Well That Sucked

Went back into ICC last night for what was supposed to be a quick clear of a couple of bosses to set us up for some progression on Saturday.

It. Didn't. Work.

As far as issues beyond our control go, the overall server lag was horrible. I didn't really notice it on my end until BoneStooooooooorm. What with Marrowgar spinning around and coldflame all over the place I couldn't move effectively or pick up aggro quick enough when he stopped. It also hurt the tanks as we tried to stay locked together to split the Saber Lash both at the beginning of the fight and immediately after Bone Storm was over.

Beyond that, I personally didn't do very well. My positioning was crap as was my threat gen. For the life of me, I just couldn't get to my spot, get my body properly facing the boss, and get close enough to the other tank in time.

My solution? I think I need to run some random 5s and/or lower level raids. Not only will the emblems help me snag some upgrades, but I really need to knock off as much rust as possible to be effective again.

Saturday, I felt really strong. Last night, I didn't. It's gonna take some work to get back to the point where I can tank successfully on a consistent basis.

New to the Blogosphere

A fellow EoFer and the one who's usually stuck healing me during raids, Heleva.

Go make her feel welcome.

Seriously, go.

ICC Tonight

And I'm jacked up for it.

We only have like an hour and a half to work, but I think that, given our success last weekend, we can get quite a bit done as long as we get started on time with the full group. This will set up real "progression" this Saturday, which is exciting.

In other news, I caved and started monkeying around with the Love is in the Air holiday. I'm batting 1.000 on holidays since Thanksgiving, so I'm trying to keep up that momentum and maybe get an exceptionally ugly mount for my troubles by November.

I'm hoping that I'll have some good news to report regarding our progress tomorrow.

Tweetspiration

I mentioned on Twitter that taking a long hiatus as a WoW blogger leaves you with nothing to write about when you return. With that, Aoirselvar and Kadomi provided me with a couple of post ideas. Since I've got wicked writer's block, I will run with both.

From Aoirselvar: I guess you can start writing about your experience returning to the world of Azeroth.

Mostly, it feels like I never left. Now, I've logged in over the course of the hiatus, but it was usually on a Saturday morning when only a couple of guildies were online anyway. I'd do a couple of dailies, maybe work the auction house a little, and then log off.

I didn't feel awkward or rusty until we went to ICC on Saturday night. That's when the time off showed itself for me. I didn't feel like I was really in the pocket the first couple of pulls. I really wasn't at my best throughout the run, for that matter. I'm not saying I did poorly, but I certainly noticed that I was out of practice.

My guild is great. They've been so understanding and welcomed me back with open arms. The only remotely weird thing from a social standpoint is that everybody has better gear than I do. I laugh when I see a guildie on their 4th or 5th 80 and that alt has a gear score that dwarfs mine.

I've got some work to do.

From Kadomi: You raided ICC, how about your first impressions?

I really enjoyed getting to work a bit in ICC. I think Blizzard did a great job with the place, overall. Based on what I've seen, you can't exactly waltz your way through there. You have to actually think about the trash, and the bosses aren't pushovers. Also, the dodge debuff really makes things interesting.

My last real raiding experience was in Ulduar. I was involved in a couple of trips to ToC 10, but neither amounted to much of anything. Even in TBC, we never really got past the first tier or so of raiding. The chance to go in with a really, really good group and take on some of the higher-level content this time around was exciting.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't really geared for the place when I walked in, and on top of that I was horribly rusty. I'm looking forward to getting some upgrades and getting myself back in shape.

Thanks for the ideas, Aoirselvar and Kadomi! I'll get back into the swing of this blogging thing sooner or later.

Enter the Tank

Hey. Remember me?

I've been logging on the past couple of weekends trying to get back in the swing of WoW. I missed it, frankly. I missed my guildies, I missed raiding, and I missed cursing every time I get aged yolk (if I don't get that proto-drake before Cataclysm, I'm heading over to the frickin' wolvar, I swear).

Saturday I pulled one of my marathon sessions. I was trying to squeeze in dailies while running after the Baby Tank and keeping the Puppy Tank from peeing in the house.

Saturday night was EoF's second evening in ICC 10. Tatia asked me if I wanted to go, but I didn't want to walk in there with mediocre gear and kill any momentum they had from the prior week when they managed to down three bosses. As the day progressed, though, I realized I really, really wanted to go with them.

So, I picked up the mats for a quick and easy upgrade and signed up. We had a Lock finishing another raid, so we decided to start clearing trash while we waited on him. Started pulling only to realize our other tank, a Pally, was having some technical difficulties. We initially thought it was just a dc, but as it turns out his whole computer went nuts and he was down for the evening.

Down to eight raiders, now, with a tank (that would be me) who's out of practice, undergeared, and trying to hold on to 200 The Damned (hyperbole intended) while all of our better-geared dps go nuts on them.

It worked. Don't worry, I was surprised, too.

We cleared to the first boss, had one of our crew bring in an alt tank, and filled the open slot. Had some difficulty with Marrowgar, but two shot Deathwhisper and the Gunship. Marrowgar was even nice enough to give me a mace as a "welcome back to raiding" gift. It got late, and we called it a night.

When I was raiding more regularly I generally overgeared the content we were attempting. This was the first time in a while I undergeared the content and, subsequently, had less of a margin for error. All in all, I think I did ok.

Might even sign up again for next week.

Believe It Or Not

...people are still showing up here on a daily basis.

Might as well give them something to read.

After my last post, I logged in and made several overdue and well-deserved officer promotions (Millea/Tatia being one). They offered to hold down the fort while I did what I needed to. I love my guild.

I've been online more in the past couple weeks. Messed around this past Saturday with holiday achievements, got in a raid that didn't get far, and got to see the new 5s for the first time.

The new dungeons are simply beautiful. Kudos, Blizz.

I also dabbled in the new random dungeon system. Pet or not, I hate PuGs and will probably not be volunteering myself for it on too regular a basis. I have to say, though, that I got very lucky with PuG members the first time I tried it. The dungeons were easy and the folks we picked up were solid players. Quite painless, overall.

I suppose it helps to be the tank, but that doesn't stop people from pulling for you as I've learned in the past. I like to set a brisk pace (assuming the healer is keeping up), but I will slow down if necessary to maintain control over the pulls. Must not have been too bad for our cross-server groupmates, as nobody complained about it.

I picked up the T9 shoulders with Triumph emblems. I could have waited a bit and picked up the higher ilvl non-tier shoulders, but I was in need of an upgrade and the shoulders provided much-needed expertise. I'm hoping I can get some runs in this week to pick up another emblem upgrade and, possibly, grab some items from the new dungeons.

It's good to be back.

Resurrection or Redemption

It's been a long time since I've posted something here. It's been a long time since I've really wanted to.

As we all know, real life has a tendency of getting in the way of our best laid plans. I had every intention of taking my new guild as far into the endgame as I possibly could, documenting our triumphs here. Haven't done either.

Had every intention of leveling a couple of alts to 80. Only managed 70.

Had every intention of being a good guild master. I've barely been online.

H1N1 made its way through our house, we're preparing for a surgery for the Baby Tank, we've had endless drama surrounding a family member and a custody battle, and I've been trying to balance all of that family stuff with work...both my day job and my other job.

Most nights, I don't have the energy to log in. Even some weekends. This past weekend, for example, once I got all the real life stuff out of the way there wasn't anything left in the tank (no pun intended).

I'd like to get back online and playing with some degree of regularity. I've already told my guild that I will likely not be raiding, but in reality I've completely let them down because I haven't even been available..

Bottom line: you can't run a guild if you're not in-game.

Should probably just do what's best for everybody and turn it over.