Staghelm: Cleaning out the folder

IHS had a scheduled 25man every Thursday, & every Thursday no one would show up. I couldn't even imagine how FTM had once done 40man raids. Even though the raid was supposed to start around 8:30, at 8:30 there would be fewer than 10 on, & I'd have to start texting people. It was very frustrating.

But that's just me. I LIKED raiding with my guildies. From here, looking back, I don't know if the crappy attendance was due to passive-aggressive drama amongst the boys or if people were just getting weary of WoW. It was probably both.

Our Tuesday night 10mans were even hard to assemble in the last days. Where previously I had sometimes not gotten in to the 10man because they already had 10 people, now I was texting people on freaking Tuesday nights.

I'll be honest. It's hard for me not to feel bitter about this. I didn't have issues with anyone in IHS, not then. If I did, I'd say something about it, rather than make the guild suffer for it. To me, that's fair. I always make the mistake of assuming that other people want to be fair, too, & that if they had a problem with someone they would either say something, or harbor the issue without affecting other uninvolved parties. You know... like grown ups. Yeah, I'm so naive.

Even in retrospect I don't really know what was going on. All I knew was that guild morale was crappy. I've grumbled about it to one of my friends & his take on it is that there was a rift between the more progressive players & the "squatters," & this tension killed everyone's morale. It's true that many of the IHS players who had been active & online almost daily completely or almost completely vanished shortly after the influx of FTM players. I've been informed of many of the reasons for specific IHS players disappearing, & I don't think I've been lied to, but it's just such a big coincidence. They all left at the same time. And they came back at the same time - after we moved to Thaurissan. So I don't know what to think. I don't think there was animosity directed toward me specifically, but I still feel betrayed.

Men. Men can be such vaginas.

So currently I have still not killed Lich King, & I have not even tried since moving to Thaurissan. I don't really care about Lich King. I don't care about raiding right now. I like Thaurissan a lot, but when it comes to progression I just don't want to think about it for awhile. If the day comes when I have a guild again - & that means a group of friends who are all getting along & being nice to each other - & they all want to raid, then I'll want to raid again too. It's not because I'm a follower but simply because raiding isn't fun for me without everyone else having fun too.

I have a lot of hope for Cataclysm - Phil & Kelson said they're going to start playing again, & although the Oregon crew said they are quitting WoW to play FFxiv, I'm fairly certain they'll be back by November or shortly thereafter. A number of FTM guys I haven't played with since Minionette days (Jahni, Fique, Aaron) have moved to Thaurissan as well. There are a few still in IHS that I wish would come to Thaurissan (frankly, I wish almost everyone would... about as effectively as I wish everyone would grow the fuck up, but I still wish it) but I know they're not coming, & that's ok. With the new Real ID feature, we can still keep in touch cross server.

If the "squatters" theory is true, then I guess this couldn't have been helped. People just want different things - some want to move & others want to sit still. Ultimately one can't remain with the other. I'm trying to let it go. I'm trying to stop feeling bitter about it. It might take a little longer. Or maybe all will be well in November.

There are certainly things I miss about Staghelm. Meh, those situations wouldn't be coming up again now anyway. I still have my alts there, but I'm so spoilt from the ping on Thaurissan that I run into problems with my global cooldowns or even running away before I'm done looting on Stag. I'm just leveling alts until Cataclysm. It's actually kind of fun. A little lonely sometimes, maybe.
Occasionally I think to myself it might be time to quit WoW. I think I have to delete my Facebook before I quit WoW. I hate Facebook a lot more than WoW. And the last time I quit WoW it cost me a LOT of money, although I tend to think it would be better this time around. However, with Cataclysm coming there's just no point in that. I'd be back if only out of curiosity. So I've just got to hold on a little longer.

It's no picnic, let me tell you.