in death, and light in empty darkness."

The name 'Worldwake' was chosen specifically for it's meaning. When broken apart and rearranged, 'in the wake of a world' is an appropriate summation of my perspectives and opinions in regard to this journal.

My World of Warcraft experience has been as follows;

- Began playing in January of 2009, roughly a year and several months ago at the time of this entry.

- Leveled a mage first, paladin second. I now have the following classes at 80: Mage, Paladin, Warrior, Rogue, Death Knight. Shaman in his 60s.

- Raiding experience of Trial of the Crusader onwards. Did a Naxx 10 full clear back when it was still in style, but rarely if ever did Naxx 25.

- Beyond my current raiding guild, the only raiding guild I had been in previously was lax and rather non-serious about progression.

- Tried to arena back in s5 and haven't tried since, not due to lack of motivation, but lack of teammates who actually care about doing well and learning their class.


As you can clearly see, my experiences in WoW are few and far between. I am not an 'old school' player. I have no experience in things like Molten Core, Naxx40, BC raids and so forth. Therefore, all things considered, I am truly not much of an authority on writing about the raid or endgame aspect of World of Warcraft. However, my MMO career did not begin with WoW, it began with Final Fantasy XI, one of the 'middle' MMO games ('middle' chronologically. 'First' games were those like DAoC, Everquest, Ultima Online). The following summarizes my experiences there.

- Five-year veteran. Began playing shortly after North American release.

- Averaged 35+ hours a week, placing me in the 'hardcore gamer' category

- Seven jobs at max level, covering all major aspects of the game (tanking, healing, magical DD, physical DD) -- Paladin, Warrior, Ninja, Summoner, Black Mage, Ranger, Dark Knight

- Member of one of the more successful endgame linkshells (guilds) on the server. Cleared Bahamut v2, Beastmen Kings, KSNM99 Wyrm with two parties, etc

- Main tank for Limbus, Proto-Ultima/Omega, solo for the most part.

- Cleared Nation missions, ZM, CoP up through Apocalypse Nigh

- Cleared Odin in T4 Einherjar. (And won an Adaberk)


Since my experience in one area clearly exceeds the other, many of my posts -- especially in the beginning -- will likely draw comparisons between my experience in the two MMOs. They were both successful in their own respects, and I intend to illustrate both the pros and cons of each through my own summation of events that occur in WoW.

Creator's Voice

"Before religion or civilization, there was order."

The first entry in a journal is generally reserved for the author's background and credentials as to why they are writing on a specific subject. Mine are simple -- I am writing because this is the means by which I best communicate with others. More specifically, this blog will be the way I express thoughts and opinions on various matters involving the World of Warcraft universe.

If you're reading this, you are no doubt familiar with the above. As for me, I am a raider in the guild run by Zan, and a guildmate of That Priest and Ridia. I have a Mage and a Warrior that I raid with currently.

This blog is mostly created for the purposes I expressed above, combined with the fact that I rarely speak in chat, and even rarer still speak in Vent. Therefore, I'll communicate thoughts, feelings and opinions herein -- which is, after all, the point of a blog. My credentials and background will be discussed in the next entry.