Guild FAQ Archive

The Burning Crusade is upon us. Demons are pouring out of the Dark Portal (good thing we raced there when it was still safe, eh?). Millions of subscribers are chomping at the bit to fork over the cash and race to 70, start new alts with new races, and generally disregard everything held sacred at 60.

So, it is with this in mind that I announce UBRS as the final FNF before the expansion. Although the loot may not matter in a few days, it will be the last time for months that more than 5 of our members will group in an “endgame” instance. Sure, we might be able to hit ZG along the way (if there are enough votes AND enough who sign up), but Zul’Gurub will no longer be an instance above us — we’ll actually have to come back to do it later. Same goes with the other 20- and 40-man content.

As a result, there are new instances added to the FNF Poll in the forums. Currently only the first couple of expansion content instances, but as our ranks advance in level, more instances will be added to the poll. To make room, other instances (anything below level 58) have been moved to the Mid-Night Poll… and to make room there, lower level instances have been removed altogether. They will still happen, but rather on an as necessary basis (or when the Blood Elf ranks demand it). In total, there are 15 (fifteen) new 5-man instances, all of which can be re-run again at 70 under heroic difficulty, making for 30 new 5-man instances, as well as 1 new 10-man, and 7 new 25-man raids. Our instance progress page has been updated to reflect this, splintering off a raid progress page as well.

Phew, that’s a lot, and makes for a long post… back to the FNF: UBRS. For those not familiar, Upper Blackrock Spire is a 10-man raid (so xp sucks) in Blackrock Mountain. Minimum level is 58. We have several more than 10 level 58+ members, so space is limited to signups! An additional run (or two?) may happen, and we can always swap out people if they really want in/out.

Click here to sign up for UBRS.
Click here to vote for the next FNF.
Click here to vote for the next Mid-Night.

The winning team in the Race to the Dark Portal was Team Raptor, comprised of Grauenvoll’s level 1 alt Quicklilguy, his captain Skykomish, and with Bomosnipah, Gorc, Malgash, Necromage, Paed, Quorthon, and Travysh rounding out the team.

Overall, many participants, both on Team Raptor and Team Wolf noted that the race was much easier than originally expected, with combat avoidance as one of the keys to keeping the pace up rather than potions or other speed-related buffs.

The next race is already in the works, to be announced in the next few weeks.

To everyone who signed up, thank you. I realize some who signed up will not be in attendance, and others will probably want to show up who didn’t sign up, or even bring a character they hadn’t originally intended. Feel free. We know signups were quite a while ago, and were mostly to get a feel for how many people were interested in participating.

Here’s the deal:

1. Be around the campfire at the Den at 11pm Greymane Time (9pm PST) with the character you intend to bring on the Race. If you know you are going to be late, have someone vouch for you, your character, and the time you will be showing up.
2. Get onto TeamSpeak. Although this is optional, it will make the process of determining teams, and team communication much easier — even if you are only listening. I realize some people have feedback issues, which is probably due to speaker/microphone settings. We’ll have a little time to resolve those before the race. If you are not going to be on TeamSpeak, let someone else know so that important details can be relayed by channel or whisper.
3. Once everyone is accounted for (signups or relayed interest), we will begin with the /roll to determine those who create the Level 1 character. Anyone with a free slot on Greymane is welcome to /roll, regardless of whether they asked to do so earlier. You must be present for this roll, so late-arrivers will have to escort.
4. The Alts then choose their team captains. Then the alts go create their character. These charcters should not have been made in advance, but we aren’t looking over your shoulder… and you won’t know whether you are creating an orc or a troll.
5. The captains then alternate picking the remainder of the people for their team; present characters picked first, with others picked afterwards. Any odd members will be on the team that picked second.
6. The teams’ party/raid composition and organization is entirely up to the team. They may use TeamSpeak, or opt against it. They can discuss tactics, path, etc.
7. Once the team captains both say their team is ready on /guild the Race will begin…

Good luck!

In just a few weeks, the Burning Crusade will be out, bringing new goals to all the peoples of Azeroth. Level 70, Blood Elves, Jewelcrafting, and countless other distractions will be available to change every facet of the game as you have come to know it.

In preparation for this occassion, Hellfire Club would like to introduce the Race to the Dark Portal. This event was proposed several months ago (see the original post) as a little guild contest. Starting at The Den in Durotar, a team must escort a Level 1 character to the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands.

On Friday, January 5th, 2007, the Race to the Dark Portal will bring HFC members together. So, how will it work?

First, sign up! We need to know how many people are interested in participating. Please sign up with the character you intend to bring, and note in the comments whether you would be willing to roll one of the two Level 1 characters. Then, we wait until the night of the event…

Once gathered at The Den, those interested in rolling the level 1 characters will /roll. The winner and runner-up choose their team captains from the pool of participating members, winner first. The runner-up then chooses his captain and determines the teams: Team Raptor will accompany the level 1 troll (class is up to the level 1 character), and Team Wolf will accompany the level 1 orc. The winner and runner-up then log off to create their little agg-magnets.

In the meantime, the captains choose their teams, taking turns selecting one member at a time until everyone has been selected. Members must stick with the character they bring (which should be who they signed up with). Changing to a different alt would upset the team selection process. Any odd-man out will join the runner-up’s team.

When the Level 1 characters log in, and the teams are formed, the race begins!

• Teams may take any path they desire. It might be that the most obvious route isn’t the fastest, but can you convince your team of that…?
• Teams may escort, bodyguard, and scout by the means available to them. The team should generally stick together.
• Certain character abilities are forbidden: Summoning and Portals. Other abilities may be added, but those two are pretty big.
• Graveyard hopping is not allowed. If you or any member of your team dies, they must run back to their body or be resurrected.
• Outfitting the Level 1 is not prohibited, but won’t be very beneficial either. =]
• Teams are allowed to take advantage of TeamSpeak.
• The first team to escort their Level 1 to the shimmering field of the Dark Portal wins.
• There are no prizes except notoriety. Blizzard frowns upon much else…

If you have any other questions, or want to talk about the Race, please check out the following forum thread.

The Group Loot rolling system in place by Blizzard isn’t horrible, but it has some major shortcomings. One of which is the player’s own definition for the options presented to them. Blizzard has set aside Need, Greed, and Pass.

Working backwards, Pass is fairly straightforward in that you are essentially saying you don’t want the item. The game mindset has also adopted “you don’t want the item yet” so that an Enchanter can work their mojo. The players aren’t really passing on the item, they’re just not interested in it’s current state…

Greed is even more straightforward. The drop represents a financial return, be it vendored or more likely, sold in the Auction House. However, because of the adoption of the Enchanter-based change in the definition of Pass, Greed has adopted another definition of what an Enchanter should choose when it is their duty to dispose of the item. The trustworthy Enchanters aren’t merely going to pocket the item and vendor it…

And then there’s Need. There are two levels of need, which is a shortcoming of this system: Need and Want. We should be all fairly clear on the Need definition — being that primal drool-inducing state where we imediately discard whatever crap item we used to have occupying that slot in order to embrace this jewel from the heavens…

It’s the other use of Need that we’re not too unified on. When they only Want something, most players in a PUG will roll Need, or at least ask the group before doing so, if they’re more polite. However, in guild, there’s a tendency to roll Greed instead, often against the enchanter. Well, that is one way of saying that you don’t Need the item, but statistically speaking, you’re shafting everyone else…

Roll #1: 50% Want vs. 50% Enchanter.
Roll #2: 20% each (5-man), 10% each (10-man), etc.

Assuming the Greed/Want roll failed, the Enchanter d/e’s the item, and everyone rolls. Overall, the Want has a 35% chance to win something (assuming a 5-man), while everyone else only has a 16.25% chance to win the shard. That’s not fair to the others… so what if he doesn’t roll on the shard? Well, that first roll still counts as 25%, leaving only 18.75% to the other 4. These odds are even harsher in a 10-man group: 30% vs. 7% each, or 25% vs. 8.33% each, respectively. So, no matter what, if you roll Greed for an item you Want, you’re shafting the rest of your team.

The counter argument is that if you roll Need instead, then you have a 100% chance to get the item, and the rest of the team has no chance at all. Good! At least you could use it, even if it’s only something to rub in peanut butter and parade around in the basement… uhm. Yeah.

The way PUGs deal is asking first. We try to set up our looting rules so everyone just kinda “knows” what is going to happen, and that the asking, and the “approval” is implied. To make it “fair” to the rest of the team, we do consider it a Need. You could avoid the ramifications of needing something, which currently is nothing more than Loot List bragging rights (shut up, Necro), by hitting Pass, but then you have to watch as your beautiful peanut butter baby is sharded and some fat cow with a shield walks off with its remains…

In short (too late): You want? You need!