The Gaiscioch, Growth, and Raiding - Please Read Again 9/27

Hey Everyone,
First off I want to welcome all those new folk who seem to be finding their way to the family. It is so awesome to meet so many new faces. In the past few weeks we have gained a lot of friendly faces and I suspect we'll continue to have more flock to the family.

I wanted to talk today about our toughest fight we will face in Rift. This Elite Fight will not be conquered easily. Will not be defeated with ranks, gear, or skill. It is not a creature within the game, or a premade that we simply can't overcome. Our biggest challenge we will face is our own ego.

Ego, has toppled the largest of guilds, the most powerful of guilds, the most confident of guilds. It starts as defensive attitudes followed by hostility, followed by friends taking stabs at one another. In the past few weeks I've seen this foe bear it's head.

We've defeated the toughest foes this game has to offer, we've done things no other guild has. We ALL succeed when we succeed, and we ALL fail when we fail. As we continue to face tougher opponents the tension from within will be tested and if we start fighting among ourselves we will see fractures. Friends will become enemies and lines will be drawn in the sand.

This is NOT who the Gaiscioch are. This is NOT who the Gaiscioch have been. The Gaiscioch analyze a fight, find the jinx in the armor, build a plan, and COMMUNICATE it to others. Without Communication, and sharing of Knowledge we are just 1 against thousands. If we share our knowledge, find patterns in our knowledge, and get creative with all of the solutions on the table we can find the jinx and share it among all.

No matter what game you play, if it's built for a computer, on a computer it's written in code. This code is an algorithm. A Pattern. Every boss in every game that has ever been made follows a pattern. Backwards engineering this pattern is how you defeat the bosses. Even the most unskilled player can learn how to use that pattern against the boss if it explained to them in the correct tone.

However if you come to another and attack them, they will put up a defensive wall which will END all useful communication between you and them. As soon as you lay an attack on a fellow kin, nothing you say will sink in. They will protect themselves from your attacks. IF You want to teach other's what you have learned, it is not in a way that discredits their own experiences. It's in a way that enhances ones experiences.

Take for example Opaline's Air Raid Rift the other night. He had a strategy that was pretty sound however while people we shouting over vent to get out of the clouds I noticed the debuff that was sitting on me which said that any movement hurts the character which is moving. Thus while I stood still and was not wounded the rest of my raid group died rapidly. I took a quick screenshot of the buff so i could read it and while we rezed everyone up i took a look at each of the buffs we had on us. I then relayed what I had found to the group and we used that to kill the Air Raid Rift.

I did not say "Hey Stupid that buff is killing us" or "Yo idiot didn't you the buff". Just reading those texts not even at you how did it make you feel? First reaction is defensive. You instantly wanted to jump the comment box stop reading everything i say and blurt out the first spiteful thing you can think of.

I want to encourage ANYONE who wants to do end game raiding. Take time to analyse the fights. Take time to SHARE information with our kin. We have dozens and dozens of Soldiers, Mathematicians, Scientists, Programmers, Teachers, Architects, Accountants, Lawyers, CEO's, and Doctors in our family. We even have a rocket scientist in the family. If we can't figure out a simple algorithm some programmer thought up with all of the great minds we have in this family then something isn't being communicated.

I will be starting a series of posts. Inside these posts will be a list of bosses. I want everyone who is interested in fighting these bosses to contribute what they have seen in the fight. I want people to brainstorm together. Don't believe everything you've seen on youtube or on the internet. These bosses change with every patch. The fights change as mechanics change and I want people to start communicating rather than fighting over who's method is best. Share what works. Look at what others have found, and try to build a model for success. WE can do this. WE are not alone at this. Stop fighting among ourselves and start working together.

We can do ANYTHING we want, whenever we want. We just have to take the time to communicate with others. Listen and Learn, Suggest, and explore. Don't take hearsay as an answer. If you want to know "What happens if I do this...." Then do it and let us know what you found. We are only as strong as our communication between each other. We've got 1,700 characters, almost 1,700 registered members. I'm quite certain if we put our minds together we can accomplish ANYTHING.

Keep you chins up, blades out, and pick each other up rather than try to prove why your better than someone else. WE are in this together and as long as your a Gaiscioch, your a finger on the same hand. What hurts someone else, hurts you as well. Pick each other up, cheer each other on, and reach for the highest of highs and we as a family will rejoice.

I look forward to seeing our family pioneer this road, but if we are to SURVIVE this road, we need to start working together and avoid inward innuendos, insults, and hidden messages. These are the fractures that will divide us. We will succeed, and we will stand together.


Foghladha

» Edited on: 2011-09-27 22:36:07

Posting to show that I've read and understood Fog's point. I agree, and hope the elder members of Gaiscioch will work hard to instill the same guild values they learned when they joined in newer members.

All valid points, I've seen similar behavior in other games and have witnessed first hand as an instructor in a stressful environment how folks behave under pressure. Some are far better at it than others; Know yourself and seek self-improvement.

» Edited on: 2011-06-18 13:33:51

/agree and /signed

Foghladha - "If you want to know "What happens if I do this...." Then do it and let us know what you found." Anyone else read this portion and go "What happens if I randomly pull the boss and see how long I last solo." No...just me. Well here's what I found out then. When you do that, even if you tell everyone on vent what you are doing and they laugh and say ok while they heal back up, someone will miss it (like a healer) and charge in to help. After you die, before that other person dies, they will find a way to accidentally pull in others of the raid (like a chain heal) and before you know it, half the raid is dead too. Oh the hilarity.

» Edited on: 2011-06-16 07:27:31

Great post, I wholeheartly agree. Lotapias

More than happy to share tips and tricks I've learned from the bosses in GB... when the thread gets put up I'll get on it ASAP :)

/read /agree totally Strategy is how I can solo things I maybe shouldn't be able to - and sometimes have to change my specs to do it. I do die alot to figure it out - but that is part of the appeal to me - figuring the damn stuff out. In LOTR during one boss fight we actually had one person whose only job was to watch for a certain debuff on our group and throw out an occassion DOT - but the most improtant thing was the debuff - if you got it on you - you died in 10 secs - it was just that strong. So'd he'd yell out who got debuffed - and the healer would quickly debuff. Everyone is here to have fun - so let's have fun. :)

+1

+2

/read /agree

+3

Well said.

hmmm +1+2+3=+6?

» Edited on: 2011-06-17 09:27:14

Can I just Leeroy Jenkins? I'll record it. :D

Ah thinks that fog is one of them accountants that first fellow was talking about.

Nah just making up for all those years I slacked off in math class ;D.

/Agree...Communication and teamwork is the key to unlocking any major content..nice post Fog! Cheers..

/read and /signed All valid points. Anything to avoid infighting is good. It is way to easy for large groups to self destruct if issues like this are not dealt with. It's all about fighting the good fight Gaiscioch family tyle!

No Fairy thats my line. Leroy JEKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/signed Nice well thought out post. I agree.

Indeed...well thought out. I agree wholeheartedly and hope to have the opportunity to share these things among the family. Cheers Fog. /signed and /read

Im in the middle here. I don't like elitist but I also get frustrated by gamers who don't make an effort to learn, ask questions and research their class and then want loot handed to them on a plate having made zero input, and usually a lot of 'poor me i has no loots' whining and drama. My advice to anyone wanting to participate in anything is do your homework a little bit, talk to others who play your class and show up with your effort face on. Anything in a game can be learned as Fog says, it is just code. What cannot be learned is someone giving enough of a shit to try, work with their team and actively participate in overcoming the objective. You get out what you put in, and so does your team :) Sometimes people forget that and 'me generation' game. Something to think about anyway :P If I can help out with any boss hints for raids I have done, I am happy to!

/signed and I agree! ^_^

I could have sworn I agreed to this... I get confused easily. I'm just here to dance and heal :)

I have only been with the guild a short time but am impressed so far. I picked the guild cause of a few reasons... first and foremost the history... my first MMO was DAOC. I have also played a few others including City of Heroes, Warhammer Online, WOW, Tabula Rasa. The second reason was the mention of GW2 on the website, a game I am planning on playing. I was very hesitant to join a guild... mainly cause of experiences with some in other games. The guild event the other night impressed me, so I am very happy that I did decide to give it a go. The third reason was that I crashed one of your raid rift events on my Defiant Cleric... just to see how y'all responded. I didn't interfere or flag up or anything, I just assisted with the various bosses. That no one got in my face or hurled insults helped me decide to take a chance on Gaiscioch. I have seen many guilds fall apart so I think it is a good thing to try and head off any drama and strife in advance. I agree with Sunni, well except for the dancing part... I am just here to heal.

Posting to show I have read your Forum. This is a world known Guild, I prefer Family, but in any case we are pioneers. We are "watched" lets not destroy with badness, cruelty. In pugs wether its dungeons, or rifts, I roll last, I ask before Need/Greed. I have made allot of friends by being NICE, Kind, If I Bard I never taunt, thrash or belittle the tank or other players. Its easy to see if your group are new players, be patient and HELP, Offer politely your knowledge, it will go along way. Proof: While running a farm raid on Ice Crown in WoW, had a new hunter that need guidance, helped him out, just simple stuff that I figured "if your here you should know" were my thoughts. It turned out to Be a GM that interaction sold me on the "you never know who is who in MMO" The reward was GREAT.

/read, acknowledged, understood

*nods and agrees wholeheartedly*

100% Agreement! One of the things that attracted Mellonde and I to Gaiscioch was the family feel, we came from a Raiding guild as Officers and have done the elitest and found it quite saddening really. You don't get to know the people it becomes about numbers and loot (take down boss X). Taking down the boss is fun, and helping a family member to that summit for the first time makes it even more rewarding, cooperating together in that as a family makes it a precious memory.

Thanks for keeping this updated, Fog! As things grow and change, we need to remember the basics. Sometimes we need a gentle reminder and other times we need a clue by four to the hot head. =D It's way too easy to forget that we are here to play a game and not everyone will ever agree on how to play it. In the heat of a moment when some get yelling, we feel we might need to jump in. Most of the time we leap without looking. If your aren't going to add something that diffuses the bomb or constructively gets people to come to some conclusion, best to sit back quietly and do your best to follow along. If you are just so bothered you want to scream at your computer, it is definitely time for you to go do something else. I know I've had people tell me I was stupid or had no clue how to play. Hmm, maybe I don't know it all, but I never claimed to. Maybe my multiple sclerosis is bad enough I'm trying to do it entirely by mouse because the left hand is off. Maybe my cat is in front of the monitor wanting attention or he is sleeping in my lap pinning a hand down. ::chuckles:: Or maybe my 120 pound dog just came in and slammed me into the wall rubbing against me in a chair on wheels. I know people in this family that play with toddlers in their laps. That's gotta be even crazier than a cat because the kid wants to imitate what mommy or daddy is doing. So knowing that the person sitting there trying to play may have tons of distraction, I'm not going to complain about how they are playing at all. Now if someone just isn't paying attention and doing their own thing, this could be a different story. Even then it might be someone that just isn't reading chat or not on vent. Sometimes things scroll too fast to see which is why we use vent for our events. Of course, it may be an obstinate person. Either way you won't know until you politely ask if they saw or heard what the leader said. I know once in awhile I go off, but most times it is when it sounds like everything is directed at one person - usually not me - and communication has gone to hell. If it's me and I know I'm doing it wrong, I get my butt in the right spot. =) If I'm in the wrong spot it just means I wound up missing some command or my cat is "helping". I'll admit it's more me missing something than the cat. LOL! After working for a company that pushed and pushed, but never made people secure in stepping out to be a team member, no matter what they claimed, I can see how it makes getting things done a royal pain. I do not miss being an engineer and project lead in that place. It actually made me more than happy to come home and herd cats on Warhammer with this family, which was tons easier and actually wound up being fun. Okay the end of my blathering on this subject. Just know I'm not perfect and already had one episode of getting agitated in vent. Needless to say it didn't help because it didn't get communicated right, so I should have kept my mouth shut. ;)

Read, understood, agree! Briseadh, youre awsome no matter what you do, just sayin! People need patience,and understanding, its a game and pixels, but there are real people on the other side. We all need to remember, no one is perfect, no spec is perfect, no questions are dumb. Just do your best and have fun at it. =))

I had to post something rather interesting as I read Fogs post I remembered what I had read. There is a game somewhere called Foldit. In this game gamers did in 3 weeks what scientists werent able to do in a decade they deciphered the structure of and enzyme of an HIV-like virus. Foldit is a gree game developed by the University of Washington in which different competing groups of gamers race to unfold chains of amino acids. Science folks say that amino acids are building blocks of proteins, and unfolding them will give them the valuable model to examine and better understand its makeup. Gamers, however, will tell you that unfolding a chain of amino acid is a puzzle. A great big suprisingly rewarding puzzle. And gamers completing these puzzles are actually making the world a better place. The reasoning behind it is that People have spatial reasoning skills something even a computer is not good at. The quote is "The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly direted, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems." If some gamers can do this Surely we can learn to take down a few bosses... after all we are a great group of thinkers, leaders and yes some great followers. For every leader it takes several followers and I hope some leaders remember that, you can't lead if no one wants to follow and I think we have that conquered greatly in this guild we have to stand in line to follow our great leaders... Thanks for paving the way for some of us that might get the opportunity to follow you. Keep up the good work.

» Edited on: 2011-09-21 05:11:28

Read and agree as well. I have witnessed a couple of instances recently where peoples egos were a bit too broad, so I think this a wonderful time to remind everyone why Gaiscioch and its philosophy works.

/agreed & /signed

Agreed/Signed

» Edited on: 2011-09-21 23:33:20

Thank you Fog :) I agree wholeheartedly.

Well said, and I agree completely!

Well, this is why I don't raid. And since Rift is, like WoW, all about raiding, this is why I quit (again). I appreciate the effort here, as always, and maybe someday I'll be brave enough to try to raid, but honestly, I have no patience for the attitudes. That and, if you don't use voicechat like me, well, you are a pariah. Can't wait to get back to some open RvR like in DAoC and Warhammer where it wasn't all about gear or rank or dps parsers or Simon Says tactics. Hopefully GW2 will scratch that itch. I hear SW:TOR is also putting something like that in, but I'll be playing that for the story and the companions like a single-player game. One more thing. Wah. :p

/read and /agree 100% I know I'm knew to the family, but I must say, this is something I personally have not seen in the family discussions yet. Thankfully. I came from WoW originally, but before I left there, I had belonged to a guild that was full of 80's and 60's, I believe there was a total of about 80 - 100 members. They were very nice and very helpful, much like this family; however, 1 80 reared his face into our guild and slowly, but surely, started turning everyone against eachother. The guild died... The owner left it behind saying he couldn't stand the annamocity(?) of it any more. The friendships we had built up slowly died and dissapeared... Just because of him. I as well saw this on a website where I had been a member for about 9 or 10 years. Everyone there had their differences, but we worked it out with eachother - Always. Then, 1 new person came into the group, claimed he had years of experience over us, was better than everyone else and started correcting all that we did. Slowly, the site died... All because he turned everyone against eachother. The site has since moved in a different direction, taken new ownership and is no longer the same. I have not been back since - same with several others I know. Guess my point is, it only takes ONE... And I'd hate to see this happen to this family. I love what Fog said above: "Keep you chins up, blades out, and pick each other up rather than try to prove why your better than someone else. WE are in this together and as long as your a Gaiscioch, your a finger on the same hand. What hurts someone else, hurts you as well." Lets remember that in this family guys... It means a lot to some people, more than you think. Thank you Fog. ~ Kitten (IC)

/read, acknowledged, understood... "lean do chroi"

Guys, keep in mind that this post was originally made over 3 months ago. While everything stated in the post still holds true today, the problems that were the catalyst for this post have long since gone away. Thankfully, we have very few problems anymore and when we do, they are dealt with quickly and as painlessly as possible. So if you are reading this post for the first time and wondering if there is still drama from raiding then the answer is no. But everyone should remain vigilant and adhere to our family's motto of openness, inclusiveness, and giving. Assuming you are reading this for more info about raiding, at least on the Guardian side, you can always contact me in game or email. Good luck to all of you.

Unfortunately Bentmer, now it's Defiants turn. Over the past few weeks I've begun receiving a lot of complaints that the Raiders on Defiant side are starting to take this same course. It's a good reminder. REMEMBER, Gaiscioch is NOT A RAIDING GUILD. We are a Family who enjoys to Raid. Keep it Casual, friendly, and open for suggestion. Please respect those who do not share your enthusiasm for Parser & DPS Meters. While you may think your helping someone, getting down on someone because they aren't doing enough DPS does not encourage them at all. It makes them want to quit. You should never ever ever ever tell someone they suck. That is straight blades in. If you say anything, perhaps take some time to ask if they are open for a little coaching, suggest ways for them to improve, help them understand how the mechanic works, assess their gear needs, and help them build a plan of action to help them obtain the goal at hand. Badgering people or telling them they suck does not help our family at all and will not be tolerated in this family.

I appreciate the post I found that if you do suck they just don't let you go with them.. Or at least you dont get the opportunity. I would love to raid but find if your behind in gear you can pug ..I got invited the other morning by another guild to do the last boss in gsb. I was thrilled they told me I couldnt roll on anything and I told them that was perfectly alright with me I just wanted the opportunity to see the fight and experience it. I had a ball the first time of course I was one of the first one to die. Well I was the last one to die in the last attempt .. I listened and watched and at the end it was late for them and they thanked me for joining them. I think I was more thankful than them I did learn something of the fight and it was an experience that I will remember and be joyful about even if I never get to do it again. Maybe if these elitist would remember that even if we are not perfect we might still want to be, and maybe they could remember someone else to tag along with them and make their day. I have a bucket list and on mine besides going to Tahiti is doing every major dungeon in Rift or any game I might be playing. I was happy that day that another guild made a difference in this old ladys day... Thanks to who thought of inviting me to join. It was someone in our guild that sent me the first tell how are you geared .. Well I replied that I was t2 ready and told him my dex and hit and in a few minutes I got an invite.. I thank you for asking.. When you die in this game its not real life .. you do get back up again and again and again.. I live everyday in real life too and very soon will enjoy my 67th birthday. I am the matriarch of my Family and never thought that one day I would be the oldest in our clan .. but at the same time I am most of the time the youngest at heart in our family too. I get all the time how grandma is rad, cool etc. I just was taught gaming in late in life and glad I wasnt young when I learned ... I would have not had the life experiences I had .. but I am not a couch potato and I volunteer when I can and work part time and my stress is relieved by killing so dont get in my way if I had a bad day :) This is a great mmo family and thanks for letting me tag along..

Well said Sea. Quite honestly raiding is the one thing in MMO's that I see just destroy guilds. It's just like playing on a competitive team. The more Ego's you throw in the bowl the more the rosters start fighting over who's king roster. Just step it back a notch and stop saying how we "Can't" do something and start thinking of ways we "Can". Don't push people down, pick them up so that they can learn.

0

» Edited on: 2011-09-28 23:26:33

Excellent post. I couldnt agree more with this. /signed

read again and agree with fog. I came to this guild for alot of reasons. I have been a hardcore raider in several games. While i want to do some raiding here i dont want it to be the be all end all it was for me before. TBH, i would rather attempt and fail while learning with family.

I don't know what to think Fog, Honestly I have seen some really questionable things since the guild moved her from Warhammer. Honestly make me think sometimes think about if Rift was the right game for this guild.

» Edited on: 2011-09-28 20:54:29

TBH I've got such an inferiority complex from the elitist jerks in WoW, that I have done very little but try to solo Rift from start to finish. I tried lfg and it turned out just as nasty as WoW's is, so I'll never try pugging here again. I'd be happy to group with any Gaiscioch members who will put up with my lack of self-esteem and slow reaction times. Arthritis in my hands makes playing a living hell sometimes, but I do anyway. And I am dreading my first live attempt at the Planar Attunement boss...I died so many times on the PTS to it...in full tricked out top notch raid gear...which I don't have on live, being a fresh 50 and all! :P

To reply to Mael. Mael, people tend to get wrapped up in their toons and forget that behind the keyboard is a person that may have rl problems. To me trying is the important thing. Not whether you are the fastest responder, or the most decked out. If we died trying something, we just pick ourselves up, dust off and say well lets try this. I have a major problem with someone that doesn't even try, joins a group and never does anything. I haven't run into anyone in this guild that does that. There have been many acts of kindness I have witnessed and of course those never get spoken of. Keep your chin up and just do the best you can at that time.

<3 ty Jexia :)

Another thing. Just because we are not a "Raiding Guild" doesn't mean you can walk into HK all casual like and say "Fog says I don't have to be hard core" and expect to survive. Thats completely taking things our of context. If your going to try to play End Game content. Your going to have to LIVE UP to the END GAME standards. You cant just dress in your sundays best and expect to get to the top of Everest. You've got to have the right gear, and skills for the battle at hand. Thats a GAME MECHANIC not something I or anyone else can work around. When i say were not a "Raiding Guild" I'm referring to Raiding not being our focus. It's an added bonus for those who CHOOSE to play at that level. I'm really starting to be disheartened by how many people are playing the "But Fog Says" card. Please do not take me out of context. It does not help you and it does not make ME look very good. The GAME requires you to have certain GEAR and ABILITIES for the fights. Fog

I agree - raiding involves a certain degree of spatial awareness to go with the gear. So even reaching the minimum gear standard there are other factors involved such as being able to follow instructions given out by the raid leader, do your job as a member of the raid, and have a general idea of what is happening around you. Being part of a well-organised raid often makes people think raiding is easy. When that is combined with the fact that Rift content has had some huge nerfs, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that raiding is simply keyboard faceroll. Downing HK bosses is a mixture of gear, player skill, optimum raid make-up (classes), spatial awareness, and each team member performing the role requested of them by the raid leader. If some or all of these conditions are not met, it usually results in general wiping and gnashing of teeth :P

» Edited on: 2011-12-04 20:21:25

Carrigan, you are absolutely correct about having the minimum Hit/Focus/Toughness meaning you are 'geared' for that level raid. I've been told by many people that they are 'HK ready' or 'GSB/ROS ready' when in fact, they are not necessarily ready. Trion has implemented two possible levels of readiness in this game. The first level is the minimum requirement that you need to be FUNCTIONAL in a raid. This is achieved by having enough Hit/Focus/Toughness to even function in the raid. However, those stats do not determine your effectiveness in the raid. Things like hitpoints, armor class, avoidance stats, spell power, attack power, crit, etc determine that. Which leads us to the second level of readiness in a raid. Not only do you have the required Hit/Focus/Toughness but your other stats are also good enough that you can pull your own weight in a raid. This is where it gets a bit tricky on evaluating what makes you 'ready'. Specs, rotations, and overall player skill can determine how effective you are with a given amount of gear. This is why Trion has a tiered system of raids. The simplest way to determine effectiveness is that you have become overly effective or overgeared for the previous tier of raiding/dungeons. You probably wonder why Trion would allow a system where people can come into a raid where they may not be pulling their own weight exactly. That's because there are two types of raids in this game also. In raids such as GSB/ROS/GP/DH, it is possible to have as good or better gear than what most of the raid offers you even before you enter that raid. Also, others can be overgeared for that raid simply because they've done raids of higher tiers or this very tier numerous times. These are normally called non-progression raids or 'farm' raids. It's entirely possible to 'carry' a few people who are not 100% effective to a> help them gear up b> gain valuable experience c> check out the scenery as long as others are overgeared and can compensate for it. The other type of raid which includes currently Rise of the Phoenix and Hammerknell, are raids where everyone is undergeared for the raid. (At least until they nerf it lol) In these raids, not only do the raiders need the best gear possible, they also have to use potions, consumables, powerstones, and a short bald dwarf for luck to be progress in the raid dungeon. There can be no 'carrying' in this raid because even with all 20 people at 100% effectiveness, you barely get by. These are called progression raids or 'I just spent 4 hours in Hammerknell and all I got was a 10 plat repair bill'. When forming raids, this is part of my consideration of who to bring and not bring to a particular raid. As many of you have experienced first hand, I do try to bring in alot of people who are less experienced in GSB/ROS. It is a good learning experience and it can be fun for those who have no desire to raid consistently but wish to see some more content. That being said, it's never easy and things can get rough. If you are thin-skinned or like to just do your own thing, then raiding is probably not for you. When it comes to progression raids however, it can be a rather pressure filled environment where the margin for error is close to zero. It's normally best not only to gear up for this type of raid but also to gain experience in less pressurized situations. Lastly there is no magic formula to success in raiding. Our values in this family do not make us better raiders than people in other guilds. We just achieved the server first in Rise of the Phoenix last week ahead of guilds who are far more progressed than us in Hammerknell and who raid 2 to 3 times as much as we do. But that achievement comes mostly from us working harder and more efficiently than them. It is however a source of pride for us that we can achieve the same goals as hardcore raiding guilds while doing with the right type of people and the right attitude. This is what I believe Ben's intention is with this post. We can be successful in raiding and still do it the Gaiscioch way.

/agree I have learned very quickly with a few modifications to the group dynamic will make or break a raid. In instances where there is too much of one thing, and can be adjusted to win is where the communication comes in. The ability to take constructive criticism, to suggest options without declaring ideas in a tyrannical fashion, and patience all reign supreme with this guild, as well as the majority of the players I have run across on Fae. I have had my moments of frustration. I have also seen great moments of success in my short time here. I could not be happier with the guild and look forward to each evening of (mis)adventures.

*agree Fog. (respectfully request that you ammend to include us nurses in the professions :) ) ------- i would rather be in this guild and *not raid* than raid anywhere else, even though i like to raid. it is the values of caring for one another that i enjoy most in this guild. too often i have been in guilds that have no awareness that a human being is at the other end of the keyboard. i am grateful for the Swiftsure-lead, kindly, mellow raids i've run. (and thanks Leonar for leading this last week). i have enjoyed the company of my fellow raiders - getting to know one another better as much as the enjoyment of the fights. i have high hopes that more 10-mans will form and that D side will get a chance to start running 20-mans. **most of all** i hope to help foster more raiding w/ the friendly environment of this community! if i can help any newer 50 w/ t1s/t2s to help you gear, pls let me know. i will be on winter break soon. i'm a healer. Gaiscicoch FTW and for the Family

Some very good information in these posts. There is a balance that needs to be kept between mechanics and people. Hey Bentmer, you got a short, bald dwarf I can borrow??

Actually they started out as a tall hairy Mathosian. Raiding has been very hard on them. lol.