Collect All the Things...

Despite all the negativity of my last few posts, there are some things in game I do actually enjoy.


I've never really been a collector... I've dabbled here and there but it's never been the actual collecting or filling a set that has appealed to me.
For example, back in the day I used to play a bit of Magic: The Gathering.
The collecting aspect only served to facilitate the building of decks for me. I wasn't remotely interested in a card to finish off a set and freely traded away anything I didn't need for whatever deck I was trying to build at that time.


So it is surprising that I find myself captivated by the Collections tab!


Much of my spare time, when not doing laps of Dazar'Alor/Boralus, has been spent in old raids picking up tier pieces for one appearance or another. 
Spread across most of my toons, not even collecting them all on my main or anything, just chasing whatever set I think looks pretty cool or different.


Maybe this was sparked by this awesome little thing in Legion but I also find it incredibly relaxing and love the memories that come flooding back.


Recently I was in Throne of Thunder for the first time in god knows how long, it's been so long I forgot how to get to the Isle of Thunder in the first place :)


I had such a good time in that raid - We didn't pull up any trees progress-wise, barely even touched Heroic iirc (no Mythic back then), but it was so much fun!
Dino-madness on Horridon, crazy turtle kicking on Tortos, flying around nests on Ji-Kun... I had a great time.


I don't think I've ever enjoyed raiding as much as I did in ToT, Mythic progression seems so serious in comparison.
I was the go-to guy back then which made a big difference, job needs doing and I'm there.
I was the one kicking the turtles, I was the one flying to nests (solo, was a nice challenge)... and I loved every minute of it.


Running through again at 120 had me constantly smiling as random moments sprang back into my mind - Didn't get the full set either so I'll be heading back again soon :)

Mythic Progression Coming to an End...?

As we continue to push towards G'Huun's end (8% - Getting there slowly) I still can't shake the malaise that has been hanging over my head for the past few months.


G'Huun itself is quite an interesting fight.  Unfortunately, it is dragged down by the crazy composition requirements that have been a feature throughout Uldir.


This time it is Warlocks... well, mostly Warlocks.
The fight has been nerfed so that you don't actually need 4 Warlocks now, although having less than 4 does restrict what classes you can bring to make up the rest of the team.


Anyway... we're closing in on the kill but held back by sloppy play in the earlier phases of the fight that frustrates me no end.
Why is it so difficult to get 'Mythic Raiders' to actually follow mechanics?
It's a constant struggle, like the default state of the raider is to stand still and shoot the boss (or jump and shoot the boss - BM Hunter) while my task is to convince, cajole, threaten them into doing anything else.


EVERY.
SINGLE.
BOSS.


It drives me insane!


The latest one is Blistering Boils.  They explode and the two nearest people get a debuff, pick up two debuffs (either at the same time or one after the other) and you are mind-controlled leaving your team no choice but to kill you.


So you have a little hokey cokey of people with the debuff moving away from new boils and people without the debuff moving towards them... in theory.
What we get is half the team just stood still regardless of the debuff.  It's blind luck whether or not we get through it half the time.


Why don't they get it??
Just do the f*cking mechanics!!


I know, deep in my heart, that the numbers don't really matter. 
It's the mechanics that win you the fight, get you the kill, but people just seem so absorbed by the numbers that they don't see it.
So they push back against any instruction that might lower their dps, or hps (healers tunnel vision worse than most but usually for better reasons) and we fail.
Then there is silence when I ask why nobody moved, why nobody soaked, why nobody actually did the mechanics.


I can't wait for it to be over.


But how over do I want it to be?


I'll be stepping down as Raid Leader, maybe Officer too, but I still enjoy the raiding.
The problem is... I only enjoy the raiding.
I don't enjoy the dungeons, rarely even doing one for the weekly.
I don't enjoy the islands, haven't done them for months.
World Quests... yeah, right.


My characters drop further and further behind.  It's not important at this stage of the tier but a new tier is on the horizon.
Do I want to force myself to complete that content just to keep up?


I'm sorely tempted by a more casual playstyle, forget the Cutting Edge achievements but only play the content I actually enjoy playing.


Decisions to make...