Hi everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've last posted anything of significance. But since Canada Post pulled a UPS on me (knock very lightly on the door, ignore doorbell), I won't have my Diablo 3 CE until tomorrow. Meaning I have all night to do shit.

First things first. Nobody's asked for it, but I'll throw it out there anyways. If you want to change your forum name, send me a PM with your desired name. I will update it when I have a chance tonight. You will be prompted to login to the forums again, but that's just to set the new cookie.

Secondly, I'm going to re-organize the forums tonight. Tomorrow, things will be much more condensed but better organized (I hope!).

What's going away?
Any section that hasn't been touched since December 31, 2011.
This means the following sections will be disapearing:
* Auction House
* General Archives
* Webstats
* Roles (was a stupid idea in the first place)
* Possibly class-specific section
* All of "Not Quite WOW" (some exceptions apply)
* BC and Cataclysm archives

What's changing?
* General section is being condensed to: News, Applications, Taverns, Lore (because fuck RP, amirite?)
* The "Raiding" section is being changed to "WOW" - PvP, UI, AH, DKP, Signups, Roles (maybe)
* "Not Quite WOW" is changing to "Everything Else" - Diablo 3 (with subs), SWTOR (anyone still playing?), Starcraft, Other

No posts are being deleted, they're simply being moved and hidden so that only the chosen ones (me and Orion, basically) can see them.

In the somewhat near future, there are plans to...
* Fix the wowhead tooltips
* New themes/templates (MoP-based, HS Classic)
* Other new and exciting things

These have been put to the back-burner due to my fucked up schedule (5pm to 1am, wot) and not having free time while at work to tinker. If there's anything you guys want to see updated, improved, fixed, let me know.

Fuck yeah, ponies.

Well - we finally did something that is noteworthy this expansion - took us long enough .

Grats to all and good work. Lets hope that blizzard doesn't ever put another achievement in that causes us to sit down every 5 seconds - /glares at Dru, Failnixia, and Doug.

This is a bit late coming, but I wanted to change the damn front page and give us something else to look at.

1st of all, its been an interesting expansion to say the least. We have some new faces and some old making the best of all the Cataclysm changes - everyone contributing in their own way.

It is exciting to see raids happening, people pvping and enjoying the game, with raids from heroics to brand new and everything in between, we continue to have opportunities for members to get the most out of the game.

One thing lacking currently is the strong sense of cohesion we once had when we ran a 25m raid. We are looking at some plans to incorporate a 25m from time to time to get the band back together.

In the meantime - congrats to all - Enjoy!

OK - for starters, in case you've been wondering, life happens...my laptop vid card blew up, my desktop wouldn't power up and I can't do WOW at work...so I've been absent. That being said, I installed a new PS in the desktop today and so far so good, lots to install and lots to update...

It appears things have been progressing nicely with one group that stepped in and got the ball rolling...you all suck however, as I see our rank as 12...you can do better
I see that Smackey has announced a 2nd group...so I am posting this a bit delayed, should have gone out last week...but I wanted to convey that behind the scenes...none of you have been forgotten...

Beginning Raid Week – Tuesday, January 11th 2011
Now almost a month into Cataclysm, it is time to ratchet up raiding again as guild. Currently, there are a handful of people raiding on their own and one guild group that has been geared and working together to experience content. As officers we met recently to discuss the future of raiding with House Sole – and determined that for many reasons, that 10m raids will be the way to go:

1. Easier scheduling.
2. Various levels of play at once – we will have one hardcore group, with other groups assembling to cater to casual to serious raiding.
3. More consistent involvement for people based on schedules.
4. More loot to spread around (No DKP – Basic d1000 mainspec /d100 offspec , Roll on shards (one per) – don’t be a dick rules will apply)
Initially, here is the plan (based on who we know):

Tue-Wed-Thurs Hardcore
T -Confussion
T -Stupak
DPS - Fenixia
DPS - Grimrevolver
DPS - Fiddlesnarf
DPS - Zenara
DPS - Dryness
H - Shaminate
H - Zephyr
H - Rychen

Thurs-Sun
T -Druixio
T- Whiskeytango
DPS - Krakensole
DPS - Kegyn
DPS - Madaghmire
DPS - Zartus
DPS - Furin
H - Smackey
H - Morixi
H - Langoril

Fri-Sun (Most likely by Sign-ups/Alts until we get a set group) This will start NEXT week...
T - Orionsole
Tank TBD (Kago/Nazar)
DPS - Blayd
Melee - Dramedin (Takeit/TBD)
Range TBD (Egam/Raithe/Eskarina/Amakir/Unboundfury/Kerberos)
Healer TBD (Ist/Higiyz/Heelzorz/Amakir)
Alts welcome if necessary to fill successful group

From what I understand from those in already running is that tanks get destroyed, mana efficiency for heals is terrible, dps must max out, mobility and environment awareness is a must…this is the hardest content blizzard has assembled. With 10m groups, there is no hiding in the #s, no infinite B-rez if people screw up…346 heroic gear on average is the minimum entry.

If you notice, these groups for the most part are “set.” For those of you not in the top group, no worries and don’t be offended – the 3rd group by design will allow for greater flexibility to give everyone opportunities over time to raid. There is also the possibility that groups may bring a player in here and there for substitutes, rotate players based on schedules, or bring in subs on farmed content. I fully expect for there to be some people unhappy with this direction. The move away from 25m raiding may not be favorable for some of you – or maybe it has been a long time coming. Ideally, House Sole will have a successful group going nearly every day of the week without overlapping raid IDs maximizing everyone’s desire to play at a level they are comfortable with. IMO, being the best guild on the server is more than guild rankings – a goal we have, but moreso about having fun and providing an experience for everyone. If you don’t see yourself playing in this model or want to find another guild/group – I understand in advance. If you choose to go in a different direction, please talk to me 1st in a PM or in-game…I value everyone in the guild for their contributions and respect your feedback.

If you are not on the list currently, or want to speak up for a more permanent spot in one of the groups let us know ASAP. I do not want and will not tolerate drama and kneejerk reactions. This hasn’t been an easy transition and I am not certain I can make everyone happy. All I ask is that if you have questions about this process to speak to myself or an officer. To fill these spots, we are looking for a strong desire to play, prove that you want to be involved (run heroics, show-up at raid times, participate in the guild). There will be people that come out of nowhere who aren’t even listed – there will be people that fall off from tier to tier as life happens. I also expect that another group or two develops as more people become raid ready and as alts want more involvement. Lastly, I expect there to be some recruiting – you will notice we are missing pallys and shamans from providing ideal raid make-up. If people have viable toons that they want to play and “re-name” their main for a better chance at this, it is also a possibility.

There will be more changes to come...and I am setting up a post for people interested in the 3rd raid...I am hoping that Blayd will lead (though I haven't talked to him yet and I fully expect him to tell me to screw off )...

That's all for now... /[Shield Wall] of text!

...the whole website.



Sorry guys, but you should know the drill by now. If not, let me run you through it:

1) Blizzard announces new expansion
2) Dryness starts hating the way the website looks
3) Dryness bitches and moans about it, but does nothing
4) Blizzard announces release date for said expansion
5) Dryness gets off his ass and does something about it
6) Since I can't push the expansion's release date back, I do the next best thing...
7) I do this.

YES I know you already hate this scheme. NO I won't do anything about it... yet.
You know... it IS the holiday season... and GREEN is both a holiday colour AND the guild colours... maybe Greatfather Winter will bring some Green and Black presents...

If you DO run into any problems (links don't work, buttons are stupid, etc), let me know and I'll take care of it. While I tried it out with a bunch of different browsers under different conditions, it's impossible to catch everything when only a handful of people could test it out.

ANYWAYS, I haven't been around much over the last year and a half, and I know that we're getting a LOT of old schoolers coming back to play. So, on behalf of myself, Orion, and the rest of the officers...

WELCOME BACK SOLES!

As usual, we have some exciting plans for the future of the guild, with a little something for everyone.

The next month is going to be focusing on mostly getting everyone to 85 and geared. We hope to have our first 10-man(s) running by the end of the month (normal mode, of course), and with that (hopefully) some server (and maybe world?) firsts!

As an added bonus for everyone who read this far, because it is a new expansion, I will be accepting requests for FORUM NAME CHANGES. Just PM me, and I'll update your name. Please note, this will affect your LOGIN NAME to the forums as well, so have your password handy!

It's an exciting time to be in House Sole, and the next year is going to be a helluva ride. So buckle-up, and put your helmets on (except for Fiddle and Nate... since their handlers wouldn't let them take theirs off in the first place) and off we go!