Before I get into this, I wanted to say that I have not forgotten about the next post in my preparing a guild series. This post has to come first, for reasons which will become obvious shortly. (Members of Apotheosis, go read my post on our forums first, if you haven’t already.)
I had set a deadline for my guildies to let me know if they were interested in raiding with Apotheosis in Mists of Pandaria. That deadline was 12:00am ET on Monday, June 11th.
Of course, I had to make up my own mind. I have vacillated wildly throughout this expansion. I’ve enjoyed some encounters and some decisions Blizzard has made and I’ve also really, REALLY hated some encounters and some decisions. (Seriously, you ought to hear me in Episode 33 of Blessing of Frost, when we discovered, right as we were recording, that Firelands was being nerfed. Around the 38 minute mark.)
So when the time came for me to look at my own name in my handy-dandy spreadsheet, I hesitated. A lot. Under the “Raiding in MoP” column, I put YES. I put NO. I deleted my answer. I stared at the blank space and I promptly closed the spreadsheet.
I gave it some more thought. Saying “yes”, to me, doesn’t really just mean saying yes. As the guild master, it means another 18-24 months of commitment to the guild and the guildies and the raids. I cannot just say “yeah, sure,” and then bail after six months if I wasn’t happy, I would feel as though I was letting the whole team down. I know what craziness happens when a GM steps down. It’s even worse if they’re the raid leader (like I am). I knew that if I could not commit to another ~2 years, I should not commit at all. It would be so much worse for the team later on if things went to hell.
I went to bed.
I opened up the spreadsheet again the next day and typed in “NO” next to my name and let my officers know that same day. I posted to my guild’s forums late Thursday night.
So I will not be raiding in Mists of Pandaria. I will likely no longer be playing after my Annual Pass runs out. I will be giving up the roles of guild master and raid leader to other people (working that stuff out).
I am genuinely sad about this. But it has to be done. I can’t do another two years of “this”. And by “this”, I mean everything. The mediation of squabbles among guild members, the recruiting and interviews, the attempts to change policies, the research for raids, the log diving (as much as I love it), just attending almost every single raid… I think I’ve missed less than 10 raids in the last 18 months.
I thought about the whole “delegation” thing. People always tell me I do too much. Frankly, fuck that. It’s never really been a question of “Good God, I’m doing way too much,” because I am doing what I feel needs to be done AND I’m happy to do it. The problem was that external circumstances arose. My grandmother breaking her hip in December and my father’s recent hospitalization (he’s fine and she’s doing better, although I’m still her errand girl, as we live in the same apartment building), plus finals really showed me that “Real Life” can rise up and swallow ALL of your free time. I was forced to name a new healing lead, the wonderful Jasyla, which I don’t really regret (although I miss chatting more with the healers in general) and I did a lot of work for the guild ahead of time (like boss strats and such). I got to be very good at managing my time while my grandmother was hospitalized, but I knew I still had a lot on my plate.
The thing is, it’s actually less time-consuming for me to do stuff myself. And it’s more satisfying, too. Rather than constantly asking people to do X, Y and Z and then following up, it’s easier to do it myself from the start and there’s a lot less communication between people needed, because, hey, it’s just me!
Still, though, I thought about it. I thought about maintaining GM and giving away raid leader to an officer. I thought about giving the bank to someone. I thought about giving recruitment to someone else. It would have lightened my own load substantially, since the raid leader position is really the bulk of the work.
Then, I realized that I don’t actually want to raid in Mists of Pandaria. I’m not excited about any of the changes except POSSIBLY Challenge Modes. I am not thrilled by the beta, which is hilarious, because that is the only reason I signed up for the Annual Pass. And I have not logged into beta since the level cap was 87. (It is now 90, so it’s been a while.) I am uninterested in what’s in store for holy paladins (except Clemency, that still looks awesome — a cooldown FOR your cooldowns!) and hunters. I am not excited about basically anything I’ve seen yet. Sure, Pandaria is gorgeous, but I’m not connecting to it. I haven’t posted anything about the Mists beta here because I’ve literally done one instance a couple of times and I quested Kurn to 86. And that’s it.
I also don’t trust Blizzard not to nerf everything to hell and back again. I don’t trust them to… well, anything, really. The Real ID fiascos, the nerfs, the fact that Blizzard’s views of the game are drifting further and further from my own… it’s the writing on the wall. I AM that person who will say “You’re damn right I did Jailbreak for my guildies 17 times!” and “We 27-manned Gehennas one night, that’s how hard it was to get 40 people in a raid!” and I remember the OLD Decursive and I remember a time when all paladin gear had strength AND intellect on it and I remember when people would craft resist gear! I am that cranky old player who yells about how easy these kids have it these days with their LFGs and LFRs and VPs and 10-man raids.
I don’t value a lot of the things in the game right now. None of the LFG or LFR pugs I’ve run have been things I want to treasure. Most of them are things I want to forget. My guild is one of the few exceptions, because I really do value the people and the team and the atmosphere. However, there aren’t a lot of things in-game right now that I treasure. There’s nothing like my epic bow quest anymore. There’s nothing like the Benediction quest either. There are no more attunements. Instead, there are all these people who think they deserve epics and raid spots because they’re max level and can game the ilvl requirement by using PVP gear. (I am talking to YOU, DK tank who “tanked” my End Time run on my resto shaman with your PVP intellect boots and 0 gems or enchants on the rest of your strength PVP gear while wearing the VP agility trinket.)
The number of players who think the way I do and value the same things I do has rapidly shrunk this expansion. It was getting bad in Wrath, but it’s gotten worse in Cataclysm. The things I mentioned earlier, my memories of Jailbreak, of undermanning Molten Core bosses, of crazy tier gear for classes like the paladin… These things are important to me. Yes, attunements were crazy, but what a bonding experience for guildies. The 45-minute Baron runs? Amazing. (And this is likely why Challenge Modes spark my interest a bit.) Just about everything from “the old days” makes me smile. Farming Essences of Air in Silithus, hunting down my demons for my Rhok’delar (and having half my guild laugh as Klinfran the Crazed kicked my ASS across the Burning Steppes), 5-manning Zul’Gurub trash at 2am at level 60, doing a 45m Baron run in 39 minutes without a tank apart from my cat, Whisper… These are the things that mean the most to me, these were some of my best memories in the game.
I’ve always said that if you can’t roll with Blizzard’s punches, you won’t survive in this game. It’s true. You have to adapt, you have to change, you have to embrace the new stuff. I think that I’m finally done with it. It’s exhausting to keep up with the changes. It’s also sad, for me, to see how little Blizzard values the things I enjoyed, which some of my favourite memories centered around. So I will take my precious Vanilla and BC memories, some of my Wrath memories and some amazing times from Cataclysm, I will breathe a sigh of resignation and I will take my leave of the game.
Don’t get me wrong, here. I don’t care if you quit or if you keep playing. Do what makes you happy. I won’t try to convince you to leave and I don’t want people to try to convince me to stay. I’m just documenting my decision and the repercussions thereof. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to, and obnoxious comments will not be approved and/or deleted. :)
So with that said, what will happen to this little ol’ blog?
It’ll likely stay online for, well, a long time. It doesn’t cost me anything extra to keep it online, but at one point, it’ll become inactive in the sense that I won’t have posted anything for a while. I’ll likely write some goodbye post in November, but I’m not gone yet.
In the meantime, I plan to keep up on my prepping the guild for the expansion series. I plan to finish up some of those 33 draft posts. I plan to do something to pass my knowledge along to whoever’s interested. I’ve learned a lot about managing a guild and playing at relatively high levels of content and I feel as though I still have a lot to share before I leave.
As to the podcast, that’s still to be determined (and I still need to edit our latest episode).
As for the guild, Apotheosis will still be a 25-man raiding guild in Mists of Pandaria.
Once Choice finishes raiding for the expansion, I’ll be done over there, too.
And no. You may not have my gold or any other stuff I have on any character. ;)
The decision to stop raiding is a tough one, even when you’re just a raider. Having to consider all of those other people. Whether or not you really do fit into the cog of the big machine that is a guild. Some days you feel like you’re one of the best, and other days you feel like you’re a charity case. At least that’s how I felt. I can’t possibly imagine what it would have been like to have to consider this kind of decision from your stand point. From the GM seat. From the RL chair. It was weeks, and probably even months, before I knew what I really wanted. And every now and again I regret it. Watching Apotheosis go 8/8 HMs and wondering if I could have been a part of that… if I could have brought my A-game.
But in the end, I have found what little joy is left in WoW, by not raiding.
I suspect that this was a difficult post to write, and an equally difficult decision to make. The best thing is… if you ever changed your mind… no one would judge you.
Good luck. You’ll always be my favorite GM. <3
You will be missed, Kurn.
I keep writing and deleting my comment because the things I want to say seem to come out as trite and I dont want that. We knew this would come (you certainly gave fair warning) but from someone you barely know, you were a big influence on my WoW career (back when my paladin was my main). Your insights into Raid Leading, GMing and holy paladinning were/are a huge resource to the community that will be sorely missed.
I’m sorry that the US/EU split has prevented me from applying, I get the feeling I would have enjoyed raiding and messing about ingame with you, now I’m just sad I may never get that opportunity.
All the best with whatever you decide to do, I’m sure you will do it as well as you have proven you are capable of in this setting. I will be listening for as long as you keep providing content :)
“The thing is, it’s actually less time-consuming for me to do stuff myself. And it’s more satisfying, too. Rather than constantly asking people to do X, Y and Z and then following up, it’s easier to do it myself from the start and there’s a lot less communication between people needed, because, hey, it’s just me!”
Learning to delegate is hard, but it’s one of the best things that you can do for your career. I know you were talking about management roles and including your guild experience on twitter – you *will* need to learn to delegate properly at some point, and “but it takes more time than if I did it myself” is the most common excuse. If you have the right people around you, you invest time in them early and you delegate properly, it quickly becomes less time consuming because you don’t have to follow-up all of the time – you give people responsibility rather than tasks. You make sure that they know the end goal, you tell them to come to you if there are problems, and you get out of their way. You might watch closely for a couple of weeks to check that they’re ok, but after that, your time is mostly free apart from occasional check-ins and for solving the problems that they bring to you. And the manager’s satisfaction doesn’t come from doing the job themselves, but from seeing other people learn and grow and from solving problems for them – if that’s not satisfying for you (and it isn’t for everyone), then perhaps management is the wrong place for you to be in your career. I’m not trying to be harsh here so I’m sorry if it comes across that way – I think you have a lot of passion for what you care about and you’re clearly smart and driven, so I’m offering this with the best intentions of providing advice that I think will help you with your future career :)
That serious stuff said, I’ve enjoyed reading your blog as a fellow paladin raider, and I’ll be sad to see you go. I haven’t always agreed with your opinions, but I have always found your viewpoint interesting and well-explained and I’ve appreciated the time and thought that you put into your posts. I’m sure you’ll find something else to be your new-WoW soon enough – perhaps you can start a new blog when you do. I wouldn’t be the only one who’d love to read it :)
As others have said, you’ll be greatly missed on the MMOsphere, and I hope that I’ll have the chance to read your writing on some other game or topic at some point!
Hestiah – It sucked to think about. It still sucks to think about. There’s always the fear that “oh no, will they fail without me?”. A good GM (IMHO) should want the guild to go on perfectly without them, as long as their duties are being handled. I hope that we’ve managed to build a structure that will remain strong throughout the next expansion even without me. (Majik and I have chuckled about “our baby” growing up.)
I’m glad that you’re happy — that’s the important thing. I love raiding, but I don’t love it the way I used to.
Thanks for the kind words, too. I know we didn’t have the best start in Cata, but you were a big part of the team for quite some time. Thank you for that. :)
Baylie – I’m not gone yet, there are several thousand words left for me to write here. ;) But thank you for the sentiment. I hope you’re doing well. :)
Sariss – Thank you for this comment. :) It’s funny that you say “we knew this would come”, because in re-reading my blog, that’s certainly the tone and impression I gave, eh? I still wasn’t sure and I still spent a good month seriously considering things. My desire to be there for my guild is my Achilles’ Heel. I’ll do damn near anything for my guildies, so stepping away when there’s nothing actually making me do so is very foreign.
I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to know me when I was actually “messing about ingame”. I used to do the dumbest shit on my hunter and I loved it. Alas, it’s been far too long since I’ve done anything along those lines and the interest is pretty much gone. :/
Thanks for the well-wishes and I’m glad to know I was some kind of influence for someone out there. One of the ongoing issues I have is how poorly Blizzard prepares (and prepared) their players in terms of learning to play. I’m glad that someone found my stuff useful. :)
Nazaniel – I’m not in management at all. I’m actually currently unemployed and my degree is in Sociology, so it’s not like I’m going to jump into a job where I’m a project or office manager or anything. :) I’ve never done any kind of management training and it’s not terribly interesting to me. I think, if push came to shove, I could shoulder some management responsibilities as a result of my experience in WoW, but it’s not really something I want to do.
That said, thanks for the input and advice. I’m not sure I’m looking for another time-sink the way WoW is one, but if I do, I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before I started blogging. ;)
Hugh – Thanks so much, Hugh. I appreciate your support through the Pot and will definitely keep you posted if I start rambling about other games. I hope (big HOPE) to have some 5.0 holy paladin resources up for the launch of Mists, too!
Seriously. Who else am I going to type “your face” too when they log on? There is all sorts of sad going on, but I am happy for you too. You better keep in touch. <3
I knew this morning when I seen the post in our forums; that coming shortly I would see this blog post. For those few hours, I’ve debated what to say, think, feel, etc. I’ve questioned tons of things over and over in that time… in fact many of the things that are causes of your quitting have gone through my head as well. But; for now, my time remains where it is. For your decision though; it does strike a painful note to see someone I’ve known and talked to *and picked on countless times* for the last 15 or so months step down in the near future. But; I cannot blame you at all for it; I wish you nothing but the best in whatever you do in the coming months and years to follow.
Funny story, when the new class announcement for monks came out, I intended to roll one at launch and get back into Apoth as the “star monk healer” or something silly. However, the more I heard from the beta the less I cared about this game. I just started Eve, and there is an expression I hear all the time, “winning Eve”. It means quitting. I know you loved the heck out of this game and this guild, but at some point I think we all might need to stop playing WoW. Especially if it keeps on this path of failing to reward hard-working and skilled players for their time. The day I knew I was done was the day the dev blog said that Cataclysm was too hard in the beginning.
Best of luck in all you do and I hope I see you in another game some day. My memories in Apoth were the best I had from WoW, and you were a huge part of making that happen. So thank you. Thank you much.
Such a moving article that shared a lot of sentiments about why I stopped raiding and drifted from WoW as much as I have. I’m also a veteran of the “good old days” of pre-Wrath WoW. A lot of people like to chalk it up to nostalgia and “rose-colored glasses,” and maybe they’re right, but I think that’s not complete why we look back so fondly.
Back then, accomplishments were just that, accomplishments. When I got my Benediction, I beamed for WEEKS with joy over finally healing those stupid ghosts walking as slowly as they could down the path. It was a great feeling to work for something, and everything felt that way back then. Sure, there were crappy mechanics and bad itemization, but that’s not what we miss. We miss having something to persevere through, and a reason to do so. I understand making the game, especially the endgame, more accessible, but I can’t say I agree with Blizzard about it being the right thing to do.
The thing that has always irked me is their failure to plan ahead. They always revamp classes like they don’t know how they want their classes to be played. The constant nerfs and buffs to spells show they don’t know how to fix scaling. As a former theory-crafter for priests, and later hunters, I blame myself for becoming so invested.
I’ve enjoyed reading your posts for the last year or so, and regardless of what you end up doing, I hope you continue to write and blog. It’s been a joy reading, and I hope you have no shortage of muses once you’ve retired. Best of luck!
I will definitely miss reading your blog posts. However, I made the same decision last year, so I can relate. It’s not an easy decision, but it only matters if it’s the right decisions for you. It sounds like you’ve thought it through.
Now the real question: What are you going to do with all your free time? Will you look for another game (*cough* Guild Wars 2 *cough*) or find something else to fill the time? One of the most difficult aspects of not raiding for me was what to do with all my time. Since then, I’ve hopped from MMO to MMO trying to find something that kept my attention.
Best of luck to you, Kurn, and to finding something that makes you happy in your free time.
I can only express my respect and appreciation for you taking the time and effort to do what you can for your guild, regardless of your final decision. Peons come and go, but officers take on the responsibility of continuity. So many jump ship without honoring their commitments that I want to make sure you’re recognized for doing what most people expect from their leadership.
Thanks for humoring me on occasion!
Good luck with more time in the real world! (Sociology? Yeah, you’re going to need all of that time when job hunting…)
it sad when you stop doing something for along time however this is like all those I quit threads in the forums.
If you don’t want to play don’t, don’t go on about how the games sucks , How you hate it. How blizzard has stuff this up. Or look through rose colored glasses at the old game.
I suposed I am pissed you are going to stop playing cause it will most likely kill you podcast for me which is one of my favorites if your not playing or go to a general gaming podcast god forbid which many do and which i stop listening to.
Good luck with you gaming future
From one “cranky old player” to another…
You gave a large part of your life to helping others and yourself succeed in the game. The ride wasn’t always smooth, but in the end, you accomplished and overcame more than any average player has to endure or is willing to do. Ultimately this is your true success, not the boss fights or the content cleared (which never ends)…you’ll remember playing the pivotal role as GM/RL and watching the guild grow from your efforts and decisions. Yes it was a group effort, but a guild member base changes significantly over even the shortest periods of time, yet your central role can’t be dismissed in guiding the guild’s values, dedication, and determination. People respond to a good leader and you’ve grown and shown yourself to be one of the best. You’ve held your guild together even as the player base and the game have changed…and in many ways not for the better.
Now you’re making the decision that needs to be made for you…at this moment and at a time that impacts the rest of your life moving forward. You’ve got nothing left to prove in game, and only “achievements” in real life waiting to be conquered.
You deserve credit and praise…but more importantly you deserve a chance to enjoy and experience life again outside the game. Congrats Kurn for everything you’ve done…and with deep respect ” /salute”.
-R
Ose – The GM is always a good pick. ;) I’m still not going anywhere yet, so not too much sadness yet, all right? :)
Ludde – Thanks, buddy. I’ll be around for a while yet so don’t worry, you can pick on me for months to go! ;)
Num – You nailed it — that dev blog… it made me sad. I mean, sure, heroics were rough. I almost cried the first time I got Shadowfang Keep. But then I learned the mechanics and I did fine going forward.
I’m so glad you remember Apotheosis fondly. That means a lot to me. Thank you for being someone who took a chance on us when we were just this guild who had been inactive for most of Wrath!
I once did the Eve trial, so you never know… ;)
Justin – Accomplishments — not achievements. I think that’s a great distinction. I do miss having a real reason to push through 27-manning Gehennas just to get a pair of boots with int/strength or something. ;) The endgame is, in my old-ways-mind, of course, supposed to be tough. I think a huge difference is that you have guilds like Method and vodka and Blood Legion who rip through what the rest of us struggle through. There is an insane gap between those top players and players in my guild and an even bigger gap between players in my guild versus the people you’ll see in LFR. You can’t tune it all for the people in LFR without making it super easy for the people at my level or above, and you can’t tune it all for the vodkas and Blood Legions without demoralizing my players and those below my level.
I think accessibility is valid, but that’s what LFR’s level should be for. So let the mouth-breathing DKs with intellect gear on do LFR, but let the normally-skilled people do normals and let the higher-than-normal skilled players do, you know, the heroic stuff.
And yet, they’ve nerfed Dragon Soul almost every four weeks since the Power of the Aspects buff was introduced even while LFR exists. And they’ve nerfed the heroics as well as the normals. I can’t deal with the ever-changing goal-lines.
Their failure to plan ahead is also apparent. Scaling issues, completely redoing how classes heal (like holy pallies and holy radiance in 4.3)… Blah. Not my cup of tea.
Thanks very much for your comment, Justin. I appreciate your support. :)
Sprinks – Sweet God, I have no idea what to do with “all my free time”. I don’t actually HAVE it yet, though, so that’s a relief. ;) My former tank officer, Dayden, decided to quit mid-Firelands, gave us notice, etc, and we were like “but Dayden, what are you going to do with all the free time?” and he was like “I dunno. Look out my window, maybe.” He did come back a few months later. ;)
I don’t think I’ll look for another game to fill the time. Hopefully I’ll be gainfully employed by then, which will eat up a lot of time in my weeks, and maybe I’ll write more often (I love to write, but never do it as much as I should). I am definitely open to suggestions. :)
Thanks for your comment. :)
Joe – Thank you so much. It wouldn’t feel right for me to bail mid-expansion or mid-tier or anything. To me, the really honourable way to do it is at the end of an expansion.
It’s always been a pleasure chatting/commenting/etc with you. :)
And yeah, a Sociology degree, but a crapton of experience in terms of online community work, so maybe the education and the experience will catch someone’s eye! I was already headhunted for a job before I actually finished my semester, though I didn’t get it in the end, but it’s good to know that people are looking at others with my skills. :)
Neil – First of all, as I said in my post, this is my blog. These are my opinions. Do not tell me what to write, or what not to write, on my own blog.
That said, if you don’t like what I’m writing, you don’t have to read it. I am not posting on the Blizzard forums crying that so and so class is imbalanced and unfair and so I’m quitting. I’m posting on my own blog to document my decision-making process and to inform the 156,809 unique visitors to my blog over the last two and a half years that I am leaving. I am writing to let the WoW blogging community know that I will not be covering holy paladins or guild issues in Mists of Pandaria. I am writing to help my guildies understand. I am writing to help myself cope with this huge change in my life.
I’m sorry that you’re upset that the future of the Blessing of Frost podcast is up in the air, but honestly, all good things must come to an end, and the podcast may be ending or it may refocus on other stuff. We’ve done over 60 episodes, totalling hours of entertainment and content over the last year and a half. I’m glad you enjoy the podcast, and we’re not done with it yet, but just because you’re one of our six listeners doesn’t mean that you get to dictate what I say on my own blog.
If you don’t like what I’m saying, that’s fine. You can leave. And if you stop listening to the podcast, that’s fine. Those are your decisions and your choices and I respect your right to make them.
You do not have the right to tell me what I can and cannot write about in this space. Please don’t attempt to do so again. Here are the comment policies for this blog:
http://kurn.apotheosis-now.com/?page_id=990
R – Thank you. I wouldn’t really take a lot of the credit you’re foisting upon me, but I appreciate the sentiment and you’re right, I’ve done a pretty good job and I can look back and be proud of that as I take on “real life” achievements.
Thank you. :)
Nooooo. #sadmoose :(
But more seriously, good for you. This has been a long time coming, and while I will be terribly sad to see you no longer blog about WoW, I am glad you were able to make that choice and that you’re going to end it on a high note, rather than continue to let the things that make you unhappy about the game get you down any further.
While I am definitely still geeked for Pandaria, my interest in healing for it has bottomed out considerably; relearning everything over again doesn’t hold much interest for me, so I may yet go ret for reals rather than just my offspec. But that’s just me. :)
Whatever the case may be, your blog has been an awesome source of information and discussion for paladin healing, and I just want to offer a most sincere thank you for the time and effort you’ve put in over the past few expansions to share that knowledge.
But you’re not gone yet, and as one of the other six listeners of that podcast of yours ;) I can safely say that if you and Maj turned it into an all-purpose gaming/gossip/blogchat cast, we’d all still tune in to listen. :)
Kurn, I do understand the heavy decision it is to come to terms with quitting WoW. Believe me, I wrestled with the same decision just quitting Apoth – it’s just really, really hard to let go of the thing that glues you to the game – the people.
The game is a game, sure, and there are fun things to do to it, but it was a single player game you could have quit and come back as you see fit without being accountable to anyone. With an MMO like WoW, you have people that are counting on you to be there, whether you are a GM/RL like yourself or a lowly raider like me. You have people that are depending on you being present and doing your job correctly to make their own gaming experience more enjoyable, and it’s hard to put a “THE END” to that.
But your voice is an important one in the WoW community, and I do agree with some of the other comments that you could turn your podcast into a general or gaming one without losing a lot of listeners, even if you stopped blogging.
In any case, I look forward to the rest of your posts (yes, I’ve been reading them despite how things ended) and wish the best of luck to you in the future.
-Dahrla
I read this the day you posted it and I’m just now commenting because I have been chewing over it for the past few days. So much of what you said resonated with me – largely because Brade and I had this conversation not long ago ourselves. Ultimately we decided to keep going, but I knew making that decision meant another two year commitment – which is something I hope I do not regret.
Like you, I 100% get that doing things yourself are just simpler and easier than having to hound, nag and beg someone else to get it done. I’ve done the whole delegation thing, and to know what? I spent more time “following up” than I would have done by just doing things myself. And invariably, things always fall back on my lap when those who a re delegated stop doing them. But, it’s never that kind of administrative work that ever makes me feel overwhelmed or like I’ve taken on too much.
What has worn me down more than anything else this expansion is the people. I don’t mean that in an overly negative way, but what almost broke me was the constant bickering and mediating that had to be done with a group of grown ass people. From personality conflicts to people who don’t know how to turn on their brain to mouth filter. It all took its toll, and the cost was steep. I have so much more to say on this…but I’m not sure your comments is the place to do it! Let’s just say I feel you on this! ;)
Anyhow, I’m proud of you for stepping away. I’m proud of you for taking on new challenges. I wish you nothing. It the best of luck and I hope that you’ll keep in touch!
Have one final parting BLOOOOOOOOODLUUUUUUUUUST to send you in your way :)
Er….that should say “I wish you nothing but the best”! Damn iPad keyboard and auto correct!
While I haven’t commented on a post in a while I am always checking this site for a new post. I want to thank you for all the time and dedication you put into this blog. It helped me a lot back when I was an officer and gave me some things to think about as I played my Holy Paladin. I will miss reading your posts (I realize you aren’t gone yet but I will still miss them). Thank you for sharing your experiences. I never played in vanilla and I was in a pretty casual guild in BC (I think we saw illidan once after the 3.0 nerf) but it was great hearing your take on those expansions. I wish you luck in your future endeavors :).
Beginnning of Cata when us Holy Paladins broke away from our one button Holy Light spam, Kurns Corner was an incredible resource for me to perfect my Spec. If I had any questions, I’d send Kurn an email and she gladly respond everytime. On top of that she and Maj put out an awesome podcast weekly. Because of Kurns input I find myself a confident, competent Holy Paladin today, so I /salute and Thank You for all you’ve done for me and others out there. I consider you an online friend and will miss your posts and emails. Perhaps in a future expansion we’ll see Madrana fighting the likes of Internet Dragons. Until then /Bow :)