musing on guilds and classes

Urtica is now level 69.  And – really annoying – still hasn’t run an instance with a group.  This despite several long sessions with a constant “LFG” running.

I’ve come to realize there’s a vicious circle going.  So many huntards nobody wants to take the risk, which means the people who could and would learn from it and quit being huntards don’t learn, and so we continue to have WAAAAY too many huntards.

Now, I’ve got a fix for Urtica.  Most folk who know Zingiber don’t know Urtica is one of my alts.  It’s allowed me to do evals of some folk in the past – the “kiss up kick down” test for one.  Now Zingiber is POPULAR – despite being disc heavy now, she’s still got open invites from several guilds to join — invites refreshed recently.  And I’m planning to join one of them.  hmmm,  a digression.

I’m odd.  “What LOOT can I get?” is not on my list.  Quite frankly, every guild in which I’ve been has seen to it I get good loot without me having to make any push — good play, and good heals, are all rewarded in their time.  Now my biggest decision for joining a guild is the people with whom I’ll be playing.  I don’t do well with hard-chargers — been there, done that, know it’s a fast route to burnout for me.  Not to mention that if you’re not keeping up in their opinion, many of the HCs are a bit… rude.  No, thank you.  I’m playing for fun, not for epeen.  In a mix of both sorrow and glee, that cut still leaves me with a LOT of guilds.  My next criteria tends to be the better one, and that’s the ‘where are they’ measure.  The guilds that are farming TK or further are, well, they still insist they can get me ‘properly geared’ pretty quickly – and they could.  But my timing, and my ability to play on a regular basis, are not what they deserve or need.  (retalenting is a nothing for me – though I’d have to do so to do them right).  By the same token, the two guilds that are just now opening Kara are… maybe.  There’s a habit of people who’ve had something like that on farm to get stupid and bored when running with those new to the instance.  I don’t think I’d be that way, but I’m human.  And I’m not sure that it’d be fun, not only for me, but for my guild.  More importantly (and long term), I’d develop a false impression of my skills relative to the group.  Let’s shift it as levels.  If I’m 68 and they’re all 60, and they work hard to progress while I sit on my laurels, then I’ll get a lot of “ooh, he’s good”.  But eventually they’ll be 70 while I’m still 68, and there’ll always be the chance they’d not recognize it – or maybe just admit it – for a long time.  I don’t like that.  I intend to continue to grow.  But…  I’m human.  And there is a GREAT egobuff to being told how great a healer you are.

STill leaves me with a short handful from which I’ll choose.  Soon.  Anyway…

What I’ll probably wind up doing is requesting they – whoever they are – take both my characters (well, these two – I’ve a few more alts lurking about).  And that my hunter, pretty please, get some instance runs to develop necessary basic skills.  Not loot.  Seriously, there is a SHOCKING amount of good loot that can be found without entering instances.  Borderline ready-for-kara, assuming you’ve a decently SKILLED group and you’re playing well.  Toss in decent gems and enchants and it’s “simple”.   Odds are it’ll happen.  And Urtica will get some experience in that way.

On the other hand, I may just keep him ‘wild’.  My daughter’s expressed an interest in arena with her rogue.  And a rogue/hunter combination offers interesting possibilities…

~ by Kirk on February 27, 2008.