Balbanes - Prot Paladin - WITHDRAWN

Character Name:
Balbanes

Class:
Paladin

Talent Spec:
Protection 0/53/18 (Maintankadin) & Protection 0/59/12 (Trash/Heroics/Dailies)

Your age:
27

Your weekly raid availability (We raid Fri/Sat 6-10pm server + Sun 4-8 server):
Your raid schedule is precisely what I am looking for.

What add-ons do you use (Check our Information for Raiders page to see our required mods)?
I have a very customized UI with a -lot- of addons. The raid-related addons I use are Bigwigs (boss timers), Skada (threat), Grid (unit frames), ZOMG Buffs (like pally power, but also does Fort, Spirit, AI, Gift, and self-buffs like Righteous Fury, Seals, Inner Fire, etc.) and oRA3 (durability, reagent, resistance checks and similar stuff.).

Do you have access to Vent?
Yes.

What sort of tools (calculators, builders, spreadsheets, etc.) do you use to plan your characters (if any)?
Wowhead's calculator is my preferred talent calc, I use Rawr for dps theorycrafting, and I spend a lot of time at the Elitist Jerks and Maintankadin forums.

Provide the armory link to the character you are applying with:
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Velen&cn=Balbanes

Please include a screenshot of your UI:
Click the image for a full size (1920 * 1080) screenshot.



What are your best in slot items for each slot from ICC 10 normal mode (Give us your gear wishlist)?
Most of what I want is Emblem of Frost gear, or I have. The few things I'm looking for in 10-normal are Gargoyle Spit Bracers from Deathbringer,
Marrowgar's Scratching Choker from Marrowgar, and either Bonebreaker Scepter from Marrowgar or The Facelifter from Putricide.

What previous raid experience do you have?
in vanilla wow, ZG, AQ20, MC, and BWL clear, AQ40 up to twin emps, and Naxx up attempts at 4HM. in BC up to attempts on pre-nerf m'uru before the guild I was in started going in two separate directions. In Wrath, all of Naxx, cleared thorim in ulduar, ToGC 10 made it to anub with 46 attempts, didn't clear him. ICC 10 festergut down, but not rotface.

What guilds have you been a member of?
Divine Light in vanilla, Counsel of Elders in BC, Sublime in Wrath, with various casual or vanity named guilds between those.

Why did you leave your previous and current guilds?
Divine Light raided six nights a week, six hours a night - too much. Counsel of Elders slowly died prior to wrath's launch. Sublime was a friday/saturday/sunday guild, but is now a tuesday/thursday/friday/saturday/sunday/monday guild - too much.

Why do you want to join Shade of Arrows (Be thorough with your answer)?
Friday/Saturday/Sunday evenings are exactly what I'm looking for in a schedule, and something a little less hardcore than "raid or die" is the setting I want.

Tell us about yourself, to help us determine if you would be a good fit here (The more you put here, the better it looks):
I work in IT (computer network security) so a spend a lot of time at a computer already. I am VERY nerdy. Theorycrafting stuff like DPS upgrades, raid strats, etc. gets me excited. I'm also a fan of trying tank things I shouldn't be able to tank. So far my biggest score there is single tanking Northrend Beasts, Lord Jaraxxus, and Twin Valks in ToGC 10.

Outside of WoW I'm a car guy, a big fan of metalwork things crafted by hand, and have a pretty bad addiction to cookies, particularly shortbread.

Thank you for applying! Your application is under review.

Balbanes,

We are still debating your application. Your credentials are impressive and you seem to certainly be the type of player we hunger for. But, as we discussed in game, we don't know what we'd do with you as our potential 4th primary tank. We still have a tank recruit undergoing the trial process for 3rd string so nothing is set in stone yet. One thought we have is that we could set up a 2nd ICC 10 run weekly and fill in the holes with alts. However, we are consistently using up all our weekly raid time on progression in our primary run. Any 2nd runs would take away from that progression time and slow us down. If only you played a dps or healing role...

Given that you are a quality app and would be transferring to be with us, we want to be as thoughtful as possible before we give a trial or not.

Our debate continues and we will keep you posted.

I appreciate the care and consideration you've shown me; a refreshing change from the personalities I've encountered on my home server.

I do have some ret gear; primarily all iLevel 232. I've just never done ret except for the arena tournament where I only got to 1950 rating on the one day I played. I suppose I could work on my ret gear somewhat, but I'm not 100% confident in myself for that role. I've never done holy - I always say if I wanted to heal, I'd log my priest.

Let me do some DPS tests and I'll give you the results. I expect the numbers to be more comical than impressive, however.

One thing we noticed while browsing your raid achievements is that you are missing some you should have from your list of past successes. BWL, AQ20, and ZG are missing, but those aren't necessarily retroactive unless you completed the turn in quests from the end bosses. However, could you please elaborate more on your raid experience in BC to clarify the achievement gap from Gruul's to M'uru?

Also, please include a brief count of the number of times you killed bosses in AQ40 and the number of times you cleared AQ20, ZG, and MC.

In Vanilla I was on my priest almost exclusively. I also pretty much never got quest items (no head from ony or nef, no heart from hakkar, etc.) and never went back after the achievement system was in place. This was in Divine Light. My paladin at the time was a 39 PvP twink (hence the Sergeant Major Feat of Strength).

MC clears were a lot. Couldn't really count. Same for ZG. BWL I personally saw about 15 clears. I joined when the guild already had MC on farm and was progressing on BWL - they were working on chromaggus.

In AQ I got up to fankriss with the guild before the demanding schedule became too much for me. This was about a month or a month and a half so about 4-6 runs. I can't say precisely how many kills of each boss I got, it was a long time ago and I don't really remember.

I left the guild (on good terms) and went casual (and made one of my own vanity guilds, though I don't recall the name.). A great friend of mine and warlock tank for twin emps asked me to pug with his guild sometimes, about every other week. I healed for them (oasis) if they had open spots, and left if some of their guild members later came online that needed the spot. I did the same up through naxx. I never saw c'thun - never went back at 70 or 80 to see him either.

In BC I was on my priest mostly as well. My experience on my priest was up to 3/5 MH and and 4/9 BT. This was in Counsel of Elders. My paladin tanked in runs that were 3/4 TK and 5/6 SSC (yeah, one of -those- raiders), but I often switched to my priest and back even in the same run, as I was the 3rd tank and wasn't always needed. I did tank all of ZA and got within 3 seconds of the 4th chest (/cry). Counsel of Elders starting slowly losing members or going casual, and I went casual too.

A friend of mine from school complained that one of their priests had quit playing, and knew I played a priest and asked me to help. I took over playing their priest (name was bonemender from an EU server I don't recall.) for a few raids. I helped them progress on felmyst, made it to pre-nerf m'uru, didn't do well. I found that the original account holder wasn't the only one getting tired of the game, and their guild split up, some going casual or quitting, some joining another raid guild. I just gave the account back to my friend and went back to being casual. My time with them was 4 raids, so about a month.

If my progress seems like it comes and goes between hardcore and not, it is because in the past I was juggling school, work, and a four-year long distance relationship. Sometimes I had the time, sometimes I didn't. Finishing school, getting married, and settling into a more stable lifestyle has led me into wanting a weekends guild, where I was with my current guild, but as I said previously, they're expanding in directions I just can't commit to.

Balbanes,

Thank you for your responses. Your answers were very forthcoming. After careful thought, we would like to offer you a trial because we think you have the potential to improve the quality of our guild. We know that you are a server transfer and this trial is offered with a high expectation of success. But before you say yes, we want to make sure you understand the situation.

First, you won't be guaranteed to be in for any raid during your trial and initiate periods or if your attendance is below 87.5% per month. We have a plump roster in the Tank and DPS departments and all those people can't fit in to 10 slots each raid. But everyone plays a key part in our guild and we are a TEAM. That means that even if you aren't in for one, two, or even three raids in a row your presence is needed and appreciated and you are as much a part of our successes as anyone zoned in to a dungeon. Without the flexibility of our plump roster, we have and will find ourselves in need of pugs to fill 10 slots on any given raid night when enough members have real life restrictions that prevent them from logging in.

Second, the trial period lasts 2-3 weeks. Just being accepted to trial does not mean you are guaranteed an invite. If you are accepted after the trial period, you will be an initiate rank for 1 month.

Third, by the current rules of the guild you will be guaranteed a raid slot if your attendance is 87.5% or better each month after your initiate period. Your loot priority will be elevated as well. But as it stands we have 3 main tank spec'd people in the guild: Deezd, Sangrey, and Erekos (once he accepts a guild invite). If all four of us have optimal attendance, the only way the guarantee can be upheld is if at least two of us can switch hit between tank and dps or healing on a dime. At times, you may find yourself playing dps more than tank if you can do Retribution.

If given those points you accept our invitation to trial, we would love to meet you.

I don't know if my guild still needs me this weekend - There are four tanks not counting myself so I don't believe they need me; I assume I can start a character transfer immediately.

If it goes through on time to play this weekend I'll be happy to see you there. Otherwise I'll just hang out on my level 1 alt and cheer you on from the sidelines.

I feel as though it would be of use to give you our vent. Of course, I don't have it on hand. Someone should get to that.

Nose goes.

Edit: I posted the vent, but forgot this forum is open to the public so I'll PM Balbanes. It's also posted in Announcements.

I was able to log into wow tonight, but unfortunately the computer froze up on me. If it does get fixed by Friday I will be there to raid on Deezd.

A number of people I know from Whisperwind, including real life friends and family, have decided to follow me here. Starting Monday, they want to start looking to build a 25-player raiding guild. They want me to lead them in the new guild, and I have accepted. I will finish this week's raids, and I will not take any loot no matter how badly I want a new sword.

I have had a TON of fun raiding with you guys, and hopefully we can continue to do heroics and what have you together. If you guys ever need anything don't hesitate to ask!

Balbanes wrote:A number of people I know from Whisperwind, including real life friends and family, have decided to follow me here. Starting Monday, they want to start looking to build a 25-player raiding guild. They want me to lead them in the new guild, and I have accepted. I will finish this week's raids, and I will not take any loot no matter how badly I want a new sword.

I have had a TON of fun raiding with you guys, and hopefully we can continue to do heroics and what have you together. If you guys ever need anything don't hesitate to ask!

That truly is a shame. I would like to be the first to say that I am sorry you had to withdraw your application. Maybe we could still collaborate on occasion. Anyway, best of luck in your guild endeavor.

A sad day for us indeed. I look forward to heckling you in SoATrials regardless! It's been great fun having you along.

Good luck with your 25 man shenanigans.