Application Milan - Warlock (or Warrior/Priest)

[Escudo/Milan]

Milan - Warlock (or Warrior/Priest) application


GENERAL INFO - YOUR CHARACTER AND YOU


How old are you?

21


What is your sex?

Male


Where do you come from? / Where do you live at the moment?

Born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands


What class and race are you wanting to play?

I have heard you are still in need of a Warlock, a class I have enjoyed playing quite a lot during early TBC arena, and as such I will apply as one to you know. However in the case that there is a spot left for a Warrior (either DPS or Tank) or a Priest (Shadow/Holy/Discipline), I would gladly take that opportunity as well. I have played all classes except Rogue and Hunter extensively and in reasonable depth so I am comfortable with most mechanics. I don’t mind trying something different once in a while, and I get used to new mechanics and changes quickly (mostly due to my best friend the target dummy).
My chosen race will depend on the class in line with min/maxing, although looks-wise I’d go for either an Undead or a Goblin.


What server are you currently on?

At this point my main character and my one alt are on Doomhammer – EU (main Alliance, alt Horde).


A link to your current character would be appreciated (Post us your Armory link.)

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/doomhammer/escudocabra/advanced



RAIDING TIMES


Do you have any other stuff to do every week on any of our raiding days?

Yes, as I have a quite busy RL schedule due to university and sports (hiphop dancing); however once I commit to certain raid days I will plan my other activities around this to ensure I do not miss any days.


Can you give up on it for a week or two if we are in the middle of important progress?

Depending on how much I am needed, certain activities such as sports can be postponed if realm-first kills loom nearby.


Are you willing to stay for another 30 minutes to an hour past the midnight if we're just about to down a new boss?

Yes I prefer to stay over quitting early and missing a kill; those moments are where I get the greatest sense of accomplishment and satisfaction ingame.


Are you in control of your own time - meaning your parents won't pull your plug off if they think you play for too long or make you eat dinner 30 minutes in the raid?

I live together with my roommate who used to raid with me quite often so he understands completely that I can’t be disturbed (except for drinks and food) whilst raiding.


Can you plan your evenings in advance; informing us at least day ahead that you are going out to a pub or going to the movies with mates?

Yes I will always do this, mainly due to the busy schedule I have it is needed for me to plan ahead in order to function in my RL :p.



How many days a week will you be able to raid on average?

Overall I will be able to play 3 to 4 days a week, mostly leaning towards 3 days.


EXPERIENCE


How long have you been playing WOW?

I started out as a little nublet just as DM was introduced in 1.3 and some of my friends and I managed to get ourselves hooked quickly. All in all I have been playing for a little under 6 years, with maybe a year break in total, mostly consisting of short month-long breaks. As they say with regards to smoking: you never really quit.


How long have you been playing with your current character (real time and /played)?

I currently have a /played of around 43 days on this character, yet I often switch mains which explains the comparatively low amount of time played. I have spread my time amongst a great deal of characters (I have had about 5 – 6 true main characters in the time I’ve played WoW).


RAIDING HISTORY


When did you start raiding? / How far did you progress in the original WOW before patch 2.0 (from Zul'gurub and Molten Core to AQ40 and original Naxx)?

After stumbling through the long 1 - 60 grind on my Warrior Tank, we ended up in a decent Boulderfist guild that managed to struggle its way up to C'Thun (didn't manage to get him down) before TBC hit. No experience in the pre-WotLK Naxxramas sadly.


How far did you progress in The Burning Crusade before patch 3.0 (from Karazhan to Sunwell)? / Did you kill Magtheridon before starting Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep?

After a year-long break, mid-TBC I joined Alpha Kai Omega on my elemental shaman, a Doomhammer guild on the mid-level side of progression, clearing Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Maggy, ZA, SSC 6/6, The Eye 3/4, Hyjal 4/5 and Naj/Supremus/Shade/Gorefiend in BT before the major nerf-patch hit. I believe we killed Maggy halfway through SSC. I remember our guild having a very unclear progression-path :P.


Did you kill Lady Vashj and Kael'thas Sunstrider before starting Mount Hyjal and Black Temple?

No, sadly the guild I was in did not manage to have a strong enough raid-group to kill them before hitting Hyjal and BT. I believe we killed Vashj soon after starting in Hyjal, which was after 2.4 hit, whereas I actually think we didn’t take down Kael at all.


Did you manage to kill the Lich King on Heroic mode and if so at what % buff?

After hitting 9/12 heroic during the 15% buff I quit WoW for a month or so, after which I returned more casually. I have had several attempts on LK heroic 10man in the final days of WotLK, however I haven’t managed to snag a kill.


How far did you progress in current expansion on 25-mans?

In The Wild Hunt we managed to down 12/12 normal and 1/13 heroic (Halfus, with 4/13 experience) within 3 months 2 d/w, with experience on Magmaw HC, Atramedes HC and Chimaeron HC.


Have you completed any hard modes (10-man/25-man) and/or obtained any of the "Glory of the..." drakes?

Shortly after ICC was released I managed to join a pre-planned PuG consisting of a bunch of the best players on my server (Darksorrow-EU Horde) for an Ulduar 25 heroic run where we managed to snag the Iron-Bound Protodrake within two sessions (of course due to heavy overgearing of the content).

Before the insane overgearing though, I completed most of the achievements on my DK, with the exception of the most difficult ones (Firefighter, One Light in the Darkness, I Choose You, Steelbreaker and I Love the Smell of Saronite in the Morning). This was in the transition between TotC and Ulduar, as our guild continued through Ulduar during Call of the Crusader due to the lack of content.

On my Enhancement Shaman I have completed all the achievements for the Glory of the Icecrown Raider 10 man, with the exception of Sindragosa and Putricide Heroic during the final months of ICC.


CHARACTER HISTORY


What guilds were you in during the last 6 months?

The Wild Hunt, a small 10-man guild that I started myself on Doomhammer-EU.


What guild are you in currently or what was your last guild? / Why did you decide to leave it?

The Wild Hunt was created about a month before Cataclysms launch as an attempt to combine minimal raiding times of two times a week with high level play. We managed to clear 12/12 normal and 1/13 heroic in 3 months of raiding twice a week, however players started to lose interest in the game and we lost three raiders over the course of a few weeks, leading us to cancel raids for quite some time before I decided to leave. The halt of progression wasn’t why I quit though: the social aspect of the guild had diminished quickly over time as the gearing process stopped and people were only logging on for raids. While this behavior by itself is fine and nearly unchangeable (we didn’t have any social members), the lack of social atmosphere was making the communication between members a harrowing process and the willingness of our members to ‘help out’ with the guild reached an all-time low, leading to my decision to leave.





TECHNICAL INFO


How stable is your connection? Do you disconnect every 5 minutes, is your latency above 1000ms all the time? .

http://www.pingtest.net/result/39401873.png

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1268037782.png

I can say what I want about this, but these basic tests should make it believable that I’m running a crazy-good internet set-up .


Are you able to receive and make yourself understandable in english?

I hope it speaks for itself from the English I type that I am quite well-versed in English. I study Film and Literature in English and I have been playing videogames since I was 7 years old, so I’m afraid there was no other way to be able to conquer the English-ness of those games without learning the language well!


For voice communication we will use Ventrillo. Can you install, configure and use it?

I have been using Mumble/Ventrilo/Teamspeak since the early days of asking for Paladin buffs with my squeaky voice in MC and getting -DKP for it.

Do you have a microphone? Are you able and willing to use it during raids for better communication during these?


Yes. I must say I had a bit of a phobia for speaking on Vent at first, however when I was asked to Raid Lead in The Wild Hunt I had to quickly overcome that. I’ve been fine ever since and my accent in English is very mild.


What do you use to move your character around - walking, running, turning? What keys are those moves bound to?

I’m guessing this is a trick question : p? I mostly walk using both mouse buttons for insta-turning. My strafe is bound to A and D, which are the only movement keys I tend to use with the exception of forward and backwards during leveling etc. when movement is not an issue.



What keys are your main skills bound to (name 5)?

I’ve grown accustomed to attaching them to my mouse and the buttons closest to my movement-fingers (e.g. left hand).

For my current main Protection Paladin I have bound the following important keys:

Q Rebuke
E Judgement
R Holy Wrath (just realized this is a strange ability to bind there, but it works for me : p)
F Consecration
C Crusader Strike
V Word of Glory
Scroll-down Hammer of Wrath
Scroll-up Avenger’s Shield
MB 3 Hand of Reckoning (‘Taunt’)
MB 4 Shield of the Righteous
1 Divine Protection
2 Ardent Defender
3 Guardian of Ancient Kings
4 Divine Guardian
5 Divine Shield

The rest of my keys are bound to the other easily accessible keys and those same keys and those mentioned above in combination with SHIFT so I can reach all my abilities without wasting mouse-movement time on them.


REQUIREMENTS


We require all our members to bring enough potions, elixirs, flasks, food buffs, bandages and repair gold for each raid. Sometimes you have to provide it for five days in a row. Are you able to grind it all with a smile on your face?

While I won’t be smiling, if the Vent or guild chat is decent, the music is good and the mobs are dying fast I’ll manage : ).


Which potion, elixirs or flask and buffing food do you use most often? And why?

For my current Protection Paladin I use the regular tanking flask (Steelskin) and mainly save my potion usage for a Mythical Healing Potion. Buff food-wise I make a choice between Mushroom Sauce Mudfish (90 dodge/90 stamina) and Lavascale Minestrone (90 mastery/90 stamina) depending on the fight having more magic or physical damage. Depending on the fight I mix it up and I’m known to experiment a bit, for example testing out the damage reduction of magic resist elixirs.


The addons required for smooth progression are Omen and Deadly Boss Mods (for timers and range check). Can you use those addons effectively and make sure you always have working version before the raid?

The handy Curse Client always reminds me of whether my add-ons are up to date or not. As add-ons are one of the most crucial and useful tools to increase DPS (e.g. not pulling agro due to pre-potting and popping CD’s at the start and more importantly staying alive due to moving out of fire), I always tend to keep them optimized to my task, which also means disabling unnecessary bars and making sure they are positioned in easy to spot ways and don’t obstruct my other add-ons (which are often interface related).



ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS


Progressing on a new boss sometimes means wiping to him for 4 hours in a row, with improvements happening pretty slowly over time. Are you prepared for it? Why?

Killing the dragon is what it is all about in the end (except for the fun you get on the way there imo), meaning that little sparkle of light at the end of the tunnel will make it possible to persevere. I just try to enjoy the wipes as much as possible: it’s all for the greater good and in the end, for myself.


Can you take the critic and learn from it?

I still think critique is the only way to learn. I’m more annoyed by people ignoring my mistakes than pointing them out, as without feedback there is no learning curve.


If you are the one messing up, can you admit the mistake and take the blame?

If I screw up I screw up. I can’t promise to you I will never make a mistake as I also have to learn certain fights and especially I’m only human. While sometimes RNG plays a role, if I don’t move out of the fire it is my lack of reaction or my poor choice of movement, not ‘bugs’ or other players’ fault, it’s mine and I don’t mind saying it.


If we decide to swap you out; due to poor performance or connection issues, can you accept it without causing any fuss?

I’m hoping (and I fully believe) I will never be put into this position, but if this ever does occurs I’ll have to see it as part of the aforementioned critique, accept my failure and learn from my mistakes.


Do you understand that our guild got more than 25 people on the roster and you won't be taken to every single raid you sign up for?

I understand and this is no problem for me. I rather of course be taken every single raid I’m available myself, however a large guild just needs many members to switch out and by joining such a guild I will accept that.


FINAL NOTES


Why do you want to join this project?

From the moment I was bumping my own recruitment thread several weeks ago and I clicked on your link it already intrigued me. The fresh-start idea really appealed to me: if there is something I need in WoW right now is a place to start anew and build up a hopefully stable and high level raiding and playing environment. From the forum post and what I read in the Guild Discussion on your temporary site (which isn’t closed to members only, don’t know if this is intended or not), it seemed that at the very least the officers are solid, proven players that want the same thing as me.


Why should we recruit you?

I honestly believe I’m a good, experienced player after all these years of WoW being my second home. While I can type whatever I want and the only way to truly prove it is to play together with me, I hope the effort I put into my playing is reflected in this application. I have had the experience of setting up a guild myself and it is a process that requires quite some work and dedication, and I am willing to put that in to reach my eventual goal: a stable home in which I can clear content on a high level of play together with like-minded, interesting and relaxed players.


Do you have any friends in our guild?

I most likely know none of the current members.


Is there anything else you want to add?

I believe all I can say on paper is said within this application. I spoke with Nazarov today and he/she told me you are currently mostly not recruiting anymore, but that there is a chance that even if you have no immediate spot in your raiding team, I could possibly join as a social member for the time being. While this is absolutely not ideal for me as I do eventually want to raid (I base most of my WoW play on raiding), I think it is worth the risk if I can be part of something great.


- Milan

[Romariá]

Escudo/Milan wrote:

Do you have any friends in our guild?

I used to play on Doomhammer during tBC and most of the WotLK era. Perhaps you remember me, Romario dwarf hunter which later became Romariá draenei shaman from Infinity, the Knights of the Blackrose, Rising Dreams to Devious Intentions.

Anyways, nice app and good luck!

PS: Not only Doomhammer do we have in common but also livin' in Amsterdam, ha!

[DonNazarov]

Good Evening,

Thank you very much for your application - we spoke yesterday in regards to taking you on as a Social member and for you to play a Warlock, which we are more than happy to do. Just to let you know though, we have an outright opening as a DeathKnight as two have recently gone inactive. I'm not sure if this is of any interest?

Kindest Regards,

Naz

[Escudo/Milan]

@ Romaria - while I can't recall you per se, I might have inspected you and your DI friends with a hint of jealousy in my eyed ;)

@ Nazarov - regrettably I have to postpone my application (and WoW in general) due to sudden RL problems. I appreciate you taking the time to read through and consider my application. I wish you guys good luck in thr future and I hope to be apply again soon.

Kind regards,

Milan