Money Shots

For the first time since it's introduction, we extended a Raid ID yesterday. Mostly it's because of this guy. Vezax is now all that stands between us and Yogg Saron on 10 man.

I completely understand why the Hardcore Guilds don't consider 10 man as 'proper' raiding. In ALL respects getting 25 people in one place and getting them to work as a team is more complex, more time consuming and ultimately should give better rewards. The fact remains however if you don't have 25 people around, 10 man gives you what you'd expect, and probably demand from this kind of experience. There is a lot to consider: there's the question of making sure you are operating at maximum capacity, of functioning well in a unit, whilst ensuring you're doing what you're bought to the raid to do. Currently the loot is pretty much an aside (as we have TotC virtually on farm, PvP bosses depending) and it's all about completing the instance. Without 10 man modes our Guild would probably still be in Naxx, or at least as part of an Alliance... which is nearly not as good as doing it for yourself.

I don't doubt for one second, with the people we have currently running the instance, that we won't finish Ulduar very soon. Actually, I'd say we'll be ready for Icecrown as soon as it appears (which I'll predict will be around the Christmas holidays) with decent gears and people hungry to face off against Arthas. In that respect the game is keeping pace with us for the first time, I suspect with a lot of the more casual guilds overall. I think it's a testament to the changes Blizzard has made that we have a game that now remains current for longer and offers greater overall challenges to it's participants. Props to Blizzard as a result.

Of course, as soon as the servers stabilise all thoughts of Ulduar and the Crusade are out of the window. All roads will inevitably lead to the Wyrmbog... :D