Heisenberg- 533 Fire Mage

[Ashin]

One of the first things you typed in your app was that I should decide whether I like you are not. After reading your reply, I have to admit I have mixed feelings. Overall, I believe that you are probably a solid raider. Shek will look at the log you linked and tell me yes or no, but that's my instinct based on your history. So, I'm not overly concerned about that.

Working with mom to help reduce medical costs via billing errors? Sounds awesome. You feel euphoric when you help others accomplish their goals? Sounds awesome. I can dig the outdoor adventuring too, although that's not my thing. But then the other half of the time it seems like you're going out of your way to be crude. I feel during an introduction (or trial) someone will tend to be on their best behavior, so I have to assume you only get more crude from here. I can tell you're a smart guy, so I don't quite understand why you choose to present yourself like that. But I'm more easily impressed by someone's wit than by their ability to sound e-tough.

A rhetorical question you asked was whether I saw a pattern in your guild history. I assume you mean you've had bad luck with guilds, but the pattern I saw is that your work schedule or other IRL commitments have changed significantly at various points. One of those guilds collapsed because you left. You became a bench bitch because you were away from the game for a month - did you communicate your situation clearly with your raid leader before going on hiatus? I guess my point is that you dismiss this track record as bad luck, but it seems like you are largely responsible for it. I'm not disagreeing with your choice in priorities - not my place to do so. Just asking that you own the consequences of your choices. Even in this application, you had to walk away for a week because your job situation changed again and you weren't sure about committing to the team. So how do I establish a comfort level that you will be with my team for a while if I take you?

Two other comments that actually don't have anything to do with whether you get accepted or not..

The good and the bad is everyone in the guild talking to you about shit. You get a better relationship with everyone, but sometimes you just want to relax and have everyone just leave you alone for awhile.

I know exactly what you mean!

I switched to mage after they ruined hunters with 18 million cooldowns.

This has become a source of real curiosity for me. At risk of offending our beloved hunters.. half the time I hear people say the class is braindead easy, and half the time I hear people say it has a billion buttons and is needlessly complicated. Since I don't play a hunter, I have no idea who is right. But it's funny how the wow community is so bipolar in its perception of this class!

[Heisenberg]

I'm at work so this is gonna be a quick response till I get home.

You say that applicants tend to be on best behavior and that if accepted my behavior would only get worse. Here I may be different from most people you encounter. What you see is what you get. I've had probably around 30 failed relationships and during that time I've tried various approaches to attract women. One of those strategies was to pretend to be some awesomely amazing guy. You can pretend for awhile but eventually what you really are is going to come out. It's the same with job interviews. I'd rather just be myself so I don't have pressure to be someone else for the rest if my time there. It's more enjoyable that way.

You say I go out of my way to be overly crude. Part of this is my dark, twisted sense of humor, part of it is my sarcastic ways, part of it is my language, and part of it is your interpretation from my written text. You don't provide any examples so Im not exactly sure what you're talking about, but I assure you none of it was purposefully flex my e-muscle. Breaks over tbc later

[Fulgshift]

But then the other half of the time it seems like you're going out of your way to be crude. I feel during an introduction (or trial) someone will tend to be on their best behavior, so I have to assume you only get more crude from here. I can tell you're a smart guy, so I don't quite understand why you choose to present yourself like that. But I'm more easily impressed by someone's wit than by their ability to sound e-tough.

This was my biggest take-away from the initial application and the length reply to all of our questions. The constant use of "retard," "rape" and similar language is extraordinarily off-putting. I can also appreciate an individual who talks up their game-play and describes their past gaming history in the best terms...but I'm just getting this overwhelming sense of dread when reading what you're saying.

Help me (and others in the guild feeling similarly) out here. Being competent in raids is one thing. Given our progression, I believe it's a given that we're all more or less competent and we have some absolutely stellar players. But, equally important, we need to be able to want to raid with you as an individual.

[Babylonius]

You say I go out of my way to be overly crude. Part of this is my dark, twisted sense of humor, part of it is my sarcastic ways, part of it is my language, and part of it is your interpretation from my written text.

I'm generally accepting of people because its the Internet and you can be whoever you want to be regardless of who you really are. I believe what you said echos what Ashin said but provided reasonings to show its not going out of your way to be what some perceive as crude, but that it is exactly in your way to be such.

What Ashin meant by people are on their best behavior is that people want to impress the guild they are applying to. I feel this process is more akin to a job application process than a courtship. Granted a portion of applying for a new job is courtship, but there is more answering why we should want you on the roster than the "this is how I am take it or leave it" that came across in you're original post.

Just my $0.02

[Ashin]

I'm doing the math on 30 failed relationships by age 27, and I will go ahead and say it - you've been busy! (if unsuccessful)

Will look forward to the rest of your reply. Cheers.

(For the record, Babs, your application was definitely more courtship than job interview. I think the trial period is more like a job interview.)

[Tinymanz]

NB: One night stands DO NOT COUNT as relationships. It's always a bad time when you fall in love with a rough trick named Jim.

[Babylonius]

NB: One night stands DO NOT COUNT as relationships. It's always a bad time when you fall in love with a rough trick named Jim.

I TOLD YOU THAT IN CONFIDENCE!

[Heisenberg]

The constant use of "retard," "rape" and similar language is extraordinarily off-putting.

Retard Count: 2 in all my posts. From here on out I will use the phrase "ridiculously silly" in order to avoid insulting people.

Rape Count: 2 in all my posts. From here on out I will use the phrase "preformed well" in order to avoid insulting people.

In all seriousness, I take the game as fun... and apparently you guys are a bit more serious. I can assure you that I don't put offensive words in my posts to purposefully make people angry.

the length reply to all of our questions

My apologies, didn't know that lengthy answers made me more crude. I will limit these from here on out to a very small paragraph.

I'm doing the math on 30 failed relationships by age 27, and I will go ahead and say it - you've been busy! (if unsuccessful)

I would say that I am a decent looking guy that is kind and caring, but that might be interpreted as conceited. At any rate whatever makes girls attracted to me doesn't overcome that I am boring which takes about a month for them to figure it out.

Provided reasonings to show its not going out of your way to be what some perceive as crude, but that it is exactly in your way to be such

I can be described as a lot of things, but crude has never been one of them which took me by surprise. I probably couldn't think of a person IRL or in game that would describe me that way.

One night stands DO NOT COUNT as relationships

I don't do one night stands, I have more self respect and a hand.

I'm generally accepting of people because its the Internet and you can be whoever you want to be regardless of who you really are.

I'm really just a plain old nice guy, both IRL and in game which is why I kind of laugh that you guys got so offended. Not that I get off on offending people, just kind of bewildered how I wrote something that you guys hate so much.

I can tell you're a smart guy, so I don't quite understand why you choose to present yourself like that

Wasn't intentional.

But I'm more easily impressed by someone's wit than by their ability to sound e-tough

Never been my motivation to sound e-tough. A friend from Triple Pow that came to Entensity with me said it best, there is no pride in WoW. I have tons of wit, but am going to withhold in fear that I offend people.

I have to assume you only get more crude from here

Again, guilds wouldn't want me to be an integral part of their team if I was some kind of asshat. Sorry for swearing, but I couldn't think of another word. Don't forget, I have also ran guilds before and understand that personality and guild fit is just as important as performance.

You became a bench bitch because you were away from the game for a month - did you communicate your situation clearly with your raid leader before going on hiatus?

Correction: 4 raid days, not 12. I was bench bitch since I joined the guild. Dance and I were told that they would keep a roster of 11, not 12 and we ended up having 13 at one point. He was thoroughly disappointed in sitting, like me he viewed himself as an asset to the raid. I would try to sit more at the beginning so that he could get more game time. He ended up leaving for Angry because of his bench time. After about a month or so, I convinced him to come back but that's a different story. And yes I did communicate the situation with the raid leader.

I'm not disagreeing with your choice in priorities - not my place to do so.

I think we were working on Megaera at the time, which I was sitting for because I didn't have raid cooldowns for rampages. The kid that moved to Montana is named Nick. He is my last good friend that lives within 2 hours of me. Would you rather sit in standby in a game, or have one last good week with an old friend?

Even in this application, you had to walk away for a week because your job situation changed again

I work for individual health care plans. Governmental regulation, which directly impacts my line of work, is out of my control. Really I should never applied to the guild right away. When I took this job back in late April, I was told that hours could range from 7am-10pm central once I finished my roughly 2 months of training subject to what the government decides (if you don't follow the news I am talking about Health Care Reform aka Obamacare that is rolling out in 2014). I forget about this sometimes because I currently work 8-4:30. The end of last week we got word that scheduled hours would remain 7am-7pm central. I should have waited until then to apply to the guild, again my apologies. At the end of the day I am not here to waste anyone's time. As much as I need to be a good fit for you, you need to be a good fit for me... after all we do have to spend 9+ hours together. Again, my apologies for taking the extra time to make sure things were all good.

the pattern I saw is that your work schedule or other IRL commitments have changed significantly at various points. One of those guilds collapsed because you left

Every guild I have ever been in (S2 TBC-Present):

Bedlam- First guild I joined at level 70. Left after 2 months of begging the GM to do joint raids with another guild on the server (neither of us had enough to raid), which he refused. Not my fault

Tauren Where It Counts- Split up due to guild drama of which I was no part of. Not my fault

Legendium- The guild I made with the friend. When my work schedule changed to make me late, I told him to give me some time so that I could shift hours and get it changed. He gave me a week, which didn't help because schedules went out 2 weeks at a time. The next week when my schedule hadn't changed, he convinced the entire raid to server transfer, without ever telling me. I just logged in and everything was gone, a 25 man raid gone without a trace. The guy is a douchbag, I can give you a list of people he has also burned. After all the hard feelings settled, it worked in my favor, because I got my schedule changed.

Demise: 25 to 10 man. 10 man broke up literally because the other healers were "ridiculously silly." I was doing something like 60% of the healing. Again, maybe it sounds conceited, but heroic encounters are meant to have 2-3 healers of my caliber, not one. Not my fault

Age of Aggression: I left this guild by choice, so arguably the only guild I had an impact on in the 5 years of raiding. You can say I ruined Legendium, but I took avid steps to correct the situation so that I could return to raiding. Also I was in an officer/gm core of 5. You can say that I should take blame for it, but I never will. If he would have led the raid on Illidan in my absence for 2 weeks, everything could have returned to normal. It wasn't like I didn't log on for two weeks, I still made sure the rosters were set and discussed strats, I just wasn't physically raiding.

Quantum Force: 25 to 10 man, didn't have a spot for me in MoP and folded within 2-3 weeks of progression. Not my fault

Triple Pow: Because of problems that arose during H Sha progression, the officers decided that we weren't confident in our roster and none of us wanted to rebuild and no other members in the guild were up for the challenge. In addition, Dance wasn't happy with all the responsibility he had raid leading, and I had no desire to do manage the guild and raid lead (I didn't even want to be an officer, remember? And now I am gonna be GM?). Not sure how this is my fault.

Entensity: Broke up due to loss of Boomkin, Ele Sham, H Pal, Blood DK, DPS Warrior, and Rogue this tier alone (50% of our 12 man roster going into the tier). Apparently they continue to raid, but I don't know. Last week I raided with them we did normal modes because of roster problems. It was turning into Triple Pow and I can't do that again. All I have been looking since I started raiding was a stable guild. This is partially my fault.

So out of 8 guilds, I will gladly take the blame for Age of Aggression and I will take partial credit for Entensity. That isn't bad considering I have played the game since TBC. At the very least it's a much prettier picture than you paint for me.

If you'd excuse me, I will wrap this up later. I am going out to eat with a friend

edit: missing underline on Triple Pow

[Heisenberg]

NM, we are just gonna go get pizza tmrw. A local joint has 50% off pizzas and $5 pitchers on Wednesday. Pretty solid deal.

I take back never being crude. I have been known to put up portals to (ancient) Dalaran to unsuspecting trade chat players. I never leave them stranded, though; I always go get them and Ill even give them some gold if they complain about the 5g repair cost.

When I said I wouldn't court you, that you could decide if you liked me or not it wasn't meant to be taken in an offensive way. For some reason when I communicate in text, it comes out to people in the wrong way. That is just my fault in communication. It happens when I text all the time. I meant it more that I don't feel I need to jump through hoops and dance for you (even though all my apologies and explanations have kind of turned into this) in order for you to see my value in your raid. You may not believe me, but I do the same thing in interviews. I am not here to brown nose, I feel my dedication to the game is shown through my performance and I have never had a problem getting along with anyone. In fact I can't even think of someone that I don't like. I find it easy to find the good in people. I know I said something about Divinelol monopolizing the AH but that was more of a joke. That guy literally has a post for everything in the AH and it didn't take him long to cancel and repost his auctions when you undercut him. This can be very frustrating to someone like me who only posts 3 or 4 auctions a week, but everyone plays the game for their own reason. If he enjoyed the economy of the game, to each their own.

there is more answering why we should want you on the roster than the "this is how I am take it or leave it"

1) Research strats and tips and tricks for my class

2) In disregard to my personal dps, I will always do whats right for the raid and what needs to be done to kill the boss. Ranking is fun, but it isn't always good for progression.

3) Rarely make mistakes in execution of a boss strat

4) Will always ask questions when I don't understand what my role is or what is expected of me

5) My mind is over-analytical. It is always thinking. In the case of wow, its thinking "how can I improve my performance in the raid?"

6) Never create guild drama (except in my original post, but now that I know you don't yet understand my sense of humor, I am completely fine with being 100% serious)

7) Am not a loot whore, if you kill bosses the gear will come

8) Am willing to help out bumping threads and posting in trade chat for recruiting

9) Willing to help guildies with a variety of things, even if it doesn't personally benefit me. Examples: heroics for valor, group quests, farming items or mounts, running old raids

10) Reliability, I am sure Entensity would disagree, but before then I can count on 1 hand up to Legendium how many raids I missed. Not an excuse, I will fully take blame, but it is hard to be engaged in a guild when you spend more time sitting than raiding.

I think for the most part I have addressed most everything. I can ramble, but I tried to be more concise this time around. Until more questions arise enjoy the week of raiding.

[Estarriol]

There are a few standards that everyone in the guild is responsible for upholding. They aren't onerous and occasional slip-ups on some of them (specifically language) are forgiven, if frowned upon. Ultimately, it isn't about whether an individual is offended or not- it's about making a home for everyone. It's about not making guildmates feel like they are unwelcome or stand out for being different. It is that atmosphere and that level of respect that are the primary reasons that I don't think I could endure raiding with another group ever again. This is my home now and I think everyone here feels that way, more or less. The guild doesn't necessarily frown on cursing, but certain alienating phrases are avoided. (After all, we all can enjoy a good fuck every now and then.)

Outside of raids, we tend to be pretty close and friendly with one another, so it is important for us to get to know you and get to know whether you're someone we'd want as a friend.

Edit: I think long, well thought out posts are generally preferred. Length tends to matter less than whether or not you've addressed everything, so I don't think you really need to worry too much about being long winded.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Estarriol