Remnants of Chaos

If you need gold, quest for it, grind trash for it, learn to play the auction house, or buy it from Blizzard. This simple rule is common to all guilds, yet new(er) members seem to try it on anyway. I, like a others in the game, consistently make 10,000g a day without effort. Even 100,000g a day is not unknown, in the past. I can and do share this known and experience with players that ask. There is never a need to beg for gold in the game.

This extends to asking for free mats and gear. If you need stuff, work for it – we are not a charity. There are some items in the guild bank you are welcome to take if it’s genuinely useful, other than that, no.

See also point 2 about begging for boosts.

I do not want hear whining about how hard it is to make gold, because it’s not. You are either inexperienced or plain bone-idle. As I said, I can guide you, if you ask, but I will not tolerate begging. If you are lucky you’ll get one warning from me. If I’m having a bad day and the first thing I see is you asking for 5,000g for flying or your garrison I will boot you without a second thought.

This is an extension of the first rule. If you want to sell stuff, use auction house, NOT guild chat.

If someone wants something crafting, by all mean ask for the mats from them, just don’t ask for tips or fees. (If they want if for free, remind them of rule 1)

Similarly, if you offer something in guild chat, I expect it to be free. If I see "Anyone want…" following by you asking for gold, I’m going to get angry. This is on a par with begging for gold and I have no tolerance for it. If you have something to sell, put it on AH or vendor it.

Guildies are also reminded that, across my alts, I can craft almost every item in the game, ever. I will ask for mats, naturally. (I’m not farming for you!) That said, if I’ve a lot of spare mats and you are an active, helpful member of the guild I’ll do it for free or token mats, depending on the cost/quantity/rarity of the mats.

This includes gear boosts as well as level boosts.

It also includes asking for help on easily solo-able old content raids because you are too lazy and/or impatient to gear up properly or read tactics. There are a few bosses and achievements that simply aren’t solo-able but there are very few and I know most of them. Asking for help on bosses that we know can be solo’d by any class at your level will annoy me.

I have seen one too many people say things like "Farming apex is too boring" and that "I’d rather be doing other things".

Let me be very clear on this: This is lazy, selfish and extremely insulting to those you are asking – begging – from. I will not tolerate it any more. Persistent offenders will be kicked out the guild.

In saying you want a boost like that, that you want to be carried through instances and raids because you can’t be bothered you are, in effect, telling us that our time is not important. That we are not important. It implies the assumption we are paying to play the game solely for your benefit. That we are here to carry, to serve you. You may not see it like that, but that’s how it is. (I will cover this further under gear, below). Many of us have pets and/or families to care for, careers to manage, educations to pursue, yet we manage.

If you cannot be bothered to play your own game you have two choices: find another, easier game, or pay some boosting website a serious amount of cold hard cash. We are a guild, not the benefits office. If you want progress, work for it. I am, as I say, very tolerant, but I have my limits, as do all the established members of the guild.

This rule may seem controversial, given the harsh statements above, but I consider begging to be very rude.

Note this carefully: I have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind.

I, we as a guild, actively welcome quiet, introverted players. The evening trolls in trade chat may give a different impression, but Warcraft has a large percentage of people with problems, unresolved issues and even deep-seated psychological scars. More that one person has completed their doctorate on the subject. I know I have issues and over the years, in confidence, I’ve met a lot of others with personal problems that this game, and others like it, lets us hide from. In many ways hiding here is the worst possible thing for some people. At the same time, sometimes, the things in our heads are so overwhelming, or the stress of our lives so great, that this retreat from reality is necessary to heal, to relax, to move forward.

These, and others for different reasons, just want a guild they can feel relaxed in, chat when they feel like it, do their own thing when they don’t. I respect that and I expect all our members to do so too.

At times, between players who’ve known each other for a while, even years, chat can seem rude, even insulting – that’s fine too, as long as it is between friends and not too close to the knuckle. If it starts getting a little sharp for your sensibilities, speak up or talk to me.

Fortunately, I’m pleased to say, we’ve rarely had troublesome players in this guild. Know that I will keep it that way! As far as I recall, I’ve silenced one player and booted two others. The silenced one was left in the guild because I knew his background and understood. Doesn’t mean I was going to put up with his mood swings, but I can be understanding. The second two… one I caught, kicked instantly and reported, the other I was sent a screenshot of his rant and booted a minute later.

If you are having a bad day – as we all do from time to time – do some quiet fishing (pools in Pandaria would be helpful :) ). Or log-off and clean the bathroom with a toothbrush. (No, really, it can be surprisingly relaxing, therapeutic even. Good advice that, I know I’ve used it!). Or go for a walk in the fresh air. If you need a friend, I can be that too. I’ve stuff in my head no-one should ever have, been places… made mistakes… We’ve all been in bad places, know that if this is the case you are not alone. Not here!

If, after this you still rage or get abusive, expect an instant kick and if you cross my lines, I will report you.

Guild runs: Old content
If you can get in, that’s good enough for me. You will, however, be expected to keep up. That means try not to get spam killed, don’t do stupid pulls you can’t survive, unless you have a surprisingly patient healer or friend to laugh and you and keep resurrecting you.

Guild runs: Current HC instances
As with old content, but with less tolerance. No-one should be dying in current HC’s now. If you are a tank or healer and people are dying you need more skills and (possibly) better gear. If you are a DPS, you are a Muppet. Stop ninja pulling and standing in fire, it’s annoying/embarrassing.

Guild runs: Current Timewalk instances
Ditto. Please remember your gear is scaled right down. If you try and pull 3 groups of mobs you will die and possibly wipe the party. Dying in TW happens, dying a lot should not! One favourable thing to note, though: if you have legendary weapons for that expansion, they are fantastic!

Guild runs: Challenge Mode
This a sod. If you want to progress CM (before it’s removed in Legion), start now. It will take a long time to get all 8 at gold. (Unless you want to pay someone 200k for a carry!)

Guild runs: Mythic Instances
We are not here to carry you! Gear up, learn your class, don’t stand in fire!

Let me get this straight. Mythic instances are generally hard, they are meant to be hard. Deaths and wipes are common – even on trash – unless most of the group is well geared. And skilled.

I do not want to see people whining in chat that they aren’t getting invited to mythic instances with us when they are spam dying due to poor skills and sub-standard gear. This is up there with begging and boosts. Just no!

This means you have good, even great gear, you know your class, you have food, runes, flasks, you have the right enchants and gems. Simply put, if you are getting booted out of pugs or can’t even get into them, don’t expect us to carry you.

In a full guild run we can be more flexible, if some of us are really well geared, or are friends that quest a lot together and know each others skills. Carrying a friend with blues that we know will be up to speed fast is do-able. Carrying some numpty in epic gear that spam dies and/or ninja pulls large groups is not. No pro raid guild will ever put up with it unless you are paying them a LOT of gold or cash. If this guild is to flourish we need to apply the same tennets.

Guild Raids

Everything I said above Mythic instances applies here, only moreso. While, initially, we will take less and, eventually, we may boost, as a bare minimum, we appropriate gear.

You are also expected for have add-ons (DBM as a bare minimum, GTFO, perhaps others for your class), flasks, food (preferably), healing tonics, etc. You get the idea. We do have these and feasts in the GB for raid nights, if needed.

The jump from LFR to Normal, in terms of skills and game mechanics, is huge. I still shudder at going into LFR, whereas I can pug HFC HC with a good group and fly through it. Similarly, I’ve joined Archimonde HC groups with a minimum requirement of i710 only to see them fail hard on this, their 12^th try! You need to learn this as a team.

The jump from Normal to HC is equally harsh and unforgiving. If you can’t make it through Normal, let alone HC, Mythic will eat you up and spit out your mangled remains before you get through the first trash.

Essentially

I might be the guild leader, but it is YOUR guild.

If you want to progress, to raid, gear up, turn up, help recruit good players. Make it work, but make it fun.

To be honest I’ve burnt out before in and (in part) because of this game, I’m not going down that path ever again. My patience is at an end for trying to get 8 people for a raid. For people not turning up. Or that turn up under-geared on an alt and want carrying. Or that leave after one wipe because they are ‘bored’.

I stay in part out of addiction and loathe myself for it, even as I manage to juggle other things. Equally, I stay because there’s a place, a need for a guild like this.

As I say, make of this second home what you will, but if you want it to work, put the effort in, because the next git that tells me they are too important to play the game – that I should ignore my family, my health, my business plans and my education – all because they find parts of playing the game themselves tedious – is going to see a side of me I usually keep well locked away.

~ Ack