It's a BIG leap to go from "Normal" 25-player ToTC to "Heroic 25-player ToTC, and we've steadily been chipping away at the gearing requirements and raid attendance requirements, getting closer and closer to victory.

We've gotten to phase three of Heroic Northrend Beasts (25) quite a few times, but with our limited raiding schedule (three nights per week) and some troubles with Farm night vs Progression night attendance, we've done a bunch of recruiting over the past month, and the result is a much stronger team ... that needs a bit more time to "gel".

It won't take long, we're back up to having a solid enough group of attendees on Progression nights that we don't have to break into 10s. It's all good.

Sometimes, tho, it's a lot of fun to take a step back from the Trial of the Crusader raid and head back into Ulduar - even though most loot is disenchanted because everyone's primary and secondary specs are pretty well set.

Guildmates Cheering On Guildmates

One of the best things about being in a Guild Raid vs running with a PUG is that there's a "team feel" to the environment, instead of the feeling of a bunch of individuals coming together to accomplish a task and then go about their own business afterwards.

Going back into Ulduar was not only a fun adventure because we hadn't really been there for a couple of months, but also because we had picked up a sizable number of new recruits to our guild over the past two months and as a result, Achievements that the core raid team had gotten long ago were ones that still brought advancement to the newer folk.

So, we trounced through the raid up to Kologarn doing Achievement after Achievement for our newer guildmates, and then were stopped cold by Auriaya in our attempts to do the Crazy Cat Lady achievement.

Before being stopped by Auriaya (and we progressed quite well during our attempts, the achieve will come soon if we keep at it), however, one of the most fun achievements we got - and one that took a few deaths to get there - was the Razorscale achieve Iron Dwarf, Medium Rare. That's where this entry's picture is from.

Trying New Things When Wiping A Raid

An Odd View of Razorscale

She's still firing on people (in fact, the previous entry in this blog has one where I'm watching as she's firing on me in a previous attempt).

Well, one of our guildmates decided when a wipe was called (en route to our Iron Dwarf, Medium Rare achieve which required that we not actually kill Razorscale until we got the achieve) to test whether one could actually jump off of the edge of the cliffs that surrounded the area.

One guy went, and at least 7 of us followed, me included. Sounded like a good idea to me!

You know, like the whole "If your friend jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?" question that parents used to give to us as kids - turned on its ear like gets done in fantasy games with unlimited lives. ;)

And do you know, it took a LONG time for us to fall far enough to be jettisoned down into the abyss to our official deaths? I mean, I used to jump off of the Netherwing Ledge for a quick ride back to Shadowmoon Valley's Scryer Inn, and I swear it didn't take that long to die.

Laughter Bonds The Team

I think it was a great idea for us to have headed into Ulduar the other night, when our raid team was full but not quite the right configuration for progress on Heroic Northrend Beasts.

It gave a chance for the team to romp and play together - for us to pair up to take on Flame Leviathan (and it's odd how that teaming up in that fight helps new guildmates connect with their new raid buddies), for us to cheer each other and pat the new folk on the back for achievements they've picked up, and for us to all get a chance to laugh at death, knowing it won't make or break the attempt for one person to die early in a fight.

I don't think it's a good idea to put Ulduar onto our schedule every week, however - this bonding agent works partially based on novelty, and novelty is easily worn off by repetition.

But for a growing, morphing, advancing progression raid team, I think it went a long way to refresh the team :)

Related posts:

1. Why Do You Raid (or not)?
2. Summertime's Effect On Your Raid Team
3. How To Destroy Koralon The Flame Watcher