Raiding with The Last Alliance - an offer to small kins

[Zohal]

Dear small kin leader on Anor

TL;DR : The Last Alliance invites other small kins on Anor to participate in Raids.

Shortly after the release of Rise of Isengard The Last Alliance started working with two other kins to raid together. We had been unable to field complete raiding teams of 12 players on our own without calling for a significant number of people in /LFF, /World, and other channels. That could work but was frequently a bit of a hassle – if we were even able to form a complete raid. Thus we formed partnerships with other, smaller kins whose members had an interest in raiding. These were “The Iron Hills Mining Collective” (all dwarves – lead by Borgrim) and “Servant of the Dark Lord” (lead by Linch). This cooperation allowed us to start raiding regularly – almost weekly – going to Draigoch (6-12 man T2C) and The Tower of Orthanc (12 man T1). Especially near the end of the expansion we frequently had to fill up the raid with friends and random players but as a rule we – and they – had a good time and cleared the tower. (Exceptions were usually due to a lack of geared tanks).

Now with almost two weeks of heavy horseback riding under our belts, we feel it is time to explore the newest double-fellowship content as well as some of the scaling older instances. We are aware that some people consider the content trivial and unexciting but that is an entirely different issue. Since Mirkwood - and made even clearer in Isengard - we do not strive to be the very "best" we can be as a group or fight against the toughest challenges. Instead our focus has been on making content available to as many people as possible. If somebody wants to try raiding, we like to provide an opportunity to do so, regardless of your experience with large group content. We have had several raiders who had never even set foot in a regular Fellowship instance before they came along in a raid with us.

On of the downsides to being an informal "Raid Training Kin" is that sometimes one of our members decides to try his luck and skills in a larger raiding kin. This is unfortunate for us but far from unexpected. We can only try to steer them towards one of the many socially adept kins with mature players. (Quite a few members of There and Back Again has a TLA history). This depletion of our ranks over time means that even if we keep reecruiting, we tend to get players with lower level characters, and while they are very welcome and cherished, they are not raiders from day one. So we have a bit of a shortfall when it comes to gathering 12 eager players on a regular basis.

To fill that shortfall I would like to offer my fellow Kin Leaders of smaller kins on Anor the opportunity to offer their members some semi-regular raiding. I cannot guarantee that we will have spots open for everybody in any given week but chances are that TLA will only fill 6-8 spots with regularity leaving 4-6 raiding spots up for grabs. And in this situation I would rather fill the open spots with players who do not regularly experience end-game large group content due to being members of smaller Kins. There are all sorts of perfectly valid reasons to play with close friends rather than join a larger kin but that shouldn't automatically preclude players from the raid experience.

We raid on the weekends at times that are more-or-less acceptable to both Europeans and Americans (see below). We use Discord to explain tactics and call out stuff during fights, so it is convenient if everybody in on Discord, however we know that some players are precluded from voice chat for various reasons, so it is not a demand. Some only listen on Discord and some require typed out explanations, which by nature can be a bit shorter than the verbal ones, but we manage.

We use Need/Greed/Pass and have only had a couple of incidents of players rolling for stuff they didn't really Need. We then let them know politely (through their Kin Leader/Officer) that we don't want to see a repetition, and that usually sorts it out. It happens sometimes because players are not used to the social norms of a group due to playing alone almost exclusively. No need to see the worst in people.

If you wish to participate in our raids with your kin, let me know either here or in-game. During raid mustering, we usually invite the Leader into the raid and let him invite his kinnies as a Raid Assistant. That has worked out just fine so far.

Our current raiding schedule is (all times are Server times [East Coast, USA] which can be seen using the /servertime command):

We have decided to end our "Raiding Season" in Rohan until the next expansion and level cap hits. we have had a lot of fun with a lot of different people participating. For now, I'd like to thank all of the good friends who have joined us and made the experience enjoyable. (Special shoutout to Thumbnail, the deadly Hunter from The Mithril League).

See you again a couple of weeks after Helm's Deep launches!

I plan to update the list weekly, letting us try a variety of raids or raid-like events - or even skirmishes. It is possible that the times will change slightly as we get feedback from kinnies & friends of the kin.

Zohal, Leader of The Last Alliance

Edit: New week added.

[Echoweaver]

The Mithril League, which I'm a member of, is also a sort of Raid Training Kin (I like that term). Maybe it would be worth trading calendars.

I'm not sure if I can makes those times, but some of our group probably can.

[Zohal]

The Mithril League, which I'm a member of, is also a sort of Raid Training Kin (I like that term). Maybe it would be worth trading calendars.

I'm not sure if I can makes those times, but some of our group probably can.

Thank you for responding. I'll get in touch with Jimi as soon as possible. If I don't catch him online, I'll drop him a note.

Are you generally a US based Kin? Don't see many online now at 12:13pm.

/Zohal

[Echoweaver]

Thank you for responding. I'll get in touch with Jimi as soon as possible. If I don't catch him online, I'll drop him a note.

Are you generally a US based Kin? Don't see many online now at 12:13pm.

/Zohal

Jimi isn't US-based. I am, and I think most are. Usually if I log in during the work day Eastern Time, I see a couple of people on.

We're not enormous, but a lot of the members are very active.

I can probably show up for some EU-timed raids.

[Zohal]

We did our first raid today and it was a success!

The team consisted of:
7 from The Last Alliance
2 from Servant of the Dark Lord
2 from The Mithril League
1 from There and Back Again

We completed The Battle for Erebor and Flight to the Lonely Mountain without any drama but The Fires of Smaug was a learning experience! After a handful of wipes to smoke, we had arrived at a sensible tactic and downed the Fiery Grim. As we had been at it for a couple of hours, we completed the day with another Troll bash!

It was good fun and it was nice to raid with some new friends.

[Zohal]

We're still going strong and raiding with varied success.

On the 7th we did another sweep of the Erebor raids. We tried T2 (not C) in The Battle for Erebor but it didn't go very well so we did it on T1 as well as the others.
The 8th saw us return to Ost Dunhoth which was a bit tougher this time around for various reasons so we only killed a couple of bosses. Still, people had a good time and we learned a lot - as we hoped to do.

The Mithril League and a few other kins showed up to fill out the roster which we appreaciated.

[Zohal]

I was asked by a couple of players on Anor if we also accepted new members into The Last Alliance.
Yes, by all means!

As a matter of fact there are currently more members active and online at a given time than any time since the glory days of Angmar and the Rift Raids. Yesterday we had 4 level 33 Hunters online at the same time, which I consider a bit odd but also a sign that people are still levelling and enjoying themselves on our server.

[Zohal]

We're still having fun with the various raids and have had the pleasure of being joined by members of The Mithril League, French Kiss, There and back Again, Erben der Valar, Servant of the Dark Lord and others I have forgotten right now. Thank you all for joining us and making our runs a success.

Both Draigoch and Tower of Orthanc are "outdated" content right now but they can still be a lot of fun, and some people have never experienced those places. Additionally, it is a chance for our members to bring alts through the old content. Undoubtedly a win-win!

[Zohal]

The lack of new posts is not due to a lack of raiding, on the contrary - we are still going strong and have had a number of people from various kins participate in our raids. On Sunday we had 5 (or 6) different kins represented in a quick and fun run into Barad Guldur. It was a first for a number of our members so we did it on T1, which is not exactly hard nowadays. We had a number of German players in the raid - most on dps classes - so it became a bit of a joke with the German Damage Section!Thank you to all who came to that raid or the other raids we have done in the last month. We couldn't have done it without you!

[SCHawks73]

Somewhat of a necro, but curious on if this raid alliance thing is still going on?

I am part of TABA and I really enjoy the cozy friendly atmosphere it has, but as a former hardcore raider that cleared everything from BG to the Erebor trio T2C on-level, I'm starting to get the challenging raiding bug again. Unfortunately this is perfect timing now that raids are going to be all but non-existent for the next 6-8 months with the rise of Big Battles (which is why I took a 5 year hiatus originally), but with so much content still scalable, there is still some potential.

I know there are a few within TABA that are interested in a more challenging/hardcore raiding environment but still maintaining the relaxing atmosphere that TABA has, so being able to have our cake and eat it too with both staying in TABA but being apart of a more serious raid team would be awesome.

[Echoweaver]

Somewhat of a necro, but curious on if this raid alliance thing is still going on?

I am part of TABA and I really enjoy the cozy friendly atmosphere it has, but as a former hardcore raider that cleared everything from BG to the Erebor trio T2C on-level, I'm starting to get the challenging raiding bug again. Unfortunately this is perfect timing now that raids are going to be all but non-existent for the next 6-8 months with the rise of Big Battles (which is why I took a 5 year hiatus originally), but with so much content still scalable, there is still some potential.

I know there are a few within TABA that are interested in a more challenging/hardcore raiding environment but still maintaining the relaxing atmosphere that TABA has, so being able to have our cake and eat it too with both staying in TABA but being apart of a more serious raid team would be awesome.

I'm part of Mithril League, and I've done some raiding with TLA. I still see Zohal around, and I'm pretty sure they're still active. I think they may be on a raiding hiatus right now until new content. I suspect Zohal will update the thread when he starts scheduling raids again.

This is a bit of an awkward time, since we've all raided current content to death and are waiting breathlessly for Helm's Deep to drop.

[SCHawks73]

Thanks for the follow-up Echo. I'll keep an ear out to see what's going on.
I'd love to get back into DN, OD, ToO at the T2 or even T2C levels (BG is still kinda faceroll on T2C).

[Zohal]

Echoweaver is absolutely right, of course. She usually is.

We are not quite sure how we will handle Helm's Deep and when we'll start doing group content again. We are considering doing 12-man big battle and also some of the old scaled content. When I know more I will update the thread.

[Rimenuir]

but being apart of a more serious raid team would be awesome.

If you really want to run serious raid content, come join us in Mirage

[Echoweaver]

Zohal does a lovely job of helping new folks learn how to raid. I highly recommend their group if you want to keep your own kin. (The Last Alliance is probably a great kin; I'm just in Mithril League so can't say ;-). ) I've raided with Zohal and TLA a couple of times. Even if your kin does some raiding anyway, there's no reason not to broaden horizons .

[Zohal]

Zohal does a lovely job of helping new folks learn how to raid. I highly recommend their group if you want to keep your own kin. (The Last Alliance is probably a great kin; I'm just in Mithril League so can't say ;-). ) I've raided with Zohal and TLA a couple of times. Even if your kin does some raiding anyway, there's no reason not to broaden horizons .

Thank you for the kind words, Echo. I only have good impressions of the Mithril League and your stout leader, Jimi.

It is quite true that we strive to introduce new raiders to the joys of 12-man success (and failure) against monstrous opponents with little emphasis on min-/maxing. Instead we try to explain and teach players how to perform better and feel they make a difference. Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference, e.g. Lore-masters who have not done much group play may not have experience with their yellow line, so letting them know one or two things they should try for the next fight helps them perform and understand their role better. Keeping a tank or another vital member of the group safe from stuns can be a wipe-saver!

Other Kins and raiding alliances want to challenge the hardest content available, pressing each individual player to strive for perfection or as close to it as possible. This can be a lot of fun as well. Whereas we get our "kicks" from hearing the delight of new raiders trying new content and winning through, the hardcore raiders want to challenge themselves to a greater degree. It's a matter of perspective.

In order to enjoy raiding you must find a group that has the goal you seek as well as the social interaction. You will nor hear derisive comments in a TLA raid and I suspect it is the same in TML. Even if somebody seems to find new and creative ways of screwing up, we try to adapt. Not every single player is a keyboard god!
Other raids may have a more military view of things - if something doesn't work to your satisfaction, yell at it!

It is no secret that some players and kins feel that their triumphs only matter if they declare publicly "how good they are" and never admit to being wrong about anything. What they don't understand is that the reaction is often scorn and ridicule rather than admiration. Don't be one of those.

Raiding should be fun - during and after!

[Laubgaenger]

Well spoken.

At least we all want to have a good night together.

Sometimes in T2cm Raids, sometimes in T1 Raids with People in special that see it the first time.
And that is also great.
A slower pace, that let you remind, when you travel the first time up in BG. The bass of the Fellbeast Wings sounds through your room and i thought wow.
That is the Moment you share with others many years later, With people that do it the first time.

I think it is a good Idea to have this raids, and i will join it again too.

[Rimenuir]

Raiding should be fun - during and after!

Oh no, please don't get the wrong impression. I love that you guys are doing this, in fact, I'd love to come and run something with you guys sometime. With the lack of content on this server at the moment, nows the perfect time to run some of the old fun runs (OD/ToO). Raiding is 100% open to everyone and everyone should have that success - I got a captain at 95 and will have a bear/warden there at the end of the week . Would love to come run stuff

[Laurelinarien]

I swear, all of you in this thread, make me wish I weren't stuck in Ithil waiting for CS to reply to my ticket & SSG to re-open the transfers.

Maybe some day I'll see you on the other side (hopefully before Throne!)

[Blaize_EU]

I swear, all of you in this thread, make me wish I weren't stuck in Ithil waiting for CS to reply to my ticket & SSG to re-open the transfers.

Maybe some day I'll see you on the other side (hopefully before Throne!)

All Ithil kins are also very welcome to join us for some fun (keeping fingers crossed for transfer to open again soon)

[Echoweaver]

I swear, all of you in this thread, make me wish I weren't stuck in Ithil waiting for CS to reply to my ticket & SSG to re-open the transfers.

Maybe some day I'll see you on the other side (hopefully before Throne!)

I guess I haven't been tracking this well. Free transfers WERE available from Ithil, but they were turned off?

[Laurelinarien]

I guess I haven't been tracking this well. Free transfers WERE available from Ithil, but they were turned off?

Yes Echo, turns out there were some "bugs" still messing up transfers (mine was one). And they took them down until they can find a solution. Ofc the server stability issue took over tho so we're all still waiting for news.

[Seaners]

I play in a very small kin, but would be very interested in participating in raids (something I've never done).

Could I join some of you for the training wheel runs?


Seán (Qilue on Anor)