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!