Thursday, August 13, 2009

Gear>Progression or Progression>Gear?

That is the question.

Everyone loves getting a fresh shiny new piece of gear. The joy of upping your stats making your toon hit (able to be hit) harder or heal better is very satisfying. But at what point is getting more gear moot for progression in the current content?

This is the issue that the new raid lockout extension has brought about. For example, After Midnight is able to clear Ulduar right through to Yogg-Saron now within 2 raid days should we stay focused and not run anything else such as VoA or ToC to interrupt our timelines. As long as everyone is able to stay on track and we don't have to switch people in an out this is not a problem. However, we still haven't downed Yogg yet, something I attribute to never having the same team of players each night and having to re-teach the encounter constantly. The majority of the guild would like to see the SOB go down, turned on his back floating in his own filth no matter how many times we attempt it.

Here's where the lockout extension comes in; we can now have those multiple attempts past the original lockout to work on Yogg WITHOUT having to re-clear the instance. This means more nights to work on him, more nights to get his health percentage lower and lower and less chance the guild will get rusty as time passes between attempts. Locking out may mean that a progression kill may be had with the little extra time we were able to get but it also means that it is a whole week without new gear drops. Something which excites most guildies who are progression minded and upsets those that lose out on a week to get a potential upgrade.

According to imba.hu our guildies have the necessary stats/gear to down any encounter in Ulduar, and although having best-in-slot everywhere sure adds a slight pack to the punch, we should be able to easily down the Yogg-Saron encounter in our current situation. Yet, some players still argue that if we had more gear we would down it. The complaining from a vocal few (very few) makes me believe that they would rather have those grapey goodness drop like candy from the sky rather than spend the time for the thrill of a first kill.

This leads us back to our first question, what is more important for a raiding guild, encounter progression or gear progression?

In my honest opinion, and according to the goals listed in our guild rules, it is to see the content and conquer it no matter what the stakes. Having a gear level appropriate for the content is key, surpassing it is not necessary. I think the raid lockout is a great way for a guild on the cusp on downing a new boss to have the extra time to do so before a raid week reset. There is so much content in the game now that the guild can be doing to still receive their new upgrades; through the heroic 5 mans and 10 man instances. Badges are acquirable anywhere, from any instance, the heroic dailies now even spew forth the new Emblems of Triumph should you pick up the required quest first.

My advice to players upset with guilds extending raid lockouts for an additional week in the name of progress is the same to anyone who is not happy with their current guild; if the grass is greener elsewhere, no one is going to hold it against you if you go. Think about your priorities in game and find a place that is appropriate to them and stick with it. Most Guild Masters' are happy to accommodate their players as much as they can, but if a player's personal goal or ambition varies greatly from that of the guild's manifesto, it may be time to look for another guild lest your Guild Master asks you first.

11 comments:

  1. You hit it spot on. Progression > Gear - as long as you have the gear required for the level of progression you're on.

    Otherwise, if Gear > Progression - why aren't you just farming Naxx?

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  2. I'm sure the guild is going to looooooooove wiping on Yogg for two weeks straight this time. (Remember all the time wasted on Sarth3d).

    I'm pretty sure passing out purpz is better for morale than that. Doing nothing at all is better than that.

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  3. Depends on what you're idea of wasting time is...For me, killing Ignis and crap week after week is a waste of time, regardless of the fact that he may or may not have gear I want. If you don't want to progress, I hear 'Kara and Beyond" is recruiting.

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  4. To Anonymous

    Obviously you are a disgruntled member or former member of AM...you define 'wasted' as not immediate loot for youself.

    I would like to point out that 22 members of the guild received their 'Twilight Vanquisher' title only 2 weeks ago. We never 'wasted' a night...or at least the good raiders never wasted all those attempts. We learned and we finally overcame the obstacle.

    Will you ever overcome your obstacles?

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  5. @ both Anonymouses

    I'm not sure who you both are whether in AM or previously in AM, but do you really want to argue here?

    I write this blog to get my thoughts out of my system; but I always encourage anyone who wants to discuss our guild politics to do so with me and the rest of the guild in game. Let's keep civil towards each other.

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  6. Nap- I couldn't agree with this article more and believe me this arguement has probably occurred in every guild that has extended it's lockout. It's kinda sad that on one night, I actually manipulated signups to get a good team for Yogg by promising new coliseum content and then going for Yogg. Some raiders will never have what it takes to truly sit through progression nights and the wipes that accompany it.

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  7. @ Anonymous #2,

    Sure 22 of us have the title, who cares at this point in progression, I would however like to point out that, if the correct strat was used from the begining AfterMidnight would have had this down a long long time ago.

    It was the guild leader / raid leaders that would not listen to any other point of view on this fight, or do the fight the correct way.

    No you can't heal thru TT and not enter the portals and down the adds, I don't care how good you were / are at healing.

    I'm glad 6 months later we can finally do this fight the correct way.

    amen for progression

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  8. It's sad that the guild leader and raid leader will destroy an otherwise awesome guild ultimately.

    It seems that the quality raiders keep jumping ship while the recruiting revolving door just keeps spinning along.

    At some point you have to realize that these people aren't just quitting the guild, they are quitting the leadership.

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  9. for the record none of this was pariah good luck in your continued progression through content you want to do.

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  10. It's unfortunate that some ex-guildies (whether leaving on their own or removed) cannot live and let live or even be mature enough to be civil. Therefore it is with great regret that I am requiring OpenID comment posting only now.

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  11. I like taco's and i like Salmon but they just don't go together

    kinda like raiding.

    farm content is easy and tastes good but if i want the salmon of raid content i have to fish for it.. now it might be a great day where no matter what i try works .. or i might have the wrong strategy and bang my head against a wall for hours..

    Either way i like the salmon better ... even if i means i have to wait.

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