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Shortline/Dod
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re: Hammo's Heroes

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Hello fellow raiders!

I’m writing this forum post to officially inform the kinship of the creation of Hammo’s Heroes! Hammo’s Heroes is a progression raid group for downing the hardest content present in the lands of Middle Earth. At this point we’re looking at doing Ost Dunhoth Tier II, but in the future we may also start attempting BG at Tier II, and even the new Isengard content.

What is this group comprised of? It is an invitation only raid built with members of Swifty and Hammo who demonstrate the following characteristics:
    An interest in raiding and participate often in current raids that are happening.

    The ability to play their class well and integrate with other fellowship members.

    An ability to be able to see the smaller details while in battle, and know when to communicate with the group and when to keep the channels clear.

    Be willing to learn new content and listen to instructions and helpful suggestions from other members of Hammo’s Heroes.



Our basic core has been created, but we are always on the lookout for new people to join us in our rotations. As time moves on we’ll be evaluating people (in both instances and raids) to see if their play style is something that would fit well with the rest of us. Who will be invited is determined by Hammo’s Heroes members...not by the sole discretion of one person. Please don’t spam any of us asking for invites. Believe me...we are watching what’s going on and are aware of kin member’s play style.

Now how does this affect the other raids we currently run? It should have very little impact. All of our other raids are currently set to continue running at the same time as they always have (as long as there is still interest and someone to lead them). The only changes you’ll see will be in our Tier I Ost Dunhoth runs due to Hammo’s Heroes raiders running different characters so that our main characters won’t get locks on the content we’re working on in Tier II. Hammo’s Heroes is currently scheduled to run every Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

Why are we doing this you ask? We have no interest in changing the direction of this kinship to become a militant end-game raiding kinship. We want to continue running our casual open raids for our members to continue to participate in. We’re simply finding that some of our best progress in raids have been when we have a consistent group of like minded people to play through the content. The challenges in the new raids Turbine is producing require the raid to work together as a whole and keep a very close eye on each other and coordinate often without speaking (because there isn’t enough time). These challenges require fine attention to detail about not only yourself, but the raid as a whole. Our goal is to learn the content and playstyle of each other and help disseminate that information out to the rest of the kin in the regular kinship raid/instance runs in order to help every one's efforts against the forces of Sauron.

To help spread around leadership, I’ll be passing off leadership of the Tier I raids to other people (at the moment Penbornin has been kind enough to step in and take it on), while I focus on leading our Hammo’s Heroes raid.

If you have any questions/comments/etc feel free to leave them below or drop me a PM or in-game mail or tell. Our hope is that this will help strengthen our kinship’s end-game raiding as a whole and provide us with useful strategies for the future.

--Dod


Last edited by Shortline/Dod on Jul 27th, 2011 10:38 am; edited 2 times in total


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re: Hammo's Heroes

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Well explained, Dod.


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chicory



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So is there going to be a splinter group called Swifty's Swashbucklers?
Gilderbrand
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chicory wrote:
So is there going to be a splinter group called Swifty's Swashbucklers?


Not sure about that, come in game and ask Swifty yourself Happy
chicory



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Gilderbrand wrote:
chicory wrote:
So is there going to be a splinter group called Swifty's Swashbucklers?


Not sure about that, come in game and ask Swifty yourself Happy


Touche, Gil, touche.
luejack



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re: Trouble?

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As was evident last night in OD tier1 we failed repeatedly because the core team were not on characters strong enough to carry those who were having some trouble with strat. It was also very clear that the teams initially set up were the wrong mix of class and of those who had participated in the raid to date. Saving alts aside for a more advanced team will only frustrate those of us unlucky enough not to be invited to Sunday's raids- doubly so for failing to make the heroes' team and for not being able to enjoy success in the lower team's raids. The phrase "like-minded people" also is of concern as it implies a popularity contest for spots on the raid teams. I have had experience with these types of problems and they splinter kinships into the "haves and have nots". As leader, elected by the kinship, of Guardians of the White Tree, I saw the entire officer corps split off to form a sub group called Shadowfax. They were the worst sort of cronies who excluded all whom they viewed as not being of "like mind". It didn't take long for them to fail utterly because of very large egoes and not enough cooperation and then for the entire kinship to fall apart. The leader at the time whom I replaced is now out of the game. The kinship is now barely recognizeable- full of bitter people who compete for scraps. I did my best to hold the tattered remains together but could not endure the conflict of folk feeling held in contempt by others.
This kinship is far stronger than that- Dam you're an excellent leader with the notion that leaders must be self-sacrificing, always thinking of others above yourself. Pen, Gammi, Gil, you have my respect as well for your tact, intellligence and kindness. Dod you are very knowlegdeable. Having led kinships and complex raids, I know the work involved. It's tough, time-consuming and a trial of patience and self-secrifice.
Please keep the benefit of my experience in mind as you make your way through OD t2 and if there is anything I can do to assist the team you have only to ask.
I'm very grateful to be part of this kin and honoured to be a member of the team.
-Dazy-
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Lati said: "The phrase 'like-minded people' also is of concern as it implies a popularity contest for spots on the raid teams."

If you look at the context surrounding the use of "like-minded" you would see it has nothing to do with "popularity" and more to do with people who "work together as a whole and keep a very close eye on each other and coordinate often without speaking..." and who pay "attention to detail about not only yourself, but the raid as a whole...".

We continue to run DN for the sole purpose of educating new raiders and helping them to understand how to work as a part of a team. It is also the reason OD Tier 1 is an open sign up for anyone who wants to further refine those skills.

Swifty & Hammo has always been and always will be an inclusive kin with a goal of catering to as many different types of players as possible: those who run solo and just need resources or questions answered, those who hate raiding but like to run in small fellowships, those who are into raiding but realize they are not ready for T2 content but want to improve, and finally those who want to take on the challenge of T2 content with a group that is T2 ready.

It is our goal that as we continue to run DN and OD T1, Hammo's Heroes will continue to grow. wink


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luejack wrote:
As was evident last night in OD tier1 we failed repeatedly because the core team were not on characters strong enough to carry those who were having some trouble with strat.


Although essentially correct Lu, it is not the job of anyone, you, me, Dod, Pen or anyone else to "carry" others. It is the job of all members of the raid to carry them selves and give to the raid.

Learning the strat is each persons job when they want to raid, so is having enough gear, pots, tokens... you all get the idea. Playing your class well is also something that has to be firm for each player before they enter a raid. All of this should be in place from 6 mans before a person signs up for a low level raid and, imo, the low level raid play will then make a person more ready to run the on level raids.

Further, as least for me, playing different classes is a good way to improve my skills on my main. That may sound strange, but being on a different class lets me stand back and see what I could do differently on Gil. It also lets me see how someone else handles the tanking, again a learning from afar experience.

Just my thoughts and although in reply to you, Lu, directed at every raider the kin has, because again, imo, no raider is as good as they could be and we all should keep looking to improve.
luejack



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re: Hammo's Heroes

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It is not my intent so be angry and hostile, only to guard a valuable group of people from the drama I have witnessed and of which i have been both party and target. I have faith in this kin and its leaders as folk of courtesy and mutual respect. And Gil, having 8 alts at 65, end traited and geared to my best of home grown abilities, has been a tremendously valuable tool for me to learn how to lead in a more effective way as well as seeing how my main LM can function with more of a detailed idea of the needs and strengths of each class. LM in particular is a class whose sole function is support and to do so effectively entails sure knowledge of the the other classes.
Knowing the skills of each class is also essential to leading a full out, at level, 12-man raid. It is also essential for those in the raid to know their class and be totally fluid with their skills so that if the leader should ask for a skill, the answer isn't "Huh? What's that?" I teach every week folk whose most often asked question is "Huh?" It starts with the basics and there are lots of people out there who enjoy the game in a casual way never setting foot in Grand Stair or Sammath Gul. They are equally wonderful and generous people who give what they have to offer without reservation. Unfamiliarity with a class skill doesn't make them a failure or a dunce- simply someone who needs education. And here is the sticking point: it is essential to educate with respect and without the "Blame Shame Game". Here is where I have had some ugly experiences. Cheva, formerly of Guardians of Gondor, could not help ridiculing every mistake I made and her fellow officers did nothing to correct her. It didn't take me long to start making mistakes I would never have made without the sense that people were examining me in a far too close and personal way, detailing all my faults and offering no solutions except for sardonic laughter and dismissal. This unfortuneately is human nature.. the desire to feel better than others and there is no more destructive attitude in a social situation in which goals are only accomplished with the cooperation of others.
Damworth Incorporated
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Hail, Lu!

Yep, it's no one's fault, per se, that they weren't born with the knowledge of how to do certain things. Being successful from that point is, of course, a two way street. I think that we as a kin--although there are always tense moments in the heat of battle--do a good job of letting folks know what the expectation is in a given raid or run in an unthreatening way. Again, I know that when this happens in the middle of a boss encounter it can get somewhat intense at times. I know I got set straight last night with potting off my wounds. Kinda felt bad about it, but there ya go--had to be brought to my attention. The combination of sound tutelage and good listening make an effective team. I hope that you feel we're living up to the standard--it's one of the things I have always beleived characterized S&H.

I think the Friday / Saturday runs are in no imminent danger of being derailed, nor any of the other existing opportunities that have beeb posted regularly, of late, on this site. All of us running different toons have to bring ourselves up to speed. Those coming for the first time need to be good listeners, and solid practictioners of basic raid tenets: follow target assist, be in the correct stance, etc. In short, I don't think the kin is losing anything by having this group form up for Sundays. I hope that, if it is successful, it will in the course of time give our raiders, as a whole, more opportunities for tier 2 end game success, not less.


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Bravo Dam... that reply was kind, exact, and real.
Pelagor
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re: Hammo's Heroes

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I haven't been the kin that long, so I will only speak for me. I do not want the tier I OD raid to fail because we created a poor class mix in T1 to avoid locks on the characters running T2 on Sunday. I personally commit to using whatever character we need in the T1 raid to have fun. If that means we have to abort the T2 raid on Sunday that week, so be it. Since people are learning the raid, I don't expect our T1 raid to full clear OD every week, but if we make no progress whatsoever due to a bad class mix, I will run whatever the T1 raid leader needs for us to make some progress, give everyone a chance to see the content and learn the fights, and most importantly, have fun.

It's just a game.


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