Rusty GM Blog

Back from a month off, I was really excited to get back into the game. Looking back, the last month has flown in so fast but in terms of World of Warcraft it feels like we have been away for a year!

Changing raiding main is something I thought would be easier to grasp than it actually is. I am finding it hard to set Bunnyboiler aside and try to focus on another raidable character but it’s something I must do for the good of the raid team. Actually the more classes and specs I play intimately the better for my overall knowledge of the game so there’s a big positive right there.

Actually that kinda brings me onto a point I would like to make. It’s an important part if the game to get to know what the other classes are capable of. Playing multiple different classes really does provide valuable experience which can help you and your guildies when raiding or facing the opposite faction in PvP encounters. Most of us Dambusters play alt characters but I challenge our raiders in particular to try and put some more time into a second character. Try playing another role more, ofcourse after prioritising your main character.

Anyway, back to my own internal battle. Having spoken to Spyrot and Wenya about what the raid team actually needs this tier, it’s still not 100% certain which one the team and I will get most benefit from but I think the safe option for now is Caledønia the paladin which I will push to play as a tank as my main-spec and healer as my off-spec but that could change. What I do know is that I enjoyed tanking the first 3 normal mode progression bosses on Friday and looks like the team needs me to tank again this Thursday/Friday where we will get at least the first 3 down and hope to progress past the 4th and maybe even 5th boss.

That’s the raiding out of the way. Another personal war I have had is the part of me that was desperate to get back into the game. I don’t know what happened and I know it will pass but I’m finding it strange that after a month out, I feel something like burnout although I can’t be sure because I’ve never burnt out before. Maybe it’s the indecision about what character to play, maybe it’s depression at having to leave my beloved Bunnyboiler to 1 side for the time being. Maybe it’s the addition to our family home of a certain new pet, named GTA5? Such a fantastic game.

There’s another thing I’ve been meaning to talk about, and I’ve talked about this before but I want to briefly touch on it again.
There are a lot of guilds out there who are set up as raiding guilds and who’s raids are run by the GM who commands all authority and completely directs the way raids are operated in their guild. That’s fine and it works if the GM has a clear vision of what the guild is all about while ensuring his members are fully aware before they join, that can work.
However, guilds like that are susceptible to drama and often implode the moment a respected guildie disagrees with the way the GM runs the show or the raid team. I wanted to underline the fact that in the Dambusters, we have a unique setup which protects the guild from such drama. In the example I gave, a respected member of the guild’s raid team may start a war with their GM and cause an irreparable fracture straight through the core of the guild, which is the raid team. You may have heard me stress on numerous occasions that the Dambusters are not primarily a raiding guild and my conscious choice to ensure we don’t ever consider ourselves as such is the foundation upon which we have built our strength as a guild.

The Dambusters are completely unperturbed about the possibility that our main raid team might break up one day because that team, however proud of it we are, does not hold the key to our success. The key is the attitude of our members, the spirit and our feeling of being part of the community. Absolutely the raid team greatly enhances the well-being, operation and maintenance of the guild but this is only because of the excellent attitude fostered within the team. That commitment and spirit is generated by the people of the guild and encouraged by the way I run the show.

People with a good attitude have the chance to be recognised here if they can take the opportunity to prove they have what it takes to step into a leading role within the guild. Sometimes hidden gems lie dormant around the guild, seemingly overlooked but by and large these unsung heroes all form a collective which makes up the beating heart of the guild and this is why I try my best to offer my thoughts in this blog.

People who quietly go about their business within the guild but don’t have too many chances to speak to the officer team can find the overall direction of the guild by reading here.

The blog is designed to offer an insight to where the guild is going from my own perspective and while some don’t read it, anyone with keen interest in the guild will be reading and I can assure you, we have friends outside the guild reading. Even folks over in the US are reading each installment and I hope that anyone else looking for a specific GMs perspective in the outpouring of love for his own guild will find the blog of interest too.

I am no instructor but I do lead the guild by example and its something I have enjoyed doing immensely over the years while I see no signs of that coming to an end anytime soon. It’s a very fulfilling position to manage but I hope our guild can inspire other guild leaders to follow our example by creating their own community which is protected from drama.

A clever man once said, ‘we join world of warcraft for the content but we stay because of the friends’

Amen to that!

/Salute