The Interviews are a series of one-on-one conversations between myself and the GM's/Raid Leaders of the guilds of Saurfang that are likely to feature in the race for PVE supremacy. They are designed to provide an insight into the community before the release of the Mists of Pandaria expansion and to generate interest in what is likely to be a fascinating next few months.
Tonight I had the chance to interview one of the Alliance guilds who will leave their mark on Mists of Pandaria in a big way. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jackripster, GM of the raiding guild <Ominous>. <Ominous> has a proud history on the server and are guaranteed to continue this legacy into Mists and beyond. Here is what Jack had to say when I threw some questions his way.
Nastre: Mists of Pandaria is mere sleeps away. What's the general feeling in the guild like heading into the fourth WoW expansion?
Jackripster: Everyone’s really pumped for MoP, i guess thats a standard reply. But i think extra so for us going back to 25s from 2 x 10 man teams for the last tier in Cata. Having farmed Dragon Soul as 25s for the last few months it was great getting the players together from each team. We took a bit of a risk with two teams, we had concerns it could divide the guild but to the players credit they all supported each other all the way through. All players showed commitment to their team and guild, they both cleared the heroic content in good competitive time. I think our second team were second alliance which we’re proud of. It made our decision going back to 25s relatively easy.
Personally I think it's great you are going back to 25 man raiding. Wonderful to see a top tier guild return to the bigger stage. As a guild what are your ambitions for MoP in terms of raiding accomplishments?
As people would know that have raided with us, our No1 priority has always been to clear heroic content in good time. Its important to us we do that with a mature group that values the time and commitment of their teammates. If we achieve those goals and hopefully strengthen our squad along the way we’ll be more than happy.
Noble ambitions for sure. Give an overall impression of the Saurfang PVE scene and who you consider your main rivals for server first kills.
We dont really focus on server firsts. Dont get me wrong we play hard and keep an eye on the rankings, we’re a competitive raiding guild after all. But as long as we give our best and clear heroic content in a competitive manner we’ve achieved our goal. If that ends up a server first then great, but being 25s we’ll probably keep just as close an eye on Oceanic standings amongst other 25 man teams. Basically we concern ourselves more with whats in our control and because of that we dont worry too much about what other guilds are doing. Theres many great teams that could achieve server first.
As a side note our server has gone from strength to strength, it was pleasing to see our player base support various guilds as they helped lift Saurfang’s oceanic ranking. Good luck to all our raiding guilds!
With a genuine response like that it's not hard to see why <Ominous> has the respect and good reputation amongst the server! The 10 man vs 25 man debate. What are your thoughts on the merits and future of each format?
Well at the start of Cata i knew 25s would struggle, we debated for sometime about making the switch to 10s for cata. We stuck with 25s to start with and as expected recruitment was brutal. It was no surprise to see 25 man guilds falling over everywhere. For many players the dream of doing it their way with their own guild would be strong, putting further pressure on 25 recruitment which was already tough. My gut feel now from talking to players, watching player movement and some encouraging dialog from Blizz i feel 25s might see a small resurgence. I think more of the player base realises smaller raid teams has its advantages but also disadvantages, including often not having players around outside of normal raid hours. In short 10s will remain strong while we see a bit of a shift back to 25s.
I have read the same 'encouraging dialogue' you speak of. I wonder what design changes Blizzard will end up making? Maybe separate Server First titles for 10s and 25s? Anyway, next question. You have to choose one player from Saurfang, past or present, Horde or Alliance, and who is not currently in your guild to take in your raid (any class). Who do you take and why?
Cmon what sort of question is this? Nastre for awesome interview skills! Seriously though, there been so many quality players its hard to pick purely on skill. But i would give you the nod tbh. Pretty much all Ajantis players who have played with us have said your ability to raid lead and problem solve quickly was outstanding. I [know] just how hard and how valuable that is particularly in a 25 man setting while maintaining high person performance.
Agreed. Until you have to run on auto pilot and still do an excellent job in your role while devoting 90% of your energy to the likes of strategy and impromptu decision making, it's hard to understand what raid leaders have to do.Last question, describe your guild and what you hope to achieve in MoP in three words
Clear heroic content
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