Ok folks this is a long and somewhat rambly/ranting post. Bear with me.
The other night I am just minding my own business standing in Ironforge when all of a sudden I feel scanned and violated and I get whispered by someone asking me what my +healing is. I’m like ok, whatever, and just answer. And he answers saying his main’s +healing is +1900 something. Turns out this was an alt of a toon that used to be in our guild a long long time ago. I won’t mention his name (because yes, I’m mean, but not that mean), so let’s just call this guy TWDE, “The Worst Druid Ever”… because he was by far the worst druid ever. TWDE was just absolutely clueless about how to play his own class and was just an overall asshat. He eventually left the guild because all he did was want to get run through places and get help, even complaining about the quality or frequency of the help that we did give him. Eventually ignoring his repeated requests made him leave. Hooray! (oops did I really say that? Um… yes I did.)
Back to this conversation. Now he is being his typical asshat self, saying he is so much better and in a raiding guild now and running Hyjal and whatnot. In the past I just let him go on and ignored him, but I just couldn’t hold back anymore. Yeah, K can be all nice and healy healy, but you piss me off and I will hit you harder than Atania’s backstab (and that’s pretty damn hard). Trust me, I may have no attack power, but the crit % of my words? 100% baby.
So I went off on him pretty hard. I told him that I really couldn’t care less because he was the worst druid we had ever seen and that we definitely don’t miss his attitude of always wanting things done for him... and that he is probably getting run through in this current guild. I told him that I had no respect for his skill or his attitude and that I am happier not running Hyjal if I would have to run with his sort. While we are having this conversation Jess looks him up on armory and what? His +healing is +1353? What, he is still carrying around the Essence Focuser? Ok so he is not only an ignorant asshat, but an ignorant asshat liar. /laugh hysterically
It was sort of ironic and interesting that this conversation with TWDE came to be right after a guild conversation we had. We got together to talk about where we were raiding wise and where we want to go. We’re pretty much done with Kara, so that leaves us ZA or starting to try the 25 man content. Our HR director/feign death extraordinaire/sit on a rock hunter Nio had a couple of 70s who wanted to join us.
So Jess wanted to discuss what we wanted to do next. I think the overall consensus was that we would like to see a 25 man or two, but we will not recruit for the sake of getting 25 people. We’ll continue with ZA, bringing in people who we genuinely enjoy running with and hopefully we’ll have enough people in the guild and in friend’s guilds to run a 25 man once in a while. But will we be running 25 mans 3 times a week? Right now, I don’t think so.
I have issues with people in so called big raiding guilds who think that they are better because they are running these end game 25 man raids. Could our toons find spots in these guilds? I am actually sure that we could, as a number of us have been recruited. As we progress within the guild, I hope that we can grow in a way that makes sense for us, because our worst nightmare would be to have enough people to run a 25 man but have a couple of those be carried through or be total jerks. I think we would rather not run a 25 man than endure that kind of scenario. We just have a low tolerance for asshats and unfortunately we don’t have anyone who can cure or dispel asshat-ism. Now I’m definitely not saying that every large raiding guild has these kind of folks, I know that is not true. Its just that I know of some that do.
It disturbs me when these jerks in big raiding guilds think that we are not as good. I would bet that we are just as good or even better than some of those in the big raiding guilds. We’re just a smaller guild. Smaller guilds does not equate to less skill… okay? If we were boxers, we’d be the featherweight of lightweight champions of the world… small, but pound for pound, we'll knock you out! If we were animals, we’d be those crazy ants that can carry 500 times their body weight. If we were… ok… enough with the analogies, you got my point.
I also have a problem with people who think that stats tell the entire story. So TWDE “said” his +healing is 1900 something. Does that make him a better healer than me? I would bet my ass that it doesn’t… well especially not him. Playing at this level is so much more than the numbers. Yes, the +healing numbers are the deck you are given…but its just the base. How well you play your cards means just as much, or even more. Do you know how to time your use of pots, trinkets, and innervate so as to make best use of your mana? Even +3000 healing means nothing if you are out of mana. Do you know how to work with the other healer? Do you know how to stay alive?
As a group we may be less geared than lets say another group of 10 folks, but the fact that we have run together so much gives us an advantage. Its almost like together, we are more than the sum of our parts. Its sort of hard to explain but its almost like some things are just unspoken now. We know what the others will do, where they will be, and how they'll react. We have a healer and tank often thinking and saying the exact same thing, a rogue that knows exactly how the tank and offtank roll, a hunter and mage who are always looking out for their healer ready to lay a trap or freezy thing to help protect her, and CC that is ready to back each other up if theirs break.
I also believe that we communicate well, but ultimately don’t get too upset or crazy if things don’t go well. We definitely know how to laugh at ourselves and this game. I believe that the biggest asset that our guild has is our people and the relationships between them. Here’s to hoping this continues as we grow. And to you, Mr. “The Worst Druid Ever”? Kiss my wooden ass.
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