The simple truth is that Azrael will not be a competitive guild unless the rules are changed to favor them. If variance were implemented, they would continue to lose, and then they would begin their next propaganda campaign, probably to limit maximum guild size.
I have high raid attendance with Holocaust. We raid with somewhere between 40 and 60, usually right in the middle of that. However, they are not at all the same people from day to day or week to week. We were talking about turnover tonight and I went through the list of names. We had 52 players, including some brand new recruits who needed Sebilis keys in order to raid Trakanon. I joined the guild in October. There were 17 members at the raid who were in the guild when I joined. Seventeen.
This is not an aberration. This is part of the guild mission as I understand it. On many occasions, Gongshow, our guildleader, has clearly stated that he doesn't mind if people join the guild for a little while, join some experience groups, level up, get a little gear and their epics, and then move on. We help people get their epics every day, and many, maybe most, of them disappear. This includes people like Ragnaros and Kecleon who now talk shit about Holocaust--I personally helped Kecleon with his epic mobs.
The best hope the server currently has for healthy competition is Fresh. They are following a similar mission to Holocaust: recruiting new players, helping them gear and level. When Fresh hits a critical mass of level 60s, somewhere around 100 so they can field a raid of 50, I full expect to see them actively compete with us.
I look forward to it.
On the other hand, what I expect from Suave is for the unsuspecting new players in their guild to help gear up the alts of Exed, Akinn, and Gaffin. I expect those players to then return to Azrael and for Suave to fold, just as happens with every guild associated with Azrael.
There is certainly room for a third guild like Holocaust and Fresh who welcome and nurture new players. It's hard to get started on red. Most players will need a little help to learn the ropes. What is currently missing for that to happen is a third set of leaders who will treat their members with dignity and respect.
I would like to offer my personal thanks to Gongshow, Colgate, Waspnado, Terp, Weta and the other leaders of Holocaust for giving me a great home, to Karsten and Bigtuna for creating another guild that doesn't suck, and to Sirken, Aussie, Eunomia, and the other GMs and guides who have been trying to make this a better place to play. I think this server is great and I think the people who badmouth it suck.
|