Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsFrom our readers: Is my Ulduar-clearing guild holding me back?
by Amanda Dean 
May 17th 2009 at 4:00PM
I'd like to take a minute to address the concerns of one of our readers. Since my return to WoW Insider, I've been focusing on sanity, progression, and congruence. Dear WoW Insider:
I need help, and I figure between me and that guy in the last Breakfast Topic, I'd have more than a good chance of you guys having suggestions to my current dilemma.
I'm fairly new to WoW, having started in December 2008, after a long stint on FFXI. I was glad I made the move, and I haven't looked back. I toyed with a few classes before settling on a blood elf rogue. I zoomed through classic, Burning Crusade and have now made Northrend my home.
I hit 80 a couple of months ago, and although many guilds have offered for me to join along the way, I always replied that my brother's guild was going to take me in as soon as I turned 80. I've been with them on a few heroics and even saw the inside of Sunwell as my first raid ever, although I must confess all that left me feeling a little bit bewildered as I didn't really know what was happening most of the time. I was constantly asking for help, asking where I should stand and what not. While most of the guild was really nice and understanding (and still are), I'm feeling a little bit out of my depth. Most of the guild members are very experienced, as you can imagine. Some of them are on their second or third alts clearing Naxxramas, and most of the guild are working on Ulduar progression.
I guess my question is whether I have perhaps joined a guild that's a bit too advanced for me. I keep wondering if my gear's up to scratch, or even if it is, what content I should be aiming to clear. I would love to do more heroics, see the inside of different dungeons, but I don't think the interests of most guild members are in line with mine. If you can help this poor newbie rogue out, I'd greatly appreciate it. Is my guild holding me back?
Cheers,
Wil
Hi Wil,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. It sounds like you need a little bit of guidance. Without looking at your armory profile, I can't tell you where your gear is. I would like to point out, however, that gear is not the only factor in being a great endgame WoW player.
The first thing you should do is learn your class inside and out. This means spending some time outside of game to do your research. There are many great websites that can help you find the right spec, and teach you about rotation. Be sure to keep up with changes to your class and other mechanics. Bookmarks sites that you find useful and be sure to revisit them, but make sure the advice that you're getting is timely.
Consider the flexibility you will need as situations change, and what you and your class bring to an instance or a raid. You may even ask a more progressed Rogue to mentor you.
Learn what gear stats you should be looking for. For most DPSers in my guild I encourage hit rating above all other stats. Attack power is great, but unless you are hit capped, you will find yourself missing things very forcefully. Once you've determined the stats that you're looking for, make a list of the gear that you need. Start by picking up regular instance and heroic gear and then consider raiding.
Your DPS is an indicator of what content you should be running. If you're pulling around 1000 DPS you're probably best off in regular instances. While there is no absolute minimum requirement for DPS in heroics, 1500 is about what it takes to pull your weight. Many groups will accept 1800 for Naxx 10 and 2000 for Naxx 25. Gearing up through Naxx will prepare you for further raid progression. Learn to walk before you try to run.
Your brother's guild may be the right place for your brother, but not necessarily the right place for you. Ask yourself if you meet the guild's needs, and the guild meets yours. It doesn't sound like you're nearly ready for Ulduar. If they are not running heroics and older raid content, you may never be able to catch up. It's possible that you need to make a change. Consider goals, progression, activity times, composition, and general membership.
For love, for honor, for pony,
mandy
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Fan stuff, Guilds, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
Rhoan01 May 18th 2009 10:45AM
First: get Recount or another addon that calculates DPS and can show you how you're actually performing in combat. I like Recount because I can go in and see if I'm missing, what spells are doing the most damage, etc.
Mentoring is also good way to quickly identify what areas you can improve in, and if you can get the kind of quality help that our guild The Risen offers on Thorium Brotherhood, you should definitely stick with your guild.
My wife has been a warlock since she first started playing WoW (and I mistakenly said "Well, they're a little advanced, I don't know if you'd like it..."), but she realized after downloading Recount how far down on the DPS charts in our last Naxx raid she was (around 1200 DPS, while everyone else was getting around 2800, 3000). She went to our top warlock in the guild, who shared some macros with her to make the best use of her trinkets, watched her rotation on a combat dummy and offered tips, then even made some very nice Tailoring gear for her to improve her major stats. The next run, she jumped up the charts to around 2100 DPS.
Good luck to you!
Vinna May 18th 2009 2:34PM
It may or may not.
Now, if the guild is fully concentration on Ulduar, and not still running Naxx and such, they probably are. As you do need to move through that progression. If they are still running naxx and such, even on alt runs and you can get into those runs and help gear yourself they probably aren't holding you back.
Finding a guild thats a right fit for you can be difficult. It does seem natural to just go to a guild where you have family or real life friends.
Sounds like your brothers guild is a progression based raiding guild, as someone pretty new to the game, that just might not be for you. If you remain there with your brother you may just be labled a "friends and family" or "social" member forever.
While my main is ally, near the end of BC I had a friend encourage me to roll a horde toon, and put me in the guild he was in, which was one of the top progression based guilds on our server. While I am an experienced raider, I wasn't ever that hardcore and was way below the gear curve to really do anything at all with that guild. I later left and went to another friends horde guild, that wasn't anywhere near as progressed, but a much better fit for me, and I am getting to participate and actually advance my toon, and have a good time doing it.
Ultimately, find a guild that suits you, your experience, gear, and mind set towards the game, You'll have a lot more fun and get to see alot more content that way.
Wil May 19th 2009 6:23AM
I do know what you mean by being labeled as a "friends and family" or "social" guild member. That was really one of my concerns when I first joined. I really wanted to pull my weight, be class-competent and make a real contribution to the guild. Hopefully, in the right environment, I'll be able to do that. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
Wil
Wil May 19th 2009 6:16AM
Hey Guys:
It's the OP here. First off, thank you to Amanda for taking the time to write a reply to my original e-mail. I really didn't expect it to turn into a "Dear Abby" thing, but I sure do appreciate the advice and comments that you all have left. I'm sure that there are other people out there in similar situations that will find this information very useful.
After some deliberation, I spoke to my brother and told him that I would like to find another guild, perhaps one that would be, like one of the readers put it, "a better fit" for me. He told me he understood, and after a brief note of thanks to everyone in /g, I left.
I'm sure it's best in the long run, and taking all the advice you've all left for me, I'm sure I'll be able to find a new home soon enough. Perhaps, I can keep y'all posted. Thanks again, everyone!
Cheers,
Wil
Atheris
Dath'Remar