KJ flushed into Sunwell in counter clockwise fury! - Saturday, 26 July 2008Quiet people spoke up, sleepy people woke up, everyone wanted to put more time into it, we went long a couple of nights and no one even bothered to tell me that raids ended ten minutes ago. We improved on every attempt, gained more control over the fight with every passing try, we would give up no ground and would fight every inch of the way. And in the final moments the voices are loud, the attitude is intense, the focus is razor sharp, eyes are keen... and then the cheers echo out in sheer glory!
This kind of fight is what I play these MMOs for. We invest heavily into it and learn what the fight does, develop our own strategy, refine that strategy, and push it harder and harder until the target falls over, or in this case, gets flushed into a toilet of sunshine.
To the untrained eye, it may seem like we had trouble on Kil'jaeden, that he is difficult, and that we took a month on him. However to the slightly intoxicated eye, the slightly heart-medicated eye, the mostly-happy-sometimes-angry eye, he really wasn't all that and took just over a week after we got everything in order and began to work the fight. The level of play required is certainly deserving of the final boss in Sunwell as the final fight of this expansion. Kil'jaeden tests your raid on all the knowledge of the fights that came before it, Kalecgos' positioning, Brutallus' test of strength, Felmyst's raid movements, Twins' endurance test, M'uru's teamwork. This fight is the accumulation of all that came before it and a great fight it is. Not to mention the theatrical value, it's got henchmen, treasure, a villain, a hero(us, fuck Kalecgos), and of course, a damsel in distress. There's good, there's evil, there's sacrifice, and there's triumph, what more could you ask for in a closing to an expansion?
And with that we say goodbye to this expansion and look forward to welcoming in the next. So soon will it be that we're recruiting again, leveling again, and raiding again.
Oh yeah and hey,
Thrall went down like a cheap hooker.
7/24/2008 42nd US and 89th World
This is my first year leading Conquest on my own after my near-decade here, so i'd like to take this space to thank some people who made it as smooth as it went:
Nokk and Tae - We know that teams live and die with their tanks, so thanks for being there every single day and never quitting on me.
Bane - Thanks for making everything run seamlessly while never missing a single day. I used to be Conquest's war machine, but you run it better than any of us ever has. Bane's loyalty knows no bounds.
Jandy - Thanks for doing everything that needed to be done and volunteering to do all the *actual* work that needs to be done, and doing it better than anyone else could and with unmatched enthusiasm.
Rizzen, Jandy, and Ymbryne - Thanks for doing all the research, answering all my questions, finding bodies when we needed bodies, and watching those new bodies and letting me know how they're performing.
My hard 100% raiders - Thanks for making Conquest, Conquest. I know who you are and your endeavor for perfection does NOT go unnoticed.
My soft 100% raiders - Great job, we couldn't have done it without you. I understand the sacrifices you make for your hobby, and to do it well.
Everyone who left under unfavorable conditions - Thank you for being the contrast of what it means to have character, for making me appreciate my teammates more, and for driving us to rise above you.
"This guy is getting run" -Me - Tuesday, 24 June 2008"You gotta be kidding me..." -Ymbryne
Ever have one of those fights that you look back at, and in retrospect, it is so complex and so strenuous that you ask yourself, "How did we ever kill that thing the first time?" C'thun comes to mind, Kel'thuzad is another, and the latest installment of difficult fights: M'uru.
I would have to say this is the pinnacle of tightly tuned fights, a mathematical beaut. Its really tough to make a fight for 72 people that cannot be done with 71, or a fight for 40 people that cannot be done with 39, and in fact, a fight for 25 people that can't be done with 24. You can't do M'uru with 24, I mean yeah later on down the line, but right now, there is no way. This fight is tuned tighter than Rizzen's girlparts.
"The Wagon is down, I repeat, the Wagon is down" -Durrhea
Sure, its just a bunch of small jobs rolled into one big fight. Sure, the small jobs are relatively typical jobs. Sure, there's nothing in this fight we haven't seen before. Thing is, if you roll all those things into a small space, add some void zones, exploding skulls, floating-random-grabby-balls, and a 10k hitting badguy, the going gets tough. Fast. Once again, Rizzen's girlparts.
"What else could possibly go wrong?" -Various
I'll answer that question with another question: What crazy thing haven't we seen yet? Let me count the ways. Tanks having internet issues. Healers having internet issues. DPS having internet issues. Kilrogg having internet issues. 500 ping, 1000 ping, 1500 ping, 4000 ping, and so on. Time Warner. "Comcastic". Critical errors and assorted game crashes. Kilrogg crashes. Rizzen's girlparts. And my all time favorite... Fortune falling asleep, observe:
WAKE UP FORTUNE! WAKE UP! GOD, WAKE UP!
"Bitch, I killed M'uru today." -Nokk
I'm happy to say it was a total group effort, from our raiders who waited patiently ready at a moment's notice outside the instance, all the way down to Taenx who buffed blessings on every attempt. From the people who gave me the mana thistle in their bags, to the guys who went out and got me crawdads and herbs at discount prices. This win is for everyone. In the end i'm proud to say that no one quit on us, not a single one. That alone is more than most people can say, and in fact its what everyone in the business of running a raid team desires and strives for. That and Rizzen's girlparts.
Is KJ winking at me? Gosh, that guy...
PS. Kill before the inevitable nerf.
2girls1rail and conflagrated poo all over the raid - Monday, 12 May 2008It took us a while on these two gals but we pulled it off, reverse nonetheless and without cheating i'm proud to say. Admittedly I had us try the exploit one night but it ate away at my sensibilities far too much for me to stumock it. So we struggled with strats, we struggled with healers, we struggled with little things, you name it and we struggled with it. We simply did not have the people for this fight, in fact we really didn't have the people for this fight until just this week, and thats all it really took.
Sunwell through my experiences, is really for large guilds with a large pool of people to draw from. People like us who raid with 28ish people on the roster are forced to expand grotesquely for this zone, and theres nothing you can do but shake hands with new people and smile, for what seemed like forever.
However we beat them today and man was there a lot of stuff on that chick, like six things. Probably why she never moves the entire fight, too much shit. Guess thats what the other girl is for. Get it? I think i'm going to throw up...
And on that note, i'm looking to expand my raid:
Healers (2100+healing, T6)
DPS (T6, WWS evidence a big plus)
At this point all applicants must be geared since we no longer perform old content (SSC/TK/BT/Hyjal) Also you should be able to make most if not all of our progression schedule, Sunday-Friday 5pm to 9pm PST.
cqrecruitment@gmail.com
Off-camera: Jandy falling off the rail and iceblocking in mid-air for posterity
Oleander Strat, Half-glaive Rap - Saturday, 12 April 2008So apparently the bride of Sapphiron drops a lot of stuff for tank druids and prot warriors who had their Illidan shield stolen. There just isn't room for three tanks, so I helped teach the strat, pushed the raid, and in the end I sat myself out. Veni, Vidi, non Vici.
This is not to say that we didn't still do an outstanding job! Ymbryne came up with a great healing scheme that was executed to perfection within just a couple of hours. Rizzen on the other hand, I had to drag kicking and screaming like a little pansy, into the job of directing the raid for the dance.
Rizzen: "uhhh up! I mean down! I mean the breath is up and we should...."
*KABOOM*
(Ventrilo explodes)
Rizzen: (distant sounds of sniffling similar to a 10 year old girl with a skinned knee, in fact an ugly 10 year old girl)
In the end it was well done by both of them. From massive internet problems with our raiders to the warlocks doing their imitation of Mura, they came through it all with a clean win in a short time. Finally as the style of the times dictates:
Flying over head with blue-green wings
Our team on the ground with four digit pings
Felmyst landed to fight
But he faced the might
Of Conquest which is no small thing
PS. Still looking for a Resto Druid! Has to be a well dressed one out there! Also possibly a fully geared healing shaman ready for progression!
cqrecruitment@gmail.com 
Who is that retard with the one glaive?! I know! Do you?
Brutallus Clitted! (wtf does that even mean???) - Monday, 7 April 2008So we have this guy, Jandy, whom you might remember from previous enlightening posts such as:
AND
So he's been getting us killed all week, from little things like pulling aggro, to dying early, all the way to big things like pulling aggro, and dying early. Anyway, we overcame Jandy and killed the badguy.
Brutallus lived up to his name, this guy could beat some ass, beat some Jandy ass. I'm proud to say we beat this guy in the midst of rebuilding our roster. We had some great vets quit on us due to the long wait time between farm and new content, however I am extremely pleased with the people we've had step up and help get us back on track. Also I must say that this new class of recruits are some of the finest players we have ever had. So with this, i'd like to say we are comin' back baby, and the future is bright!
...except that clown Jandy, godddddddddd
PS. Still looking for a great full time Resto Druid!
cqrecruitment@gmail.com
Our first ever setup photo. Is Nokk looking at my ass?
