Several years ago during Wrath of The Lich King <Downfall> ran two 25 man raids and countless 10 mans. Back then we had the joy (imo) of having separate raid lockouts. You could take your holy pally and run your elite 10 man and then join up with the others for a 25 man of the same content later that week (or the same days). At the end of WoTLK Blizzard decided it was their job to say how we wanted to raid/play (as they do with every game) and limit us to a shared lockout. This meant if you ran with your elite squad on Tuesday through Icecrown Citadel then when 25 man came around Wednesday that you either were completely screwed or needed an alt that could fill your role. During this time 25 man and 10 man had different loot tables, there was mass benefit to run both if you were a min/maxer. Then Cataclysm came around and they made it so 10s and 25s dropped identical loot. This has all but killed 25 man raiding. <Downfall> attempted a 25 man raid then, they lasted for about a month before breaking into 10 mans due to attendance issues. Cata kept rolling and people had their 10s. We didn't interact much with people outside of our groups. I'll be the first to admit I didn't know ANYONE in a couple of the raids. I would see new names in guild and have no clue who they are or why they were here.

Mists of Pandaria rolled out and two 10 mans had survived the chaos that Cata left us in, Raid PMS and Redd Foxx. We didn't really interact at all but we saw a ton of old guildies return. What we saw most of all though was a plan, a plan that could bring back <Downfall> from a couple of segregated groups, and back to a community of people, friends, and family.

Now that you understand why and how <Downfall> is where it is today, I want you to understand why I believe the 25 man is key to the success of the guild as a whole.

The last couple of weeks Raid Man Hug has had attendance issues to say the very least. When we do all come together (with our brains in and ready to play) we accomplish some pretty damned amazing things. But that's not what we've been getting.

So I'm here for a couple of reasons, one is to do this. When you're looking at planning things in life, if and when you can plan around raid please do, we count on each and every one of you. No I'm by no means saying put all life on hold, that’s a stupid proposition and I would never purpose it. Also come to raid ready to be 110% of what you can be. When we need someone to do a job on a door or something STAND UP! And shout I can do that! And then execute that job as perfectly as you can. Also come educated, come with strats in mind for fights we haven't done. Come with new ideas to purpose! Atar and the rest of us can't be left holding the baton for telling everyone how each should play. You need to know your class! You need to know what addons you have and whether or not they were updated recently, and you need to know how to play.

Raid Man Hug has accomplished a great many things in the past months. Now comes the trials that <Downfall> must face together. We must recruit, we must come to every raid we can, and we must be 110% of who we can be. Only then will we continue to succeed!

It's been a long time since I graced y'all with my presence. A lot has happened over the course of the years. Let's see...I bought a house, got married, got a promotion, had a kid. That's the "Dangly in a nutshell". However, those that remember, wouldn't be fooled by that simplistic approach at describing me.

In any case, I just wanted to let you guys know that Downfall will always hold a special place in my heart. I don't give credit where credit is due sometimes, and I needed to say that. There have been many times when I'll be in the middle of something, and somehow I'm reminded of Downfall and "the good times". You guys/gals really are special to me. You even took me back after I flipped out and acted like a 12 year old (sorry 12 year olds...at least you can relate...lol). Of course, it took some begging, but I think most of you knew where my heart was. I was just dealing with stuff. Anyone who knew me, knew that wasn't the real me.

I don't want to give you guys a wall of text like last time (some long ass story about a "Wayward Paladin"), so I'm just gonna be quick here. I love Downfall and I've never been part of such community...EVER. Sure, I have my close RL friends, but for me, Downfall breaks the mold of shitty internet clans/guilds. Downies pave their own path, and I like that. Cheers to you! I love you and miss you all!

./me hugs Shihli

Attendee RL Name

Attendee Toon Name

Allright motherfuckers (edited for Popple). Let's do this.

There are even more of us in Portland than ever before. Let's see what we can do to get some traction for another weekend of nerding out and hanging out :)

This is cross-posted to the FB page, for what it's worth.

Date: July 19-21.

Sign up here: /node/10826

Lots more discussion here.

Planning committee

1. Cat Herder - Yells at people: Garreth
2. Venue Queen - Organizes locations (reservations, etc): Raziella
3. Bread Vendor - Handles food requirements: Turf
4. Floor Commander - Lines up people with sleeping spots: Everstar & Saja

Schedule

• Friday, July 19: BBQ at Garreth's house (9644 NE Skidmore)
• Saturday, July 20: BBQ at the park (Blue Lake Park, spot 12.C http://goo.gl/maps/Eb54L)all day, gaming/drinks at Guardian Games all night
• Sunday, July 21: wake up late, BBQ brunch at Garreth's again.

Updates:

1. Edit 1: GO HERE AND FILL IN YOUR AVAILABLITY FOR THIS SUMMER: 
   
   http://doodle.com/z3ve4b7miga6czzv
   
   This allows us to plan the best possible weekend to make the meetup happen!
2. Edit 2: Mid to end of July is looking really solid.
3. Edit 3: July 12-14 OR July 19-21 is looking like our winner! Get your dates in people!
4. Edit 4: Allright I think we have a date: JULY 19-21. Pending any major changes, THIS looks like the date.
5. Edit 5: Updated OP with planning requirements.
6. Edit 6: Sign up here: /node/10826
7. Edit 7: Saturday July 20th 6pm-10 (or later) we will be going to Guardian Games and are on their calendar
8. Edit 8: Floor commanders decided: Saja and Ever
9. Edit 9: Added paypal button!

As the title says, This post will be regarding the start of minimum EP requirements for raid Man Hug to recieve loot! If you don't know how our loot system works, please go over to The EPGP article I wrote up and read before continuing here.

As of right now (5.1) we have no minimum EP in place to earn loot. That means that the guy who's been raiding since Man Hug formed up a couple of months ago and the guy who just joined us today have very equall chances on an item (presuming the person who's been raiding for 2 months has a low PR)

As of 5.2 (Throne Of Thunder Patch) We will institute the Minimum EP Threshold of 10,000EP. What that means is for a person to be eligible for loot rolls in the 25 man must have 10k EP at least. That equates to 10 farm boss kills, or 5 first time boss kills (not that much really) What this does for the established raiders is reward us! We don't have to worry about the new guy coming to raid and taking the loot we desire. It also let's us know who's been really putting in the time to raid with us.

Now in a previous post I made (New Guild Ranks and You!) I very intentionally didn't mention something I have in the works. A new Elite Raider rank, or Core Raider rank. This rank is coming soon and stay tuned as I will be launching this with 5.2 as well once all the pre-reqs are worked out.

Since Cata we have had bosses that engage an extra mechanic to fights. Whether it be a bar we don't want to fill, or some button that we need to press to save ourselves. If you haven't Encountered this button yet there are 2 scenarios. You're doing the mechanic wrong, Or you never set up the button with Bartender4.

This tutorial will show you how to position your Extra Action Bar so that you can see the button you NEED to press

1) Opening Bartender4 -- Type /bt and hit enter

2) Click "Extra Action Bar" in the left menu

3) Either Check, or Confirm that Enabled is Checked

4) Click the tab titled "Positioning"

5) Click the button "Reset Position"

6) Drag Bartender to the side by click and holing where it reads Bartender4 at the top of the addon and uncheck the Lock in the top left corner of the addon

7) See that green box in the center of the screen that reads "Extra Action Bar"? Click and drag that to a place that you will see it in combat and be able to click it quickly

8) Click the Lock Button once more and close the addon. Congratulations! You've setup your Extra Action Bar and now you will be ready to click it when you need to.

So if you didn't know I play guitar in a rock band.  The name of my band is called Gathering Grey.  We mix a of lot of rock styles into our music.  We play for fun and for the love of making music.  The band consists of me (guitar, keys), Josh (guitar), Matt (drums, keys, loops), Matt (bass), Nathan (vocals, keys).

This band started with me and a couple of friends who just love to play music.  We're in the process of finishing our first LP.  All we have left are some vocal and midi parts to finish up before we mix it and send it out to get mastered.  Hopefully within a few weeks we can have this project finished up so we can mass produce it and get it on to itunes and other music sites.

This is our website.  We have clips and stuff from where we've been recording.  http://gatheringgrey.wordpress.com/

You can listen to some of our music here.  https://soundcloud.com/search?q=gathering%20grey

Here's a link to Matt's youtube channel.  He posts some videos of our band once in awhile.  Anything with Gathering Grey will be us.  http://www.youtube.com/user/mattdudleydrumming/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Check it out and tell me what you think!