A Story
Let me start this out with a story. A story of a young man, on a soccer team.
An away game. On the field. Back and forth game. Score is tied, 1-1. The home team is pressing hard at the young man's team's goal. A shot is taken at the goal, but the defender gets in front of it and kicks it back out onto the field, between the young man and the home team's goal.
The young man takes this opportunity to break through the home team's defense line, leaving the defenders behind him! He dribbles as fast as he could, towards the goal. The only thing stand in the way between him and the goal, was the goalie.
The young man dribbles into the penalty box, having the clearest shot for the goal any soccer player can hope for. One shot. One, well placed shot, and the game will turn their way. The young man though "Left? Right? High? Low? Which way is the goalie going!?"
As he dribbled towards the goal, he hears his coach and teammates on the sidline. "Go go go!!" yelled the coach. "Take the shot!!"
The young man was pulled out of his world. He noticed the world around him. "What if I miss?" thought the young man. The dissapointment... The embarrassment... The game...
Long story short, the young man ends up kicking the ball too far ahead of him, allowing the goalie to catch the ball comfortably into his arms because he hesitated.
One moment. One shot. One opportunity. This experience turns out to scar the young man forever in his life.
The Shot
The moral of the story? Take the darn shot. It doesn't matter what the outcome is. It is better to have tried and regret the outcome, than to regret not having tried at all.
"How does this relate to Risen?" one may ask. This relates to Risen, because Risen just took a shot at clearing Ulduar 25 on the very first week it was released. Could we have hid behind the fact we only raid two nights a week to give as a reason for not being on the top of the list on progression? Sure. But were any of us willing to take an easy way out? Of course not. We did not hesitate. We did not overthink it. We just did what we love to do the most. Raid hard and well.
With no clear picture of what we were up against, it was quite a challenge.
Ulduar
Ulduar has a good mix of fun fights with relatively simple mechanics, while keeping each fight entertaining in some way.
Flame Leviathan was fun in a "aaaamg, let's blow everything uppppp!!" sort of way. Unfortunately he was such a pushover and unimpressive in normal mode, that we forgot to take a screenshot. We're not falsely claiming victory over Flame Leviathan... I swear...
For our first Ulduar run, we decided to run straight for Yogg-saron, so XT-002 Deconstructor was up next.
We had kept ourselves in top notch raiding shape. We had trained long and hard to tackle these new bosses. We drank raw eggs. We did alternating one handed pushups. We trained our clicking and keystroke fingers against frozen meat. We were ready for anything. Or so we thought. But Blizzard had us right where they wanted us. We weren't quite ready for... "NO NO NO NO NO!!!" I think we may have wiped once due to the healers being unable to heal while laughing so hard.
The Antechamber
The next on the list was Kologarn. The gigantic guy, who was best appreciated for his ability to allow a tank to not have to look at close up of feet (or the crotch for Hammerfell, according to Bryant) and bending over backwards to allow us passage and hand over his cache, literally.
Auriaya was just such a pushover in the 10 man version, that we had naturally gone in with a "let's pull them all and see what happens" approach. We underestimated the four kitties a little bit, and ended up with a raid full of squished people. Let this be a lesson to us. Never underestimate a pack of kitties. Approach with caution.
90% of cat related injuries in the veterinary medicine field comes from a result of improper restraint of them. With proper handling, the fight goes quite smoothly.
The Keepers
First up on the list of the keepers for us was Hodir. This fight is very graphically chaotic, and can be summed up by this for the most part, at least on my end. Jump out of icicle drops, jump onto snowdrifts, jump up and down to avoid biting cold, jump off the draining sewer pipe eluding Tommy Lee Jones while finding out the true killer and getting into a final brawl ending in the death of Hodir... or at least Yogg-saron's influence on Hodir.
Next was Thorim. Since the 10 man version was a one shot, we took him a bit too lightly. This fight is one fight where we were happy about how the 25 man encounters were tuned. Of course, doing this fight the way it was intended to... keeping up with arena spawns while taking 3-5 mins getting Thorim to join the fight... was too easy to satisfy the Risen folks.
So what did we do? Instead, we decided to get through the hallway fast enough to have to wait for the 3 minutes, off tank about 8 Champions, and then AE them all down when Thorim landed. Nothing like a good ol' Risen style artifical hard mode. What was our extra reward? A Server First Thorim kill.
Freya made us all think, "Another Sartharion 3d?". Obviously we now know this is not the case, and each elder being left up gives her extra abilities and damage buffs. We do have other adds to the fight to deal with, though. The adds are where the fight became interesting. Besides, what fun is a raid without the ability to call for a spread too late on the detonating lashers leading to a massive instant wipe, or not resetting the buff stack on the snaplasher getting Sorrun one-shotted, amirite?
Eventually, we overcame our childish urges to see guild members, and especially gnomes, dying.
So.... How the heck do you pronounce "Mimiron"? With this very crucial question on our minds, we could not move on. Do not worry! We decided to just call him... "Mimi"
We ended our first week with Mimiron. Mimiron, as you all probably know, was the first of the Ulduar bosses that required good coordination, high dps, awesome healing, and unfaltering execution of the strategy to get him down. At least the first week. There have been many nerfs since then, but we can always hold our chins up high, knowing we have accomplished something many in the world cannot claim they have. We took Mimiron down the very first week, devising the strategy on our own, server first.
Many Thanks
This calls for another moment of recognition for the dedication and commitment Risen members have to the guild and its raiding endeavors. Thank you very much for once again, putting in 110% in order to make big strides in our raiding history.
We could not have accomplished what we accomplished the first weekend after Ulduar was released without the efforts of every single one of you. We were given a chance to show ourselves what we are made of (Here's what Nahid is made of), and we went in swinging. It doesn't really matter that we didn't meet our ambitious goal for the weekend. What does matter, however is that you all are pure awesome. I am once again very proud and honored to be allowed to be a part of Risen. Thank you.
We Took the Shot
Going back to the original story...
We didn't hestiate. We didn't think about what it meant, if we couldn't clear Ulduar in the first weekend. It did not matter. We took the shot, raided two extended raiding sessions of 20+ hours total. We started on Ulduar 4 days late, but finished that week claiming two server first kills.
Were we willing to raid that much every week? Heck no. There is a reason why our schedule is set the way it is. But this serves as a proud reminder for us, that if we had the ability to spend the 5-7 days a week 4-5 hours a night schedule that many of the top guilds in the world do, we'd be competing right up there with them. Hats off to those who raid so much, but we prefer the way we raid. The Risen way.
Have you taken your shot?
-Parn
P.S. Obviously this isn't all the progress we've made since Ulduar was released, and I'll post updates for them soon™, along with the most recent funny screenshots!
Wrath of the Lich King...
December 10th, 2008
This Just In!
A couple of weeks have passed since we have started raiding in Wrath of the Lich King. Everyone raced to get to level 80, and allowed us to get back into 25 man raiding the second weekend after WotLK release.
And here's the news we have for you!
Well ok. There's more to it than that. This is what actually happened.
So what led to this?
The Not-So-Onyxia-Like Black Dragonflight
What do we remember from the history of World of Warcraft when we hear "single boss instance, big dragon"? Onyxia. The hugely epic encounter that spawned the legendary recording. I remember the wipe after wipe at Onyxia, trying to get her down for the first time.
Obsidian Sanctum for the first time was a little bit different. We did some test pulls to see what happens if we leave all the drakes up. It was nearly as epic as Onyxia, with drakes flying everywhere, whelps (yes, whelps again), fire elementals, and lava flying all over the place.
What was so different about it? When all the drakes are taken down, Sartharion himself is not very much of a challenge to take down. For the first time there, we settled for the quick kill in the interest of moving into Naxxramas afterwards. We'll be back to take you on with your drakes later, Sartharion.
Naxxramas
After grinding hard to get to level 80, running heroics over and over to gear ourselves up with WotLK epics, we were very pumped to get back to 25 man raiding. With our new and improved gearset at hand, we blew through the Arachnid Quarter.
Arachnid Quarter
Knowing we had experienced these encounters already, and have had our skills honed by Sunwell Plateau, it seemed reasonable we had an easy time getting through the starter wing. It was just like riding a bike. We kept trucking through.
Plague Quarter
Loatheb was the boss we were working on at the time the Burning Crusade was launched. Who can forget the oodles and oodles of shadow protection potions we farmed up mats for the encounter? Sadly, they just ended up filling the guild bank as people "generously donated it to the guild bank for future use" (aka, dumped it there to make space in their banks). Thanks for the gold into the guild bank from vendoring them!!
We trucked on.
Military Quarter
Out of this quarter, Gothik and the Four Horsemen were encounters we had mentally prepared for, but had never experienced in the 40 man version while they were current content. The Four Horsemen in particular, had been so dramatically changed in their mechanics, this was the first fight we had to actually "learn".
Of course, it didn't hold us back for long. Moving on!
Construct Quarter
"Patchwerk want to play!" This fight of this wing was THE gear check fight in vanilla WoW. Learning the encounter involved committed tanks gearing for the fight, many hours of healers trying to keep the tanks up while the dps watched and took funny screenshots of how bored they were while the learning took place. Then, once that was sorted, it was time for the real gear check. DPS.
That was then, this is now. Patchwerk still hits like a tonka truck, but he goes down more easily.
Now, off to have more fun
Frostwyrm Lair
With all four quarters cleared, and only two bosses left to go, we just had to keep going with our momentum. Sapphiron was another encounter we had not experienced prior to hitting level 70. Of course the concept was pretty simple.
Aside from very malicious mages, without mentioning any names (Onikage, Jantha) creating fake ice blocks to hide behind, we got through it without much trouble.
With one boss left to go, there was no stopping us. Or was there? Risen has always shown to have the endurance to raid hardcore during our limited raid times, and raid for a longer duration if needed (though rarely done). Almost everyone in the guild has heard of our 16 hour raid in BWL back in the days.
The result...
This is where the guild chat way up top comes from. Another server first instance clear from a guild that raids two nights a week. We had the people who grinded to 80, ran heroics 18 hours in a day to gear up as quickly as possible, with those who were not quite ready to raid still helping out by sending around WotLK consumables. We had the people, we had the momentum. After 17 hours or raiding, we had a chance to play around with multiple drake Sartharion pulls, take down Archavon, and clear Naxxramas. As a two raids a week guild, we don't go in expecting any uber raiding titles, but we seized the day, and took the opportunity to go in undermanned into Naxxramas, filling the raid as more people reached 80 as we were raiding. Awesome job, guys.
Kel'thuzad is definitely a fight many people will be able to enjoy as they see the content for the first time. Even with it's 25 man tuned status, the encounter will give many people a chance to challenge themselves in positioning, reaction, situational awareness, and performing their roles through all of it.
Eye of Eternity
The Eye of Eternity is the only instance an "attunement" is required in order to be able to attempt. It also involves fighting half the fight on a drake, that has abilities completely different from our own characters. I personally would have liked to have a challenging encounter that involves testing my skills in controlling my character, but what the heck. We'll fight the encounter the way it was designed (not that we have a choice).
We took him down after raiding for a mere 2 hours the next raiding day we had.
With this, we've already cleared the raiding content available once over.
Oh, we killed this guy also.
>So far, the most of us, while excited about the new expansion, feel a little unsatisfied with the level of challenge it is providing us.
Naxxramas was a place, where once again, pre-expansion many guilds fell apart at (We're talking pre-TBC). The encounters were very well tuned to those who were very adept and experienced at raiding. It also was not given very much time for the general population to experience it in all of its glory. Because of this, Blizzard had decided to bring it back, to allow people to experience it. And by "allowing people to experience it", they meant "allowing people to experience it, post 3.0 Sunwell Plateau style".
But as Steeg points out, we'll look forward to Ulduar, and make sure we are still keeping up our top notch raiding game and preparing our gear for the next level of content Blizzard will push out for us.
Achievements are fun
Though the raiding content may be rather lacking at the moment, there are achievements that make the expansion more fun. This gives us a chance to experience the content in a different light.
This goes along with the Risen motto. "Risen: We make things harder than they need to be, and still prevail". Things like clearing ZA first on the server with 3 warriors (2 protection, 1 fury) in the raid and absolutely no synergy, offering gold rewards for blowing Devro up with the Geddon bomb (thus having the bomb run around in the raid), and of course, we killed Archimonde without kicking Elumako out of the raid.
This still applies to us regarding achievements. Speed runs such as Arachnophobia are something we've felt very excited about, even back in the UBRS days where we timed ourselves and tried for new records weekly. On "The Culling of Time" achievement resulting in a bronze drake, we found out Mal'ganis did not have to be killed before the Infinite Corruptor because we looked around Mal'ganis' area for 3 minutes after defeating him, and finally finding the Corruptor with 10 seconds left. After this fact, the achievement did not seem so difficult.
Of course, there still were challenging 5 man achievements that had us go all out to complete it. The one that sticks out is "Gotta Go!" in Azjol-Nerub. This was by far the hardest, since it took an extreme dps focused setup and some luck. But, it was done. Do we wait for the nerf? No way!
Even while waiting for our next raiding weekend, many of our members keep pushing forth, challenging themselves with everything possible. This lead to what I am fairly confident to say, are the two server first Red Proto-drakes.
Risen Leveling Contest Winners
Well, that contest that we said we'd do, was actually just all a big lie in order to make you guys level to 80 faster, so we can get back to raiding. There is no contest, and there are no prizes.
The winners of the imaginary contest and its imaginary prizes are...
Phase 1:
- Every "Member" ranked Risen member who are level 80 at the time Parn logs on and notices 10 more people at level 80 will receive a raffle ticket for this phase and the next phase (described below).
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2008 Beta Code (presumably Starcraft II) - Sorrun
- Prize #2: Blizzcon 2008 Goodies Bag - Say
Phase 2:
- Every Risen member (regardless of rank) who are at level 80 at the time we have our first official 25 man raid will receive a raffle ticket for this phase.
- Those who did not win anything in phase 1 will have their ticket carried over for this phase (this means these people will have an extra ticket).
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2007 Costume and Beta Key card (unsure if 2007 Beta Key will do anything, but you get the costume) with Goodie Bag - Jantha
- Prize #2: Blizzcon 2008 Goodies Bag - Caitmonster
- Prize #3: Blizzcon 2008 T-shirt (or in-game gold if size not matching) - Elumako
- Prize #4: Diablo 3 T-shirt (or in-game gold if size not matching) - Krymoar
Phase 3:
- Any Risen member who is the first in their class to reach level 80 will receive a raffle ticket.
- Everyone who received a raffle ticket in phase 2 will have their tickets included in this phase.
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2008 Beta Key Code (Presumably Starcraft II) - Reversal
- Prize #2: One Blizzcon 2007 Costume and Beta Key Card (unsure if 2007 Beta Key will do anything, but you get the costume). - Basil
- Prize #3: Blizzcon 2007 Goodies bag (no Costume/Key Card) - Veil
Other Prizes
- Blizzcon 2007 Goodies bag (no Costume/Key Card) - Gyrinth
- Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit - Ycorp
- Alliance T-shirt 1 - Fawnika
- Alliance T-shirt 2 - Polarise
- Burning Crusade T-shirt 1 - Shaministic
- Burning Crusade T-shirt 2 - Steeg
- Blizzcon 2007 T-shirt - Groovezilla
- Blizzcon 2007 Nvidia T-shirt - Kailee
Random Screenshots
And of course, what's an update without random screenshots?
Basik still falls and dies.
Rosh's new favorite phrase.
These responses are from a 7pm Sunday raid.
Devro is back!
Leveling is srs bzns
Our old friend
Achievement woes
Jormungar in my ???
The reason why we won't get our Immortal achievement
Wonderful Wrath of the Lich King lore
WoW favors one mage over another, and hates the warrior
Styg's power
Styg's power 2
Tanking too much is hazardous to your health
Drakes come in various color and sizes
Let's light this candle!
-Parn
Welcom to the New Domain
Welcome to the new Risen web domain. This change was something that needed to happen in order to remove some administrative hurdles in maintaining our website(s). We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we're very happy we made the move.
Anyways, enough with the boring stuff. Here's our very first Wrath of the Lich King news update!
We'd like to recognize...
Risen also has always been a place where members went to extreme measures in order to help each other out. I personally remember a certain group of people who came to DM West with me days after days, for several hundred runs before the Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying finally dropped for me. The guild bank has always been full of consumables required for specific encounters. Members dropped whatever they were doing to go on a guild instance run to farm for whatever gear was appropriate for our next target. Gladly giving away patterns that would go for thounsands of gold on the auction house. The daily farming session at Darkwhisper Gorge for the Eye of Shadow where 10-15 people would get together to do nothing but kill elite demons for the one person who needed the item for their quest.
Risen is a place, where each guild member selflessly helps each other out simply because they want to help. This trend has seen a decline from all the dailies and battlegrounds and such introduced into the game as time fillers, but there are many people who still carry this Risen spirit and tradition on.
We'd like to thank each and every one of you for being such a great bunch of players, allowing us to keep thriving as a guild. We'd like to especially thank the following individuals who never ask "What's in it for me?", putting the guild before themselves.
Risen Honorary Award
These individuals have always shown dedication to the guild above and beyond the call of duty. They have contributed to the guild both in and out of the game by being an excellent contributing member, taking actions benefiting the guild even if it meant putting their own goals off, and/or raising the bar on the quality each of us bring to the guild.
These individuals are Basik, Bryant, and Sorrun. They will be receiving a gametime card from us.
- Basik - On top of being one of the nicest people in the guild, has gotten us started on a WWS subscription (which the guild took over financial responsibility for after her donation). Has organized some of our profession threads with very professional spreadsheets. Always there to help raid mid-week and weekends; pushed hunter aggro pulling and accidental boss pulling to new limits.
- Bryant - Always thinking of the guild before himself (Raided on Taquito for as long as the guild needed despite losing interest in the class). Did some research and helped refine DKP recording methods. Consistent attendance, always willing to help and great communication. A rl rogue utilizing his sneaky sneaky skills to get past rl guards at a certain rl event (ask him about it).
- Sorrun - Master strategist understanding encounters inside and out. Extreme dedication to raid gearing and preparedness in vanilla WoW and after his return in TBC. Raises the bar of raiding quality, commitment, and contribution. Unravelled the M'uru mystery and plays from different LOUD background locations weekly (such as air strips, inside a submarine, at the sidelines of a football game, war zone).
Risen Membership Award
These individuals have shown themselves to have excellent raid attendance and performance, teamwork, enthusiasm and/or are very helpful to others. They are model guild members we just can't thank enough.
These individuals are Isidara, Jantha, Oniji, Say, and Scarletrose. They will be receiving a gift mail in game.
- Isidara - Always willing to help. Continues to donate to guild bank. Always the first to offer himself to volunteered rotation. Cannot make up his mind about what certain purple items are called. Usually shy, but when angered he can turn into a rare druid form "Pissydara".
- Jantha - Always willing to take a joke at her expense. Excellent raid attendance and always willing to fill in with various alts when mid-weeks are short. Dedicated to maintaining a complete collection of enchants and always willing to be of a guildmember's service. Eternally 12, but she is "not a miner".
- Oniji - Dedicated raider. Puts in 100% every time, and always willing to respec without issues (except for being broke all the time). A model example of "Good players can play any class well". We will never forget the time he cratered for Archimonde. Mark my words.
- Say - On top of being a dedicated raider who has taken the less popular role of iDS spec for TBC, she has always been around to help out on mid-week runs on her main well past the lifespan of the zone. A truly talented artist who brought many memorable artwork and hilarious Risen Facts. Owner of Elu's junk, which comes in handy at times.
- Scarletrose - Contagious positive force of the world. Always happy to raid, always prepared. Does not have a single negative molecule in her body. Her ledge boss art is legendary and her mail messages brings smiles on the rainiest days. Has the compulsive need to talk to NPCs that activate encounters and has a way of using emotes and other game features to increase enjoyment for everyone.
Risen Lifetime Member Award
These individuals have been with us forever. They have helped forge Risen to its current glory from the earliest days of WoW (Molten Core and prior non-40 man content). We will be counting on these members to continue to serve as a role model for current and incoming members. These individuals will be receiving an in-game gift mail.
- Hammerfell (First DKP Raid 3/18/05)
- Chippy (First DKP Raid 3/18/05)
- Veil (First DKP Raid 3/19/05)
- Basil (First DKP Raid 10/22/05)
And to every other wonderful members of Risen
While we've highlighted some of our members here, every single member of the guild, past and present, have helped us get to the point where we are at. There is no doubt we will continue to take Risen to new heights with your help. Thank you.
The Risen Officers
Last and definitely not the least, is our officers. While the guild is full of individuals who are competent and self sufficient, the degree of organization of the guild and raids would not be possible without these individuals dedicating their time and effort to serve roles that are often invisible to the membership.
Let's give Cantonius, Faewn, Roshambeau (now Patchwerth), and Styg (now Steeg) a huge round of applause for the work they've done to allow the members to focus on the raiding game.
But wait, there's more!
Wrath of the Lich King Leveling Contest
The expansion is giving us yet another 10 levels to gain. Some people will grind the heck through it, some people will enjoy the scenery. Everyone will go at the pace they are most comfortable with.
Obviously, with Risen being a RAIDING guild, we want to get to level 80 as soon as possible. The sooner we get to 80, the sooner we raid. The sooner we raid, the sooner we can get back to challenging ourselves and proving ourselves against the progression raiding content.
Well, guess what. The guild is going to host a in-guild contest for those of us leveling as fast as possible.
Contest Details
Members who level to 80 within the specified amount of time (described in a bit) will be given a raffle ticket.
Phase 1:
- Every "Member" ranked Risen member who are level 80 at the time Parn logs on and notices 10 more people at level 80 will receive a raffle ticket for this phase and the next phase (described below).
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2008 Beta Code (presumably Starcraft II)
- Prize #2: Blizzcon 2008 Goodies Bag
Phase 2:
- Every Risen member (regardless of rank) who are at level 80 at the time we have our first official 25 man raid will receive a raffle ticket for this phase.
- Those who did not win anything in phase 1 will have their ticket carried over for this phase (this means these people will have an extra ticket).
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2007 Costume and Beta Key card (unsure if 2007 Beta Key will do anything, but you get the costume) with Goodie Bag
- Prize #2: Blizzcon 2008 Goodies Bag
- Prize #3: Blizzcon 2008 T-shirt (or in-game gold if size not matching)
- Prize #4: Diablo 3 T-shirt (or in-game gold if size not matching)
- Prize #5: Other small items we may be able to gather
Phase 3:
- Any Risen member who is the first in their class to reach level 80 will receive a raffle ticket.
- Everyone who received a raffle ticket in phase 2 will have their tickets included in this phase.
- Prize #1: One Blizzcon 2008 Beta Key Code (Presumably Starcraft II)
- Prize #2: One Blizzcon 2007 Costume and Beta Key Card (unsure if 2007 Beta Key will do anything, but you get the costume).
- Prize #3: Blizzcon 2007 Goodies bag (no Costume/Key Card)
- Prize #4: One of many Blizzcon and other Blizzard product T-shirts
- Prize #5: One of other many plethora of goodies, and whatever else we may get our hands on.
- Prize #6: Some in-game stuff (We'll think of something).
*Fineprint* Raffle will be managed by Parn at his home. Parn's wife will be the one actually drawing the tickets out of the bag. This contest is limited to legal residents of the United States. Ok, I'm kidding. Every Risen member will receive their prizes... eventually. Parn is not liable for any allergic events caused by cat hair in the packaging of the items shipped. If such an event occurs, it is most definitely Veil's fault. We understand people who will level fast will level fast regardless of such a contest, but we wanted to have some fun. Thanks for participating, and getting us back into end game raiding as quickly as possible. If you have read this far, you are either very bored, have good vision, now have poor vision due to the squinting you have been doing, or have cheated and enlarged the font on your browser in order to read it. Oh, and you're probably pretty bored.
Ready... Set... GO!!
-Parn
