First of all, let me apologise for slacking with the blog. Things have been busy with work, family life at weekends and of course the short game time I get takes up the rest of my time. I did punch out a good sized blog a few weeks ago but as I went to publish it, it managed to vanish so lesson learned and from now on I will be periodically copying the body of text incase I have to start again and I will be able to paste it in.
Anyway, the future at the Dambusters looks quite different to before with some familiar names no longer with us. What I intend to do is ensure we become more viable for players with ambition and part of that is to get some much better continuity than we have had. In Warlords we have had 4 primary raid leaders if we count Spyrot who wasn’t specifically raid leading for the guild’s progression but we started with Holidai in Highmaul, then Idioms for Blackrock Caverns and in Hellfire we had a big revamp as Lonok took control. This ended badly as he vanished and a rift was caused by the vacuum that opened up. Just after that, I left Saudi and my work ever since then has resulted in much less game time, causing a depression period of raiding in the guild.
Spyrot has left with my best wishes in order to fulfil his craving to be part of a settled team rarer than having to rebuild a team which is not his favoured scenario. His heart is here but his head is not so he has made a clean break and if things don’t work out then he is always welcome back.
Idioms is another big loss to the guild. His temperament for casual attitudes during raids is short so he needs to play the game in a way that suits his style rather than feeling held back by players who don’t put the same work into the game that he does.
This is something that needs to change in the guild. Of course we are a home for chilled players who can come and go as they please and still feel welcome and appreciated but we must also strive for that dedication from our progression raiders or those who consider themselves capable of progression raiding.
IRONWALL
In Legion, The Dambusters will have 2 raid teams. Primary team is Ironwall and second team is Stonewrought. Ironwall will be as demanding as we were in Hellfire Citadel, if not more demanding. The precise details will depend upon who the raid leadership team are but above all, Ironwall needs to deliver progress by operating 3 times per week including a Wednesday. If anyone cannot achieve most of a Wednesday evening online then simply put, they cannot reliably join Ironwall. That is the first criteria. Second, Ironwall raiders must be levelled and geared to a strong standard by Wednesday 7th of September to join opening night in the Emerald Nightmare. Third, ongoing activity, maxing out your ability to use your chosen class utilities is a must. We can see people with potential but your fellow raiders will expect each of their team mates to put as much effort into knowing their class and how to best deal with boss mechanics as possible. That’s teamwork, working hard so that you are adding value to your team!
STONEWROUGHT
Again, without a current raid leadership team in place, it is difficult for people to imagine how things will look for Stonewrought but I am already close on an appointment here so as with Ironall, watch for positions to be filled during pre-expansion patch. Stonewrought will act as a more casual, more inclusive feeder team for Ironwall which will often see Ironwall raiders join to help out, grab some more chances of gear and play alts etc. if Stonewrought select them. Stonewrought will push as far as the raid leaders and team members desire and Ironwall will absolutely welcome a strong challenge. Stonewrought will raid either 2 or 3 times per week depending on the leadership’s availability. As with Ironwall, Stonewrought’s players will be expected to uphold the spirit of the team by working hard at their game and pushing to ensure they are adding value. This team will likely chop and change and will probably have higher numbers in the roster than Ironwall initially but that could change.
SCHEDULING
During pre-launch patch when it starts to become clearer who is looking to get heavily involved, we will hold discussions on TeamSpeak and in our Whatsapp groups to thrash out specific schedules for raiding for both teams. This weighs heavily on the availability of the raid leaders but all will have their say before days are set, and also days/times can be changed at a later date if suitability changes. Scheduling will decide what team some people join initially but there will be opportunities to switch teams as long as such changes are amicable between raid leaders. Leaders will be in regular communication with one another and with myself to ensure harmony between the teams. Of course raid leader positions are automatic Flight Setgeant officer roles so much discussion will be required with myself as well as Whatsapp or some other communication form outside the game.
If anyone has plans to lead raids then please let me know exactly what those plans involve and we can take it from there, these are important positions so only a very few dedicated individuals will be able to perform the roles but I am open to any keen leader who fancies a crack.
/Salute and more blogs to follow shortly
well said 🙂