Guild:Zephyr (Proudmoore US)

Guild progress

 * Eye of Eternity - 10/25


 * Vault of Archavon - 10/25


 * Naxxramas - 10/25


 * Obsidian Sanctum - +3D 10/25


 * Ulduar - (US #146) Yogg25+0 (Death's Demise), Algalon25 (Celestial Defender), GotUR 10/25


 * Trial of the Crusader - 10/25


 * Trial of the Grand Crusader - (US #300) Insanity 10/25


 * Icecrown Citadel (instance) 10 man - (US #58), Glory of the Icecrown Raider (US #11) Bane of the Fallen King with two groups (US#58)12/12 HM


 * Icecrown Citadel (instance) 25 man - (US #44), Glory of the Icecrown Raider, Realm First! Light of Dawn 12/12 HM

About Us
Progression-Focused- Fun for us is being with 24 other skilled, dedicated players, progressing through content.

Efficient - We only have 16 hours a week of mandatory raid time.

Disciplined - The only difference between a herd of newbs and a raid actually progressing through the ranks is discipline.

Mature - We shun and discourage outrageous, childish, and vulgar behavior while wearing our guild tag.

Small Roster - Every raid spot is valuable. We do not want to ever run more than 30 full-time raiders, at an absolute maximum. We take every raid spot and piece of loot we give out very seriously, and we are looking for players who have the same attitude towards their guild.

We are a team seeking to challenge ourselves by downing as much difficult content as possible in a midcore time frame. We prefer to play this game with talented and team-oriented, yet humble players. Ever since our unlikely beginnings as a weekend PUG a year ago, our ranking has risen with speed and consistency. This has been possible only because we have been blessed with teammates who are always willing to sacrifice their self-interest for the greater good of the team, and so long as we continue to recruit like-minded players, we expect our great fortune to continue well into Cataclysm.

About Proudmoore, Our Server
This is the best server to be Alliance. Ironforge, Stormwind, and Dalaran all have 50+ alliance 24/7, owing to a large contingent of Aussie players who just getting started as Americans go to bed. The pugs on our server are very successful compared to most others, including ToGC10 Insanity, some ToGC25 bosses, and deep forays into ICC25. The players on Proudmoore are among the most mature and drama-free who play this game. And though this is a PvE server, it is located on BG9, and there is a small population of Gladiators who are always open to playing with other talented PvPers.

Brief History & Timeline
We have been an official raiding guild since August 2009, and we are an investment that any potential trial raider needs to seriously consider. We started as the alt weekend pug of another progression guild, , and when that guild went casual, we became a full-time raid. We have had a meteoric rise that very few guilds have matched. As we have built up our core, we have scored numerous notable progression kills along the way.

Today, we are a guild with a stable and reliable core of intelligent raiders who are passionate about efficiency, and we are looking to polish our roster.

June 2009 -  weekend PUG U25 raid started.

August 2009 -  goes casual and moves to Mal'ganis horde. Most of 's core members join US Top 50 guilds. A few of us could follow suit. For instance, at this time, I am offered a trial to among other hardcore guilds. However, we heed a different calling, and turn our weekend PUG into a full-time raid.

August 2009 - 2 weeks after we become a "guild," we kill Firefighter25, after around 10 hours of attempts. We continue to struggle with the unreliability and attendance issues of PUGs. Further, many of our members only had 2-3 weeks' worth of progression gear. Pre-U25 gear was not uncommon in our raid for our Firefighter kill. Yet we continued to push content.

October 2009 (1) - We approach a Yogg25+0 server first, midway through the month, when a rival steals our raid ID and calls down a keeper. GMs refuse to reset the keeper. Another guild kills Yogg25+0 4 days later. This is our last straw with our immature, dying server. We attempt Algalon25 for the first time, kill it. We go for a Yogg25 speed kill, get it. Then we transfer our guild.

October 2009 (2) - We lose many of our most geared raiders during this first transfer. We are forced to recruit around 10-12 new people, gear them up, and retrain them all in 4/5 ToGC25, as well as Freya25+3, Firefighter25, and Yogg25+0.

November 2009 - After 4 weeks of training recruits, they have learned everything, and we earn a (second) very clean kill of Yogg25+0.

December 2009 (1) - 3 weeks after Alone in the Darkness, it becomes clear that recruits who would otherwise join our guild, do not want to come to our server. A few members quit, partially because of the dead AH, horde dominance of WG, and general inactivity of the server. Christmas is coming up, and it is time we make a hard decision in the best interest of our guild. We decide to transfer to the complete opposite of our server. We decide to transfer to Proudmoore.

December 2009 (Christmas) - This time, the transfer is much more smooth. We lose 2 raiders in total - everyone else comes. Our guild's core has stabilized tremendously and the vast majority of our members have shown good loyalty to the guild. Our first week here, Christmas week, we manage to find time to train 3 newcomers on every ToGC25 fight, including our Anub 25HM strategy. The very next day, we kill Anub 25HM.

January 2010 - Through careful planning and strats we down both Putricide, Blood Queen, and Sindragosa first week.

April 2010 - Achieved Server First Glory of the Icecrown Raider and 11/12 HM 25. Arthas, we're coming for you.

May 2010 - After several group comp changes and availability issues we get Server First 10 man HM LK "Bane of the Fallen King". This comes after only 4 weeks of work from the final group (plus new member subbed in that night with zero experience on it). Video can be found here: http://zephyrwow.forumotion.com/zephyr-kill-videos-f22/zephyr-vs-heroic-lich-king-10-man-t1801.htm

June 2010 - Second and Third 10 man groups downed 10 HM LK after only 4 and 2 weeks respectively. In the last few attempts of the 20% era, with everything on the line, we brought out our highest quality of play and finished off 25 HM LK in a fantastic 2 hour session securing us both Realm First! Light of Dawn and a US #44 position. We look forward to light farming and roster refinement going into Cataclysm.

What We Look for in a Raider
Ideally, our apps come here because they could make it in a more hardcore guild, but would never raid half of their waking hours. Here are some things we're looking for in long-term members.

No Clickers - If you click, this is not the guild for you. We want keybinders only, and we will demand to see your keybinds in the application process.

Geared - You must be wearing nearly full ilvl 264 gear at this point to be considered.

Skill-Capped - You don't die avoidable deaths after the first few pulls of a new boss. You always push for the highest performance possible while staying alive.

Experienced - You should have experience raiding difficult progression for at least 3 nights per week, with fights near or at cutting edge difficulty. We are wary of players who attempt to make too large a leap in terms of their dedication or difficulty level.

Humble - The app process is the last time you brag about yourself. We can put up with a little bit of swagger, but you better have more than enough skill to justify it. You will not be the center of the show here.

No NPC's - In our guild, we call mutes NPCs. During boss fights, you must communicate efficiently in vent to make it past your trial. People who don't know how to shut up will also fail their trial.

Competitive - You should want to push for higher performance at all times. You ideally have a history of wanting to push yourself in-game and in real life.

Reliable - 90%+ attendance. Your internet or computer almost never crashes. Unfortunately, we will boot otherwise good trials who are unable to stay connected.

Friendly - You know how to laugh at yourself, joke around, and help a teammate out. You even enjoy it.

Bonus Traits
Former Guild or Raid Leaders - You're probably smarter and more committed than the average player. As a side-note, if you fit into this category, your strategies will not run the show, especially while you're a trial. We'll listen to your input if it's voiced respectfully, but make sure you're okay with *not* being the final decision-maker.

Gladiators & Duelists - You likely have sharper reflexes, are more competitive, and work better under stress than the average player. The raid leader has held the #1 position on BG9 arenas, and several raiders have been Gladiators and Duelists - an invaluable asset going into rated BGs in Cataclysm.

LUA Programmers - On complex fights, we do not hesitate to program an addon to help us coordinate our strategy and make everything a little bit more manageable. We'd love someone who is willing and able to help program and proofread WoW addons for our guild.

Asian - Just kidding. Kind of. lol.

Articulate - It's a plus if you know how to sound respectable and well-educated.

We Don't Recruit for the Bench
From the very first week, expect to be brought into the most challenging content, and expect to be assigned to a difficult assignment or two. We want to see off the bat if you can carry your weight. We understand that it can sometimes be difficult to change guilds. You can rest assured that we do not recruit for the bench. If you pass the trial, you will be seeing bosses die, as long as you are performing well.

Loot System
We use EP/GP. It penalizes those who "hoard DKP" and allows newly promoted members to start getting loot much faster than the standard DKP system. Please bear in mind, trials have no priority on main spec loot. Not that loot is the primary reason you raid, right? The full mathematical explanation of this system can be found here: http://www.wowwiki.com/EPGP

Links

 * Website - http://zephyrwow.forumotion.com
 * Armory - http://www.wowarmory.com/guild-info.xml?r=Proudmoore&gn=Zephyr
 * Applications - http://zephyrwow.forumotion.com/prospective-applicants-stage-1-f6/
 * Progress - http://www.guildox.com/go/g.asp?n=Zephyr&r=Proudmoore-US