Come On You Apes! You wanna live FOREVER?!

I’ve made a great deal of noise recently about a bear who gave me quite a hand when I went looking and I owe him a lot for his patience and knowledge.

But in all deference to him I need to roar a bit about another candidate for legendary raider status as well – though I’m sure there are many, many others I could sing bear praises at (get yer bearplugs out).

i mentioned that my hunter got PuGged into a Kara raid by way of a guildie who knew I’d been looking for a while at the time. When I first started I could tell these cubs knew how to get the huny out of the pot so I kept quiet and took all the advice they felt like imparting.

That’s a good rule of thumb for you cub-lings out there. If you get invited to something, even if it’s nothing more than a small group for quests or a 5-bear instance, shut yer berry hole and let your swipes speak for you. I’m no great shakes as a hunter, I have to make macros for half my actions or I’ll forget what I’m supposed to do next, but my raid leader, Zorlos, seemed to think I was worth something so he’s invested a bit ‘o time in my alter ego. He helped me with my spec and had all sorts of suggestions, all the while being very careful not to act like the south end of a northbound Missouri mule.

I know he hates reading forums and blogs so he probably won't see this. But I have to say - I feel pretty lucky to have met two decent raiders in as many weeks.

I should tell you some of the neat things I’ve learned in the past 3 weeks with this raid. I said earlier that I’d met a near-legendary bear raider, well I shoulda said I met two near-legends. Zorlos’ been around just as long and it sorta turns out that these folks were all in the same 2 or 3 guilds back in the day. Zor’s team sounds like they’ve been with him through thick and thin as well so I’m feeling doubly blessed. No wonder we can one-shot Aran - btw we down Prince regularly now too. Nether made hunter goo outta me but, meh, I feel pretty squishy wearin mail and it's still one cool lookin dragon.

I guess it sorta happens that people and guilds change and grow in different directions, it’s the way of things. That probably explains the splintering of all the old guilds. But any way you swipe at it, my bear buddy is one kind of great raider and Zor's just as good, they're just different. I think it’s a rare treat to see two good raid leaders at work. I marvel at how they can keep a raid rolling in the right direction with goals and objectives in mind, while not losing people or pissing in everyone’s cheerios.

It’s like watching my old platoon sergeant or seeing the guy from Starship Troopers, the one-armed Lt., ‘Everyone fights, no one quits. If you don’t do your job I’ll shoot you myself.”