Welcome to SR's Weekly (Insert Raid Instance): Part 2 (Hey He is Actually Answering the Questions this Time and not Being a Self-Serving Asshole)

So in my last post (you get a link this time you lazy bastards…kidding but it is RIGHT BELOW THIS POST lol), we covered how I came to this point in my WoW raiding career. Now, I will actually answer the questions Delerius actually wanted to know the answers to.

Why do I play this game (World of Warcraft)?

Well, it started out as a passtime. Something to do for fun. It progressed into wanting to know everything I could about the game. Wanting the best gear, raiding 6-7 nights a week, 4-6 hours at a time, being the best, being known on my server, competing against other guilds for progression…it became a job..no, it was an obsession. I was addicted to the game. Being the best and being known in a small community as such. I didn’t care who I stepped on. I raided for gear, I raided for the rush of topping the dps charts, of downing bosses before anyone else, and rubbing it in the face of anyone I could. I would sit in Ironforge on my little horsie so people could inspect me. I was the 5th most geared Warrior Tank on the fucking server and I was hot shit…WARRIORS!! FUCK YEAH!!! (*does the Sammy Sosa at Gravedust*)

Hindsight being 20/20, that was a very dumbass reason to play a game. I play now for the fun of playing with friends. Not to be the best or to get the best gear, but to have fun with the people I get to smash my head against the brickwall currently in the form of Lich King phase 2 for us on the progression team in Shadow Rising. I couldn’t ask for a funnier, more perverted group of assholes to do this with…I love you guys!

Why are you in a guild?

I joined my first guild because it was the same guild that some of my friends were in. They stopped playing once BC dropped, so I was unguilded for awhile. One day, I was running Heroic Shadow Labs with a PuG made up of members from the same guild. I was fury at the time, with a few quest blues and greens and a smidgeon of badge gear inbetween. This group was in full t4 and we were rocking the place. The tank just happened to be the MT and GM for the guild. She whispered me at the end of the instance.

Prot Warrior: Hey, do you have a guild?

Me: Nope.

Prot Warrior: Ever thought of joining one?

Me: I had been in one before. It was mostly friends of mine. They have all left the game since and I have been unguilded for some time. Why do you ask?

Prot Warrior: Well I see your gear..

Me: Yeah it isn’t the best but I make due.

Prot Warrior: It may not be the best, but 800 dps on Murmur says to me that you are really good. Would you like to join (Name of Guild which will Remain Anonymous)?

Me: Sure what do I need to do?

Prot Warrior: Well, app at (url). Put down that I am sponsoring you.

Me: Ok. (*goes off to do app and finishes*) Done.

Prot Warrior: Ok, thanks.

Anonymous Player has invited you to Anonymous Guild.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the GM of the guild was my sponsor.

I stayed with this guild through the rest of BC. In my last post, you saw the reasons why I left and joined other guilds. Now to tell you why I left and subsequently came back to Shadow Rising. It wasn’t because of progression or gear or to be the best. It was to be in a place that felt like a home. A place to put your feet up and relax and bullshit with a friends…a group of friends that could also KILL MOTHER FUCKING DRAGONS!! When it is all said and done, I would rather fail with friends, than to triumph with aquaintances.

Why do you raid?

I raid for fun. It is more than that, however. It isn’t just about the fun anymore. A lot of people have told me that they think I am a good player, that I am Tirael Norris and I caused the Sundering, not Deathwing, or that I deserve to have an item named after me, something to the effect of Tirael’s Gauntlets of Bitchslappery (lol, Arvash, that still cracks me up).

To me, being in a guild that raids has become being with friends that raid. When your friends don’t know about something, you help them find that information and you share it. When your friends need something, but can’t get it due to time constraints/money, you do your best to help them with what they need. When your friends are acting all out of sorts, you smack them upside the head and set them straight. When your friends are down on themselves, you smack them again and tell them how great your life is just because they are in it. When your friends are not getting out of life what they think they should be, you try to shed a different light on the subject. When your friends need/want you around, you try to be there. When your friends think highly of you, you show them just how important they are to you. Your only hope in all this is that they will appreciate what you have done for them. You can’t expect that, but there is always hope.

The expectations I placed on my old experiences in WoW (and life in general) caused me to burn a lot of bridges in the past. In my feeble attempt to be the best, I lost sight of the people who got me there in the first place. That is why I think/feel/know that everyone around me is just as good at this as I am. Why I think everyone I raid with in my guild is a group of some of the best players I know. Thankfully, Shadow Rising has a group of officers and a GM who are much better people than I am. If not for them, I would see very little reason to play this game. They are my friends and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to label as such.

They are why I play WoW. They are why I am in a guild. They are why I raid. For fun, but most importantly, for my friends.