New Raid Format for Saturdays!

[Xoui]

New Changes to Raiding
At the first tier of Legion we discovered we had more players than one raid could support, therefore we decided that running two raids to make sure everyone got to play was the way to go. That remains the plan (mostly) from here on out, until we either dwindle down to the size of one raid group, or better yet, expand to host a third.

Emerald Nightmare, as well all know, ended up being far easier than any of us could have expected. So, both teams made meaningful progression until we had the content on farm. Trials of Valor was a different story. We defeated the content, but it was not nearly as easy as EN and was all around frustrating for everyone involved. We ended up beating our heads against Heroic content that should have been beatable much sooner.

So, what is the point for this post?
Mintolos and I have decided that at this time, it does not make sense to keep trying to progress through Heroic as two separate teams. We have the resources (class abilities, artifact power, and raiding experience) to be a successful Heroic guild which progresses at a casual pace, but we have split those resources to try and make our teams as fair and balanced as possible. The plan for now, is to continue raiding as separate teams on Tuesdays and Fridays, the former being on Heroic difficulty and the latter being on Normal difficulty, but on Saturdays we are going to begin combining our raid.

We donÔÇÖt like the idea that we only get to play with half the players in the guild. With combining raids on Saturdays, we all will get to play with people we normally would not get to, which is pretty cool.
What happens currently is on Tuesdays both Mintolos and I take note of which raiders we feel are ready to tackle the harder Heroic content, and who could use more practice. Later on in the week when we find our raids struggling, we keep those who are performing well, and drop those who arenÔÇÖt quite up to snuff. It sucks and isnÔÇÖt fun for anyone involved.

As it stands, both groups are able to handle five to six bosses in Nighthold, depending on our luck. Beyond that we are struggling. If we continue to have to drop people due to inability to meet Heroic requirements, we both end up with around 15 players on our team, so it makes more sense to start as a 30-man raid and do drops from there, if necessary.

How is it going to work?
Much the same as it works now, only with more transparency. Mintolos and I will continue to monitor our raiderÔÇÖs performance as we always do, and every Tuesday both groups will separately take on the Nighthold on Heroic.

Based on performance from previous raids, up to and including each TuesdayÔÇÖs raid, we are going to create a roster of 25 to 30 players that we would like to run a raid with on Saturday. This roster should be available as soon as Wednesday night, so anyone who will not be on the roster will have a few daysÔÇÖ notice. This doesnÔÇÖt mean you shouldnÔÇÖt log on Saturdays if you donÔÇÖt see yourself on a roster. One possible reason you might not see yourself on a roster could be your lack of artifact power traits, or maybe you donÔÇÖt quite have the hang of your spec. We encourage you to use this time to farm Mythic plus dungeons and get more experience playing your character.

It will not be the same roster every week. If you feel you perform well and for some reason are not selected one week, it isn't personal, it is because we want everyone to get a chance to play! We realize some classes have a harder time hitting dps and hps numbers as other classes might, and we all know that sometimes utility is more important than raw numbers. Everyone will get plenty of chances to play, especially after we start getting more kills and acquire more gear and artifact power. And at this point neither raid needs to drop people to be successful on Tuesdays and Fridays. Eventually the goal will be to again raid separately on Saturdays once both teams are powerful enough to do so.

The idea here is to get as many people through Heroic Nighthold before Tomb of Sargeras as possible. But the bottom line is we both feel the guild will make more progress, and have more fun if each of our raiders get to see a Heroic GulÔÇÖdan kill once every two to three weeks, and get to play with our Guildmates we otherwise would not get to raid with, rather than continue to struggle separately and possibly not see that content, nor our other guildmates at all.

Our raid leaders and officers are available any time for any questions, comments or concerns regarding this change.

Ninja Edit: This will begin next week, the first combined raid will take place on Feb 25th.

[mintolos]

This would apply starting on reset next week not this Saturdays raid. 2/25/17 we would combine

[Shaggy]

I personally like this idea. Getting in heroic kills as a guild on new bosses will help the Tuesday runs be able to clear more content faster and give players who are struggling more face time in new bosses, and access to more loot to gear up with.

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[Deded]

I agree wit Shaggy! This is an awesome idea for everyone!! Thanks to both raid leaders for setting this all up and your continued excellent leadership!


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[Torvi]

I was just curious if this is how raids will be here on out or if this is temporary for Nighthold. I cannot make raids on Tuesdays so does that mean I will never run heroic again? I guess on that line will anyone that misses Tuesdays will be out of the run for Saturday because there is no log for them to go by? That is fine if that is how it is I would just like to know for sure.

Thanks!

Torvi

[Xoui]

This is a temporary measure to try and get the most out of Nighthold. The goal is to return to our split teams as soon as both groups are able to handle the content separately. That said, if this works well then we will probably employ a similar strategy when Tomb of Sargeras becomes too difficult on Heroic.

We are aware that some people can't make certain days, and we'll do what we can to accommodate as many people as we can. I don't see why we couldn't switch Tuesday and Fridays on some weeks.

And not being able to attend the first heroic night in the week does not necessarily mean you won't be invited to the Saturday raid.

[Torvi]

Ok thanks. Also, how are the tanks being done on this since there are 4?

Torvi

[Xoui]

Tanks will be subject to the changing roster to make sure everyone gets to play.

Same as everyone else.

[Torvi]

Ok so like a rotation?

Thanks so much

[Xoui]

Yep! And as always, tanks will have more opportunities to play if they master an offspec! (Looking at you MINT)