[orodruin]

Bralith, on Jul 9 2009, 01:02 AM, said:

I'm 26 and live in Virginia working as a software developer on US government projects.

Dak?

[Wrathblood]

Ah, Daksuo was a person who was in Heresiarch ages ago and apparently shared some biographical info with you.

I'd comment on your app, but what I know about mages could fit in a shot glass and still leave room for the shot. Generally your app seems appropriately put together together and showed some thought and your gear seems reasonable (I assume arcane mages need a crapton of +hit to be productive?). Professions are certainly an opportunity for improvement (isn't tailoring the #1 profession for pretty much all clothie casters?)

I'm no officer, but I suspect that including a WWS report (or similar data report) would make a big difference. I mean, in a nutshell, we're only going to take people who come across well and seem like they'd get along with folks, but you also have to be productive in a raid. As a prospective server transfer, it behooves everyone to make sure everything would go well. So, seeing some proof ahead of time of the caliber of dps you can do would be pretty handy.

[Juggler]

You're waaay over the arcane hit cap. You really only need 8% with a boomkin or spriest in the raid.
You're even a little over the fire hit cap. Drop some of that and get some more crit/haste/sp. Emerald Signet Ring and Watchful Eye are both good candidates to drop, not to mention the hit on your gem slots. Put some crit or haste there ASAP.

[Sobeyet]

Bralith, on Jul 9 2009, 04:43 PM, said:

Besodes posting a WWS account of a run, is there anything else that I should do for this application?

Thansk,

Daven

Leveling JC and maxing out Hodir would be worth bonus points. But don't get the impression that Heresiarch is hardcore about min/maxxing. At the end of the day player ability is the biggest factor - a good player in terrible gear will outperform a terrible player in good gear most of the time - but sadly blizz hasn't implemented a "spatial awareness" faction. May seem nitpicky, but generally speaking a person who knows the class and has proper gem/spec will outperform those that just push the shiny buttons.

[Sobeyet]

Bralith, on Jul 9 2009, 05:07 PM, said:

I can underatand all of that, and while posting a WWS to point out my dps and how it is in raids would help, how does that really factor into how a person will perform in a raid until you see how they are working in the raid and whether or not they are playing their class correctly?

The one issue that I see with Ulduar is that most of its items tend to stress hit so much it makes it somewhat tricky to find a good balance between hit raiting and gear, because pre-Ulduar most items were lacking in hit and had to be made up using gems, depending on the spec a person was playing. Maxxing out Hodir would be helpful, but is a minor upgrade but not necessarily a major game changer between their mid level rep item and their exalted level rep item. As you said, what really matters is playing the spec and understand how professions and gems factor into it, that's where the crux of the matter is. Ulduar and its gear has thrown this out of wack for some classes and people need to look at what gear they should be using in order to maximize their spec's effectiveness, which is always a work in progress. I guess the real point I'm trying to make is that just playing your spec and pushing 'shiny' buttons is all fine and danddy, but at the end of the day, really understanding what your spec is aimed at and constantly trying to improve on it is what really matters the most.

Thanks,

Daven

Good points and I agree with you. WWS is an imperfect system, there's no denying it. It's almost impossible to evaluate tanks - basic rotation and usage of CDs, that's about all you'll get - difficult for healers - healing meters are constantly misinterpreted - and even DPS can be misleading. And of course a lot of crucial factors that involve that oh-so-important situational awareness don't get picked up.

Fortunately Heresiarch isn't demanding perfect play or gunning for world firsts. You can usually see a general level of competency in WWS. If you're an above-average player that is reliable and gets along with the guild, that's all that matters. The tough part is getting that across to the officers. It's human nature to be myopic when evaluating yourself. There aren't too many apps that think "Wow I'm a terrible player" but a lot of them are.

I used to be an officer, and in going through apps WWS is the best approximation you'll get aside from raiding with the person. For cross-server transfers you can't set up a trial run, and even people within the realm might have issues with their current guild if they save themselves to a Heresiarch raid. That's why a recommendation from a raider is really the easiest ticket to an invite. If someone in-guild vouches for an app, he/she is a proven commodity.

[Len]

Bralith, on Jul 9 2009, 05:07 PM, said:

I can underatand all of that, and while posting a WWS to point out my dps and how it is in raids would help, how does that really factor into how a person will perform in a raid until you see how they are working in the raid and whether or not they are playing their class correctly?

A WWS is part of the process. I wouldn't take someone based off just a WWS, unless it was pretty stelar, and even then I would need to make sure that the personality meshed. The WWS tells me that you know what it is and hopefully that you know how to evaluate your progress. It quantifies your output as a DPS class, which is invaluable since everyone does above-average damage that applies to a raiding guild. If you don't know what WWS is, it tells me that you have never been part of a good raiding team, and that you lack the motivation to figure out what it is that we are looking for and why we are asking for it.

Quote

I guess the real point I'm trying to make is that just playing your spec and pushing 'shiny' buttons is all fine and danddy, but at the end of the day, really understanding what your spec is aimed at and constantly trying to improve on it is what really matters the most.

Full agreement here, unfortunately, it's not an easy thing to really evaluate on someone without spending a lot of time with them. We don't want to waste our time or your money, so if we can filter you out early, we are both better off than if we decide that you aren't a good fit.

One hopes also that the quality of our questioning gives you a better idea of what kind of group we are, and if it's something that you would like to be a part of. We aren't hard-core raiders, in that we are not looking to be #1 at anything. We know, though, that to do what we want to do requires commitment and dedication. The Hodir rep, for example, is a good gauge of how committed you are. It's a long quest for a small gain, relatively speaking, but it gives us an idea of how much you are looking to push the envelope.