If you happen to be looking for a new guild, there is a refrain you’ll hear over and over again.  “No drama allowed.”  It seems guilds that are looking for members want to assure people that there won’t be any real conflicts, whining, or general mean-spiritedness within the guild.  This is something that is impossible to guarantee, and also something likely impossible to achieve, but that’s beside the point.  Is it possible that guilds and the people in them actually thrive on guild drama?

Classical Theory of Guild Drama

By the traditional way of looking at things, guild drama is nothing but deadly.  Many a guild has been torn asunder by intense storms of drama.  Big guilds, small guilds, high profile guilds, PvP guilds, you name it, many of them has fallen victim to intense drama.

Therefore, one big job that guilds have undertaken is the avoidance of drama.  Smart guilds have very specific policies to try and quiet arguments.  Very specific loot systems are set up to assure a “fair” distribution of loot.  Many guilds also have detailed interview processes and trial periods before accepting new members.  In the end, all of these serve to keep things peaceful and humming along.

Does that mean there is no place for drama?  Is there any way in which drama can be helpful?

Drama is Essential

Stop and think about this for a second:  where would we be without guild drama?  The various loot systems, for instance, would there be so many detailed systems if everyone automatically “got along?”  People have put a lot of work into various DKP systems to try to make them as fair as possible.  Would they have bothered if everyone could automatically get along?  Probably not.  Are we better for having these systems?  Yes.

Think about your guild message boards for a second, if you have them.  (And if you don’t, why not?)  My guild happens to have a very lively message board.  We talk about all things WoW and a lot of other things besides.  We’ll talk about nearly anything, excepting of course, politics and religion. (Though honestly I’d love it if we did.  I’ll argue anything.  I’m a secularist who supports Obama, if you must know.)

Even our lively message board, though, never gets as “fired up” as it does when there is some kind of drama at hand.  If we start arguing about guild direction, for instance, everyone seems to come out to play.  Lurkers suddenly make their stances known, and the more vocal members go at it in post after post.

This doesn’t mean it gets downright mean, it never does, but our guild “drama” posts are always the most lively.  They bring out the most responses, and guarantee a great deal of guild interaction.  Is that a good thing?  Yes.

Also, let’s face it.  People in some way enjoy guild drama.  Don’t kid yourself.  Some deep, dark part of you just likes it when things get a little heated.  Just look at the way that tales of guild drama spread.  Look at the success of shows like Jerry Springer.  Isn’t that just a different form of guild drama, after all? 

Break it Down to Build it Back Up

Sometimes this is the only way.  Think about it like a house – sometimes you can throw on a new coat of paint and make a few repairs, and it’s as good as new.  Sometimes, though, the studs are rotted out, the ceiling is ready to cave in, and you need to start fresh.  You need to bulldoze the thing to build it stronger than it was before.  The same could be said of guilds and their policies.  Sometimes, it’s necessary to tear the whole thing down to make it anew.  By this I don’t literally disband the guild, but sometimes you just have to throw everything out the window.

What causes that to happen?  A lot of the time it’s guild drama.  Sometimes things just won’t change for the better without vocal dramatists to bring it to the forefront.  There are often very serious issues that linger below the surface, and if you quash all sense of guild drama, you prevent them from surfacing until they get so intense that they tear the guild apart.  Isn’t it better to allow a bit of guild drama to take place once in awhile?

Heck, you could easily argue that the good old US of A was founded on guild drama on a grand scale.

Besides, do you want a Brave New World-esque totalitarian guild where you can’t voice your opinion for fear of rocking the boat?  I sure don’t.  I’m argumentative at heart, and I imagine a lot of other people out there are too!  Isn’t a perfectly peaceful guild just a little…boring?

Conclusion

Guild Drama does serve a purpose, and it does have its place.  That doesn’t mean you need to go all Jerry Springer, but you shouldn’t have an irrational fear of drama either.  Also, any guild that says there is “no drama” is probably lying.  If they haven’t had it yet, they will.  It’s just the way people are.  Eventually someone is going to be unhappy about something, and maybe in the process they can make your guild even better.  The strongest guilds are those that can weather guild drama, and use it to their advantage.  So don’t automatically fear those that might bring a little drama to your guild.  Maybe they just want to make it better for everyone.

With recent developments, and a lack of opportunities for my main, I’ve been working on leveling my Shadow Priest.  (Whether I will stay shadow or go holy at some point is still up in the air…it might be interesting to see healing from another perspective, but I already HAVE a healer.)  I hadn’t really played him that much in a bit, and he was level 52 when I started off in earnest again.

Now, when it comes to content, I have oodles of experience with levels 1-40.  I’ve taken every path imaginable to get a character to 40, so I’m well familiar with all the different zones, and what my options are at each progression level.  I also have plenty of experience with the BC 60+ content, I’ve run it with two different characters, and due to the way the Outlands are set up, there isn’t a WHOLE lot of variation to be had.

When it comes to content from about 40 to 60, though, I’m a bit hazy.  I went through it all with my Hunter, as he hit 60 LONG before BC, but with my druid I pretty much blew through it as quickly as possible and hit the Outlands at 58, never looking back.

Now I find myself at 52, and exploring this old content that at this point still seems quite new.  I spent some time in Un’Goro Crater, which is a pretty nice zone, though a little too spread out, and that dang elite Dino is still a pain in my arse.  Why didn’t Blizzard un-elite him?

Next I headed out to the Western Plaguelands.  I did all the quests in Chillwind, got an epic drop from a ghoul ([Wall of the Dead]) and headed on to the Eastern Plaguelands.

I quickly realized something.  I had never really been there before.  Sure, I had grabbed the FP in Light’s Hope with my hunter back in the day, but that’s about it.  Looking back I realized that I dinged 60 in Western Plaguelands, and after that went right to nothing but instance runs and MC.

How exciting was this?  The lay of the land was new to me, the music was new to me, I hadn’t ever done any of the quests.  Wahoo!

So I wandered around, being a bit more of an explorer than usual, found a nice little quest for a ghostly girl which I knocked out pretty quickly.  (I really like all the haunted and monster ridden towns in this area, and how basically everything is not quite right.  I’ve always been a fan of horror movies (the classics) and this was right up my alley.)  I got myself to LHC, and basically found out that everything else was too tough for my level 55 behind, and there wasn’t anything to do.  Bummer.

This, I realize, is where the old world content fails.  The progression curve is not NEARLY as well defined as in the BC content.  In BC you can pretty logically go to the next adjoining zone when you’ve exhausted the quests in the present zone, and you’ll then quickly find a bevvy of new quests for your enjoyment.

Now, however, in order to progress I had to think about things.  So, I took a look at the other zones that should be good for me.  Winterspring sounded good, as I had a couple continuations from Un’Goro that led there, but then I’d have to get my butt all the way to the other continent, work my way through Felwood, and then have to get my Timbermaw reputation sorted to get through the cave.  I could also head to Silithus, but I never really liked that zone.  Too desert-y, and also on the other side of the world.

No fun.  None at all.

And that is the other failing I found – stuff is just too darned spread out.  It’s nice to have “options” as far as different zones to level in, but it’s irritating that they are so far afield.  The added irritation is that I soon found out that I didn’t even have the Astranaar flight path, so I had to hoof it all the way from darkshore, through Astranaar, and then up to Felwood.

Oh, bother.

It makes me wish Blizz had revamped more of the old world content than for the 35-45 range, but oh well.  It goes to show how much Blizzard learned about what worked and what didn’t.  In the Outlands you still have options, you just don’t have to go out of your way to take them.  While I WAS planning to squeeze as much out of the old world as possible, now I’m not so sure.  It might be hit 58 and hit the portal again for me.  We’ll see.

As it is, I’m at least enjoying myself.  it’s interesting to honestly be on the trek to 70 again, as once you hit your mid-50s I figure you’re fairly dedicated to hit the max level again.  I have a number of low 40s that I grew tired of, but if I get this far, chances are I’m going all the way.  Now I just have to think about what to do when I get there…melt faces, or heal the masses?

Right now I am in the process of trying to decide whether or not to switch servers.  That’s the short version.  What follows is the long – and long is what I mean, so read on if you dare.

The possibility of me leaving my server doesn’t have anything to do with guild drama or anything like that.  It doesn’t even have anything to do with my recent posts about WoW apathy.  (And there is certainly plenty of that to go around!)  When you get down to brass tacks, it hinges on one issue, albeit a major one:  playtime.

I have been a member of my guild for about 5 years.  Yes, I have been in this guild since BEFORE WoW was even released, I began playing with them in that tank of an MMORPG, Horizons.  (Ugh!  Double UGH!)  It’s an old, tight-knit guild whose history goes beyond even that, they began life in good old Asheron’s Call.  (If you must know, it’s the guild that was formed by Faile Bashere, and if you spent any time in AC during its heyday, you probably know who that is.)

Anyhow, I have been with them a very long time, and they have almost everything I want in a guild.  They are all mature players, and have moved from game to game over the years, and they have a nice balance of a casual, family feel and enough raiders to keep me happy.  I love them, I really do.  The problem is, I hardly ever get to really PLAY with them.

Part of being the “Part Time Druid” is playing part time hours.  I log on around 9-10pm GT, and by that time most of my guild events are long since over.  I’ve only been able to participate in a dozen or so guild events in the last year, and have actually spent more time in our alliance events than strict guild events.  I just flat out can’t often log on at 7 pm GT, which is around the time most things start.  I have a family, and I cannot sacrifice very much, if any, quality family time for a bunch of ones and zeroes over the internet.

Now, another part of being the “Part Time Druid” is that I’ve recently gained a number of NEW WoW friends.  I’ve met a lot of other WoW bloggers through the wonders of Blog Azeroth and my ungodly long list of Google reader blogs.  I spend a good part of most days hanging out in a Blog Azeroth chatroom, chatting about everything WoW (and a lot of things non-WoW.)

Anyway, through this new bit of networking, I found what could be a very nice new home.  It turns out that Fimlys of Asleep at the WoW and Twisted Nether fame is in  a guild that happens to be west coast centric.  What that means is that most of their guild events start right around the time I usually log on.  Another blogger, Lady Jess also recently transferred over to that server to join Fim.

So last week in BA chat, I told Fim I was going to roll an alt over on his server, just to hang out a little.  So I did.

What I found out quickly was that when I logged on, there were roughly DOUBLE the amount of players logged on as there were at the same time on my server.  Sometimes many more than that, even.

So, then I decided to take another baby step.  I transferred my highest level non-70 alt over, a level 52 Shadow Priest.  Thus far, I’ve found the guild quite enjoyable, and very welcoming.  I’m starting to consider going “whole hog,” and transferring my two 70s over there as well.

But it’s so damn hard to decide.

I’ve been with my present guild for SOOO LOOONG.  I love all the people, and in very nearly every way they are very compatible with me.  But the one area in which they aren’t is a pretty dang big area.

One the other hand, this new guild is quite welcoming, and very compatible with me in terms of playtimes.  However, they are a bit behind my present guild as far as progression, and if I make the switch I don’t know how soon they will get to where my guild is now.

But do I care all that much about progression?  The answer is probably no.  If I did, I probably wouldn’t be with the guild I’m with either.

But God, I’ve been with my guild for so long, it’s hard to even imagine leaving them behind.  Have any of you reading been with a guild for over 5 years?  Do you know anyone who has?  In my experience, guild hopping in WoW is fairly common.  I’ve been with these guys since BEFORE WoW.  They’re like a comfortable old shirt, everyone knows me, and I know everyone.  But at the same time I honestly hardly get to see them.  I chat with them more on our quite lively message boards than in game, and I can easily continue to do that if I choose.

I just.  Don’t.  Know.  And I could really use some advice.  So if you’ve read this far, I hope you’d be gracious enough to leave a comment with your thoughts, or even send me an email at PartTimeDruid@gmail.com.  Thanks for reading!

The future of 10-man raiding looks bright. Blizzard saw that 10-man raids were very successful, and they have had the wisdom to focus on such “small team” raiding in Wrath. This is one of the most exciting changes to come in Wrath for me personally. It’s just much easier to get a 10-man rolling than to get together 25 willing souls to attempt the present end game raids. I can’t wait.

There is a problem I foresee, however. My guess is that the difficulty of these future 10-mans will be ratcheted up a notch or two, and the present “Kara Laziness” in healing strategy will go the way of the Dodo. Some guilds have had Kara on farm for so long they don’t even bother thinking about healing assignments, or what healers they bring. I’m sure there are also a few of you out there who are still learning about 10-mans, and maybe you’re wondering how the different healing classes work with Tree Spec Druids.

Well, I’m here to try to inform. Let’s look at the three different possible combos and what their synergistic strengths and weaknesses are, and what roles they fill best when working together. First, let’s look at the strengths of the Tree Druid.

The Tree Druid

• Very good tank healers. A well played tree can roll lifebloom on multiple tanks, 3 fairly easily, and up to as many as for or 5 with some effort.
• Good raid healers. Lifebloom or Rejuvenation are often enough to top off small bits of raid damage. Regrowth, since the changes to it in 2.4, is a very useful spell for raid healing as well. Reasonably fast cast, chance to crit and a ticking hot on the tail end. Their vast supply of instant HOTs can often make the difference in a raid healing situation.
• Poor at group healing. If there is a lot of splash damage to raid members all at once, Trees are not the best class to take care of it. We do have tranquility, but it is on a 10 minute cooldown and is limited to the group we are in.

Tree Druid, Holy Pally

This combination makes for a very easy assignment. Paladins just make flat out poor raid healers, but they are excellent single target healers. For that reason, this pair would work best with the Paladin watching the MT and the Tree handling the rest. Depending on the situation, the Tree can also assist with MT healing if necessary. This is one of the stronger combinations, IMO, because it is obvious how they can work together. You have all your bases covered in this scenario.

Problems could arise with this duo if there is a lot of raid damage. As mentioned before, Tree Druids are not very good at healing groups efficiently. If the splash damage comes at once and then stops, the Druid can handle it. If it is any kind of sustained damage, it could be difficult. The Paladin also does not have much to offer in this respect, so if there is a lot of raid damage, it could spell trouble.

Tree Druid, Resto Shaman

The strength of the Resto Shaman is the Brain Heal. This “smart” multi-target heal makes them a VERY strong raid healer. The big heals of the Shammy, however, are not conducive to effective single target healing. In this case, the Synergy says the Tree should handle the tank(s), and the Shammy can worry about everyone else. One of the benefits of having a Shammy in this situation is that he/she can easily throw a few heals the tank’s way in a pinch, without totally sacrificing his/her raid healer role. Ahh, the beauty of Chain Heal.

The only thing that worries me about this pairing is if both the MT and OT are taking a LOT of damage. Trees are excellent at smoothing damage spikes, and keeping tanks up in general, but if things start to get out of hand their tricks are somewhat limited. Pair that with the Shammy who isn’t the best at single target healing, and you could be in trouble. In my experience, however, I’ve rarely seen such a situation. Of course, who knows what kind of wonders await us in Wrath.

Pair of Trees

I’ve personally never run with this combo, and I’m curious as to how well it would work. There would be a heck of a lot of HOTs flying around, that’s for sure. There could be an amazing amount of Heals Per Second on the tank, if both trees are stacking HOTs. If they could figure out a way to play off of each other, it could be a potentially very strong combo.

It could also fall right on its face. Lots of spike damage and/or raid splash damage could easily spell doom for this duo. This would be interesting to see in practice.

Tree Druid, Holy Priest

I saved this combo for last for a couple of reasons. First, I believe it may be the strongest 2 healer combo you can get in the game. I would venture a guess that a lot of 10 mans in the future will be looking for this combo first and foremost. I also saved it for last because I found it the most difficult to articulate.

These two have to communicate and work together. The priest will have a large responsibility in this duo, as I would want the priest to both heal the raid and keep an eye on the tanks. The Tree Druid will focus on rolling all his HOTs on the tanks. These two have to communicate and work off of each other. The tree can handle throwing the occasional lifebloom onto raid members if necessary, and the priest can top off the tanks if they take spikes of damage that the tree alone can’t handle.

When I thought of this article about the synergy of Tree Healers and other healing classes, this is the combination I thought of. In this combo, both classes are using their strengths. The Tree Druid is the best there is at maintaining health, and smoothing spikes of damage. Priests are very versatile, and are both very good at big, single target heals and group healing situations. These two working together could be a VERY potent combination.

Conclusion

Assigning healing roles can be tough. It can be hard for me to understand the intricacies of Druid healing, and I’ve spent countless hours doing it. It’s even more difficult to understand how the different healing classes work. I don’t envy the people who have to make assignment decisions. I imagine a lot of it comes from the very basic understanding they may have of healer’s strengths. Couple that with differing specs, and it can be quite difficult to understand how best to use your healers.

The info I have given comes from my experience of working with other healing types, and seeing how they can work off of each other. If I had my choice of any combo including a Tree, it would be a Tree and a Holy Priest. I just think they cover all the bases, and both can play to their true areas of strength. I hope that the little knowledge about how Tree Druids can work with other healers can help someone, and I’m more than open to criticism of my thoughts and opinions, or questions if you feel I haven’t explained something fully.

I also need to give a special thanks to Matt Low icus of World of Matticus for his thoughts on the Tree/Holy Priest duo. Thanks Matt! As always, thanks for reading. Now flame away.

I was chatting in game the other day as I was playing around with my level 55 Shadow Priest in Eastern Plaguelands. I got the Sister Pamela quest where you have to go find this ghost, and then find the pieces of her ghost doll in a deserted, haunted town. Anyhow, whenever you enter one of the old buildings, the background music changes to this wonderful, haunting melody.

Background music? What’s that?

Well, you see there were these people called “composers” and they were tasked to put together different themes and melodies to help set off the rich, graphical areas that we find ourselves exploring in WoW.

Perhaps you’re an Itunes user, and you listen to the latest Weezer in the background while you play, maybe you like techno, or country, whatever it is, you don’t listen to the background music of WoW.

Why not? I mean, if you REALLY take the time to listen sometimes, there is some really great stuff, like the aforementioned creepy haunted house music in the EP. Listen to this, and tell me it’s not cool. I dare you. What about some of the music in Kara? Pay special attention to the Opera Harpsichord stuff… I love that!

Think of it this way: do you watch a movie but have the background music removed? Would Star Wars be the same? What about Indiana Jones? Music can REALLY add to the atmosphere in those movies, so you don’t do it. You probably wouldn’t even imagine doing it. So why do so many people do it in WoW? Is Kara really better with Enya playing? (Ok, maybe an extreme example, but you get my drift.)

Heck, one guy said that he didn’t think he had EVER listened to the game background music. What??

I can understand if you’re in SL for the 10th time, maybe you want something different. Maybe you need more uplifting music to get into raiding, that’s fine too. (I’ll never forget the day a guy started playing “Eye of the Tiger” during a boss fight in a heroic Ramparts run over Teamspeak. Epic!) All I ask is that you don’t completely discount the music of WoW. Some of it really is good!