Breakfast Topic: Earning your stripes
by Owen Welsh 
Aug 9th 2010 at 8:00AM
A friend of mine and I were once playing Rock Band (don't worry, I will relate this to WoW soon), and he complained that he wasn't doing so well. Granted, he's much better than most players, but he was struggling to play a moderately difficult song on the expert difficulty (the hardest difficulty in the game). He later revealed to me that the reason he was lamenting his "lack" of skill was that he used to be much better -- so much better, in fact, that he once beat the infamous "Through the Fire and Flames" on expert in Guitar Hero III.
For those who don't know, "Through the Fire and Flames" is generally agreed to be the hardest song in any guitar-based rhythm game, demanding complex techniques that no other song in the series requires. In response to this revelation on his part, I said to him, "No matter how bad you may think you are now, beating 'Through the Fire and Flames' gives you the life-long right to retire from the game without losing any of your former glory in the process." And I believe that. No matter how much his skill may atrophy, beating "Through the Fire and Flames" on expert means he will always be worthy of respect in the Guitar Hero/Rock Band community, or at least always worthy of my respect.
This conversation made me wonder; are there any achievements in WoW that bestow similar prestige? In my own mind, anyone who got Grand Marshal/High Warlord under the old PvP system is deserving of this kind of respect. I would also like to think that What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been would carry similar meaning, but that may just be me trying to think that my Violet Proto-Drake is more impressive than it really is. As for Insane in the Membrane, though I've never met anyone who has done it, I imagine that rather than respecting him, I might just think him very worthy of the title.
Are there any achievements in WoW that grant immediate and everlasting respect to the person who has achieved them? Or do you feel that players always needs to prove themselves, past accomplishments be damned? Which achievements give you this kind of eternal respect for a player? And if besting the game's hardest challenges doesn't give you eternal respect for a player, what will?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Ozzard Aug 9th 2010 8:04AM
I have eternal respect for anyone who has managed (led or been an officer in) a guild for an extended time, keeping the drama under control and keeping the guild successful. There's no title for it, but kudos to them.
cedric.roland Aug 9th 2010 8:26AM
Hell YEAH! (Copy paste that on your text editor, Size 120 and bright red, and you'll get a rough idea)
I've only been in that game for two years, and I've learned that *ANY* guild leader that lasted more than a couple of months is worth your respect. When they talk about herding cats - they MEAN it.
Anathemys Aug 9th 2010 9:32AM
Herding cats has got nothing on leading a guild, IMHO.
Joey Aug 9th 2010 2:19PM
My wife and I ran a guild for several years (about 100 active players, 300+ toons). At the time we thought it was fun and we certainly made a lot of friends in the process. However, looking back, it was really just a constant source of stress. Overseeing arguments, guild breakups, unsuccessful mergers, bank theft and so on were just a few of our daily activities. Raiding and progression? Forget about it. We hardly had time to do it ourselves.
These days we're lowly members of another guild and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. No responsibilities, just fun. It's what a game should be. That said, I do have an extensive admiration for anyone out there that's still in the trenches. I know personally, I'd rather work a second job than manage another guild.
MrLee Aug 9th 2010 3:50PM
Actually this is probably the only one and there is no marked achievement or 'proof' of it as such, other than the guild members themselves which of course is better than any point value listed in a menu.
Pretty much any other 'achievement' or thing you can get/do in the game just relies on putting in an a large amount of time. Nothing much is skill based really, it's just have you got the time and inclination to do it.
nocama Aug 9th 2010 8:07AM
Go Helcy, give draka the press it needs! lol
Scornax Aug 9th 2010 8:07AM
I would have to say anyone who has a legendary earns my respect, not just fo the rng nightmare that's usually involved,but for the skill required(atleast for the current ones)aswell.
Jass Aug 9th 2010 3:05PM
Considering how many people get their legendary (which the whole guild has to work toward for them) and then immediately gquit and move on to a guild with further progression, I have yet to meet a player with Shadowmourne that I can respect.
Meg Aug 9th 2010 5:55PM
Everyone on my server with a Smourne has stayed in their respective guilds. *shrug* It's very sad that people on your server are less honest/loyal.
Turande Aug 9th 2010 8:09AM
I used to have alot of respect for the person with "the Scarab Lord" at least on my server.
But that no longer is the case because people transfer to a new realm just to get that one at higher levels.
Sad though, because that was the most prestige title anyone could ever get back in Vanilla WoW. Because it involved real dedication from an entire guild.
Kemikalkadet Aug 9th 2010 9:27AM
The gates are already open on every new realm, it's been the case since TBC. The only way to have got the title is to have done it in the actual event in Vanilla. Possibly some new servers had the gates closed post patch 1.11, but that would be early TBC at the latest. Scarab lord and the black bug have been unavailable for quite a few years now.
whalt Aug 9th 2010 9:28AM
Players haven't been able to transfer to new realms and get the Scarab Lord title for some time now. All new realms have the AQ gates already opened so there will be no more Scarab Lords. And getting the title of Scarab Lord didn't just require the dedication of the guild, it required the dedication of the ENTIRE SERVER to collect boatloads of materials of all levels.
paul Aug 9th 2010 10:55AM
Event was completed on new servers as late as early WOTLK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTLqzufgfHM
Tbah Aug 9th 2010 1:21PM
... and later they started making servers with the gates open.
Kemikalkadet Aug 9th 2010 3:03PM
@Paul.
That was a bug that happened with the 3.0 patch. Certain servers gates closed with the patch and anyone that had the sceptre sitting around in their bank could bang the gong and get the title/mount. It was fixed soon after and the titles etc. were stripped from the people that got them.
Kalerender Aug 9th 2010 6:17PM
@Kemi - That isn't correct. I got mine with 3.0 along with about 13 others on the Thaurissan server. Mine is still very shiny and black and makes people go 'zomg'.
BenMS Aug 9th 2010 8:10AM
Anyone who is titled as The Light of Dawn. The best guild on my server (Dragonblight-US) spent more than three months at 11/12 and when they got the kill there was the most amazing amount of rejoicing. And looking at any decent guild progress website will show you that with less than four hundred guilds world wide having killed him, it is truly an in-game achievement to be proud of, and to separate the best of the best from the rest of us.
WoWRozz Aug 9th 2010 10:44AM
And then Exodus and Reconking throw it in our faces by joining and making Ruin
To Stay on Topic: Ligh to Dawn, Bane of the Falllen King, any old PvP title, Insane, Hand of A'dal ex. Are the Titles that i think mean the most and show how good of a player you are( or atleast how much time you have on your hands)
blizzardsprules Aug 9th 2010 11:45AM
A tribute to immortality, A tribute to dedicated insanity and herald of the titans are respectful achievements in my mind, because it shows that people do not need to outgear encounters to overcome some of the most difficult encounters in the game, proving gearscore is useless, since people can do encounters that are hard for people in ICC25 HC gear in Ulduar 10 gear
Jamie Aug 9th 2010 8:10AM
I'm not so much into achievement culture that has swept WoW since Wrath's pre-launch, I think it's nice that people go for large achievement scores and all the more power to them for playing another meta game in the overall scheme of things.
I initially was quite into achievements, I've done World Explorer a couple of times but that was really the end of it and yes I rushed to get the "Timear Forsees" achievemnt before the poor seer's powers were stripped of him.
When it comes to achievements there are only a few I consider worthwhile anyone who has taken the time to do "Insane in the Membrane" or get the hard mode achievements should get some props (hah... I said "props").
But doing a complete u-turn these achievements are achieved through a rather meticulous route, perhaps the most worthy achievements are those which mean the most to the player or raid because of a memory of "how damn hard was that fight, right?" in progression guides - sure we could all hope to be heroic glory raiders but success and achievement are only on the magnitude level of the experiences in which were gained to achieve them in the first place.
Oh and if you were to ask me my favourite achievement? Argent Dawn Tabard, enough said!
By the Light, brothers & sisters!