Yep. This is our first 25-man raid, post Wrath release; five weeks after release, to be exact.

So you want to be a part of it, do you? No, really, are you sure? I'll wait for you to think about it because I'm not fucking around in Wrath. Get ready to dance.

First let me rant: Hamfist has replaced roughly 75% of it's raiders over the lifetime of it's BC raiding career, most of those people multiple times, and I know that LF1M is in a similar boat (WTB shadow priests). It slowed us down, caused us frustration and generally resulted in a whole lot of un-fun fucking around. The gear drain we faced from people coming in for a few weeks/months, soaking up some gear and then leaving absolutely gimped us.

I have vowed to avoid that in our Wrath raid. What does this mean to you? It means both the Hamfist and the LF1M raids are being dissolved and new raids will rise from their ashes. It also means you might get to see some massively progressive content if you can meet the new, very strict standards.

This event sign up is just for the FIRST raid that we'll form in Wrath. This raid runs four nights a week, about 4 hours a night. The SECOND raid will start five weeks after this one (late January) and will raid on a lighter schedule, 3 nights a week. But don't let the lighter schedule fool you. You'll be held to the same standards as the first raid.

So, you want to be a part of our Naxx-stomping first raid? Then you gotta commit. Hard. Here's what we're looking for.

Attendance, attendance, attendance

Gone are the days of our "Tuesday-only" raiders, or whatever. I'm sorry, but my days as Schedule Master to pander to 10 different raiders that can all only raid one or two days a week are gone. I won't do it. Instead, this raid will be full of people who WILL make all days. If you have a rough schedule, please consider the other raid or a lighter 10-man course in the expansion. Our raiders will ABSOLUTELY be held to their attendance. So it's clear: you commit 100% to four nights a week or don't sign up.

You WANT to be there

Are you the guy that always wants to end early or pass on the one last shot? Do you hate logging in on raid nights? Do you immediately switch to an alt after you're done raiding on your main because you "hate your main"? K. I don't want you in this raid. I want 25 people that fucking LOVE raiding. I want 25 people that are SEXUAL about their raiding. You gotta love this and:

You gotta be GOOD

No, really. The game's been out for fucking four years. If you can't figure out how to play your class by now... this is not the place to learn. I need people that can talk theorycraft about theirs and others' classes. I need people that can troubleshoot a mod on the fly. I need people that CAN MACRO A FUCKING HEALTHSTONE (/rant). The people in this raid will do everything they can to gain an advantage in endgame.

You gotta be SMART

Good and smart are two different things. Basically, read the goddamn strat before you walk in and understand your job ahead of time.

Adults Only

No, I'm not going to be a dick about age limits. However, I'm sick of raiding with children with ADD. Though I consider both raids to be pretty good about this, I still have whiners and annoying fucking kids that take up my time and screech into their mics about bullshit that should be typed and not screamed across vent. No more, this is the raid where I get to be rid of you. So, consider this: Do you annoy me right now? Do you think I'm going to give you a raid spot in Wrath with your current behavior?

Should you be raiding? Really?

Are you in a position of massive change and turmoil in your life? Do you have to AFK during every trash pull for some family emergency or another? Are you close to getting fired from work because of your raiding? SHOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING THIS? This raid is for people that have specifically set aside the time and resources to commit. Yes, I said commit. We like to pretend that commitment is a dirty word in WoW, but the lack thereof has fucked us repeatedly in the last year.

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How to retire

Wrath is an excellent opportunity to retire from raiding. I recommend that all people who would like a clean break from raiding take this opportunity to step down. You get to go out as a hero, a legend to us all and someone who completely fulfilled their obligations to their guild and raid. You will not be letting anyone down, this is the perfect time to do so.

Switching to a new main and raiding

It's also great time to switch to an alt (new main) full time. However, there are consequences. Let me explain: If I've been raiding with a player on their main for the better part of three years, I know what I can expect from them. I know they'll perform. However, if they make the decision to switch toons, they'll most likely lose their raid spot to a main that stayed. Thems the breaks, kids. You are more than welcome to switch toons in Wrath, but your raid spot might not follow you.

Sign up

That said, if you can meet these very strict guidelines, I want you to sign up for this event. Expect to show up on the toon you list. This raid will be very progression focused. We'll move fast and hard. We are friends and we'll have fun, but we'll be taking a lot of the fucking around out of our raid.

I wish you all luck on getting in to this run. I expect the absolute best out of you and I promise to show you the best raiding that Wrath has to offer. I consider all of you friends, but there are only 25 spots available. We'll be doing this again for the second raid when it gets ready to fire up. Good luck.

Update: As we get closer and closer to this date, I'll be pulling people aside in vent to talk to them personally about where they are at. Expect the conversation to be blunt as I tell you about all the things that annoyed me about you over the last year of your time in Downfall and in raid. We'll go over the good points too, but those tend not to offend people. Be prepared.