Previously … something has to give. A raiding guild is tanking (and not in a good way) on Burning Crusade raid content. Six of the raiders call “ENOUGH!” and follow through on that, and yet we wonder, how the FUCK are we going to clear Karazhan with six? Or five? Does it matter when it’s less than eight?

It really doesn’t matter if it’s less than eight. (Ya you hardc0re uber-skeelt people can clear Karazhan with seven, but I am not you.)

The second day of the mutineer guild we have five guildmembers. We only formed a guild through the generosity of former guildmembers’ alts and my nephew, because left to our own devices, we wouldn’t even have /guildchat to complain about the sorry circumstances we brought on ourselves.

But on the third day, something unexpected happened. Non-mutineering (former) guildmates joined. A few of them. People who are QUITE good at their class … without-peer type players. We cleared Karazhan that first week with 11 guildmembers. And I mean we cleared … Prince, Nightbane, Illhoof, Netherspite. Every boss was down with 11.

You want to lecture me about Karazhan and what it takes to raid in Burning Crusade or how easy Karazhan is or the transition into the 25-mans, tell it to somebody who hasn’t done it twice. I already sweat it out with eleven people to choose from, including one holy paladin and one (former shadow, newly holy) priest. (Moroes can be a bitch with one shackle, btw.) It weren’t easy, by any definition, but we did it because it had to be done.

While we cleared Karazhan that first week with 11, my prior guild (roster of 40+ members after the failed mutiny) couldn’t get through Aran.

We did well, quite well, but we couldn’t exactly send a /tell with HAHAHA hay we pwn with 11, nubs!!

Week Two, we had to down High King Maulgar and make a few Gruul attempts. Again … we only had eleven guildmembers, so y’know, that was going to hurt. (WoW nubs: Gruul’s Lair — High King Maulgar and Gruul himself — are 25-man raids.) Late in the raid week, just when we figured there was no fucking way, we recruited tricked a few more people to join, and, we got an offer from a small group of long-ago guildmembers to assist in Gruul’s. (That’s what we call “Making a Deal with the Devil”.) Talking numbers, we had 8 new recruits hostages and 5 long-ago members with us in Gruul’s Lair that first kill.

And so it’s been every week since the failed mutiny: we get a handful of the former raid core to join us, including long-ago Nefarian/AQ40/Naxx raiders, and slowly, we’re climbing to the top of the pile and are back in Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern, this time with 50% less bullshit. (Did I say no bullshit? I did not. Less is a start, however.)

I often think if only we had compromised more, or if they had at all, we’d all be three times ahead of where we are. I’m bitter that their recruiting is so easy, because, after all, they’re recruiting on the strength of the name we built. They’re bitter because we “stole” the raiding force. I imagine they’re also bitter because they spent ALL NIGHT in Gruul’s Lair yesterday and we were in and out in under 20 minutes and had moved on to Tempest Keep. (Update: Gruul’s Redux for them tonight too. Now I kinda feel bad about snickering. Almost feel bad.)

It hasn’t been all purples or void crystals for the new guildbank.

This week for example, when one of our paladins backed into the boss while the casters were finishing their mana drinks, and then again when ALL our warlocks died in the first minute of a boss fight (and you know when I say ALL our warlocks, I mean two, because my server’s warlocks are rarely outside of an arena), and later still when one of our shadow priests pulled aggro off the tank because he was happily mind flaying his way up the threatmeter (“hay guys, i forgot to check my threat lol!”), we just laughed and were glad that we’re all together in a new guild.

Are you nuts?

We bitched out their asses in Ventrilo and threatened to throw them back out into the wildnerness of the guildless. Wouldn’t be a true raiding guild if we didn’t end the night not speaking to one another at least once a week.

As I told the reconstituted private chat channel “guildbitchfest”, after we flew back from the graveyard and had run back through the long twisting hallways and ramps to begin the boss buff session anew: Same shit, different guild name.