GEM and Blue Team Membership

There are some constant problems with scheduling that need to be addressed; so here is the official set of rules on 'who goes to Kara' on any given night.

GEM is used to schedule everyone onto the team; but just because you 'make the list' of the first ten to sign up, it does not mean you are going to Karazhan. Several people are excluded each week, for a number of reasons, so I want to explain to avoid further hard/hurt feelings.

Team members for blue team are all given priority for Kara runs. Long time members are obviously those who maintain a consistent presence on the team each week, and are considered the core group of people on the team. Those team members come before people trying to make an appearance on the team. Those members are obviously better geared, and are accustomed to the team dynamic on Blue; the ability to communicate, understand roles, and react to changes in fight situations are essential to success in Karazhan.

Team composition is a constant problem, since each boss in Kara can demand a different approach. We always need one tank; three healers; and ranged dps. GEM is not the final word on anything, since we swap out players during the night, and initially I must form up a team that I think can complete the run. On GEM, one tank is always signed up for each run; but because of computer issues cannot sign up directly. I receive emails from several guild members each week asking for a spot; and these do not appear on GEM.

I also understand the problems and frustration newer members are experiencing, and by not allowing many members on Blue, indirectly these rules contribute to the problem. The guild officers are mindful of the problem, but here are the issues facing Gold team currently, and why no runs are scheduled:

1. GEAR. If you are still running greens, almost without exception you are not able to complete a Kara run, and cannot contribute to the success of your team. The guild is now assisting members with upgrading their gearing; I am attempting to up the tanks on Gold, by donating gear and time on quests. Other officers may have other ideas, but we are all willing to assist other members if you just ask; however it really helps if those wanting specific runs for gear just use GEM to schedule them, outside of other runs. Wsping us when we are in some heroic instance somewhere is not as easy to respond to as a GEM event.

2. Composition. The team needs a specific composition, and cannot succeed on much other than Attumen without careful attention to team composition. If you look at our posts on the Kara events, there are specific dps numbers, and heal per second numbers, that contribute to success. On some of these fights, its a simple matter of math; if you cannot reach a certain dps, the mob will enrage, burn up your mana pool, or just wear an entire group down to nothing if you cannot subtract X amount of health in a specific time frame. Attention should be paid at this level to your talent tree; hybrid trees, and solo/pvp skill sets, are no longer useful in a team situation with ten players. This will change your solo/quest playing, or cost you when you constantly respec; but the team-oriented talents are essential to success, and cannot be sacrificed because you still do dailies.

3. Addon requirements. Please take a look at the screen shots for our run on Nightbane; you will see my screen, with all may addon output available. I purposely posted this, because there are essential addons for ten person runs that cannot be skipped. They are:

Ventrilo: not the in-game chat engine, but regular Vent. This is a must-have, period. If you cannot communicate with your team, you are operating at half capacity or less. You must be able to hear announcements, react in split seconds to changes in any tactical situation, and provide information back to your team. The importance of successful communication cannot be overestimated; there are events with mobs that must be quickly dealt with or its a wipe.

Omen2: again, a must-have. This threat meter provides a quick reading on everyone's aggro level, and can head off a death by just adjusting your aggro slightly in response to a fear, stun, or movement impairing effect on the tank. This happens constantly in Karazhan, with even trash mobs. If you cannot anticipate the problem, or deal with it yourself, then your team must eventually do it for you.

Deadly Boss Mods: another must-have. Download, and then enable all the announce functions for the bosses; they repeatedly save you from wiping on the advanced bosses in Karazhan. The special attacks and debuffs used by the bosses, and the styles of combat, are all important to know about before they happen to you; and DBM provides timers and advance notice so everyone can react.

Class addons; there are important addons to monitor your health, mana, energy and rage that assist you in reacting to the quick changes in your own status during the boss fights. Every class is different, and addons come in every variety; but by level 70 you probably have something to provide warnings and announcements on aggro, health loss, and impending death. If you don't, it's time to get them.

Recently we discussed bringing Gold team members onto Blue to run the instance, to build experience and strategies for Gold. This is a good option, particularly while Gold is not running due to a shortage of certain classes. There are more new members to this guild every week; and everyone wants to run the end-game instances. New team members will be chosen based on their ability, gear, and conformance to addon requirements. Blue team will not simply be picking up members because someone signed up on GEM. Those interested in running can be available at run time; and be prepared.

'Be prepared' is more than it sounds like; you must be able and willing to provide not only for yourself, but for the entire team. Basic preparedness includes having ammo, bandages, food and your reagents. Blue team however shares everything they can; buff food, potions, scrolls, runes of warding, everything. If your char is not maxxed in their skill, or spends all their own dough on enchants and gear, then you really have nothing left for the team. If you cannot contribute something extra, then you are shorting the other folks who can use what you can provide. Potions are essential for every class; but mats are expensive, and it is time consuming to farm them. This is a team effort, not a bunch of individuals who are interested in epic drops. Those who can support a team are obviously preferred over those who don't, or won't.