As expected, our team raiding schedule had a bit of a rocky start.  Partially due to low website activity (though it has been busier recently by far), and partially due to a large number of vacations this week, we only managed to pull in 21 last night.  However, those 21 managed to rock ICC, working our way up to Saurfang with several impressive kills.  We almost took down Saurfang as well (had him at 2%), but we simply needed one more dps.

For last night, attendence was not counted, since it was a brand new pattern and schedule.  However, the 10-man rosters moving forward will be counting attendence, and the 25-man team on next Tuesday is considered mandatory.  Please coordinate with your Team Captain, raid schedules are already being finalized, to make sure you can meet your commitments, or be prepared to lose your slots on the teams.

One slight change to the 25-man schedule.  I had mentioned before that VOA and the weekly raid was self-paced now, and would not be done in teams.  We will be doing VOA-25 when available on each 25-man raid night.  As such, please avoid VOA-25 for at least Tuesday.  After the 25-man raid, you are welcome to do it.  The weekly raid remains self-paced, until the 10-man teams decide to coordinate as well.

The preliminary rosters for the 10-man and 25-man teams have been posted, as follows:

Team Winterhoof (10-man)
Team Undermine (10-man)
Team Trollbane (10-man)
Team Juggernauts (25-man)

You can also reference the Guild Roster, for a more overall picture, though it doesnt reflect the 25-man team.

There will be a weekly raid of 25-man ICC with Team Juggernauts, each week on Tuesdays at 8 PM server.  As it becomes necessary, we will extend it to Wednesday as well.

The 10-man team schedule will be determined by the team itself, there is no current fixed schedule.  Each 10-man team will determine their own raid plans, in order to meet the goals of the guild.  This includes at least one hour or more of practise (or the defeat of) the Guild's 25-man Target (Currently Rotface).  Please contact your respective Team Captain as soon as possible to start working out your raid schedule.

As I have stated a few times already, these teams are the best effort we could come up with.  They will not satisfy everyone, and there will no doubt be a few disagreements.  However, for a 30-man raid team, it was the best overall compromise we could come up with.  In the case of Team Winterhoof, they have declared a goal of finishing all of ICC-10 within 2 weeks, at which point they will likely be broken up in order to share the experience and training with the other teams.

If you are unable to meet the requirements, and/or wish to transfer teams, please contact your respective Team Captain.  If you are not on the rosters, and feel that you should be, be aware that there is limited space.  Priority was given to those who have shown a history of attendence and willingness to sacrifice for the guild (including multiple wipes on nights without loot).

Finally, there will be some changes to the lists over the first week or two, as we adjust to actual schedules and availability, and as we discover that some are unable to reliably show up.

Right now, everyone with a raid slot is guaranteed a slot on the run, until such time as you fail to show up.  At that point, your slot will be given to someone else, and you will be moved to standby.

The only exception to this is the current 25-man team, which actually has 26 names.  1 of the excess DPS will not be able to get a slot, we simply could not decide who would get the short straw.  As such, a failure to show up on the first night without warning, will immediately nominate you for that role.  Otherwise, we will ask for a volunteer, and only then, if needed, roll off.

All guild members that are not on an active raiding team are eligable to fill in on ANY run at any time, without committment to a minimum number of runs per week.

I have adjusted and modified the guild Rules and Ranks descriptions to fall in line with our new policies and approaches.  Be sure to at least glance over them, if you havent been keeping up to date, so that you are not caught off guard.

The most important piece to note, especially with the 10-mans, is that attendence is mandatory, not optional now.  As long as you show up for each run, you maintain your slot.  Failure to show up will forfeit your slot to the next eligable member.  25-man raid nights will be on a fixed schedule (currently Tuesdays of each week), and 10-man teams will create their own schedule to match the team makeup (typically 2 nights per week), so meeting the schedule should not be that difficult for most.

Those who are unable to maintain their team slot are certainly able to fill in on a case by case basis, as space becomes available.  No one will be dropped from the guild for failure to raid, there is no minimum requirement for the guild any longer.

With the new strategy of the guild, there has been a lot of questions and curiosity about the new team rosters for both 10-man and 25-man.  At this stage, we do have the preliminary rosters, but the team leads and officers are going thru a last pass, in case there is any last minute changes.  The finalized lists will be made public last this evening, and the appropriate people assigned in-game to the correct teams.

The raid schedule for this week is as follows:

Tuesday - 25-man dedicated team effort in ICC, 8 PM server until 11 PM server
Wednesday and follows days - 10-man dedicated efforts by team

Please consider VOA and the weekly raid fair game for Pugging and similar activities, it will be up to individuals to find time to run those instances, they will NOT be done as part of the weekly guild raid rotation, unless decided otherwise by your particular 10-man team.

Our goal with the 10-mans is to get as many people involved as possible, as much as possible, thus the creation of 3 teams.  Of those 30 people, 26 have been selected for the weekly 25-man run (obviously, we will be 1 over, speak up if you wish to volunteer to drop, otherwise we will go by attendence and/or random roll).

Although we made every effort to make everyone happy, there will be some disagreements.  If you find yourself not currently on a roster, please be patient.  Most likely, there will be some changes in the first week or two, as we find some unable to meet the schedules.  In addition, ALL guild members are welcome to substitute in on any run that finds itself short, you just need to be online and available at the time.  Finally, if we have an abundance of available members, we have consideration for the formation of a 4th, 5th or more additional teams, we simply need additional Team Captains.

As described in my posting on the various changes coming thru, we are looking for 1 or 2 dedicated and motivated Team Captains, to help head up the 10-man team effort.  In addition to the benefit of having 9 other raiders hanging on your every word, the job comes with greater reward from the guild, in the form of a substantial increase in your repair fund, and input and involvement in guild Officer decisions.  Team leads are also guaranteed a slot in the 25-man runs, assuming they meet the requirements.  All for the minor cost of attending a 10-man run (you would want anyway) and providing direction as needed.

Deathterror is already one of the team leads, and Snivel is another (at least temporarily).  If you think you can do as good or better of a job than a Druid (we know you can do better than a Warlock), contact Snivel before the end of the weekend.

Update:  Going to gather the Team Leads together on Sunday evening to start formalizing the 3 10-man teams.  Consider that the deadline for your feedback on the site, both for your availability and for your interest in being a Team Captain.  This should give us enough time to fill any gaps, and get the organized raid schedule started in time for Tuesday.  Team Captains, watch for a raid invite ingame on the calendar.

This is a reminder, due to numerous planned absences, and the many changes happening in the guild currently, there will be no planned 25-man run on Thursday, March 4.  Stay tuned for the new raid schedule, which should be finalized over the weekend.  The expectation is that we will have a 25-man run as normal on Tuesday, March 9, but that may still change.

As part of the restructuring, I will be rolling out the new ranks today.  As always, no cause for alarm, no one is being demoted as such.  The large majority of the guild is being set for the "Member" rank (ie, you are an active member in good standing).  There will remain a few officers, there wont be any change there, but we are still looking for a volunteer or two for Team Captains.

Once we finalize the 10-man teams, those appropriate will be set for those ranks, which will in turn unlock the repair funds, etc.  If you haven't yet posted on the forum, please do so before this weekend.

As announced last night, Daodanmai is moving on from the guild, in order to refocus on real-life and his other responsibilities.  In return, Snivel (ie, me) will be resuming my prior role as the guild lead.  For those newer to the guild, I was the guild lead from way back when (from approximately 1 month after Kael'thas opened, thru Stargazers, Infinity, and eventually Juggernauts), who had similarly transferred it to Daodanmai late last year when Morggan and I retired as well.  Place your bets now on how long you expect Dao's hiatus to last as well.

With leadership change comes guild change, and this time is no exception.  My several months as a member instead of a guild lead has allowed me time to look at things from a different perspective, hopefully for the better.  As such, I see several areas in which we will be making modifications to the guild.

The first easy one is a re-attunement of the website.  As always, everyone is required to be registered and using the website.  We use it extensively to share news and announcements, and to discuss topics and tactics.  Failure to read the website is not an excuse, if it is announced on the site, you are assumed to be informed.  This goes for all news and announcements, including the new changes.  Ideally, you will join in on conversations and discussions, and provide feedback, but at a minimum, check for the latest news.

With that said, I will refer you to the Planned Changes Forums Posting, for the remainder of this announcement.  The rest of the plans will be detailed there, so that anyone who wishes can provide feedback.

If you need help with the website, please contact either Snivel or any of the other long term members for assistance.