Survey Says....

This NEW server is /win.

After being here for a week, I can honestly say its been one of the best decisions we've all made as a guild.
Some observations:

A. No basement virgins trolling in trade chat
B. No spamming of "LF non-fail...."
C. Players seem to be more mature, friendly, and generally of a higher caliber
D. Even at midnight on a Monday night I was able to get into 25-VoA and the weekly Raid...
E. And, if that isn't enough, even when we PuG we have players coming back for a 2nd night of raiding...

We're still looking for some ranged DPS, but we've acquired some great people since we've been here.
Last week, Haz, Cozz and I healed in a 25-ICC that someone set up, and Di dps'd. Topped the charts. We got Sated's name out there, and players are wanting to come over more and more each day. It won't be long till the guilds rockin' a few Shadowmourne's.....

9 Manning Festergut

Before I delve into the awesomeness that it this post, I gotta give a quick shoutout.


Whoapaw, the big, loveable Boomchicken that he is, will be taking an undisclosed amount of time away from the game--and he will be missed. I could reminisce about the good times that we've had, but that really wouldn't be my style. Mostly I'm upset cause now Haz and I will have to find some poor, new sap to be the ass of our jokes.  /sigh


But in all seriousness, I hope the break treats you well, my friend.


Now on to SRZ Bidness...


We 9 manned festergut last night.


Lemme explain...


We had 8 log on to raid (told you I kicked everyone), so I just decided to pick up a couple in trade. I didn't gearcheck. Ended up with a Ret Pally and a DK (I healed, so it was cool). The 2 had never downed saurfang, and the DK was in pretty much ilvl 200 gear.
We one-shot everything up to putricide. He took 3 attempts.


But the amazing part was Fester. We ready-checked it up, I explained the fights, told the DK's to army, and started the pull.


I guess I forgot to mention that the door closes.


The pug DK got locked out.


We 9 manned Fester, and didn't even come close to enrage.


/motherfuckinunstoppable


Taking Putricide down with pugs was a nice feeling too.


Man I can't wait to get back into 25's....

When it's time to go...

For a short time, Sated was among the most sought after guilds on Blood Furnace; our players are knowledgable, friendly, willing to help with gems/chants/etc--they're just good...

For a short time, Sated was raiding 25 ICC (pre buff) and making it look easy...

For a short time, Sated had players in the top 3 of their respective classes (still do)...

But things change.

In an epic downturn of events, I ended up pissing off 8 people, and we've lost the majority of our raiders to real life issues (work, school, economic hardship). I've since been trying to recruit to fill core spots, but raiding late, and being on a low pop. realm really don't help the cause. At this point, its pretty much a wipe.

I've kicked all the non-active players from the guild.

Don't be sad for me, though.

I've got 10-12 of Sated's finest (including all of my Officers) in queue to transfer to a new, medium pop. server, where Sated will start anew.

We've run our course with trials and tribulations. We've developed and ameneded guild policy, found out what works for us, and now, we can implement it from the very beginning. We will hand pick our raiders, and cultivate a tightly woven 25 man team, forsaking all others. We're not looking to be the biggest guild on the realm, only the best =)

We're taking this week to get things in order and sell off the junk we really don't need to take.

Next week, Sated will have a new home...

WoW: Why We Play

The breakfast topic over at wow.com the other day, was about late night wow sessions.
It got me reminiscing about all nighters, fun times, and the ingredients that keep me logging into the game over and over again...


My most memorable nights started after I made my DK at 55. I had started playing WoW with my friend Ant, but by the time we hit 55, he had found other means to occupy his time. From the DK forward, I flew solo; spending each night questing through a different zone, learning the game, and seeing new, beautiful landscapes for the first time.


But once the questing was over, the game started to change.


I found myself actually looking at the green text chat, and engaging in conversations.


I downloaded vent.


And thats when I fell in love with the game.

I've always had an inherent need to storm the last castle and save the princess--but WoW's story is always changing. Each and every penultimate challenge merely one more chapter in the tale. So, unlike other games that get played, and beat, and then rest upon the shelf until a feeling of nostalgia persuades me to rediscover the story-- this game, and its characters, interweave themselves in a very complex way. Characters are not defined by the events that happen in-game, but are intrinsically developed by the people behind them: their wants, desires, emotions, frustrations--all interwoven between earth and azeroth, dynamically change the way people and gameplay intersect.

People enter and exit from the story; some quietly, others dramatically. And as relationships among characters develop and evolve, we find ourselves (I find myself) logging on, not to rescue a princess, but rather to see how the other story unfolds...

For me, friendship is the backbone of the game's success. While I enjoy raiding, and PvP, the pixels on the screen aren't what keeps me attached to the game. It's the people.

It's Darth-- who is a wealth of both useful and useless information. That remembers fight mechanics photographically, and has knowledge of every spec and every class.

It's Whoa--who I still remember running around as a little boom-chicken when I levelled my fishing, whispering me about EZ- E and Snoop Dogg, and partyin' in the barrio.

It's Haz--just cause he's old and I miss my Great Great Great Grandpa--just kidding.

It's Di--who's single handedly reintroduced me to PvP, and who has stood by me since Sated's conception. Whose become a really close friend, and is one of my absolute, favorite people...


If it weren't for these people, the game wouldn't mean nearly as much as it has. It's been these people (along with others--not forgetting you, Bu and Stink) that create the opportunities for memorable moments; a late night vezax kill, dueling in dresses in front of Org, soloing the pit at 70, levelling to the wee hours of the morning--chatting over vent and really getting to know someone....