Brand spankin' new to DDO...

[LazarusPossum]

...and already I've had my fill of PUG's. I hate 'em. Always left for dead, or struggling to catch up to "zergers". So I'm trying to see if I can find a good guild matchup that has players with my kind of attitude.

First off, I'm older - I grew up with P&P AD&D. My brothers and I were real D&D geeks, and played with the only other kids available, the next-door neighbors. Unfortunately, this was no fun, because they resembled a pair of dirty little kobolds in their play style, which resulted in many fights, tears, and torn-up player stat sheets. We were really into the backgrounds, characters, and storylines, while they were simply loot-mongers trying to out-uber everyone else. But they could afford to buy the games and books, so they were the DM's, which really sucked. Nothing's worse than a DM with a biased agenda on getting you killed.

I remember some of my favorite dungeons, even if I didn't get to play them, because of the well-developed stories and encounters. Dungeons like the Slaver Series, my favorite being Secret of the Slavers Stockade. It was a hard one, but very creative, and worth dying for. With this series, you could either move on to the Giant series, or the Drow series, which I really loved for Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I really loved the Ghost Tower of Inverness because it concentrated more on critical thinking and puzzle solving than brute strength, and threw in some two-faced NPC's to really bump up the intrigue. A few that I really wanted to get into, but never had the chance, were Ravenloft, The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (a dungeon with a little Gamma World thrown in), and the Tomb of Horrors.

As I got older, and video games improved, I really have become a fan of sneaker games or games with rich and compelling storylines, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell or the Silent Hill series. Never thought WoW or City of Heroes to be that great, but did like to play Puzzle Pirates on occasion, but there was too much "grind" in Pirates. The games never changed.

I looked at the guild listings, but there are so many out there, it's hard to decide, so maybe someone will see my post and lead me in the right direction. Here's my pertinent information:

World: Sarlona
Style of Play: Explorer, Experimental, Tactical/Strategic, mucho mucho Role-Playing, with some joking thrown in. I remember when I was on my first trial just before the Marketplace Tent imploded, and the magical barrier was still up. I was playing my rogue, Opossum Lazarus ("Often incapacitated, but never quite dead"), and everyone was waiting for that half-hour that seemed more like a day when I put out a tell that I'd go check around back to see if anyone had possibly left a window open by mistake. Got a few laughs on that one.
Availability: I'm a restaurant server, so my days off are Monday and Tuesday. However, I can also play in the morning on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. All central standard time, US.

I've got my 3rd level elf rogue, Opossum Lazarus, and my 3rd level warforged paladin, Sixtyfive Musclecar. I prefer my rogue, because it allows me the style of gameplay that I had with Splinter Cell, with an emphasis on sneaking and backstabbing. Sixtyfive was just having some fun, but I think I'd like to develop him into a real Warforged supporter, since squishies seem to get more love than WF's. You know, boost the repair skill more than the heals. I really thought Splinter Cell was a blast because of the variety of environments, and the complete storyline. That's what I value the most. I'm a sometime writer, and really have an appreciation for all the hard work that goes into creating a compelling environment and like to stop and admire the developers' handiwork sometimes.

I really dislike the zerging aspect that arises with pick up groups, and I hate getting recruited just so they can get past the trap, and then I get left behind or left for dead. I still can't seem to find anyone who will team with me to finish waterworks without having to play catch up. I've been through a couple times, and it's all gone by so quickly, I can't remember if I was coming or going! I solo'ed up to the Kobold Mage and his Mage-erettes in part one, but had a D'OH moment when I forgot to undo my mouse look and jumped right down in front of the boss mage and got killed. It was such hard work to get there, I just didn't have it in me to try again yet.

I'm looking to team with someone who likes to take it slow, work strategically, and let players work in a way that allows their talents to shine. Just once I'd like to see someone send a tell that says, "hey, why don't you sneak in and scout the room and then we'll plan our attack" or even to have the other players just wait a second to let me disable the trap before diving in headfirst. *sigh* Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but I really don't enjoy zerging and looting as much as the next guy. Anyone out there who feels the same as me?

[Gunga]

I think The Iron Phalanx is recruiting on the Ghallanda server. Contact Lelo...good luck.

[LazarusPossum]

Thanks, I'll look him/her up.

[Gunga]

Thanks, I'll look him/her up.

I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from ya.

[thalion]

Keep an eye out for our groups or a new team startup under our Guild Banner I think you'll find most of our static groups are to your liking/playstyle!

There is a new team startup (looking for a leader) but the day might be bad for you, currently the only other lower level team I believe is the Saturday RolePlay group..
Follow the signature link to learn more about us, and feel free to contact me with any questions/comments...

[LazarusPossum]

Mithril Hand would be fun, but sounds like a Paladin is too far out of the loop. Dedicated Teams sounds like a good guild too, but everyone is so high in level, I'd feel like you guys would have to hold my hand just to cross the street.

Dedicated Teams, perhaps you have some other low-level newbies who might like to group as a static team on Monday and Tuesday? For those who are brand new to the DDO experience?

In the meantime...waiting for that gaming headset from NewEgg! Until then, I'll see if I can solo past the first part of the prisoner quest in waterworks. I hate that everything resets when you die. Kobold baiting takes a lot of time and patience. One bad move, and you have to start all over again.

[Moriendi]

Heyo,

Check out the Forsworn if you are going to play Sarlona. I haven't been able to connect with them yet in game (my fault, not theirs) but they seem to be really laid back + they are a RP guild.

Cheers,
Moriendi

ps - If i ever get to log in again (new baby + crazy work schedule + wife aggro = no DDO) I'll be lookin' for you to run the WW. I would love to play this game true to the old PnP days and it is impossible to do that with PUGS.

pps - Almost forgot - check out the Dedicated Teams listing. You are bound to find a team there who will fill your RP/Dungeon crawl needs

[Ghoste]

The Mithril Hand sounds like a guild that thinks a lot like you describe, although we do PUG a lot. We're on the Argonnessen server and are a specialty guild that only accepts warforged casters (wiz, sorc, bard, clerics and druids).

[parvo]

If you crave PnP style play look up Mortal Voyage.

www.mortalvoyage.com

Feel free to PM me with any questions or hit our forums over there.

[Xalted_Vol]

Just make up your own groups u will love it.