Moog's Corner

I am currently planning on heading an ITS reorganization for Cataclysm. As a  heads up I am not looking to restore ITS to it’s glory days of raiding. However, I am looking forward to leveling myself a toon to 85 and a worgen from 1 to 85. I will outline the projected guidelines and goals of this rebirth on September 15, 2010. Once we have an official launch date from Blizzard I will further define our timelines and goals on here as well as host an initial organization/remeet & greet on our reborn ITS Vent server (TBDisclosed later/MoogRadio included) I pray all of my comrades of old are in good health and I ask that you spread the word to any ex-ITS family (that was in good standing) as well as any potential players of good character who want a short term home for a structured and supportive Cataclysm leveling spree. The ultimate goal of this endeavor is to rejoin for the sake of seeing everyone again and to help our remaining and interested family in getting a quick boost in starting out in Cataclysm. At this time I have posted my realID for battle.net on our Facebook ITS Clan page as well as on our GMOTD in game. If you can’t get a hold of that information try to get it from a peer or contact me through this blog.

So here we go once again ITS. One more opportunity to be part of a team who is respectful, focused, and dignified. God bless!

Triple poon, I LOVE LAMP!, Throw a cat against the wall, Spyderz! Your show, READY CHECK ROLLING, etc. Let’s do this.

Eternal Respect,

Mike “Moog” Aguilar – GM of In Tha Shadows – A dignified and focused guild on Aggramar US.

I have a long history of vodka consumption during raids. There is a proper reason for this and I will explain it. This blog will define the sequences of events involved with all things RAID and my place at the helm.

At the start or end of a WoW raid reset week, which was Tuesday before raid extentions, I would post the raid nights and plan out our progression. Typically I would launch a farmed content raid for Tues or Wednesday, Thursday’s raid would be focused on parrallel content for farming gear so if we were progressing in Black Temple as a primary focus we’d hit Mt. Hyjal, SSC, TK, or Mags. Sunday would have an extra hour for it’s raid so we would start with Hyjal or Mags if it hadn’t been touched already then focus heavily on our new content.

At the start of a raid (30 MINUTES PRIOR, BE AVAILALBE, 15 MINUTES PRIOR YOU SHOULD BE IN RAID!!!, 1MINUTE PRIOR READY CHECK GOES OUT!) for the vast majority especially after we got out of Kara and Gruul’s getting the raid filled on time wasn’t much of an issue. There were plenty of those times where people were finishing things up, had real life things come up, or just weren’t feeling well. While the time before an actual raid posed it’s own issues all to itself 90% of the time if those scenarios came up someone would become available. It was almost surreal in the ability to fill the raids and still accomplish our goals time after time. During the progression of working ourselves up as a raiding force and myself as a solid leader and coordinator I always made it a point that if it wasn’t 100% ITS in raid we would NOT even attempt it. It was a pride thing that I think added value to our community. Part of this also was that being an almost sole force in keeping the guild dynamics intact I was pretty selfish. If you really wanted the glory we strived to obtain as a family you’d be in our ranks.

Rosie, Ghost, Fixer, Moog, & Spyderz

During the process of sign-on and signups I’d constantly double check my roster(it’d be pulled up on my other comp) and the guild roster in game (to see who is online). To be more specific I’d check this between 5-15 times before I actually invited to start preparing replacements just in case. During this time as well I’d get whispers in regards to communication through the channels in regards to hold ups keeping people from making it online during the 15 minute window before launch or being a little late. This was also another AMAZING phenomenon that always blew my mind. SOMEONE ALWAYS KNEW HOW TO GET AHOLD OF ANOTHER. It made for great coordination as well and was also a testament to our cohesiveness. At the 45 minute mark Moog Radio came online. At the 30 minute mark I’d invite officers to make placeholders in the raid groups and to promote those needed right up front. At the 15 minute mark I would practically SPAM the crap out of everyone on the raid signup list with invites and within minutes the raid would be at least 85% full. 10 minutes prior I’d be excusing myself for a cig and at least two vodka shots with OJ chasers to take the edge off. By 2-3 minutes til I’d finish the invites and build the tank lists while assigning the first mob groups symbols 1 minute til the ready check goes out. Once the ready check came back “all ready” I’d launch my MOOG RAWR SPEECH about our objectives for the night, main tank assignments, and then I’d hand the keys off to my pullers in the early days that was my bro Spyderz. My traditional “Spyderz, YOUR SHOW” signified the changing of command and signified the start of focused content steamrolling. At this point the puller was responsible for being mindful of the raid and the speed. I preferred a non stop pulling structure which allowed less BS, more focus, and the least amount of time to get to the destination.

In the earlier days I tried to keep my boss overview and strategy as minimal as possible even though I seemed to talk a lot in the end. I learned through this that no matter what, you can apparently never emphasize “DON’T STAND IN THE RED SHIT” enough. Sometimes our attempts were works in progress, sometimes they just needed a little tweaking, or sometimes it was just retarded how easy it was. Nevertheless, the end result could always be felt throughout the entire raid and there was little we didn’t eventually conquer. These were also some of the most memorable times EVER. From Kriegan’s dry humor, to my raid analogies, to Dream’s hilarious commentary there was tons and tons of memorable comments. Hell I still remember in SSC where Drizz was acting a fool and Anarana was like “Are we going to keep fucking around or get serious!?” the entire raid fell silent for almost a full 30 seconds. My jaw dropped cause Anarana never really talked and his voice was stern. CLASSIC moment and who could forget the later Amperage moments after her BAR exam. Sorry Ampers but that is forever part of our history.

 A little taste of Kreigan’s Humor – Dess/Shilk were having issues with their ISP and so Krieg poured out some for his homies.  

I will continue this with actually progressing and after RAID moments. Til then…..

Moog, Guild Master of In The Shadows, A once progressive raiding guild on Aggramar – US

My original post had a lot left unsaid and thus I will dive a little bit deeper into the conflict, drama, and mechanics of the once new ITS empire.

During the transition from OCHO DURO to ITS there had been a lot of back and forth between players like myself, Fixer, and Nunco.

First a little Nunco bio: Nunco (Nun) was a teacher up North who had one kid and another on the way. Her hubby Greyfeather was a good man, level headed, and focused in general. Nun made being a GM a bit too personal and this caused our separation. My biggest dispute with Nun was that she put all her eggs in the Fixer camp when it was me who actually had the the ability to manage and coordinate resources successfully. During our departure it was Fixer who pulled the plug and raised the flags for us to abandon ship and in the end it was I who got all the blame. Considering Fixer’s resume in real life we originally kind of expected he would head the new venture, but when it came down to it he really wanted none of the responsibility, but all of the glory. IT SEEMED. (Again call signs are being used to save some face, and these are my memoirs and if you have your opinions about them feel free to keep them to yourself. I say this with the upmost respect but nobody reading this except Dreamslaver can EVER say otherwise because nobody else had been the GM of ITS) Regardless of my new found responsibilities I rallied our new family and accomplished many feats early on. During this time in WoW history a 5 man dungeon known as Shadow Labyrinth was required to be able to enter the 10 man Karazhan (the first raid of the Burning Crusade expansion) Bare in mind that Ocho Duro was not focused on coordinating mass SL runs for Kara attunement and that we were 1 month into BC. Within 7 days of ITS launch we had 17 guildees ready for Kara only 2 of which were ready once ITS was formed. That is massive coordination ability considering we had time zone differences, and real life obligations. This was truly testament to the climate in which we all hoped for. Camaraderie, cohesiveness, and fun were all absolute virtues of the first 1.5 years of ITS.

Throughout our BC campaign we picked up a lot of people in which I will have posts for later but to name a few: Niat (the heart and soul of the early ITS success and family climate) , Drizzly/Verd/Rorans (the Superbad of ITS), Moonie/Krieg (the solid and dedicated) and eventually Shelly, Eranas/Dessie/Shilk (the trio of stabbers and healers), The Vlos officer corps (my old leadership and some of my real life friends), The Tulsa peeps (The dependables, OOTR supremacy, and the two bosses of each other), Toshiki(the dedicated, but sometimes misunderstood one), my OKC crews(Both the betrayers, haters, good friends, and users), the Recharged converts, the last generation of ITS and several other misc characters along the way.

To finish this one up ITS was formed originally out of friendship and forged strong through my leadership. Policy generation was always a battle with some as it created more work for them and a lot of them didn’t care for it. But SOME(NOT ALL) of my officers truly failed to realize that yes officership was a job and that WE were responsible for the coordination and enjoyment of our family in the guild. Some (NOT ALL) failed to realize that because of their lack of dedication it was I who wore the sword and shield for 2.5 years and that I was responsible for the coordination, focus, and success of ITS during our BC exploration and our early WotLK sucess. Now I do not discredit any guildees as it took us all to get to that point in the end, but without the fire under the ass that I lit none of that would have happened. What some of you may be finding out now is that not all of these posts are going to be pleasant and some of them will sound a bit conceded, but if you find yourself doubting my words or my timelines feel free to get over yourself and think about it in depth, if you can even remember the time, emotions in detail that is. Because while those small issues, triumphs, struggles, mishaps occurred I took them to bed with me and they festered. From it, I have learned invaluable things about human management in a global climate and the ability to critically think on the fly. If you were in fact a long time ITS’r you can see the evolution of my leadership style while retaining all of the good. God bless! -Moog, GM of In Tha Shadows, a PVE raiding guild on Aggramar – US

And with that I leave you with the dancing Niat – Dwarf Paladin

So Ankle and I just recently purchased our first lawn mower. (I know, right? hahaha!!) Anyway, I took the time today to mow the lawn before the rains hit again tomorrow and for the duration of the week. Growing up, we had a weekly ritual where my father would try to motivate me with some positive (or negative) reenforcement to mow the lawn. During childhood, this was a chore with little to no enjoyment except to try to imagine I was racing in TRON and the lines I made in the lawn were my bike trails. Thats right, I went there. Did I mention I’m a bit of a nerd?

So today I slapped on my mp3 player and mowed the lawn and even took care of some of the neighbor’s lawn as well. After I was done I swigged down a bottle of water and let the cool breeze blow against my skin using the sweat like a radiator and I gotta tell ya it felt GOOD. Having been in a bit of a slump with school and work, mowing the lawn proved to be an unexpected and much welcomed pick me up.

When I was younger being active wasn’t a task it was a much sought after part of daily life. Throughout grade school I played basketball, baseball, soccer, was in the boy scouts, clogged (you heard me right), played more soccer, played indoor soccer, played with beloved Nana (my now late golden retriever) or Tasha ( my parent’s doggy) and mowed the lawn haha. Now a days physical activity is reduced to moving my computers around, lifting my 10 pound camera rigs, and now walking my dog, Kitsune, we just call her Kitsu. (Fox in Japanese)

To close this out when I had finished mowing I was winded which is sad considering I used to run 5 minute miles regularly. How many of us use daily tasks like mowing the lawn, gardening, or other chores as physical outlets? For those who may have health related issues that reduce your ability to be physical greatly, what are things you do that you consider more physical and are therapeutic?

-Moog

In 2006 I was struggling to get focused in life whether it be in a relationship, in my career choices, or with my education. At this time I was still serving in the guard and found it hard to commit to long term things due to active US involvement with our campaign in the Middle East. It almost felt like every day I was either being activated and mobilized or deactivated and retasked for other things. During the craziness that was the mid 00’s I latched on to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and quickly made some real life friends play with me thus Sho ‘Nuff was founded.

(for privacy I will only use call signs)

Sho ‘Nuff quickly became my main source for fun and socializing. (I know right, Moog, you uber nerd.) Sho’ Nuff never got bigger than maybe 20 people, majority of which were people I knew or have met in person. During the Fall of 2006, I grew bored as many did with WoW at the time and sought out new adventures inside my digital universe. Once I found it the merged together and Sho ‘Nuff was over and a good chunk of us found ourselves in a guild called OCHO DURO. As our experience grew within Ocho Duro we eventually outgrew our home once again and in March 2007, one month after the 1st expansion, In Tha Shadows was born.

With me at the helm and some close friends at my back we strived to create an environment that emphasized teamwork, promoted real life versus game time, and provided support for all things to it’s members. I will randomly document the ITS timeline and stories I remember throughout this blog site. Here we go!

-Moog, Guild Master of In Tha Shadows, a PVE raiding guild on Aggramar – US

This is Moog’s personal site holder for use in testing and eventual home to blog space.

-Moog