Friday, September 4, 2009

[General] The return?

Earlier this week I brought up that I hadn't been posting and raiding all that much, and it was likely that I'd be going away soon. Well...things have changed.

First off, really, thank you all for the kind words and support. I'm very proud to have so many people who have gained value from my writing, and it means a great deal that you'd say so. I wasn't trying to gain sympathy or praise, but it certainly was nice to hear. :)

Second, after talking it over with my wife more and looking around, we think we may have found a solution (similar to what DTC suggested) - move to a different server with a different raiding schedule that isn't raiding as often. After doing some searching for guilds looking for a feral, I found what I hope will be a great home for a while: Casually Serious. They're a very progression-oriented guild that looks for similar people - people who are interested in doing very well and harder content, but don't have as much time due to real life considerations. I've been given a trial with them, and as of now I'm over on Balnazzar. Hopefully it will go well. I've never really raided with anyone other than Fire and Blood, so it's going to be interesting to see what it's like. I'm nervous and optimistic. But it means that I do have much more personal motivation to get loot lists and the like done, do more theorycrafting and raid analysis, and will likely have quite a bit of interesting things to say in the near (and hopefully far) future.

Saying that I was leaving to Fire and Blood was really difficult. I've raided with those real-life friends for basically all of my wow time, and we built a guild together that accomplished a great deal of success and fun. I've had my difficulties now and again, but that's normal with any group. I do know that without them, I would never have started writing. I would never have raided, and I would never have enjoyed it so much. I owe them a great deal, and words aren't going to be able to express that debt. I hope that we'll stay in touch and that I can pop on to QD now and then and crack bad jokes. And maybe when things change in my personal life, I'll be able to go back to 4 day a week raids and playing nonstop. I don't know if that's just wishful thinking. We'll see.

Anyway, later this week (possibly today) you'll see the Cat listing for gear. I'm going to use the wowhead system instead of Rawr this time (so unlike what I did for bears) and fill in the gaps as it gets more data. Most of the heroic 25-man stuff has dropped and is in the DB anyway, so it shouldn't have much more than the insanity tribute and some of the heroic Anub'arak loot. I will try and indicate when I don't have data where I think something should fall, too. If there is anything else you'd like to see or you have any questions, let me know.

10 comments:

Mittnacht said...

Great news! Selfishly I am glad to have your blog around as a resource. But as a father who raids 7 to 9 hours per week on progression content, I am truly ecstatic that you have likewise found a guild that allows you to raid and be the kind of father that you want to be.

Mitty

Chambord said...

^^ What he said. This is the last great bear blog I'm aware of, and I'm thrilled you're sticking around. My current guild is considering recruiting on our server (anetheron) with the same casually serious concept for the same reasons. All of us work and have RL responsibilities, but many want to raid when we can as well. Anyhow, great you've found a new home and that we'll all still benefit from your work.

Sincere thanks,

Chambord

Dustin said...

Good to hear you got it figured out man!

Sassafras said...

I am very glad to hear you won't be going away! It's a wonderful thing to be able to accomplish your raiding goals and still be able to have a decent chunk of time spent afk. :)

Jheusse said...

Yep, father of two, limited to two nights' raiding a week, very much appreciate where you're coming from.

But as others have noted you're one of the last of the feral bloggers I've been following forever, would have been a great loss to lose you.

So take a break if needful, we need you back fresh and ready when Icecrown hits :)

Alaron said...

You may want to update your frontpage, Kalon. :)

It's good to know that you'll still be around. I'm in much the same situation as you, actually, except I'm currently on raiding hiatus (mostly) while I get ready to move. I'll be looking for a good U.S. based EST guild (similar to CS) around the first of the year.

And, commenters, there are other bear blogs! Come read mine! :)

Anonymous said...

Agree. This is the best feral blog out there - so glad you're staying. Changing guilds was very liberating for me after several years of 3 nights a week of raiding, with officers that weren't as aligned with me as I'd hoped in attitude. I very deliberately looked for a guild that wanted to raid on the weekends, and who had a more casual view on loot. In the end I found a wonderful guild and am much happier. Hope it works out for you.

Really looking forward to the Cat lists.

Unknown said...

Just want to pop in and say grats for finding a new home.

I think there are many people like you out there who had to find a balance between real life and gaming, including me.
And whatever people may say, it's completely possible. But it takes time to adjust.

I'm glad you're sticking around because your blog has been a great help since i started my druid.
In the first period when i tried to tank with my bear until now where i try to keep my dps output and gear as best i can for an offspec (i went resto to join a casual 10man progression raiding group but i still consider cat my real form)

Anyway thanks for all the help so far and good luck with your new home!

For the Pie said...

I am sure the folks at FnB are sad to see you go.

Good luck on the new server man!

doug said...

Raid times and schedule are such a huge part of what make raiding fun. Finding the 2 that match make it be fun and not a burden. Gratz