Socializing 101: Guild Leadership (Part 1)

Because as of yesterday, our beloved Boobles was promoted to Guild Leader, I felt now was the best time ever to finish on a post that’s been saved in my drafts for quite some time.

For the past two years, I’ve filled almost every role in a guild in WoW. I’ve been the newbie player who didn’t know anything, I’ve been the semi-experience member who mostly kept to myself, I’ve been the obnoxious veteran who didn’t hesitate to butt her nose into officer business and try to help, I’ve been the frantic officer running around with my head cut off, and finally… I’ve been the regretful guild master who wished she could’ve kept it all together, in game and in real life.

After all this, maturing in game and IRL, it’s taught me that a guild leader takes a very special person, a person I learned that I myself wasn’t qualified for.

Not just anyone can run up, start a guild, and expect people to join and be merry till the end of game. You can’t much expect that in real life; can’t start a business and expect all your first employees to stay till retirement. Being through walks of life through WoW and in real life, here is Mika’s Socializing 101: Guild Leadership Guide.

Blizzard defines Guild Leadership Basics as this.

But they don’t realize the PERSON behind that title is just as inportant as the ROLE they’re filling.

Jeon Rezvani wrote a book called Guild Leadership: Lessons from the Virtual World. Jeon is an IT Senior Manger, and a gaming fanatic. Combining his real life leadership lessons and his virtual leadership lessons, this is a very informational book. More information can be found here.

One last final helpful resource for new and upcoming potential Guild Leaders is this. Warcraft Hunters Union posed a good question, and got amazing responses. What do you, the people, WANT in a guild Leader? Browsing this post will also help you in understanding if you are the type who CAN successfully lead a guild.

First a foremost, every guild leader needs to understand, and mostly accept, that they will be, for always and forever, the top of the ranks, the leader, the go to person above all other people. They will be constantly under the miscroscope by the members; every move, decision, word will be microanalyzed, and while as there will be many friends to be made, there will also be enemies.

This seems to be the hardest aspect of being a guild leader to grasp. It’s hard to put 110% of your time and effort in game, and occationally IRL, for your guild to work, only to see people become upset, and leave… some of these people you call friends.

I hope this guide will help those people who want to make it work, through thick and thin, and avoid as many unecessary quits as possible.

For starters, There are many ways to run a guild. Many, many combinations of ranks to choose from. There’s a council system, a partnership system, but this guide will primarily be fore a Monarch/Presidential System where there is one GM, one Decision Maker, one Rule All.

This is where I shall hold off and postpone part 2 for tomorrow. The reason I break it up is so the information is easier to digest. Part 2 will be much lengthier than part 1, so my advice is to read up on the resources I’ve posted above, and get familiar to the setting.

Yay!!! <3 Questionaires

Post this questionnaire, with your answers, on your blog. Pick the healing class you know most about (or is the focus of your blog) for the questionnaire, and then send it over to another healing blogger you know and love who heals with a DIFFERENT class. Include a link to the blogger who sent you the questionnaire, as well as a link to the blogger to whom you are sending it.

meme-thats-not-a-meme for Amber… because yeah… I like to keep my ratings up and copy her.

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?
Mikata, Resto Druid

What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)
10 Mans I like, 25 man I love

What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?
Some druids disagree, but nourish. Lawl T7 and T9 Set bonuses, plus talent buff, plus glyph buff makes it like… “lololol why shouldn’t I use it?”

What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?
Regrowth… is like… I use that less than healing touch… and I only use that when I pop “OhShitNature’sSwiftness”.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?
HoTs = Win… disagree? GTFO

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why?
Biggest weakness is the fact we don’t have a lot of GOOD direct heals other than nourish and regrowth. Our power is in the HoTs.

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?
ZomgRaidHeals is best because we druids love to throw around rejuv and wild growth like it’s going out of style… and it works.

What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?
Depending on the situation. In 10 mans, Holy Pallys to cover the MT and OT while I sprinkle HoTs on the raid, 25 mans… SHAMAN TOTEMS IS LOVE.

What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?
Well…. Holy priests… because…. I R Teh Raid Healz KThxBai.

What is your worst habit as a healer?
Staring at recount…. <.< … because I have to outheal that Holy priest over there… and that Holy Pally…. *Cough*Oasic*Cough*Aloness*cough* YES I KNOW IT’S USELESS AND INACCURATE FOR HEALERS…. >.> I makes me feel good about myself.

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?
When people yell, not say, but yell…. REPEATEDLY in vent when they have a debuff needing heals or just took damage. It tems me to absentmindedly forget them and let them die. <.<

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?
Yup… Everyone loves a tree.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?
I just adapt. If there’s a specific situation where I need to focus more on single target healing or raid healing, then I can adjust to what’s needed.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?
Um…. The fact that trees can be just as good of a tank healer as a raid healer. People see trees, they automatically assume LAWLRAIDHEALS when we can tank heal just as fine given the right spec, gear, and glyphs.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?
Learn your cooldowns, love your cooldowns. Everytime a cooldown it up… use it. They’re not long, and great for oh shit moments. Other than that… don’t be shy about HoT sprinkling.

If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)?
Druids naturally are really really high on healing, and really really high on overhealing. This is normal. Druid HoTs count as overhealing… so it’s normal. Don’t get freaked out about it.

Haste or Crit and why?
Haste Whore all the way. HoTs can’t crit. The only druid critable abilities are nourish, regrowth, and the final bloom of a lifebloom (Unless you have the T9 4 piece set bonus for rejuv) Ideally, you want a lot of haste to get your GCD as low as possible for HoTs, and be able to snipe off really fast nourish casts.

What healing class do you feel you understand least?
LolPriestsWhat??

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?
X-perl… Grid is evil… pure evil…. end of story.

Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?
I like to stick with Haste, Spellpower, and Spirit(I dabble a bit in MP5), and I like to keep a decent balance. I use mostly hybrid gems, and I pay attention to what stats I stack on gear.

Stay tuned for Mika’s Custume Party. I took Halloween to the next step in WoW… it’ll be fun!

Mmmmm… High School Stereotypes (Part 1-Officers)

Woot, it’s 12-something AM, I haven’t posted in like… ages… and suddenly something hits me as I sit in my livingroom on my couch because I can’t sleep for some god-forsaken reason.

I wonder what my guildies were like back in highschool… like… what stereotype would they fall under?

So here’s what stereotypes I believe a few of my guildies would’ve fallen under.

Starting at the top of the list is Mach.
Guild Master, cool guy. His job takes a special kind of person what I sometimes don’t believe even he is qualified to do. He puts up with his own shit, then my shit, then the guilds shit… lawl.

Sad thing is, he told me what he was like in highschool, so as much as he doens’t count, he was the geeky kid who was into games and anime, has a small group of friends, a bit of a slacker, reletively anti-social out of a virtual environment, mature for his age, and tried his hand at being a badass but failed miserably. What do we call this?

The Dork.

Second in line, Zoja
Mr. Cranky Tank as we known him so lovingly by, he is our progression raid leader. Cool guy… when he wants to be. He makes his own job hard by himself, let alone the other 24 people helping.

My impression of our wonderful raid leader in highschool is that big scary kid who was bigger, taller, and more intimidating than your parents. He basically just had to look down at you and your measly little 5’5″, and you’d piss yourself a little. But if you knew him, you’d know that he talks too much, and likes being the center of attention. A bit of a short temper, but inside a big fuzzy bear. Better known as…

That One Guy

On to Atrpous
Secondarly Raid Leader, back up support, meat shield number two. Andy is the back up dependent when Zoja isn’t around.

Atropus is… unique… to say the least. (<3) He’s the kind of kid that looks like he’s gonna bust out a sawed off shot-gun and start blowing heads. But don’t be fooled, because he’s about as harmful as a baby bunny(withrabies*cough*) At times he’s quiet, and then get him going and he’s like the fucking juggernaut… going on and on and on and on and on and on and… you get it. He likes to talk. But when the subject is over… it’s like someone gagged him. Kinda weird, and a little loud, even though he doens’t mean to be, he’s a good guy all around… you just have to get past that homicidal maniac look first. I give you…

The Weirdo.

I’ll have fun with this one, Hunt…

Don’t… really know what he’s for. He was originally SUPPOSED to lead back up raids for under geared guildies… but he’s just kinda… there now.
Hunt is simply put… like that annoying little brother you wish your parents never had that drunken night in vegas. He’s smart, too smart for his own damn good, book smart… but no common sense what-so-ever. Doesn’t think before he speaks, and often gets his own ass into trouble, without anyone helping. He tries to make up for it by being a smart ass, but fails… over and over again. Boy needs to stick to be books because he’s…

The Socially Inept Kid.

I’ve been saving the best two for last, hehehehehehehe…. *evil grin*

Because I couldn’t decide who to actually be last last… I flipped a coin and up next is KyKy.
Ky is the glue that holds all of the officers’ sanity together. He’s the guy we go to when we need to ask for help, advice, etc in or out of the game. He’s had previous officer experiences, and being a but older and wiser, he tends to… you know… know more than us kiddies.

Granted, I’ve never met Ky in person. Seems like a really cool guy though through the interwebs. Ky is like that cool, laid back kid who gets along with like… everyone. He’s a people person. He’s not too competetive, not greedy, he’s a good guy. Helps when he can, more than what he should, sometimes, and rarely asks for anything in return. Granted… at times I believe he could feel no remorse in blowing up a hospital, I still think he’s generally…

The Nice Guy

Last but certainly not least, Amber…
Our lovely recruiting officer, big sister, and slave driver, Amber is the one who herds all the little kitties we know as new recruits, and directs them on what to do, and how to do it in regards to policies and procedures in BoO.  Not to mention… she’s like the only one who can keep Mr. Cranky Tank in check.

Lawl, don’t eat me Amber or poison my food tomorrow. Amber is like a big sister to the guild… sometimes now in a good way. Sure she can be that cool big sis that looks out for you, or somethings that evil big sis who laughs as her giant foot of GKICK comes crashing down on you. Slightly tempermental like her squeeze, she’s a cookie. She’s smart… but a smart ass. Sometimes taken the wrong way, she’s not a snob or anything of such; as she likes to say, she holds people to the same standards that she holds herself. A.K.A.

The Social Elitist

Stay tuned for Part Two!!

RL always comes before the Game… or does it?

I know this is my first post in a long time, but I’m finally settled into my new home in Illinois, and I’m loving it. My friends are great, and even though it was the biggest decision of my life, I think it was a good one.

But to the point of my post.

Everyone knows the saying, “RL always comes before the game”. Yeah, understandable, right? Wedding, emergencies, or just plans with friends, those always come first before the game, right? Well, when is the line drawn when it comes to RL before the game? When it is time to say, “The game comes first before RL?”

For instance, when is it time to put a game before the interest of your friends?

I hear stories of people who are in groups where loot is given or defaulted to a friends and such, and yeah, it offends people obviously. But these are people with the mentality that even in the game, “RL before the game”. To a stranger, you’re just a faceless, nameless, nobody in the game, when they have a good IRL buddy or friend who wants the same piece you do.

Granted it’s inexcusable, but don’t we all believe that RL comes before the Game?

What about when it comes to favors?

You’re in a PUG, and a friend you know wants you to come help them or run something with them? Obviously you’re going to leave that PUG and help out your friend… why? Because they’re your friend, and RL comes before the game.

What about money?

We all know there are lowbies and new players who randomly send people tells asking for 5 or 10 gold because they need a little help, but what if a friend asks you for a loan of, oh say, 5000 gold to get thier epic flying? Well, assuming you can afford it, you will obviously loan said friend 5k gold instead of that lowbie the 5 gold because, hey…. guess what…. RL comes before the game.

What about when it comes to raids?

You wanna raid, you wanna kill internet dragons, but you’ve got friends who want to go along with more faceless strangers. Who do you take? The friend who may need a little help, or the faceless stranger who can pull numbers? Oh… hesitant? So is this the line where RL doesn’t come before the game? Interesting… because we’ve always supported RL before the game.

So you take that friend who might not be as good, and maybe you don’t get as far as you want, but hey… you had fun because it was with a friend. You laughed, cracked jokes, and helped out your freind, giving him or her a few pointers on how to improve thier game.

Or, say you take that faceless person, and you blow through the raid, getting bosses down and all these pretty purples… but what about that friend? That friend that you not only abandoned, but offended, and basically told them that they weren’t good enough. Is this really the line where RL doesn’t come before the game? Because you’d rather kill internet dragons and would rather get more shiney pixilated purple epics than keep a healthy friendship in tact with your buddy?

Oh, but they should understand.

Understanding isn’t the point. Sure that friend will smile, and shove it off as no big deal, accept they need improvement and aren’t the best pick, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that said freind… is still hurt, and offended by your actions. Because said friend wants to improve, and wants to be good enough, and wanted to just play with his or her freind, but said friend is shunned, and cast aside because… they’re just not good enough in game.

How would that affect your relationship out of game?

For my Mom… and 700 others at Risk

I know my readers are reletively few in numbers compared to some blogs, but you’re just as important, and are like friends to me. Well right now, I’m asking for help.

The company my mom has been working with for over 15 years is threatened of being closed down, and 700 others are at risk to losing thier jobs. With the government taking over the student loan industry, the originations and servicing center my mom and I work will be shut down, and 700 other people will be out of a job, unless, the government trys to find an alternative. To fight against the student loan reform, we’ve set out to get 20,000 signatures for our petition to pressue congress towards looking for an alternative to keep from us losing jobs.

I need your help. If you have a spare moment, please visit http://www.protectfloridajobs.com and sign the petition to save our jobs, and keep the student loan industry out of the governments hands and pressured into looking for an alternative.

I want to thank you all so much for being so loyal to me, and if you help, I’m eternally in your debt. My mom can’t afford to lose her job, and neither can 700 others in the same center.

Thank You. 🙂

I have… let you down… again…

Once again, I must extend my deepest, and most sincerest apologies to you all. Recently, at work, they’ve cracked down and completely blocked all external internet sites, and on top of that, run regular scheduled centerwide scans for any open browser that bypasses the firewall. Seeing as work was my primary place of blogging adventures because typically when I get home, I’m swamped with like… everything… I haven’t had much time, if any, to post anything remotely interesting.

In my folder, I’ve got tons of screenshots, quotes, Socializing 101 ideas, and all around qwirky randomness everyone I know loves and enjoys. I promise I’ll be able to pick it up once again when the insanity in my life starts to die down. But till then, here’s a summary of what you’ve missed.

Mika’s Top 10 This Week:

1. Amber is still a noob.
2. The guild downed Mimiron, Vezax, and got Yogg into phase 2 before we started having problems.
3. I’ve rolled 3 new toons. 2 on the Earthen Ring server, look for Reikyva (58- Nelf DK) or Ryni (5-Nelf Rogue) if your interested for some fun RP, or Sylvyya (5-Belf Rogue) on Cenarion Circle ^_~
4. Reì on Azgalor has been racking achievements left and right and occationally topping charts.
5. My RP blog still isn’t quite finished yet, still putting the final touches on that one too.
6. Thanks to Tharion Greyseer he’s helping me get some reference points to get a possible career in writing off the ground, so I’m looking into that.
7. I’m getting ready for the big move, leaving on October 1st (Yay!)
8. Guild Drama has escalated through the roof because of a particular Hunter who is the single most egotistical, self-centered, rude, arrogant, piece of sixteen year old shit I’ve ever met.
9. Mika finally did ToC 10 man with a pug who one shot everything but faction champtions. (We had no mages, no locks, no hunters… virtually no CC. BURN THE DPS!!)
10. Did I mention Amber is still a noob?

There it is, folks… Mika’s Top 10 You Missed this week.

Disclaimer: I’ll be going into further details in the near future regarding some points… Amber’s failsauce… self-explainitory.

Once again, thank you thank you soooo much for being patient with me, and I’m soooo sorry for slacking. Point and laugh… I’m a scrub, lol.

Divided Attention

Alright, Yesterday I wasn’t able to get around to posting because I’m currently working on another blog.

/gasp Oh NOEZ

Yup.

I’m working on an RP blog on the side. (Or rather… 2 actually. One just happens to be my favorite that I’ll be working on the most while the second is gonna kinda… dwindle away until I can figure out what I want to do with it.) So yeah… split attention between three blogs is not fun, lol.

The two are connected in some sorts, but they follow their own complete separate plots.

One follows an up and coming druid who is just setting out in the world and has yet to come into contact with the scourge. Her only problem is her hatred of orcs… unfortunately she has no idea that’s the least of her worries.

The second, and more or less my favorite, follows a death knight whole was recently released from the Lick Kings control that runs a neutral underground trade business. Light knows that drama, lies, and deceit will ensue in her dark tangled web of blood and gold.

To forewarn you, or rather… to ask for your advice, my role playing experiences only cover forum, email, messenger RP, etc. For eight years this has been my method because frankly, I was afraid in game RP with an avatar would be too foreign to me. Because of 8 years of text RP, I’ve become an avid fan and sick obsessor with details, in which… according to some is wrong? O.o

I’m a visual person. When I read, and when I write, I visualize what’s happened to the characters. I picture everything from the way they wear their clothes to the way the trees bend when the wind blows. The sights, the scents, the noises, the people… everything, I can see, smell, hear, feel it all. Maybe it’s because I took a lot of writing classes in school, and I loved my English classes with a passion, but details are just something I can’t be scant on.

It makes my writing feel… naked.

I ask, is details necessarily a bad thing when it comes to writing? I know in game it’s like… no no to put useless info in such a small character box, but when writing out my RPs on a blog, should I be scant on details just to make it shorter and to get a point across?

But… as for the blogs, they’ll be up and running soon enough, ready for curious eyes to judge. Being as OCD as I am, there are a few kinks I’m working out, but I’ll hopefully have them fixed and ready by… maybe tomorrow.

And he said, “Unto you, thee shall have thy EPIX”

So… very very eventful weekend for the shaman.

To start it off, last week I was still trying to determine if I wanted to roll resto or enhancement for my main spec. It was a problem that was driving me insane as I was trying to build 2 sets at the same time and playing rock, paper, scissors with myself flipping a coin trying to decide what to spend emblems on.

Then suddenly, a light out of the sky fell upon me. Surrounding me and embracing me in its holy warmth, guiding me to the path I shou- oh wait… no.

Emalon dropped my 8.5 enhancement legs.

Okay, Yay!!

So I took that as a sign from the WoW gods. If you want lewts… go enhancement as your main spec. So… as the good little WoW addict I am, I did what I was told and spent 58 emblems and got my enhancement chest.

Hm…

But… how was my luck with drops going to be??

<_<

To test if the WoW Gods were really nice to me, I ran a Naxx 25 on my Shaman.

The gods then looked down upon her, and said “I shall cleanse thee of thy scrubness… no more shall ye walk in shame…”

I was just like… reaping gear left and right, multiple pieces from like… every wing… for enhancement and resto. I was all wide-eyed and giddy like a school girl. Hehehehehehe… omg…. PURPLZ!!

So after that, I was certainly happy, and I decided that maybe I didn’t want to take a break from the shammy.

Deciding to play her, I wanted to recustomize her because, frankly… her face bothered me. So I give you:

Old Reikia-

New Reì-

When Nightghost saw her new name, he made an attempt to pronounce it. For the record… Reì is not pronounced “Ri”, for anyone who knows Japanese, it’s pronounced “Ray”. Some might note that I have like… a Japanese fixation when naming my toons. Mikata, not to be confused and pronounced “Ma-kee-tah” or “Me-kee-tah”. Mikata is pronounced “Meeka-tah” with a hard emphasis between the “Mika” and “ta”.

The meanings?

Rei means soul, and Mikata means ally.

Anyway, back on topic here.

Sunday we went and did Ulduar 10. It was half BoO, half GMM (Green Mountain Militia), and surprisingly, we made it to Hodir, and downed him with a tank, 4 healers, and 5 DPS, lawl making it 1 minute until the enrage timer. Again… I was reaping gear, but for resto this time.

I now have a crazy resto set and a crazy enhancement set. I’m so so so excited…. I can’t wait to keep gearing her. And on top of that… she’s so totally cute now!!

Personally… I firmly believe… that recusomizing her… boosted her DPS.

>_>

In other news…

MIKA FINALLY GOT HER SPECTRAL KRIS FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-snuggles her new Kris-

ilu… I really do…. ilu lots and lots I do…

🐱

-Blank-

I really don’t know how to title today’s post. It’s a post of mixed feelings, some good and some bad.

For start, I want to direct you to Ky. A very emotional and moving post that gave me chills. I couldn’t have written anything better.

For now, in honor of 9-11, I wish to ask that, for those who harbor negative feelings towards another, for at least today let them go. We all have our take on what happened in New York 8 years ago, and the impact it had on our lives varies by person. For just today, I ask that any negativity please be held back. Today was a day 8 years ago that was supposed to tear our country apart… but with support and comfort from around the world, we became stronger.

Thousands have died.

Millions have been hurt.

And it continues every day as we battle terrorism.

From September 11th News

“May God bless the many souls who lost their lives, on September 11, 2001, at
the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on airline flights 11, 175, 77, & 93.
The courage and sacrifice shown by the FDNY firefighters, the NYC Police, and
other NYC EMS will never be forgotten. History will remember 9/11/2001.”

I ask you take a moment, and honor the fallen, recognize those lost, and tell someone close to you that you love them. You never know what tomorrow brings.

On another note,

I want to wish Kotakh and Happy birthday, he turns 31.

And

Finoria, Happy Birthday to you too, she turns 26 today.

Happy Birthday You Two!!

Can I get a wah-burger with a side of French-cries?

Lawl

So we were in Ulduar last night, bulldozing bosses and lol’ing along the way, as Ky and Amber will also say. Hell, we were even in our healer channel trying to conduct which blogger was going to be talking about what today. With 4 bloggers in one guild… we don’t want to type over each other, haha.

Well I got the fun in lawl’ing at someone’s QQing. Now, the sad part is actually half this conversation toon place in vent, and sadly I cannot SS that.. BUT… I atleast got what was in /o chat. (SCORE!!)

It started out with one of our noobish officers logging into vent, and asking if we had a spot for him in Ulduar… 1 ½ hours after we start it. o.O Uh…. No? We start at 7, he logs on at 8:30 and expects a spot? LOLOLOLOLOL The best part, when we tell him no, he gets pissy in /o chat explaining why we should kick someone so he can come in.

CAUTION:
Hilarity will ensure… you may even pee yourself a little.

Yes… because he had a bad day, he should get to come in just because he’s pissy.

(I know his chat is hard to understand because he can’t grasp proper English, but in a nutshell…

He was at school waiting for someone for 45 minutes who didn’t tell him she had a ride, and on top of that, he had a soccer game and had to sit the bench because another player forgot his shirt to play and ‘pissy kid’ had to give his up and not play… even worse, his team lost.)

When we tell him no, he still insists that we kick someone… of which we… kinda… wont?

Five minutes later:

AMG, LAWLZOR

Amber makes a funny he doesn’t like because we won’t let him come.

Keep in mind, this is an officer, one of the best DPS we have, and he’s QQing because he can’t have his cake and eat it to.

In vent he makes a comment around the lines of, “Come on… doesn’t anyone want to be nice to me since I’ve had a bad day?”

Amber then responds in our healer channel:

When no one responds, he finally catches the hint.

Maybe he doesn’t realize how he sounds because 1. he’s much younger than the rest of the guild, 2. he was in a bad mood, and 3. ever since he became an officer he’s become an egotistical PITA… but the other officers were growing aggravated because we had to listen to this it for half an hour of his bitching.

Anyway… look for parts 2 and 3 from Amber and Ky of last night, enjoy. =)