Its just that we haven't done anything in a month.

If 1 person is not attending we don't try to find a replacement, we just don't raid.

PrincessLuna is always available as replacement.
But none of you have ever bothered asking me

I can try to get Scoots geared up if you're ever out a Gunslinger. Can't guarantee Cloud wouldn't be locked out, though.

Well, unfortunately, we have been kind of lackadaisical when it comes to getting this organized when one or two people are missing. I will make a solid effort this Saturday to make it happen, I promise. I don't see any call offs in the absent thread, so we should be good barring anything sudden, or someone just not showing up.

I saw this post just as I came on to announce my resignation from the core group - Since I'm in the core group, I haven't been able to run ops since we can't get runs going and I can't sign up for the other runs.

lol this makes me lawlz so hard.

Well this seems like the best time and place to post this.

I need to resign from the core group in the coming weeks. Wanted to tell you all this in mumble during a raid, but been 2 weeks since our last. I have many factors for why I must do this: work status, rather raid when I want then when i must, time no longer fits for me easily, nightmare title isn't a big deal in my eyes, and yes - our poor attendance as well. Like anything i wont leave you high and dry. Will be available for the next 2 weeks of raids, unless you replace me fast enough, and after that I’m out. Normal 2 week notice really. Beyond that i can be a backup for the core if on and needed.

Sorry again to post this over discussing it, just the way it's worked out.

[edit] Posted mine before reading rydel's post lol

I'm really confused why this guild doesn't do more nightmare or 16 man operations. You say you do ops for gear, what is that gear for exactly if you aren't actually going to do anything that requires it.

It's starting to irritate the hell out of me, i don't understand the point of just steamrolling hard modes every week. Its getting extremely boring.

Amorphic wrote:

I'm really confused why this guild doesn't do more nightmare or 16 man operations. You say you do ops for gear, what is that gear for exactly if you aren't actually going to do anything that requires it.

It's starting to irritate the hell out of me, i don't understand the point of just steamrolling hard modes every week. Its getting extremely boring.

We haven't done Nightmare KP due to the lack of second tank able and available due to the core group occupying some of the better geared players and their alts. We haven't attempted Nightmare EV again because of the recent attendance. Outside the core group, we only have enough people for one Nightmare EV team and not everyone has been available at the times to run the past two weeks. If you wish to see more Nightmare runs done outside you'll have to wait another week once some of Hard Mode members are geared for Nightmare, the current Nightmare geared players become available for the same time, or the members of the core group step out to re-join the non-core raiders to appropriately fill the teams.

I know for a fact we can succeed in either Nightmare instance, but not everyone is always available for the right Op and there are others who wish to acquire gear in order to run Nightmares with our more experienced members.

Looking at the current sign-ups, and noticing that not all the usual raiders have signed up yet, we will have plenty for a Nightmare KP and Nightmare EV. Hopefully, more players will sign up so we can create the best group for the job and still have enough people to go run their own Hard Mode unless there is a consensus for a 16-man (doubtful on that).

Biggest problem is the time. Weekend raids suck. Thats when everyone has stuff that comes up. Would be better if we could do like an hour a night or 2 on weekdays.

The problem is I don't know what the hell is going on half the time because nobody makes an effort to stay connected. I'll log in at 7 on a raid night, and no one will be online from the core group with 0 explanation. no messages sent, no forum posts, not whispers. I'll go to mumble and see either half the group in their own channel or simply not on. It's frustrating that we clearly can run a NM op no problem, but don't have any of the organizational skills to do so with any regularity (I know, the schedule is at a bad time for a raid, weekdays are usually so much easier to manage since most people tend to go out / have friends over / what have you on the weekends). If I don't hear anything from any of the people doing the core group in game about what we're doing this week and if I log in again with no one on during raid time and no explanation given I'm just going to back out of the group, it's not worth it for me to go flying blind every week trying to manage my time around a raid that never happens.

The other issue is the Core Group runs way later than the normal sing up groups do. So if we ever try to get a replacement they are already saved and we're out of luck. The Core Group HAS to run either earlier than every other raid, or at the same time, so if we ever need a replacement we can just call someone up and not worry about them being saved. It's the time that screws us out of making any adjustments.

EDIT: Merged posts to prevent double posting.

well why dont we disband the core group? non of the people that wanted it are making an effort to keep it going. we'll have more people for the non core group meaning more nightmare modes/16 mans. The non core group almost surpassed the core group in progression anyway. The off tank has made no effort to gear his role. and the members haven't tried replacing him. If one person doesn't show they just don't raid (dont say its because people are saved I raided once in the past 2 months I'm almost always on during the weekends and I have Rakata gear. no ones asked me no one from the core group has asked for replacements in mumble or in guild chat.)

It has come to my attention through this thread and other people that the core group is "dead." I would prefer it not be, but I think in order for that to occur, changes in our structure must be made. I am completely willing to take the core group by the reins and lead it as it we all wanted it to be from the start, but I ask that the players included stay invested in it, and not leave.

In my opinion, there are a few problems with our current arrangements.

1 - Communication. We don't have proper and quick channels to contact each other.
Personally, I don't mind sharing my cell phone number. I think by now, we all recognize that none of us are going to abuse that privilege to contact one another. It would be very nice if we could share contact information - whether it be cell phone numbers, facebook links, msn/aim/steam/xfire screen names, email addresses, whatever it is that will help us stay more organized. In addition, I would like to ask the leadership for the ability to post on the calendar; it could help us coordinate our schedules better. The forum post for absences is not the best location and I think that the calendar would be a better avenue to be absolutely sure who can and cannot attend. (I would advocate having our ops posted for the month and having it be updated by the core group members with their absences - allowing us to possibly reschedule and continue our progression.)

Rescheduling brings me to my next point...

2 - Weekend raids are difficult. I understand that with the group we have people have varying work schedules and are from various parts of the world. However, in my opinion, 3 hours one night a week is enough for progression in this game (or is for EV and Karraga's - Lost Island content would make that a more difficult goal to attain). If possible, would the individuals in the core group be willing to pick one WEEKDAY and if necessary, one WEEKEND day to complete our ops schedule? It makes the most sense, at least from my perspective and schedule.

Who is going to get this schedule completed and group straightened out you ask? Well...

3 - Leadership. We went into this as a group and while we have had people be vocal and lead at times, myself included, I still haven't been sure of who is the actual "leader." I understand that Rydel is in title, but it doesn't necessarily have to be him when it comes to scheduling, planning, and executing once in the instance. I would volunteer for it, if nobody wants to nominate another individual. I have the experience as a raid leader and feel that I can help mitigate the problems that we are having. I won't jump on anybody who is willing to make the attempt at leading, and I would not take the opportunity away from them.

I would truly like to keep the core group together. It actually causes me grief and guilt that I was the cause of some missed ops. We can rectify this, if people wish to do so. I have a lot of fun playing with all of you who were included in this group and would like to continue progressing WITH you.

I could easily do 1-3 hours on a weekday, or over the course of a few days, like an hour or 2 one night, and finish up with an hour or so another day. I would really like to get my weekends back for personal time, and not have to worry about if we have a run, and how late it might be.

I also think that there definitely needs to be someone in charge, who will always be on, that can coordinate the run. That way we have a clear chain of command, and someone to coordinate, and message whether its a phone call, email, facebook message, whatever.

There's also a bit of an issue with flexibility. If even one person can't make it, we need to cancel the run. That's what caused the 3 weeks with no runs.

Which, if i may point out, were due to things that happened on the weekends. Big events usually take place on weekends

Rydel wrote:

There's also a bit of an issue with flexibility. If even one person can't make it, we need to cancel the run. That's what caused the 3 weeks with no runs.

Valid point and absolutely agreed. I am not opposed to bringing other players, or rotating among 10 people, if so necessary. This is something we would need to work out, whether it be new ops nights, adding more people to the group, finding a temporary replacement, or perhaps another solution. I would first like to see some solidarity among the group members before we try to resolve that problem.

So, for those in the core group, if you do want to stay with the group, and I probably should have put it in my main post, please say so. If you don't, please speak up. If it is a maybe, voice your concerns. We work well together when we play, no reason to let these minute problems stop us completely.

I'm staying. If we do need a tank though, I do have my shadow 3/5 columi, rakata on most else, but tionese weapon.

im good to stay

I joined this because I have always wanted to be in a serious progression group, but never had a chance. It would be a shame to see this fall apart. I am here for the long haul. I know if we can work out the kinks, we can do awesome work.

I was originaly suppose to lead the core group but because we already had too many consulars in the group I took myself out I cant really lead a group im not in so I think Lyra should lead the group he's the only mane in the group. depending if the others stay we may need to rebuild the core group. I'd like to get solid answers by the end of today so the new raid wont be effected.

If Lyra wishes to be the group lead, that is fine. I think it should be a group decision and not based upon rank in the guild. That isn't to say Lyra would be a bad leader, or that I am opposed to it, but in a group of 8, I don't think that the rank matters.

Reg wrote:

If Lyra wishes to be the group lead, that is fine. I think it should be a group decision and not based upon rank in the guild. That isn't to say Lyra would be a bad leader, or that I am opposed to it, but in a group of 8, I don't think that the rank matters.

true but having Lyra as a leader would just make everything easier as far as setting up raids go we wouldn't need to promote someone else on the guild website to post events for the core group since I assume he already has the privileges and in my personal opinion he is more likely to keep the core group raiding and progressing then some of the other members.

I know that with the core group rank doesn't matter, and I have no desire to use my position to go above anyone else or control the group. I would like to see what everyone thinks first before making anyone a leader. I wouldn't mind being the leader, BTW, but I don't see how having a "leader" would make things go smoother. I do want to get more organization and communication though, and would be willing to personally organize ops, and do a little more for the group.

For instance, I will see if I can make our own event posts on the Enjin site to see who is available for the raid in a more convenient and easier to handle place. I'll also set up some posts about availability and opinions on raid times/days to better understand where everyone stands.

You do need a leader for the Core Group, there has to be someone who stays on top of the people in the core group and tell them what's happening otherwise you have people log in at raid time with no one else on and no one to get information from. We need someone to go to who can coordinate things in game, just having a single forum thread for people to say they can't make it and trying to coordinate any changes iat raid time is just incredibly inefficient. We should be able to sort those things out almost immediately, having a leader who can prepare to change things up the minute anything comes up and can keep everyone in contact is key. And older Core Group I used to be in didn't even have a schedule really, we didn't need one since we knew everyone's schedule, we'd just meet up with the raid leader on maintenance/patch day and throw up times that would work for that week. If anyone had any changes in schedule we could change our raid times to whenever (sometimes we'd just raid when we happened to all be on). That's the beautiful thing about a Core Group: We don't *have* to raid in a set slot or time, we can adjust our schedule week by week and usually should be able to raid. It just takes coordination and that's solely on the raid leaders to stay on top of.