Inscriptions and arcanums to become BoA …

From the latest PTR Patch Notes ¹:

• Top-level helm and shoulder faction-related enchants are now available as Bind-on-Account items that do not require any faction to use once purchased (they still require the appropriate faction level to purchase).

My initial reaction:  ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH.  WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE TOLD ME THIS  /////// BEFORE //////// I LEVELED INSCRIPTION ON A SECOND CHARACTER?!

Two seconds later, after I'd come to my senses:  ... I don't actually have any characters who are exalted with the Sons of Hodir, do I? ²  Carry on, then.

Feel free to /facepalm.  I know you want to.

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Contemplating alt ToC 25

Keaton and I have been considering running an alt-friendly ToC 25 on the weekends.  It was initially proposed as part of our recruitment strategy, and even though it's no longer necessary (last night, we ran a wait-list four raiders deep and recieved four additional applications!), I still think it's a good idea.  

A well-managed alt-ToC has the potential to be a fun and relatively low-stress way to play with friends, gear alts and include mains who didn't make the guild run earlier in the week.  I'm sure we'd have to PuG a few spots, but even that could have great PR value.

We've been tossing the idea around for a while but haven't had time to sit down and work out the details — so if we do organize something like this, it probably won't be until next weekend.  Still, I was interested to read this morning that Bellwether of 4Haelz  has been running something similar on her server.  It makes me all the more excited about our plan (and reminds me that I'll have to lay some ground rules first, which is the unfun part).

Highs and Lows

Leading a raiding guild is a lot like riding a rollercoaster: a tense ascent, followed by soaring highs and soul-crushing lows in frighteningly rapid succession.  (I extended the hell out of this metaphor in my first draft of this post, but it ended up sounding more like sex than Six Flags... so, nevermind.)

Two weeks ago, Surreality downed the Heroic Beasts of Northrend for the first time.  Riding that high, we went on to one-shot Three Lights in the Darkness — allowing our Discipline Priest to forge Val'anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings — and two-shot I Choose You, Steealbreaker!, starting us on the long quest for Algalon.

Last week, we 24-manned Trial of the Crusader and called two of our three weekly raids for poor attendance.  One of my veterans admitted that he was contemplating a strategic /gquit and an officer suggested that we seriously consider merging with another failing guild.

Yesterday, we one-shot the Heroic Beasts and took down Heroic Lord Jaraxxus — breaking into the server's Top 10 for the first time since our inception.  Tonight, we have every intention of taking on the Faction Champions on hardmode — and a preliminary look at sign-ups tells us that its very possible we'll succeed.  (In filling the raid, that is!  The Faction Champions themselves are another story entirely.)

Update (12:14 AM):  Yep, Faction Champions > us!  But we did go from wiping ten seconds into the fight to downing the first three focus targets, so it's only a matter of time before it clicks.  We also managed to pick up a new warrior, rogue, hunter and elemental shaman in the last two days — so I think I can close recruitment to anything that isn't a shadow priest or critchicken for the time being.

Coming out!

When I started Fel Fire, I didn't know what direction it would take.  (Confession?  Ten months and one domain change later, I still don't!)  I "aspired" to attract an audience in the same way that I once aspired to raid: "maybe, someday ... later."  In the meantime, and for at least as long as it took me to find a voice, I knew I would be writing primarily for myself. 

I know, I know.  All bloggers say they write for themselves.  But if that were really true, why not write in a Word document or a pen-and-paper journal?  Why bother with the Internet at all?

Personally, I wanted to be heard.  I just wanted to be in control of who and when.

Even more than that, I wanted the freedom to rant.  My blog would be my catharsis: if a guildmember said something mean, or stupid, or if I wasn't sure how to deal with a situation or had an especially bad day and needed to break down completely, then I wanted the opportunity to do so without having to worry about creating tension or causing drama or just making myself look like a crazy woman.

And so — with no clear goals but all of this in mind — I made a deliberate effort to hide myself from my guild.

I've been known in-game as Sarielle from the moment I awoke in Death Knell, but I reversed the letters in my name when I registered my first Wordpress account and become "Elleiras" instead.  Over time, I cultivated an awkward kind of one-sided anonymity: telling my fledgling readership just enough about my "true" identity that they could find me if they wanted to, but keeping Sarielle safely un-Googleable.

By the time that Eanin (of Main Tankadin fame) started blogging, I found myself second-guessing my decision.  As much as I wanted to promote his blog and encourage him to continue writing, I was afraid that doing so would out me to the rest of our guild.  I /waffled for so long that Eanin eventually stopped updating.  Given how busy he is in Real Life™, with a doctorate in progress and a baby on the way, I doubt anything I could have done would have changed that — but I do regret the missed opportunity, if only because it means that my need to protect myself prevented me from being a good friend.

In some ways, it still is.  Elam removes his blog's URL from his signature line anytime he posts on the realm forum (because we link to each other and he knows I don't want to be found).  He and Naithin have been known to talk in riddles in guild chat simply to avoid outing me, and even those members who have stumbled across my blog (via WoW Insider links or the occasional application it brings in) have remained respectfully, if awkwardly, silent.

And especially after watching the camaraderie develop between bloggers like Amber, Kyrliean and Mikata, who share a guild tag, I can't help but feel that my recalcitrance has held us back in some small way...

Anyway, at about the same time I moved to altadin.com, I stopped trying to hide.  I didn't publicize my blog, per se, but I did start using real names (insofar that names like Malamo and Ouchilicious can be represented as "real") and even linked to the guild site as a part of my ongoing recruiting effort. 

Today, more and more of my guildies are finding their way here, or at least to Elam's blog, which means they'll end up here eventually (unless I petition the Shaman-Who-Doesn't-Ramen to strike me from his extra-curricular existence — which I won't do, because I rather like being a part of it). 

So — as of this post — I am officially out of the WoW blogging closet.  And after the better part of the year, I think I'm finally okay with that.

(I deleted all of the mean stuff already, anyway.)

On a somewhat related note ...

I have to give my guildmates credit.  It took two full weeks of raiding with a tree named Forrest for someone — affecting a falsetto, so I'm not entirely sure who (my gold is on Lupius!) — to finally break down and make the inevitable "run" joke on Vent. 

I won't repeat it verbatim.  Let's just say it involved green fire and a tree druid and leave it at that.

And in the off-chance you didn't catch on to the fact that the name of the druid-in-question is also a link, I'll make it obvious by welcoming Surreality's newest blogger to the 'sphere!  He is a frequent commenter on many WoW blogs, so you probably already know him, but he's carved a niche of his own. 

You can find it at (wait for it...) My Name is Forrest... 

Forreststump.

I see you there, Googling me.

Whoever is Googling the full-text of my /off-topic post is freaking me out.  Stop that!

/off-topic

I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that my new boss has nicknamed me "Psych Major" (as in, "Did you remember to invite the Psych Major to the accounting meeting?").

Yes, I have a Bachelor's degree in psychology. But I was also employed as a financial analyst for a $24 billion/year corporation until I was laid off four months ago. Now I work in accounting for a private company in Scottsdale that I guarantee you've heard of (being Internet geeks and all).

... He is going to give me a complex with this and I am going to need months and months of therapy.

*  *  *

And now for a slightly less off-topic, topic:  I miss Tigerfeet.

Speaking of recruiting …

... Elam's recruitment post is so. much. better. than mine!

I would seriously leave my guild for his guild — if it weren't, you know, the same guild.  >.>

Still, Elam manages to capture our fun-loving side, which is a nice contrast to the perpetual angst I spew share here.  He also knows how to use the word fuck naturally — a thoroughly undervalued skill, in my humble opinion.  Blame it on a strict Asian upbringing, but profanity has never come easily to me and I actual envy bloggers like Amber and Tamarind for their casual mastery of it.

But, I digress.

Elam's post is brilliant.  Remind me to send him to the Horde recruitment forums armed with a feather quill, two Big Bear Bones and a plate of chocolate chip cookies.