Edit: due to the loss of two exceptional tank healers, I’m now forced to stay on my holy priest… for now.

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I covered this topic a bit in All Apart of the Game. To sum it up, when we were progressing through t7, I switched from holy to disc to holy to shadow to holy.

This time, the name of the site might be changed to “selorinne.com”. To put it simply, I hate the priest class right now. Tons of people would disagree with why I do and try to convince me I’m just bad at the class, but I’m not. I may gear differently than you do, but holy is very ambiguous like that. You have a lot more options than other healers do in your gearing and spec choices. Granted, there are still stupid choices, but I performed well. Dare I say to my class’s potential.

And yet, I think both holy and disc is boring.

I left the decision in the hands of my fellow officers. I gave them a choice; let me main switch to Selorinne, my resto druid, or let me change spec priority on my priest to shadow. They know that I am skilled at both and just have to spend little more than a week outside of raids to gear up either.

Officer 1: Shadow.
Officer 2: Resto.
Officer 3:
Officer 4:
Officer 5:

None of that “whatever you want to do” shit. If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.

CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Dweeb
Server: Baelgun
Class/Spec: Warlock/Affliction
Armory link: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Baelgun&n=Dweeb
Are you applying for a Raider rank or for Friends and Family? (If F/F you can ignore the rest of the app): Raider of course!

AVAILABILITY
We raid Mon-Thurs, 5:45-9ST. Can you make these times regularly?: No, but i will try
What days/times are you usually online?: 6am to maybe 10am depending on the day
What non-wow commitments do you have that could possibly interfere with raids (sports, school, etc)?: I am in college, but i never go to class. I pretty much play wow till 10 and then drink the rest of the day.

EXPERIENCE
Raid Experience in WotLK (list any major achievements): I killed Argual on hard mode.
BC and/or pre-BC raids done at level (if any): What is BC?
Have you ever held a position of leadership in a raiding guild (officer, raid leader, etc)?: I havent been in a guild yet.

GEAR
How do you prioritize your gear choices? (what stats are highest priority – hit/agi/sp/etc):
Please explain any problems with your current gear (missing or incorrect gems/enchants, incorrectly itemized gear, etc): I still dont have a helmet, but warlocks dont need one. I think agility is the most important, because the mind needs to stay agile on a caster.

PLAYSTYLE
What is your shot/spell/heal/special rotation? (Just give us an idea of how you play your class): Hellfire
What is your most important cooldown (in your opinion) and what’s a possible situation you would use it in? (please be brief – no essays): Summoning Stone
Please post a link of a recent WWS/WMO report, if available: What?
Please post a link to a screen shot of your raiding UI:
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Nuhvok-2000/WoW/wowscrnshot.jpg

SPEC
Do you have dual specs, and if so, what is your off spec? : No, i have like 1g so i cant buy dual spec When i can afford it i think i will go feral i like the idea of being a cat.

Give us a rough idea of your offspec stats – just the most important numbers (if PvE): I dont have any yet, i will be buying more stats soon.

OTHER
Did you read the thread called Recruitment information? (if not, please go back and do so): No, not really.
Do you have an understanding of the DKP system we use?: What is DKP?
Are you willing to adjust your spec if asked? : No
Are you able to take constructive criticism? : Yes, i yell at people when they yell at me.

How old are you?: 43
What time zone are you in? : I dont like to give this information out.
How did you hear about us? (forums, trade, friend): Yes.

What is your average latency # on Silvermoon? (transfers – make an alt and check): I dont know latin.
What is your average FPS while raiding?: Doom.
How many times a week do you usually disconnect?: It depends on how many times i connect.

In what ways would you be contributing positively to our raids (either personally, through your class, spec, etc)?: I like to laugh, and i watch porn while i play. I also read the bible.

Past Guilds and why you left them (details on the issues that led you to leave so we can evaluate if you would be happy here):

Say something silly or tell us a joke: I don’t feel like jokes are appropriate for an application to raid with a mega end game guild like you guys.

So my new nickname my boyfriend calls me is “Retard Tree.” When playing on my druid, I like to spam Lifebloom just to be silly. And play god. I made a joke about lifebloom spamming in raids, and he told me I was a retard tree.

Others prefer to just call me “Treetard.”

She’s not even my main

I feel like making another flowchart this weekend. Any ideas?

An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: “argument to the person” or “argument against the person”) is an argument which links the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of a person advocating the premise.

-Wikipedia entry

Summit is having trouble with getting its raiders to listen to officers. To combat this, it has been suggested that we revert back to our old role leads, promoting more officers. Part of the reason we haven’t just divided the responsibilities of our current officers is that there has been objections to listening to an officer not of the offender’s class or role.

The officers do their own homework before talking to you. We review combat parses, speak with other members of your class, and break down the algebra of your class. We run latency checks during the raids, make sure everyone’s buffs are up, and can see your gearscore and how you spend your ilvl points.

And yet, we’re met with defiance. We cannot possibly understand their class/spec because we do not play said class or spec. The logic of our argument, or cold hard facts are completely ignored. This argument does have merit, however. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we really are wrong (see argumentum ad hominem tu quoque). It’s fine; we’ve all been wrong before. That’s not the issue. The issue is that we’re coming to you, wondering why you are behind the healers in DPS.*

Back to the origin of this article, it has been suggested that we promote new members to join our ranks and help out those in their role perform to their best. The theory is that members will listen to those of the same class, spec, or at least role. I believe that in practice, this will fall short of expectations. The raiders currently ignoring our advice are either absolutely refusing to improve themselves (meaning they’ll find any scapegoat to not listen) or they’re flocking to a member of the same class and spec.

I believe the solution here is for our current officers to grow spines. If there are difficult people who won’t even respond to current officers who have been here before they joined, what are the odds they’ll respond favorably to a member they’ve identified with as a raider telling them what to do?

Any comments/advice/argument will be greatly appreciated.

*Yes, this happened.

I didn’t include my paladin simply because my paladin blows and I only really tank on her anyway.

Sorry it was so late. Blackout kept my computer anger.

Do u C wut i did thar?

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?

Eristhan, priest, 14/57/00.

• What is your primary group healing environment?

25-man raids. I’m mostly assigned to slash my wrists and wonder why I can’t spam CoH anymore.

• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?

Prayer of Mending. BING BING BING BING BING is the best sound in the game, ever. It’s a mana-efficient heal capable of both tank and raid healing if utilized properly. It’s a preemptive heal too, something I’ve always rather enjoyed.

• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?

Greater Heal. Quite often, I will get more use from Renew, Lightwell, and Divine Hymn, but can use Greater Heal as little as once per week. With Wrath’s style of healing today, there is a lot of spamming going on. You power-push the raid, snipe heals, and don’t stop. Greater Heal is too large, perhaps overhealing for as much as 50% or more, especially when raid healing. You can heal your target properly for less mana and time using Flash Heal.

• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?

We’re a power house. Holy Priests are capable of pulling a staggering amount of HPS without really trying or knowing what they are doing.

• What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why?

To continue my thoughts above, we’re boring. It’s my personal opinion, but we’re boring. If you’re talking in technical terms, a holy priest is currently considered the worst tank healer in the game due to inefficient and slow heals.

• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?

The raid is where I’ll be doing the most good. I do tend to cast Prayer of Mending and Renew on the tanks while spamming my little heart out on the raid with Flash Heal and Prayer of Healing. Circle of Healing is also used on cooldown, though sometimes it’s only used as an instant heal for tanks.

• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?

No preference.

• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?

No preference.

• What is your worst habit as a healer?

Playing god. No, really. If I’m too bored, I will let your health dip and cast a terrible or DOWNRANKED (lol) spell from opening my spellbook manually and see if you live.

• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?

“HEAL ME PLX.” Almost guaranteed to let you die.

• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?

In raw power, yes. In style of healing, I consider the holy priest a step up from a holy paladin. (Sorry pallies. i <3 u :< )

• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?

lol

• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?

That we suck. We don’t suck, we’re boring. Anyone who says a holy priest is fun is confusing power with fun.

• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?

Mana management, hands-down. No one seems to value spirit as highly as they should, gem correctly, they don’t seem to understand the crit stat.

• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see ?

Pure awesome.

• Haste or Crit and why?

Ideally, crit would be at 33% raid buffed to allow the highest possible uptime of HC, and haste would be stacked after that. I don’t have any mana troubles, so my Crit’s a bit low, but so is my haste.

• What healing class do you feel you understand least?

Shaman. It’s the one healer I don’t have at 80.

• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?

Grid + mouseover macros are my friends.

• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?

A balance, but I favor spellpower more than other priests in the guild. And honestly, it’s only so I can be a complete jerk and keep the strongest PoM up on the tank.

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHA!!!! Mallet from World of Matticus replied to one of my piss-poor entries!!! I FEEL LIKE A REAL BLOGGER NOW.

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….. Weekend WTFery incoming. I swear.

Dunari was the rabid feminist-officer of Summit whom I could never understand. She called out people in guild chat on what I thought were very minor offenses. Now that I am in her shoes, I see the truth behind our raiders and the tenuous traces of chauvinism. The subtlety of this misogyny was nevertheless effective.

It had me convinced that everyone hated me due to an unlikable personality. It began as emotional blackmail. It advanced to a passive-aggressive assault by two former members before I realized precisely what was going on.

This is about the men who claim that they love women, while in the same breath not realizing they treat them as lessers.

This is about the guildie who when trying to speak up for herself, she becomes a bitch; her male counterpart is being assertive.

This is about the flirty males who are ignored, and the flirty females who are considered a cancerous mass on the guild.

When you name it for what it is, it’s obvious. In practice, many people don’t notice it and thus don’t object to it. Sometimes, attention is brought to these issues in blogs, where the author is unknowingly spreading prejudice. There are some out there that try to dispel these stereotypes, and now I’ll be adding my own 2¢.

But I love women!

The crime itself isn’t being focused on here. It’s that when confronted with this crime, all people act the same way. For men, it’s a defensive, “I love women!” and for women, “But I am a woman, I can’t be sexist!” All either in complete denial of an offense or passive-aggressive.

The first one is easy to spot and easily crumbles when challenged. They love the ideal of women, the stereotypes and images that they have of them; not you as a human being. They may say they love women, that they want equal rights, but will contradict themselves when it endangers their masculinity and misconceptions. For this reason, calling them on it will get you nowhere. They’ll just find themselves in a loop of excuses and rationalizations.

Women, on the other hand, like to try and manipulate the argument in their favor just because they are female. Enabling this behavior is a terrible thing for her to do, but she’ll cling to traditional values of womanhood, and may resort to either accusing you of being ugly, or will question your sexuality. If she does the first, brush the dirt off your shoulder. If she does the second, keep reading.

What a bitch.

Quite commonly, when I stand up for myself or any female in the guild does, we’re accused of being bitchy at worst, unreasonable at best. When trying to instruct the guild on certain tasks, they either challenge me (never with logic) or resort to calling me demanding. When the male officers make the same comments or instructions, often using the same wording, it’s in general, accepted with less friction.

First things first. You’re not a bitch by being outspoken or by asserting yourself in a reasonable fashion. It won’t matter what you consider reasonable, there will always be someone claiming you’re hormonal. Don’t let them get away with it. As an officer, it’s easier for me to demand respect, as the guild leader is always (within reason) on my side. As an average raider/PvPer, you’ll have the same stigma as anyone else of “lower rank” speaking. Just keep your head high and shoulders back and conduct yourself with maturity.

Slut’s just trying to start shit.

Quite often, a girl/woman in the guild who is flirtatious is damned by the guild. She’s a vixen in their eyes, looking for nothing but easy, unearned raid spots and free loot, or perhaps the thrill of a promotion. It’s even worse if she flirts just for the fun of it, because then she’s seen as a malicious drama-starter with no other goal in mind.

Guys on the other hand, are just being guys. It’s not about flexing sexual prowess or manipulation. For them, it’s fun. The hidden crime here is actually the deeply ingrained notion that women are not supposed to enjoy sex. My piece of advice is to call these people on it immediately. If it’s acknowledged that they jumped to bold conclusions, then they’ll know why assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

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I’m a firm believer in calling it out when the line’s crossed. Lines are rarely drawn in the sand, though. What is or isn’t misogyny lies partly in perception, mostly in ignorance. A method I use is this: if it separates human traits as being either “feminine” or “masculine,” it’s probably misogyny.

Outspoken? Bitch.

Popular? Slut.

Serious? Humorless.

I’m lucky to be in my position. I have the support of great friends, a girl-heavy guild, and only mildly retarded raiders. I don’t have to put up with obvious sexist bullshit you see in many raids such as unfair loot distribution or raid spots. We’re equals, and that’s unquestioned. I still get shit of course, especially frequent accusations of being a bitch. But all in all, I’m okay with the guild.

Then again, I’m holding the whip.

I guess it’s about time I “reopened” the blog with it’s new goal. While it’s been on my About page for quite some time, I doubt anyone’s bothered to read it. Well, here you go;

• Eristhan.com is first and foremost, a personal WoW blog, thus will probably be filled mostly with rantings of my raid.
• I play a priest; therefore, you’ll see articles about holy and shadow priests as they change throughout the game.
• Customizing the UI is one of my favorite activities. Expect reviews of add-ons I use.
  • These will be Grid, kgPanels, Bartender, LunarSphere, DataBroker, Pitbull, Sexymap, Satrina Buff Frames, SCT, and any others I may begin adding.
• I’ll be regularly updating twice a week from now on.
  • Crash and Burn: Updated Tuesdays. Focuses on the players behind the game.
  • WTFery: Updated over the weekend. My chance to unwind and be silly.

I love listing things with bullet points, not sure why. Most guild issues and seriously-written guides will be posted on my sister-site, Summit Noobz. I’ve also got a webcomic in the works, but I won’t share its URL until it’s ready to be presented to the world.

There are still broken relationships all around my from my overreacting. The bottled up rage I get from the raiders is being taken out on my friends, and this isn’t cool with them or me. Loveth mentioned that we should instill a new policy of being blunt with people from now on in a no-hard-feelings sort of way. While I know this was actually aimed at me and my overreactions, I’m going to use it on our raiders.

Yes, I will call you out in raids now. It’s not an attack on your character, it’s really just me saving my friendships from abuse and festering.

To the left is a snippet of a conversation I had with my dearest friend, Drakke. Feeling kinda emo over the current situation, I asked him if I’d become bitchier since being promoted. He said “Yes,” then followed with what you see here.

I suppose it’s his jerkwad behavior I like so much in him as a friend. I also get the feeling that he’s the only one that understands why I’m so upset.

I’ve been suppressing my inner bitch lately, and I’m regretting it. All it does is turn into QQ in officer chat or whispers, with nothing changing, the problem escalates, then the stress gets great enough to wear I snap at my friends.

I’m still new to the whole “position of power” thing. If I stop letting my emotions dictate how I handle an in-game problem, it’ll be easier on the guild as a whole.