Clearance

Unusual Suspects came together quickly and continued Ulduar 10 raiding without delay. For several weeks, we made excellent progress, getting to where we could down Yogg, effectively clearing Ulduar, and pretty consistently do some hard modes. Some other hard modes we are not that far away from achieving, and some that are still quite hard. However, we have been missing the 1337 dps of our resident boomkin (just returned), feral druid (still out), and one of our hunters (gone for a while). Also, one of our top healers has also been MIA for a couple weeks (back on Monday?). I’d hope to see our progress on the as-yet-unattained hard modes advance considerably, but the impending release of 3.2 will likely greatly hinder further Ulduar 10 progression.

But whatever our own sense of our Ulduar 10 progression, we are listed as the top 10-man Strict guild on AoS. What is “Strict”, you ask? Strict means that we clear what we clear using primarily 10-man gear—unlike other guilds who raid 25 mans and then use that gear to do 10-man hard modes, achievements, etc. I take some pride in this recognition, that U.S. has been able to down various bosses and hard modes, using lesser gear; it is a measure of our ability and talent.

Beyond this ranking, we were also responsible for being Alliance-first on some Ulduar 10 boss downings and hard modes, some of which I was involved with and some I wasn’t. However, being in a guild on the edge of WOW content is a new and satisfying experience. In vanilla WOW, the farthest I got was half-way through BWL, and in BC, the farthest was Magtheridon, so being a productive member in a guild that has cleared Ulduar pre-3.2, is a nice place to be, and I’m happy to be here. Kudos to the team on what we’ve accomplished in game, and to all of you for putting up with a whiny, damage-obsessed rogue player. ;-)

This week’s AH win: Some person kept undercutting my Netherweave bags this week, by one silver or less each time. After a couple days, I got fed up with it and crafted 100 bags and listed them all 30% below his prices (though still at a profit). I haven’t seen him back in that market since the day I did that, but I suspect it’s not a permanent disappearance. Oh, and I discovered a different way to produce enchanting materials, roughly halving my cost, yet almost doubling production. Booyah!

The Baconsrip™ Maine Weather Report:
on location in Houlton, ME, next to the Canadian border
72° F and overcast