Breakfast Topic: The kill shot and other boss downing traditions
by Brian Cutaia 
Feb 21st 2011 at 8:00AM
So, you and your guildies have been waiting for this moment for months. You've leveled up together and run heroics until the sound of Ozruk's voice was haunting your every dream. You took all that fancy blue gear, watched some videos and made a couple nights of attempts. Now you stand at the body of some freshly killed behemoth wondering exactly what the hell a worm was doing with a fancy pair of pants (It's because he's jealous of your legs -- classic Little Mermaid syndrome.) Congratulations!
Once all the purple pieces have been passed out, though, it's time to memorialize the occasion. Guilds have long participated in the time-honored tradition of posing for screenshots after they down raid bosses for the first time. If you need further proof of this phenomena, simply do a Google image search of any current tier raid boss, and you'll be assaulted with pictures of avatars, standing together proudly.
Something else you notice about these pictures, though, is that they can be -- let's face it -- kind of boring. Personally, I've seen enough boss kill screenshots to last a lifetime, so when my guild succeeds in killing something new, I don't even take one. Instead, my wife mocks up a Photoshop like the one above to commemorate each victory. It's silly, but it gives us something to look forward to as we progress.
Does your guild take screenshots of first kills, or do you document the occasion in some other way? Perhaps you write an exciting RP blog entry recounting your band of heroes' legendary triumph? If you do take the tried-and-true screencap, what does your character do to shake things up? Extra points if you always pop a sandbox tiger and ride it in furbolg form!
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
cmichaelcooper Feb 21st 2011 8:06AM
I am in a guild of minstrels, and every time we down a new raid boss we get our lutes and lyres and we compose a heroic ballad recounting our exploits.
MattKrotzer Feb 21st 2011 8:07AM
My guild does kill screenshots just to toss up on our website.
The first thing I always do though, regardless of whether it's Josin, my prot warrior or Dalrick, my gnome rogue, is move out of the way of falling bosses. For some reason, I go out of my way to avoid being squished beneath them.
Steve Feb 21st 2011 8:08AM
Back in Wrath we had forgotten to take a SS of our Anub kill, so one of our more insane officers decided to make his own with MSPaint. It started a short lived, but awesome trend of creating our own kill shots. So much more fun than the real thing and really showed the personality of our guild. Unfortunately most of the people involved in getting that done have since retired from raiding, but it was a blast while it lasted.
Here are some of my favorites:
http://fal.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3396411&gid=38784
http://fal.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3561801&gid=38784
http://fal.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3418712&gid=38784
Pugnus Feb 21st 2011 9:08AM
That 1st SS is pure win.
(cutaia) Feb 21st 2011 11:05AM
Oh man...all three of those are great. :D
naughtyzoot Feb 21st 2011 1:56PM
Love the 3rd one for obvious reasons :D
flawless Feb 21st 2011 8:10AM
Usually my guilds killshots are a pretty standard affair - when they get posted to our news page, however, theres always a humorous title or comment, like a Team Rocket reference for Valiona & Theralion (seriously, they're only missing Meowth).
Justin.trivitt Feb 21st 2011 11:34AM
How about Megatron and Starscream?
Kinka Feb 21st 2011 8:12AM
Love that picture. I can imagine him saying
"The heavens burn!"
in Barney's voice.
Marzim Feb 21st 2011 8:16AM
We just do a normal boring ss with us and the boss and a logo. Forum is down for Maintenance atm so can't post one of them right now. But we always try and make a really bad pun for every boss, e.g Sending Cho'Gal to the eye-see-you.
mibu.work1 Feb 21st 2011 3:38PM
we have a tradition of having everyone who is still up popping every speed boost we have, gathering up in front of the boss, and taking the picture before they hit the ground.
Chucks Feb 21st 2011 8:19AM
I can't stop laughing at the Barney picture.
MusedMoose Feb 21st 2011 8:19AM
If I'm ever present for a screenshot-worthy kill with my guild, I'll see if I can get everyone to stand in happy-face formation.
"Okay, both tanks for the eyes. Healers, I want you two as the corners of the mouth. DPS, fill in the smile between them..."
Shrikesnest Feb 21st 2011 12:18PM
...
"And I'll form the head!"
cyanea85 Feb 21st 2011 8:20AM
I like taking my guild killshots and looking at them a few years later. I've been raiding with roughly the same 7-8 people for the past few years, so it's cool to see how we've changed. We went Alliance to Horde, changed servers, changed guilds, changed races, mixed up our usual rotation, changed mains. I find that kinda stuff interesting.
Blayze Feb 21st 2011 8:39AM
If it's a dragon, expect our Rogue to skin it before the shot can be taken. :)
Drakkenfyre Feb 21st 2011 8:43AM
I thought the guild pic with everyone on Sandbox Tigers was funny.
Zippö Feb 21st 2011 8:56AM
i started raiding again in cata just 2 weeks back, starting with blackwingdescent.
defense system was a real pain in the ass last night, and after that we were all motivated despite the time it took, so we downed the upcoming trash, looted 2 epics, and the tried to get the trash before maloriak down, but it ended in a completly uncoordinated wipe, with our shammy kiteng the mobs in wolf form several times around the whole room right down the elevator, just to find out that mobs can ride an elevator as well xD
the trash got the nickname hooligans, and the teamspeak was full of laughing roars and the like.
so, after we decided the trash had to be taken more serious and on another night, we rowed up for our completion of a raid night: we all go and take a bath in the lava. no screenshots, nothing, just dumb suicide^^
Abedabun Feb 21st 2011 11:24AM
That lift is epic.
"They're coming up the lift..."
"What do you mean, they're coming up?! AAAAAaaaaaa....."
(cutaia) Feb 21st 2011 11:51AM
I love when wipes get hilarious. It makes it worth the repair bills.