Reading Bill Zeller's last letter to the world made me realize how brutal we human can be to our own childrens, our legacy, our ever extending life. Here are his words...
Bill Zeller
I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I assume I'll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right decision. Maybe it's true that anyone who does this is insane by definition, but I can at least explain my reasoning. I considered not writing any of this because of how personal it is, but I like tying up loose ends and don't want people to wonder why I did this. Since I've never spoken to anyone about what happened to me, people would likely draw the wrong conclusions.
My first memories as a child are of being raped, repeatedly. This has affected every aspect of my life. This darkness, which is the only way I can describe it, has followed me like a fog, but at times intensified and overwhelmed me, usually triggered by a distinct situation. In kindergarten I couldn't use the bathroom and would stand petrified whenever I needed to, which started a trend of awkward and unexplained social behavior. The damage that was done to my body still prevents me from using the bathroom normally, but now it's less of a physical impediment than a daily reminder of what was done to me.
This darkness followed me as I grew up. I remember spending hours playing with legos, having my world consist of me and a box of cold, plastic blocks. Just waiting for everything to end. It's the same thing I do now, but instead of legos it's surfing the web or reading or listening to a baseball game. Most of my life has been spent feeling dead inside, waiting for my body to catch up.
At times growing up I would feel inconsolable rage, but I never connected this to what happened until puberty. I was able to keep the darkness at bay for a few hours at a time by doing things that required intense concentration, but it would always come back. Programming appealed to me for this reason. I was never particularly fond of computers or mathematically inclined, but the temporary peace it would provide was like a drug. But the darkness always returned and built up something like a tolerance, because programming has become less and less of a refuge.
The darkness is with me nearly every time I wake up. I feel like a grime is covering me. I feel like I'm trapped in a contimated body that no amount of washing will clean. Whenever I think about what happened I feel manic and itchy and can't concentrate on anything else. It manifests itself in hours of eating or staying up for days at a time or sleeping for sixteen hours straight or week long programming binges or constantly going to the gym. I'm exhausted from feeling like this every hour of every day.
Three to four nights a week I have nightmares about what happened. It makes me avoid sleep and constantly tired, because sleeping with what feels like hours of nightmares is not restful. I wake up sweaty and furious. I'm reminded every morning of what was done to me and the control it has over my life.
I've never been able to stop thinking about what happened to me and this hampered my social interactions. I would be angry and lost in thought and then be interrupted by someone saying "Hi" or making small talk, unable to understand why I seemed cold and distant. I walked around, viewing the outside world from a distant portal behind my eyes, unable to perform normal human niceties. I wondered what it would be like to take to other people without what happened constantly on my mind, and I wondered if other people had similar experiences that they were better able to mask.
Alcohol was also something that let me escape the darkness. It would always find me later, though, and it was always angry that I managed to escape and it made me pay. Many of the irresponsible things I did were the result of the darkness. Obviously I'm responsible for every decision and action, including this one, but there are reasons why things happen the way they do.
Alcohol and other drugs provided a way to ignore the realities of my situation. It was easy to spend the night drinking and forget that I had no future to look forward to. I never liked what alcohol did to me, but it was better than facing my existence honestly. I haven't touched alcohol or any other drug in over seven months (and no drugs or alcohol will be involved when I do this) and this has forced me to evaluate my life in an honest and clear way. There's no future here. The darkness will always be with me.
I used to think if I solved some problem or achieved some goal, maybe he would leave. It was comforting to identify tangible issues as the source of my problems instead of something that I'll never be able to change. I thought that if I got into to a good college, or a good grad school, or lost weight, or went to the gym nearly every day for a year, or created programs that millions of people used, or spent a summer or California or New York or published papers that I was proud of, then maybe I would feel some peace and not be constantly haunted and unhappy. But nothing I did made a dent in how depressed I was on a daily basis and nothing was in any way fulfilling. I'm not sure why I ever thought that would change anything.
I didn't realize how deep a hold he had on me and my life until my first relationship. I stupidly assumed that no matter how the darkness affected me personally, my romantic relationships would somehow be separated and protected. Growing up I viewed my future relationships as a possible escape from this thing that haunts me every day, but I began to realize how entangled it was with every aspect of my life and how it is never going to release me. Instead of being an escape, relationships and romantic contact with other people only intensified everything about him that I couldn't stand. I will never be able to have a relationship in which he is not the focus, affecting every aspect of my romantic interactions.
Relationships always started out fine and I'd be able to ignore him for a few weeks. But as we got closer emotionally the darkness would return and every night it'd be me, her and the darkness in a black and gruesome threesome. He would surround me and penetrate me and the more we did the more intense it became. It made me hate being touched, because as long as we were separated I could view her like an outsider viewing something good and kind and untainted. Once we touched, the darkness would envelope her too and take her over and the evil inside me would surround her. I always felt like I was infecting anyone I was with.
Relationships didn't work. No one I dated was the right match, and I thought that maybe if I found the right person it would overwhelm him. Part of me knew that finding the right person wouldn't help, so I became interested in girls who obviously had no interest in me. For a while I thought I was gay. I convinced myself that it wasn't the darkness at all, but rather my orientation, because this would give me control over why things didn't feel "right". The fact that the darkness affected sexual matters most intensely made this idea make some sense and I convinced myself of this for a number of years, starting in college after my first relationship ended. I told people I was gay (at Trinity, not at Princeton), even though I wasn't attracted to men and kept finding myself interested in girls. Because if being gay wasn't the answer, then what was? People thought I was avoiding my orientation, but I was actually avoiding the truth, which is that while I'm straight, I will never be content with anyone. I know now that the darkness will never leave.
Last spring I met someone who was unlike anyone else I'd ever met. Someone who showed me just how well two people could get along and how much I could care about another human being. Someone I know I could be with and love for the rest of my life, if I weren't so fucked up. Amazingly, she liked me. She liked the shell of the man the darkness had left behind. But it didn't matter because I couldn't be alone with her. It was never just the two of us, it was always the three of us: her, me and the darkness. The closer we got, the more intensely I'd feel the darkness, like some evil mirror of my emotions. All the closeness we had and I loved was complemented by agony that I couldn't stand, from him. I realized that I would never be able to give her, or anyone, all of me or only me. She could never have me without the darkness and evil inside me. I could never have just her, without the darkness being a part of all of our interactions. I will never be able to be at peace or content or in a healthy relationship. I realized the futility of the romantic part of my life. If I had never met her, I would have realized this as soon as I met someone else who I meshed similarly well with. It's likely that things wouldn't have worked out with her and we would have broken up (with our relationship ending, like the majority of relationships do) even if I didn't have this problem, since we only dated for a short time. But I will face exactly the same problems with the darkness with anyone else. Despite my hopes, love and compatability is not enough. Nothing is enough. There's no way I can fix this or even push the darkness down far enough to make a relationship or any type of intimacy feasible.
So I watched as things fell apart between us. I had put an explicit time limit on our relationship, since I knew it couldn't last because of the darkness and didn't want to hold her back, and this caused a variety of problems. She was put in an unnatural situation that she never should have been a part of. It must have been very hard for her, not knowing what was actually going on with me, but this is not something I've ever been able to talk about with anyone. Losing her was very hard for me as well. Not because of her (I got over our relationship relatively quickly), but because of the realization that I would never have another relationship and because it signified the last true, exclusive personal connection I could ever have. This wasn't apparent to other people, because I could never talk about the real reasons for my sadness. I was very sad in the summer and fall, but it was not because of her, it was because I will never escape the darkness with anyone. She was so loving and kind to me and gave me everything I could have asked for under the circumstances. I'll never forget how much happiness she brought me in those briefs moments when I could ignore the darkness. I had originally planned to kill myself last winter but never got around to it. (Parts of this letter were written over a year ago, other parts days before doing this.) It was wrong of me to involve myself in her life if this were a possibility and I should have just left her alone, even though we only dated for a few months and things ended a long time ago. She's just one more person in a long list of people I've hurt.
I could spend pages talking about the other relationships I've had that were ruined because of my problems and my confusion related to the darkness. I've hurt so many great people because of who I am and my inability to experience what needs to be experienced. All I can say is that I tried to be honest with people about what I thought was true.
I've spent my life hurting people. Today will be the last time.
I've told different people a lot of things, but I've never told anyone about what happened to me, ever, for obvious reasons. It took me a while to realize that no matter how close you are to someone or how much they claim to love you, people simply cannot keep secrets. I learned this a few years ago when I thought I was gay and told people. The more harmful the secret, the juicier the gossip and the more likely you are to be betrayed. People don't care about their word or what they've promised, they just do whatever the fuck they want and justify it later. It feels incredibly lonely to realize you can never share something with someone and have it be between just the two of you. I don't blame anyone in particular, I guess it's just how people are. Even if I felt like this is something I could have shared, I have no interest in being part of a friendship or relationship where the other person views me as the damaged and contaminated person that I am. So even if I were able to trust someone, I probably would not have told them about what happened to me. At this point I simply don't care who knows.
I feel an evil inside me. An evil that makes me want to end life. I need to stop this. I need to make sure I don't kill someone, which is not something that can be easily undone. I don't know if this is related to what happened to me or something different. I recognize the irony of killing myself to prevent myself from killing someone else, but this decision should indicate what I'm capable of.
So I've realized I will never escape the darkness or misery associated with it and I have a responsibility to stop myself from physically harming others.
I'm just a broken, miserable shell of a human being. Being molested has defined me as a person and shaped me as a human being and it has made me the monster I am and there's nothing I can do to escape it. I don't know any other existence. I don't know what life feels like where I'm apart from any of this. I actively despise the person I am. I just feel fundamentally broken, almost non-human. I feel like an animal that woke up one day in a human body, trying to make sense of a foreign world, living among creatures it doesn't understand and can't connect with.
I have accepted that the darkness will never allow me to be in a relationship. I will never go to sleep with someone in my arms, feeling the comfort of their hands around me. I will never know what uncontimated intimacy is like. I will never have an exclusive bond with someone, someone who can be the recipient of all the love I have to give. I will never have children, and I wanted to be a father so badly. I think I would have made a good dad. And even if I had fought through the darkness and married and had children all while being unable to feel intimacy, I could have never done that if suicide were a possibility. I did try to minimize pain, although I know that this decision will hurt many of you. If this hurts you, I hope that you can at least forget about me quickly.
There's no point in identifying who molested me, so I'm just going to leave it at that. I doubt the word of a dead guy with no evidence about something that happened over twenty years ago would have much sway.
You may wonder why I didn't just talk to a professional about this. I've seen a number of doctors since I was a teenager to talk about other issues and I'm positive that another doctor would not have helped. I was never given one piece of actionable advice, ever. More than a few spent a large part of the session reading their notes to remember who I was. And I have no interest in talking about being raped as a child, both because I know it wouldn't help and because I have no confidence it would remain secret. I know the legal and practical limits of doctor/patient confidentiality, growing up in a house where we'd hear stories about the various mental illnesses of famous people, stories that were passed down through generations. All it takes is one doctor who thinks my story is interesting enough to share or a doctor who thinks it's her right or responsibility to contact the authorities and have me identify the molestor (justifying her decision by telling herself that someone else might be in danger). All it takes is a single doctor who violates my trust, just like the "friends" who I told I was gay did, and everything would be made public and I'd be forced to live in a world where people would know how fucked up I am. And yes, I realize this indicates that I have severe trust issues, but they're based on a large number of experiences with people who have shown a profound disrepect for their word and the privacy of others.
People say suicide is selfish. I think it's selfish to ask people to continue living painful and miserable lives, just so you possibly won't feel sad for a week or two. Suicide may be a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but it's also a permanent solution to a ~23 year-old problem that grows more intense and overwhelming every day.
Some people are just dealt bad hands in this life. I know many people have it worse than I do, and maybe I'm just not a strong person, but I really did try to deal with this. I've tried to deal with this every day for the last 23 years and I just can't fucking take it anymore.
I often wonder what life must be like for other people. People who can feel the love from others and give it back unadulterated, people who can experience sex as an intimate and joyous experience, people who can experience the colors and happenings of this world without constant misery. I wonder who I'd be if things had been different or if I were a stronger person. It sounds pretty great.
I'm prepared for death. I'm prepared for the pain and I am ready to no longer exist. Thanks to the strictness of New Jersey gun laws this will probably be much more painful than it needs to be, but what can you do. My only fear at this point is messing something up and surviving.
—-
I'd also like to address my family, if you can call them that. I despise everything they stand for and I truly hate them, in a non-emotional, dispassionate and what I believe is a healthy way. The world will be a better place when they're dead—one with less hatred and intolerance.
If you're unfamiliar with the situation, my parents are fundamentalist Christians who kicked me out of their house and cut me off financially when I was 19 because I refused to attend seven hours of church a week.
They live in a black and white reality they've constructed for themselves. They partition the world into good and evil and survive by hating everything they fear or misunderstand and calling it love. They don't understand that good and decent people exist all around us, "saved" or not, and that evil and cruel people occupy a large percentage of their church. They take advantage of people looking for hope by teaching them to practice the same hatred they practice.
A random example:
"I am personally convinced that if a Muslim truly believes and obeys the Koran, he will be a terrorist." - George Zeller, August 24, 2010.
If you choose to follow a religion where, for example, devout Catholics who are trying to be good people are all going to Hell but child molestors go to Heaven (as long as they were "saved" at some point), that's your choice, but it's fucked up. Maybe a God who operates by those rules does exist. If so, fuck Him.
Their church was always more important than the members of their family and they happily sacrificed whatever necessary in order to satisfy their contrived beliefs about who they should be.
I grew up in a house where love was proxied through a God I could never believe in. A house where the love of music with any sort of a beat was literally beaten out of me. A house full of hatred and intolerance, run by two people who were experts at appearing kind and warm when others were around. Parents who tell an eight year old that his grandmother is going to Hell because she's Catholic. Parents who claim not to be racist but then talk about the horrors of miscegenation. I could list hundreds of other examples, but it's tiring.
Since being kicked out, I've interacted with them in relatively normal ways. I talk to them on the phone like nothing happened. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I like pretending I have a family. Maybe I like having people I can talk to about what's been going on in my life. Whatever the reason, it's not real and it feels like a sham. I should have never allowed this reconnection to happen.
I wrote the above a while ago, and I do feel like that much of the time. At other times, though, I feel less hateful. I know my parents honestly believe the crap they believe in. I know that my mom, at least, loved me very much and tried her best. One reason I put this off for so long is because I know how much pain it will cause her. She has been sad since she found out I wasn't "saved", since she believes I'm going to Hell, which is not a sadness for which I am responsible. That was never going to change, and presumably she believes the state of my physical body is much less important than the state of my soul. Still, I cannot intellectually justify this decision, knowing how much it will hurt her. Maybe my ability to take my own life, knowing how much pain it will cause, shows that I am a monster who doesn't deserve to live. All I know is that I can't deal with this pain any longer and I'm am truly sorry I couldn't wait until my family and everyone I knew died so this could be done without hurting anyone. For years I've wished that I'd be hit by a bus or die while saving a baby from drowning so my death might be more acceptable, but I was never so lucky.
—-
To those of you who have shown me love, thank you for putting up with all my shittiness and moodiness and arbitrariness. I was never the person I wanted to be. Maybe without the darkness I would have been a better person, maybe not. I did try to be a good person, but I realize I never got very far.
I'm sorry for the pain this causes. I really do wish I had another option. I hope this letter explains why I needed to do this. If you can't understand this decision, I hope you can at least forgive me.
Bill Zeller
—-
Please save this letter and repost it if gets deleted. I don't want people to wonder why I did this. I disseminated it more widely than I might have otherwise because I'm worried that my family might try to restrict access to it. I don't mind if this letter is made public. In fact, I'd prefer it be made public to people being unable to read it and drawing their own conclusions.
Feel free to republish this letter, but only if it is reproduced in its entirety.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Appeasing all means appeasing no one...
This is a classic example, I found it on the Eve Forum Watch, where appeasing all means appeasing no one. I thought it was really funny... I think this is a case where Gelvon would just reply to Patty to tell her that she is a M&S.
-------------------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 1
RE: Christmas Party
I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place
on December 23, starting at noon in the private function room at the
Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a
small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along.
And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus!
A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among
employees can be done at that time, however, no gift should be over
$10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This
gathering is only for employees! A special announcement will be made by
our CEO at that time!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Patty
------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 2
RE: Holiday Party
In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.
We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often
coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However,
from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party."
The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians or
those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas
tree present. No Christmas carols will be sung. We will have other
types of music for your enjoyment. Happy now?
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Patty
------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 3
RE: Holiday Party
Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous
requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm
happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that
reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed
to handle this?
Somebody?
Forget about the gifts exchange, no gifts exchange are allowed since the
union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and executives believe
$10.00 is a little chintzy.
NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.
Sincerely
Patty.
-------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
DATE: December 7
RE: Holiday Party
What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 begins the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during
daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how
a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim
employees' beliefs.
Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end
of the party - or else package everything for you to take it home in a
little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?
Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest
from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to
the restrooms. Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do
not have to sit with Gay men, each will have their own table. Yes,
there will be a flower arrangement for the Gay men's table.
To the person asking permission to cross dress, no cross dressing
allowed though. We will have booster seats for short people.
Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control
the salt used in the food. We suggest for those people with high blood
pressure to taste first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for
Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry!
Did I miss anything?!?!?
Patty
--------------------
-------------------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 1
RE: Christmas Party
I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place
on December 23, starting at noon in the private function room at the
Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a
small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along.
And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus!
A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among
employees can be done at that time, however, no gift should be over
$10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This
gathering is only for employees! A special announcement will be made by
our CEO at that time!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Patty
------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 2
RE: Holiday Party
In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.
We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often
coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However,
from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party."
The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians or
those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas
tree present. No Christmas carols will be sung. We will have other
types of music for your enjoyment. Happy now?
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Patty
------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 3
RE: Holiday Party
Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous
requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm
happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that
reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed
to handle this?
Somebody?
Forget about the gifts exchange, no gifts exchange are allowed since the
union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and executives believe
$10.00 is a little chintzy.
NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.
Sincerely
Patty.
-------------------
FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
DATE: December 7
RE: Holiday Party
What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 begins the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during
daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how
a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim
employees' beliefs.
Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end
of the party - or else package everything for you to take it home in a
little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?
Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest
from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to
the restrooms. Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do
not have to sit with Gay men, each will have their own table. Yes,
there will be a flower arrangement for the Gay men's table.
To the person asking permission to cross dress, no cross dressing
allowed though. We will have booster seats for short people.
Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control
the salt used in the food. We suggest for those people with high blood
pressure to taste first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for
Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry!
Did I miss anything?!?!?
Patty
--------------------
Must there be incentives to raid 25m?
There has been a lot of discussion on the raid changes that will come with Cataclysm and until BBB put it into perspective I didn't really know to quantify why it is that I dislike a lot of the points people made, in favor of 25s or against.
The point from BBB that I think I love most:
"Let’s cut to the chase.
The question isn’t “Do 25’s deserve better rewards than 10’s”, or “Are 25’s harder than 10’s”, or even “What should be used to entice people to play in 25’s”.
The question is, “Can 25 man raids really be as fun as 10’s to play in, if most people have to be bribed to take part in them?”
That’s the question at play here."
Yes, yes, YES!!! Like I have said before, the heavy lifting, in term of guild management and logistic are NEVER seen or felt by the everyday raiders, mostly they see it was an inconvenience when someone miss raid, so why must there even be incentives for individual raider to raid with twenty four other people? If there are any incentives to be dole out it should be to the GUILD. It may be something Blizzard themselves are keeping hidden in their pocket protectors, remember we are suppose to be getting some sort of guild advancement system with Cataclysm and I can't imagine a more perfect way to encourage and support large guild then to have it means something to belong to a large guild. One thing off the top of my head would be extra gold from daily quests, extra honor from daily BGs, extra damage in gears for raids, extra time on flasks/elixirs. The individual raider will benefit indirectly from the incentives given to the guild and in my mind build a stronger relationship to the GUILD.
The point from BBB that I think I love most:
"Let’s cut to the chase.
The question isn’t “Do 25’s deserve better rewards than 10’s”, or “Are 25’s harder than 10’s”, or even “What should be used to entice people to play in 25’s”.
The question is, “Can 25 man raids really be as fun as 10’s to play in, if most people have to be bribed to take part in them?”
That’s the question at play here."
Yes, yes, YES!!! Like I have said before, the heavy lifting, in term of guild management and logistic are NEVER seen or felt by the everyday raiders, mostly they see it was an inconvenience when someone miss raid, so why must there even be incentives for individual raider to raid with twenty four other people? If there are any incentives to be dole out it should be to the GUILD. It may be something Blizzard themselves are keeping hidden in their pocket protectors, remember we are suppose to be getting some sort of guild advancement system with Cataclysm and I can't imagine a more perfect way to encourage and support large guild then to have it means something to belong to a large guild. One thing off the top of my head would be extra gold from daily quests, extra honor from daily BGs, extra damage in gears for raids, extra time on flasks/elixirs. The individual raider will benefit indirectly from the incentives given to the guild and in my mind build a stronger relationship to the GUILD.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Death to 25m raiding... long live the RAID!!!
It has always bug me with the advent of WoTLK that the same raid for 25 people would drop better loots then a 10 man raids. Sure the amount of work to put the raid together is greater but honestly that work is squarely on the shoulder(s) of the Guild Master, Raid Leader, and/or the Officers; the majority of the raiding members of the 25 man raid doesn't even notice or feel the pain of such efforts. The raiders complain if there is no raid but they don't do anything to fix the problem they wait on officers to mend it.
I honestly think everything done in a 25m raid is much easier but only made harder because of the same space (as 10m raid) being available. There is more people to share the burden but less room to maneuver. From my experience, healing in 25 man raid is often less stressful, if something happens to you there's someone to cover you. DPS in 25 man raid is often nothing more then a pissing contest. Tanking seems to be pretty much down to asking whether if there is more adds to pickup otherwise the same mechanics are obverse between 25 and 10, often boil down to two tanks trading off on aggro.
I'm also very excited with this news because it will make the people who claim to love the big raiding environment either put-up or shut-up. No longer will they be able to hide behind the excuse that they love big raid environment to get the extra benefit of loot. People often claim that the large raids give you a sense of camaraderie and epicness, however I think they are full of Tauren's manure. I had no love for 40m raiding, just more people doesn't mean more fun. I have had people retell how fun 40m raids were from Vanilla, yet often enough the core of the story is that they are afford more time to goof off and is not noticeable because there are enough people to pick up the slack.
BBB thinks that this will bring the "Golden Age" to WoW and I have to agree with him. People who bitch that content is too easy will get plenty of face-to-ground time doing content with the same set of gears rather then bring 25m gear to 10m content. I also have a problem with people who complains that they had to run alts raid to practice for their main Lich King kills, looking at you Ensidia. Honestly pay the price for being first (efame) or STFU.
Update on the Shadow's Edge front, the 25 Primordial Saronite are sitting in my bags but waiting on the two bloods, which I probably will do a GDKP to get since there's probably no way I can get my warrior into our 25m raid even if there one this week. Or maybe I can if we don't have enough people and have to pug a lot of the spot, we will see.
I honestly think everything done in a 25m raid is much easier but only made harder because of the same space (as 10m raid) being available. There is more people to share the burden but less room to maneuver. From my experience, healing in 25 man raid is often less stressful, if something happens to you there's someone to cover you. DPS in 25 man raid is often nothing more then a pissing contest. Tanking seems to be pretty much down to asking whether if there is more adds to pickup otherwise the same mechanics are obverse between 25 and 10, often boil down to two tanks trading off on aggro.
I'm also very excited with this news because it will make the people who claim to love the big raiding environment either put-up or shut-up. No longer will they be able to hide behind the excuse that they love big raid environment to get the extra benefit of loot. People often claim that the large raids give you a sense of camaraderie and epicness, however I think they are full of Tauren's manure. I had no love for 40m raiding, just more people doesn't mean more fun. I have had people retell how fun 40m raids were from Vanilla, yet often enough the core of the story is that they are afford more time to goof off and is not noticeable because there are enough people to pick up the slack.
BBB thinks that this will bring the "Golden Age" to WoW and I have to agree with him. People who bitch that content is too easy will get plenty of face-to-ground time doing content with the same set of gears rather then bring 25m gear to 10m content. I also have a problem with people who complains that they had to run alts raid to practice for their main Lich King kills, looking at you Ensidia. Honestly pay the price for being first (efame) or STFU.
Update on the Shadow's Edge front, the 25 Primordial Saronite are sitting in my bags but waiting on the two bloods, which I probably will do a GDKP to get since there's probably no way I can get my warrior into our 25m raid even if there one this week. Or maybe I can if we don't have enough people and have to pug a lot of the spot, we will see.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Shadowmourn
In order for Bakatirak (Haman's current incarnation) to start on her road to Shadowmourn, she'll be needing 25 Primordial Saronites. However she can ill afford to use her own frost badges since her tanking set is yet to be completed, as well as the dps set which she's barely started on.
The total number of badges required for 25 saronites is 575 frost badges, at first that would seem a daunting task when she isn't even done with gear but that's the nice thing about having multiple raiding toons. Kinzlayer is done with any upgrades from frost badges and Bruenhylsda will make do with what fortunes provides her.
Within a week one can earn 14 frosties from doing the heroic random each day, 5 frosties from the weekly raid, and 4 [edit: 2 from 10m and 2 from 25] from Toravon who is still holding on out my warlock's Sanctified gloves as well as potential lottery winner in Bruen and Baka. It never hurts to hope that their ilvl264 drops from him rather then the more expensive option of buying them with badges.
As Kinzlayer is doing ICC10 progression it's hard to count on consistent frosties production but since the guild runs a fresh ICC25 every week there should be 17 badges from that venture each week. Bruenhylsda can contribute to more frosties by regularly running ICC raids (10/25) but I don't have the energy/time every week so that can't be counted on.
As of now, Kinzlayer and Bruenhylsda have a total of 275 frost badges, which leaves a whopping 300 badges to go. At a rate of 63 badges a week (14*2 + 5*2 + 4*2 + 17), it will take just a bit under 5 weeks to get all the badges needed for the saronites. Incidentally there is also the need to get the bloods from Festgut and Rotface, which hopefully the guild can provide help with since all the plate melee's main either have the bloods or don't care enough for it and seeing those drops while no one in raid want them will be painful.
As each journey starts with but a step, this is mine... hopefully Bakatirak will have a Shadowmourn to show for my effort.
Update 04/12/2010 : Total - 188 + 111 = 299
Update 04/17/2010 : Total - 243 + 123 = 366
Update 04/19/2010 : Total - 249 + 136 = 385
Monday, October 19, 2009
A friendly goodbye...
Not from me but a co-worker who is going to serve God in his own way. He passed along this wonderful blessing which I want to share.
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Thanks Ben, you are a good man and may your efforts be helpful for others,
Phong.
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Thanks Ben, you are a good man and may your efforts be helpful for others,
Phong.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Is this why raiders are jerks?
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