TeyaBrosna
01-28-2011, 05:52 PM
Chronoscope complete. I think. Khallyope, the Elven 1 Rogue/8 Ranger, has raided.
I had prepared for a long and involved preparation process, involving numerous conversations about what weapons/gear/clickies I should bring/buy, what would be involved in the quest itself and how my skills in particular could be utilised to the greatest extent possible. I posted a thread asking some of these questions already this morning and was already getting some fantastic answers, all of which I was taking to heart. I assumed that this process would take at least a couple of days, partly because I rarely see LFMs on Sarlona that involve the Chronoscope at the lower levels on Normal, and partly because I'm very nervous about the prospect of my first raid.
Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw an LFM for exactly what I wanted earlier today. I was even more shocked when I whispered the leader to see if he would accept a ranger. He was very polite and immediately shot me a team invite. Surprising myself, I accepted it. Then...we waited. It was just the leader, whom I dubbed "Tollbooth" because I kept getting his name wrong, and I for about 15 minutes. (Can I say his actual name if I only say positive things? I think that's the rule... At any rate, his name was Tolgood and he was *great.*)
I immediately headed to my guild ship to await the filling of the team, so that I could start getting my buffs when I saw the people signing up and not make the entire group wait for me. I shouldn't have bothered, as one of the team members invited the entire group to his guild ship for buffs. Everyone was pleasant, although there wasn't much voice chatting going on. (This is when I start to wonder if they're all secretly giggling at my accent and/or the fact that I'm a clueless girl.) After we'd all buffed, we headed to the quest entrance, at which point Tollbooth did take to his microphone and succinctly explained what we'd be doing.
"Blah blah blah blahblah blah-blah-blah demons. Blah blah blah ..and let's all stay together!" Is what I heard, due to the ringing in my ears from the nerves and adrenaline. I had already warned him that this was my first time doing a raid and he didn't seem too bothered by it. I figured that if worse came to worst, I'd just stick with him. We entered...on Hard. What?! I scream to my wife and cat. It'll be just fine, the wife reassures me. The cat more accurately reflects my own feelings and looks skeptical.
Now...I *know* that the setting for the Chronoscope is the Marketplace. I read the wiki and I've heard people talk about it. But did I recognise anything at all? Not a thing. My nerves almost completely took over and I barely recognised my own toolbars. My cat jumped up on my lap at one point during the first minute or so after we entered the raid, and I screaming "OMG IT'S A DEMON GET IT OFF GETITOFF." Clearly, even keeping up with the group was going to be a challenge for me.
However, the first fight went off without a hitch...someone talked to some NPC and then the NPCs said some things which appeared to be in a strange language. Then the fighting started. Then it was over. It lasted about 10 whole seconds and I'm honestly not even sure that I hit anything (other than my cat, who may have tried to jump up again). Feeling exhilarated, but still filled with caution ala samthedagger's Chrono guide, we moved on. I followed the group to a tavern, the Rusty Nail, which under normal circumstances I would have recognised right away. Not
today. We formed an orderly line to the back of the tavern, used some kind of strange portal, and spoke to another NPC who gave us some more buffs. I don't know what they were, but everyone was doing it so they must've been good. Then we all trooped back out and followed Tollbooth's direction to stop at the portal at the top of the stairs.
Now, what followed made very, very little sense to me. We killed things, some of which were on the ground, some of which were flying and some of which disappeared after you pounded on them for a little while. The group typed things to one another and everyone was pleasant. Fortunately, my wife was sitting right beside me and was able to read the party chat out loud to me, because I was unable to follow it (much less understand the words). She later told me that everyone was communicating extremely well with one another.
I briefly noticed that one of our rogues died. I have to confess here that the only reaction that elicited from me was "Thank goodness that wasn't me." My wife later informed me that I missed a key part of the typed conversation at this point, in which the rogue informed the group and although he was pretty squishy, his DPS was awesome. The only part I did see was a line from a cleric a few minutes later: "You only have 68 HP? No wonder I'm having a hard time keeping you up!" The rogue died a total of 7 times during the course of the raid. Note to self: never describe yourself, your character, your gear or your DPS as awesome, even if you/they are.
We entered the bank and fought our first boss. He came at us and I may have soiled my chair - his name was PURPLE. That's the first time I'd ever seen that! I vaguely remembered reading something about killing his armorers first, so I ignored the boss and started shooting at those little buggers. Switching to my melee weapons, I did my best to keep the casters/healers safe. I dunno if they noticed or appreciated it at all, but I did notice for the first time that I was taking damage and getting healed. I managed to hurt two of the demons enough to take their aggro, which I consider to be an accomplishment of sorts, rather like being stopped on the street by a mugger who recognises you from the society pages and decides to rob you because you're famous.
After the boss went down, we looted a chest, rezzed our rogue again, shrined and started running around some more. Obviously, several members of our team knew exactly what they were doing because I started seeing lines in party chat saying things like "I'm gonna go up here and see if there's anyone to save." We're saving people?! Tollbooth chimes in with "If you see anyone who looks like they're sleeping, talk to them." Got it - we're saving the homeless of Stormreach. Because of my utter cluelessness however, I never saw any of these people but somehow they all got saved.
We made it to a second boss inside the steam tunnels. He was patrolling back and forth in front of us, using a crutch. Everyone started buffing like mad, which seemed a bit like my stepfather ensuring that his hipflask was full before visiting with the in-laws, but I followed suit. The fight got a little crazy, but fun - that narrow walkway was jam-packed with action and I didn't scream a single time. Whipped out those holy rapiers that I'd stolen from my Tempest ranger and went to town! Hack, slash, rogue death, hack, slash, mass heal, hack, omg I'm taking damage, slash, cleric healed me!, hack, ManyShot misclick DOH, slash! Panting, we stood over the boss' dead body, then looted his chest.
"Now it gets fun," Tollbooth informs us and I can hear the grin in his voice. Gulp.
We head to a large chamber which appears to be some kind of amphitheater. "For all you first-timers," Tollbooth says, "Be sure to look up and enjoy the show!" I do so and see that we're in some kind of weird circus, filled with multi-colored demons who appear to be engaging in some kind of courting ritual. I wonder how far this is going to progress, and whether or not my fire resist buff is enough to shield me from demon coitus, when suddenly the words (which I hadn't noticed before) above the NPC's head suddenly ARE ALL IN CAPS AND END WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS! I steel myself for the fight.
It took me about two minutes of fighting before I realised that our group had actually broken into two groups, one fighting the demons and one standing back and casting/healing. I hadn't even noticed that I'd been left behind in the casting group. There I was, pew pewing away, standing next to casters. Just as I turned to blush and apologise to them, a demon appeared right in our midst! "I'll save you!" I shout and whip out my rapiers. Bam, hack, slash, slash, hack, DING! The demon and I managed to kill each other. I could feel the color rising in my face as my head sank down into my chest. After all that, I died during the very last fight.
I'd been hoping that if anyone talked about my participation later on, they would say things like "Oh Khally? Yeah, I was in that chrono raid with her. She's not a daaaaaamn pew pew or anything, but she was pretty good about putting down her bow." Or even "Khally? Yeah, I didn't have to waste too many SP on her since she was pretty good about staying with the group and I saw her use a heal wand on herself several times." But no, now it's gonna be "Oh, that noob? Yeah, she died fighting a single demon when she wasn't anywhere near the real fight at the end."
I looked up just in time to see that some kind soul was using a rez scroll on me, which I gratefully accepted. To my utter shame, I didn't even notice who was using such a valuable resource on me. To that unnamed life-saver, you have my sincerest thanks. I was up and fighting in time to help kill the final boss (which DID look suspiciously like a dragon for a while there, causing all the blood to drain from my face). We opened three lovely chests at the end, everyone politely thanked everyone else, Tollbooth directed us first-timers where to go to choose our end reward, and we all dropped group.
What I did that felt right, which I'd like to repeat next time:
1. Remember to rebuff myself after each shrining.
2. Gave Barkskin to anyone who didn't have it (after the tank politely asked for it at the beginning).
3. Cared for my own health bar at every opportunity, wand-whipping in between fights.
4. Stayed with the group 100 percent of the time.
5. Didn't touch anything until I had the leader's permission, which I didn't realise could include chests...*really* glad Tollbooth told us all to back off until the other two appeared.
6. Switched out to melee weapons after ManyShot and/or the flying demons were down.
Some things I will definitely do differently next time:
1. Pee before we start.
2. Read party chat. Hopefully I won't be so *very* nervous that I can't read English.
3. Pay attention to the dialogue of the quest, as well as the optionals. All I know is that there was a "Professor" So-and-so in the quest. It seems a bit extreme to set demons on someone just because they lied and said their Masters degree was a Ph.D. but...whatever.
4. Take the time to thank the healers and anyone who is forced to rez me. I am literally covered with shame that I didn't whisper the healers to thank them for doing such a great job and for rezzing my sorry butt.
And now you, the professionals...what else do I need to work on doing differently for the next raid? I fully acknowledge that I pretty much sucked this time, but I am determined to be better. (Whoa...shades of prom night.) I definitely want to continue raiding in the future, but I want to make sure that I am a help to the group and not a hindrance.
I had prepared for a long and involved preparation process, involving numerous conversations about what weapons/gear/clickies I should bring/buy, what would be involved in the quest itself and how my skills in particular could be utilised to the greatest extent possible. I posted a thread asking some of these questions already this morning and was already getting some fantastic answers, all of which I was taking to heart. I assumed that this process would take at least a couple of days, partly because I rarely see LFMs on Sarlona that involve the Chronoscope at the lower levels on Normal, and partly because I'm very nervous about the prospect of my first raid.
Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw an LFM for exactly what I wanted earlier today. I was even more shocked when I whispered the leader to see if he would accept a ranger. He was very polite and immediately shot me a team invite. Surprising myself, I accepted it. Then...we waited. It was just the leader, whom I dubbed "Tollbooth" because I kept getting his name wrong, and I for about 15 minutes. (Can I say his actual name if I only say positive things? I think that's the rule... At any rate, his name was Tolgood and he was *great.*)
I immediately headed to my guild ship to await the filling of the team, so that I could start getting my buffs when I saw the people signing up and not make the entire group wait for me. I shouldn't have bothered, as one of the team members invited the entire group to his guild ship for buffs. Everyone was pleasant, although there wasn't much voice chatting going on. (This is when I start to wonder if they're all secretly giggling at my accent and/or the fact that I'm a clueless girl.) After we'd all buffed, we headed to the quest entrance, at which point Tollbooth did take to his microphone and succinctly explained what we'd be doing.
"Blah blah blah blahblah blah-blah-blah demons. Blah blah blah ..and let's all stay together!" Is what I heard, due to the ringing in my ears from the nerves and adrenaline. I had already warned him that this was my first time doing a raid and he didn't seem too bothered by it. I figured that if worse came to worst, I'd just stick with him. We entered...on Hard. What?! I scream to my wife and cat. It'll be just fine, the wife reassures me. The cat more accurately reflects my own feelings and looks skeptical.
Now...I *know* that the setting for the Chronoscope is the Marketplace. I read the wiki and I've heard people talk about it. But did I recognise anything at all? Not a thing. My nerves almost completely took over and I barely recognised my own toolbars. My cat jumped up on my lap at one point during the first minute or so after we entered the raid, and I screaming "OMG IT'S A DEMON GET IT OFF GETITOFF." Clearly, even keeping up with the group was going to be a challenge for me.
However, the first fight went off without a hitch...someone talked to some NPC and then the NPCs said some things which appeared to be in a strange language. Then the fighting started. Then it was over. It lasted about 10 whole seconds and I'm honestly not even sure that I hit anything (other than my cat, who may have tried to jump up again). Feeling exhilarated, but still filled with caution ala samthedagger's Chrono guide, we moved on. I followed the group to a tavern, the Rusty Nail, which under normal circumstances I would have recognised right away. Not
today. We formed an orderly line to the back of the tavern, used some kind of strange portal, and spoke to another NPC who gave us some more buffs. I don't know what they were, but everyone was doing it so they must've been good. Then we all trooped back out and followed Tollbooth's direction to stop at the portal at the top of the stairs.
Now, what followed made very, very little sense to me. We killed things, some of which were on the ground, some of which were flying and some of which disappeared after you pounded on them for a little while. The group typed things to one another and everyone was pleasant. Fortunately, my wife was sitting right beside me and was able to read the party chat out loud to me, because I was unable to follow it (much less understand the words). She later told me that everyone was communicating extremely well with one another.
I briefly noticed that one of our rogues died. I have to confess here that the only reaction that elicited from me was "Thank goodness that wasn't me." My wife later informed me that I missed a key part of the typed conversation at this point, in which the rogue informed the group and although he was pretty squishy, his DPS was awesome. The only part I did see was a line from a cleric a few minutes later: "You only have 68 HP? No wonder I'm having a hard time keeping you up!" The rogue died a total of 7 times during the course of the raid. Note to self: never describe yourself, your character, your gear or your DPS as awesome, even if you/they are.
We entered the bank and fought our first boss. He came at us and I may have soiled my chair - his name was PURPLE. That's the first time I'd ever seen that! I vaguely remembered reading something about killing his armorers first, so I ignored the boss and started shooting at those little buggers. Switching to my melee weapons, I did my best to keep the casters/healers safe. I dunno if they noticed or appreciated it at all, but I did notice for the first time that I was taking damage and getting healed. I managed to hurt two of the demons enough to take their aggro, which I consider to be an accomplishment of sorts, rather like being stopped on the street by a mugger who recognises you from the society pages and decides to rob you because you're famous.
After the boss went down, we looted a chest, rezzed our rogue again, shrined and started running around some more. Obviously, several members of our team knew exactly what they were doing because I started seeing lines in party chat saying things like "I'm gonna go up here and see if there's anyone to save." We're saving people?! Tollbooth chimes in with "If you see anyone who looks like they're sleeping, talk to them." Got it - we're saving the homeless of Stormreach. Because of my utter cluelessness however, I never saw any of these people but somehow they all got saved.
We made it to a second boss inside the steam tunnels. He was patrolling back and forth in front of us, using a crutch. Everyone started buffing like mad, which seemed a bit like my stepfather ensuring that his hipflask was full before visiting with the in-laws, but I followed suit. The fight got a little crazy, but fun - that narrow walkway was jam-packed with action and I didn't scream a single time. Whipped out those holy rapiers that I'd stolen from my Tempest ranger and went to town! Hack, slash, rogue death, hack, slash, mass heal, hack, omg I'm taking damage, slash, cleric healed me!, hack, ManyShot misclick DOH, slash! Panting, we stood over the boss' dead body, then looted his chest.
"Now it gets fun," Tollbooth informs us and I can hear the grin in his voice. Gulp.
We head to a large chamber which appears to be some kind of amphitheater. "For all you first-timers," Tollbooth says, "Be sure to look up and enjoy the show!" I do so and see that we're in some kind of weird circus, filled with multi-colored demons who appear to be engaging in some kind of courting ritual. I wonder how far this is going to progress, and whether or not my fire resist buff is enough to shield me from demon coitus, when suddenly the words (which I hadn't noticed before) above the NPC's head suddenly ARE ALL IN CAPS AND END WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS! I steel myself for the fight.
It took me about two minutes of fighting before I realised that our group had actually broken into two groups, one fighting the demons and one standing back and casting/healing. I hadn't even noticed that I'd been left behind in the casting group. There I was, pew pewing away, standing next to casters. Just as I turned to blush and apologise to them, a demon appeared right in our midst! "I'll save you!" I shout and whip out my rapiers. Bam, hack, slash, slash, hack, DING! The demon and I managed to kill each other. I could feel the color rising in my face as my head sank down into my chest. After all that, I died during the very last fight.
I'd been hoping that if anyone talked about my participation later on, they would say things like "Oh Khally? Yeah, I was in that chrono raid with her. She's not a daaaaaamn pew pew or anything, but she was pretty good about putting down her bow." Or even "Khally? Yeah, I didn't have to waste too many SP on her since she was pretty good about staying with the group and I saw her use a heal wand on herself several times." But no, now it's gonna be "Oh, that noob? Yeah, she died fighting a single demon when she wasn't anywhere near the real fight at the end."
I looked up just in time to see that some kind soul was using a rez scroll on me, which I gratefully accepted. To my utter shame, I didn't even notice who was using such a valuable resource on me. To that unnamed life-saver, you have my sincerest thanks. I was up and fighting in time to help kill the final boss (which DID look suspiciously like a dragon for a while there, causing all the blood to drain from my face). We opened three lovely chests at the end, everyone politely thanked everyone else, Tollbooth directed us first-timers where to go to choose our end reward, and we all dropped group.
What I did that felt right, which I'd like to repeat next time:
1. Remember to rebuff myself after each shrining.
2. Gave Barkskin to anyone who didn't have it (after the tank politely asked for it at the beginning).
3. Cared for my own health bar at every opportunity, wand-whipping in between fights.
4. Stayed with the group 100 percent of the time.
5. Didn't touch anything until I had the leader's permission, which I didn't realise could include chests...*really* glad Tollbooth told us all to back off until the other two appeared.
6. Switched out to melee weapons after ManyShot and/or the flying demons were down.
Some things I will definitely do differently next time:
1. Pee before we start.
2. Read party chat. Hopefully I won't be so *very* nervous that I can't read English.
3. Pay attention to the dialogue of the quest, as well as the optionals. All I know is that there was a "Professor" So-and-so in the quest. It seems a bit extreme to set demons on someone just because they lied and said their Masters degree was a Ph.D. but...whatever.
4. Take the time to thank the healers and anyone who is forced to rez me. I am literally covered with shame that I didn't whisper the healers to thank them for doing such a great job and for rezzing my sorry butt.
And now you, the professionals...what else do I need to work on doing differently for the next raid? I fully acknowledge that I pretty much sucked this time, but I am determined to be better. (Whoa...shades of prom night.) I definitely want to continue raiding in the future, but I want to make sure that I am a help to the group and not a hindrance.