Being a Karazhan raider

When I first joined a guild playing World of Warcraft with my semi-abandoned level 27 alliance druid, I noticed that folks seemed to talk in hushed, serious tones about raiding. I had no idea why it was even called raiding (I still don’t really, except that its what Blizzard software calls bunching up with 9 or more other individuals to conquer foes). I quickly got the idea that others saw it as the pinnacle of the gaming experience. Only fairly hardcore (desperate?) types did it; I knew another couple who spent 4-5 nights (or more) playing and raiding, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing that. Then, somehow over the last year things evolved so that Kim and I are now involved equally heavily (and happily?) in organising and raiding the 10 man Karazhan dungeon for Crusaders of the Flame. What is it like you ask? Well, when you’re regularly around reasonably serious players, you soon figure out your weaknesses, whether they be strategic, organisational or straight-out playing, so by surrounding yourself with a bunch of others that DO have those skills, you stand the best chance of general success. Somewhere along the line, when you’ve done many of the things possible to reach the level 70 cap, you look at the alternative which is to begin another character and you look at the 25 x 24 hour chunks of playtime you’ve invested into your hastily chosen and named avatar, and you decide that the loot and raiding is a better choice. Well I have, mostly.

So, whilst things around me suffer (music practise, dogs, house maintenance, general outings) JSBach continues to hold back the undead foes of Karazhan with his furry hide and does it respectably. It’s surprising how enormously satisfying it can be to group with others and defeat a boss that you consider way out of your league. Then there’s the downside of sitting down for another 4 hour stint, and crawling to bed exhausted, with a typical headache the next morning. I guess some folks handle the stress of it a little better than I do. To finish off, I need to mention a few significant in-game events which occured last night which I will oneday look back on and gasp in disbelief that I was so serious about. Firstly, a fellow guild member won me an incredibly rare and frankly dull-looking tanking trinket called the Badge of Tenacity. I had dedicated many hours over the past 2 months trying to get it, and had given up, so 1000 gold was a small price to pay for it. I am an unremarkably geared druid-tank and I wanted something that would set me apart from the usual druid. Now am I am one of the 1% who have it. And my armour is mysteriously 2500 points higher.

Then, a Tasmanian druid comrade Serein was able to get a much coveted Terestian Stranglestaff, otherwise known as the Octopus on a Stick, which deals out a fair chunk of damage for a cat druid. Now she just has to play a cat oneday.

So, our guild has just begun to run three separate 10 man teams into Karazhan, and Kim and I organise a team each. It’s been fun meeting people and getting to know the personalities. We pretty much see them more often than our families and friends, so I’m glad we mostly get along fine.