Officers' Quarters: Patch 3.3 -- An officer's perspective
by Scott Andrews 
Nov 9th 2009 at 12:50PM
Much as I've done with Patch 3.2 and other major patches in the past, I'd like to examine what 3.3 will mean for officers. All major patches require some forethought and adjustment, and this one just happens to be a doozy!
Icecrown Citadel
The ultimate raid of this expansion, Icecrown Citadel is poised to be one of the most exciting raids that Blizzard has ever released. As such, I can virtually guarantee you'll have long-lost players coming out of the woodwork to get back into the raiding scene for a chance to face off with the Lich King. Make sure you review your guild's policies for inviting players to raids to make sure that slots will be awarded in a way that's as fair as possible while still giving your raid a solid chance at success.
One debate that's sure to rage among officers and raid leaders this time around is whether to extend lockouts until you beat the zone and unlock the hard mode toggle or to reset the instance each week to farm the early bosses. I'm still not sure how my guild is going to handle this. It will certainly depend on how quickly we can clear those first bosses and which bosses present more of a roadblock. If we're clearing quickly, we'll probably keep going until we hit a boss we can't beat. Then we'll reset and farm up more loot and Frost Badges.
Frost Badges and Raiding Quests
Just like with Triumph badges now, everyone will want to stock up on these come 3.3. Prepare for a new round of enthusiasm for Heroic dailies.
Remember, also, that 3.3 will introduce weekly raiding quests that reward 10 Frost Badges. The targets are Sartharion, Malygos, Noth, Razuvious, Patchwerk, Flame Leviathan, Razorscale, Ignis, XT-002, Jaraxxus, Anub'Rekhan, and Icecrown's first boss, Marrowgar.
I take issue with Marrowgar being included on this list. If you've cleared him and you don't want to reset Icecrown that week, then you can't complete the quest. The other bosses,
Looking for Group
Welcome back, LFG channel! Hopefully we raid leaders catch on and leave the overtaxed Trade channel alone. With the new LFG interface and cross-server instancing, filling those last slots for raids and Heroics should be easier than ever before. If your guild needs to recruit players, these tools should be a big help in finding people to fill out a group who might be interested in joining your guild afterward. You can even recruit players from other servers this way, if they're willing to pay for the transfer. Just remember: poaching is wrong!
The new system includes a Vote Kick feature. It will no longer be the sole realm of the raid or party leader to decide who's not cutting the mustard. I'm not sure if the leader can also be kicked this way, but please treat your raid or party members with respect and courtesy regardless.
Shorter Cooldowns
Sick of waiting for Rebirth to be available before you try hard mode Anub again? Apparently Blizzard is, too. Many class abilities frequently used in raids are getting a shorter cooldown. The list includes the aforementioned "battle rez," Tranquility, Army of the Dead, Divine Intervention, Divine Hymn, Earth and Fire Elemental Totems, Reincarnation, and Soulstone.
For hard mode fights in particular, it will be reassuring to know that almost all class abilities will be active for every attempt. That will lead to less guesswork in combat and less waiting around between attempts (especially in attempt-limited Coliseum hard modes). Thank you, Blizzard!
Another Legendary
Not much is known about how we'll obtain Shadowmourne at this point, although some associated quests have been discovered (link = spoilers!). One thing is certain, however: This item will cause drama, somehow, somewhere. Don't let your guild succumb to the allure of orange pixels. However this weapon is obtained, use common sense and fairness to decide who should receive it. Communicate your plan ahead of time so that no one is surprised when the first critical item drops. Don't let your guild become the next Vicarious.
Gearing Up Guildies
Post 3.3, gearing up your guildmates will be easier than it's ever been in the lifetime of the game. You'll have Triumph Badges dropping from every boss and Frost Badges from dailies. Then you'll have the three new Icecrown dungeons that will drop Coliseum-level gear. And, of course, Trial of the Champion isn't going anywhere, either. Its items are Ulduar-level gear, but they still beat what drops in other Heroics by a long shot. Runed Orbs and Crusader Orbs should plummet in price, making crafting those items much more affordable. Let's not forget the as-yet-unknown Quel'Delar quest line reward, too! If you're really bored, you will be able to teleport directly to Sapphiron's chamber for a few easy drops. Finally, all of Wrath's factions, especially the despised Sons of Hodir, will have faster reputation gains.
With some luck from our old friend RNG, a player will be able to go from mostly quest greens to mostly epics in a matter of days. Of course, they'll still need more loot to optimize their gear set and work their way up to Icecrown-worthy stats, but it's still way faster than it was to upgrade from greens to epics via Karazhan runs and Badges of Justice back in the day.
Odds and Ends
- Gathering guild members around the world will be much easier now that meeting stones will be usable on any player over level 15. I can only assume this is a godsend for RP guilds.
- Players that are level 10 or below can no longer join raids. If you're planning any guild events that involve level 1 toons, you'll have to either use voice chat, create your own chat channel, or invite them all to your guild in order to communicate.
- The new fishing derby is Wednesday at 8 p.m. If your raids normally begin at 8, and if the derby only take a few minutes to win or lose, you might consider delaying the start for 10 minutes to allow players to participate.
/salute
Send Scott your guild-related questions, conundrums, ideas, and suggestions at scott.andrews@weblogsinc.com. You may find your question the subject of next week's Officers' Quarters!Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lowangel Nov 9th 2009 1:09PM
As a raid lead, I don't bring people who don't do the work, if your not willing to get the gear now in 3.2 get your badges to get T9. You have no place in Icecrown. Hardcore raiders have to grind to get the dances down, not to babysit ya and gear ya up now you decided to show interest. As always it will come down to raid needs, so expectations will be made, but personally farming toc after 3.3 comes out to gear the folks that should have been gear will add raiding to your week (3 or 4 days can be to much already for folks)
As for raid extention, it's really holds raiding teams back in early progression. You need that gear, and you need the practice. The Uld team I run with is just now using the extention for Yogg, because we farmed every piece of gear there is, there are no longer upgrades, just that final kill. Forget it exist until your to this point, probably won't be a option with icecrown, it's a whole new amount of maddness.
Low
PeeWee Nov 9th 2009 3:04PM
You've farmed Uld so much there are not a single upgrade left, and you haven't managed to kill Yogg? Maybe IC isn't for you just yet.
Angrycelt Nov 9th 2009 1:13PM
Fortunately, months of ToC/Ony/Ulduar have given my guild it's standard raiding roster. We've had a few people who went into semi-retirement say they're coming back for Arthas, but they've already been told if they're not back in raiding condition, they'll be on the "round 2" list.
We're also going to probably continue on our Ulduar pattern of go as far as you can, then reset the next week so we get the fights down. We're a damned fine raiding guild, but we're not in any hurry for raid "firsties".
Sigmanine Nov 9th 2009 2:25PM
I concur. We have two tanks in 5 or more peices of 258 gear, who decided to "take a break" until Arthas. I predict incoming drama.
catharsis80 Nov 9th 2009 1:21PM
There is nothing I am looking forward to more than the new LFG system. Leveling an alt will be great. We all know what a PAIN it is to find people to do low level instances.
Valt Nov 9th 2009 1:22PM
One thing is for sure. If you drag yer maintanks and/or healers thro heroics all day long to gear alts, mains, freshmans, peoples moms and their alts they are gonna get burnout and start slacking or even skipping raids just to get break. Dont do it.
Let alts do the gearing up alone or with another alts with LFG system..mmkay?
Elionene Nov 9th 2009 1:33PM
"The other bosses, with the exception of Anub'Rekhan, should constitute quick 10- to 15-minute clears of bosses that you wouldn't ordinarily go after."
Not sure why Anub'Rekhan would take any longer. He's the first boss of the Spider wing in Naxx. Are you confusing him with Anub'arak at the end of Coliseum?
Any I'm definitely looking forward to Icecrown. Our guild is in the pre-patch slump. Our drive to do the current content is waning while we look expectantly towards the near future. Hopefully, through the new dungeons and emblems, we'll be able to keep our raid roster full of regulars and standbys. I intend to do like you said. We'll extend the lockout until we hit a gear wall, and then we'll reset for more loot.
Dave Nov 9th 2009 3:01PM
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about Anub being the show-stopper. There are all of
three trash pulls before him. If anything, Sarth is going to be the
worst slog. And even then not so bad. As we were doing it last night, I noticed it took us six minutes from the first pull to starting the last. So even that won't be too bad.
As for Icerown... I could give it a little more time. We've got three hard modes left in Uld that I'd really like to finish up, and I guess there's Heroic ToC, but I don't like that very much. I could stand another two months before 3.3.
Scott Andrews Nov 9th 2009 3:24PM
You're right, Elionene. I did completely confuse the two Anubs. Duh.
Uriahworld Nov 9th 2009 1:49PM
As a current leader in my 10-man progression guild, it's sad that we will not see the (a) Legendary still but we're looking forward to the new content. Playing catch up right now with Ulduar hard modes and heroic ToGC before 3.3.
Jon Nov 9th 2009 2:27PM
Yeah, shame :(
Como Nov 9th 2009 2:17PM
Welcome back, LFG channel! Hopefully we raid leaders catch on and leave the overtaxed Trade channel alone. With the new LFG interface and cross-server instancing, filling those last slots for raids and Heroics should be easier than ever before.
Uhh, unless I missed something recently the new LFG doesn't work for raids at all? Let me know if I'm mistaken but I'm pretty sure you also can't vote kick out people of raids because of this.
Como Nov 9th 2009 2:19PM
Editing comments would be cool in case you miss something like "quotes" lol. Just a suggestion!
Gimmlette Nov 9th 2009 2:36PM
Meeting stones being useful to all.
We're working through all 5-man content for those who don't have those achievements and want to see places before the world changes. It's a long ride from Southshore to Shadowfang even on your fastest mount.
And for people who want to complete old quests, such as the ones that run through Scholomance and you don't have a key? "Hang on, Myrtle! Ima comin'" when there's a stone standing there, mocking you.
cremebrulee Nov 9th 2009 2:59PM
That picture made me think of something for guild halls: let them be airships.
Aurodanda Nov 9th 2009 4:30PM
comical nerd rage incoming.
WhAt TH3 F*** -50DKP M1NuS F0R 5T0Pp1NG ALL tH0UgHT5 0F Lvl 1 H0gG3r RA1DZ! !!1!!!!11!!
nerd rage over.
ShadowEric Nov 9th 2009 7:04PM
So Scott, if you go to this post: http://www.wow.com/2009/10/02/patch-3-3-ptr-new-weekly-quests-to-do-while-raiding/ (which you linked above), then click on each quest link, you're sent to mmo-champion's database. And there you discover that the rewards for those weekly raid quests are now 5 Emblems of Forst and 5 Emblems of Triumph, instead of 10 of Frost. Just thought I'd point that out, as I haven't seen any website report on the change yet.