Am I not qualified to be hardcore?

[Radicalatom]

I am writing this with the intent of gaining useful commentary, and I hope by posting this the community will help resolve my issue. I have come to a crossroads in my wow career as cataclysm is about to go live, I want to be a "hardcore" raider and what I mean by this is downing current content including hard-modes. Some may say well go ahead and do it then, but this is where my dilemma occurs. I am a Wotlk baby, I hit 80 at the early stages of Trial of the crusader, ulduar was on farm for most guilds, and was almost completely irrelevant at that point in time.

I was in a small ten man raiding guild when I hit 80, but it wasn't enough for me I applied to a 25 man raiding guild on my server and got accepted and I was placed on the second 25 team. With this team I cleared 25 toc multiple times, but whenever togc 25 was mentioned it was like "The gear is not worth getting since icc is coming soon, and therefore not worth the effort blah blah". Anyways so I sit idle waiting for icc to come insisting that togc has decent gear that will help with icc, the experience of the fights will help us do better in icc and so on, yet my pleas went unheard. ICC came out soon after and we cleared the first wing pre 5% buff then we hit a stonewall, the dps check of festurgut. We were stuck on this encounter forever in fact I went to a different guild before it was even downed. Anyways, I joined this new guild that was ranked 4th on my server 9/12 25 icc with the 5% buff, I did a couple lockouts with this guild and all the sudden the gm leaves for personal reasons and then 7 members left for a new guild thus ending the 25 man team.

Anyways that is a little background on me as a raider I have 12/12 10 man normal with 7/12 hm 10 and 11/12 25 lk normal. I am a competent raider, I read about all fights before my raid attempts them, I use spread sheets, I gem correctly, I don't stand in fire, I know how mechanics work, I adjust and learn quickly, and yet I am stuck in a mediocre loot Tuesday guild. I have no chance of getting what I want from my server only four guilds have 11/12 hm 25 on my server and two are not currently raiding, Pugs are just awful on my sever (Pugs still struggle with 25 toc regular). I want to be in a guild that is at least willing to TRY and actually work at hard-modes. I want this for cataclysm, or I will seriously go insane!

The problem is this when I go to look at requirements for guilds that I want to apply for the basic requirements to apply are:
Raiding experience: Ulduar hardmodes, TBC endgame content "pre 3.0", or relevant content to what our guild is downing "11/12 hm icc etc" I don't have access to the content that is wanted as criteria, but does that make me an awful player that will be stuck in an endless cycle of fail because I don't even have a shot at proving myself? I don't want to be carried, I want to prove that I can run and be just as good as the raiders in these hard-mode guilds, even though I am at a huge disadvantage do you believe there is a shot I can get what I want out of this game come cataclysm or will I have to come to terms with the situation I am stuck in for the next x-pac?

Tl;DR
wotlk baby
wants to be in a hard-mode guild for cataclysm
does not have access to experience guilds want
does not want to be carried
I don't stand in fire / I get mechanics
do I have a shot to at least prove myself somewhere?

Btw Mok'nathal-US is the server I am on.

Thanks,
Radicalatom

---------- Post added 2010-11-16 at 11:53 AM ----------

All useful comments will be appreciated

[Shyzhi]

Everyone has a chance to get into a hardcore guild if its what you want to be in, In cataclysm all experience kinda resets as its a new expantion. Just try to know your class the best you can and if there is a hardcore guild on your server you wanna join, Try talking about your class with someone of the same class in the guild (Like talk about talents / gems bla bla) so they can see you know your class well and it can help you chances to get in.

[Deleted]

um..yes?

[Remortal]

Your lack of old raid experience in real terms means nothing if you can learn and progress. Don't expect to get in to the best of the best guild, but it shouldn't be too hard to get into a hardcore guild on a trial basis. Then it is just a matter of proving yourself, the only way is up.

[Nilinor]

Work your way up, you dont start out with the best guilds, you work your way up the ladder. Get in a guild that raids regularly, get experience under your belt, after a while when things get WAY to easy, start looking for a slightly harder setting. After you find a new home, thank your current guild for teaching you what you need, and that you need to move on to something harder as of now. Repeat till you get into the guild you wish to go to. Your wanting to jump from 11/12 regular to a 11/12hm. Thats not going to cut it, its to big of a jump. Try to get a guild that does some hardmodes but clears 12/12 of weekly, that would be your next step.

The key though is not being an asshat and make everyone hate you. Most guilds know that they will lose players to wanting to be "more" then what they are, but really it takes time and effort. The guilds that ask for experience from pre wotlk, are elitist and probably not the place you are looking for. Their are plenty of end game 11/12hm -12/12 hm 25 guilds that dont require that, just that you have raiding experience and the gear (or close to) necessary that allows you to have a chance to succeed. At which point you most likely will be brought in to test, then given a formal invite under raid training.

But really it takes time and patience, not because you notice your better then many others but are also willing to put in the work. What I stated above is showing that you are willing to put the work that is needed to be "hardcore".

[Luko]

It's not always as easy as I'm bound to make it seem, but make a checklist before you try:

Do you have (or nearly have) the best gear you can get pre-hard modes?

Do you have tons of @level experience? (Yes classic raids and harder encounters are a plus, but not completely relevant. Just more of a gauge.)

When you pug, do you regularly top the damage meters / healing meters / require very little attention from healers (depending on role)

Yada yada yada

What it comes down to is not what people on this forum tell you, it's how confident you are in your abilities. Back when Ulduar was fresh, I joined a Malygos 25 run that one of our top guilds was having, they needed some DPS. I went as Cat DPS which wasn't very popular at the time. I didn't top their meters, but I came in 4th. The more important thing was that I was one of the first people to jump on a disc, taking out scions. I was one of the highest numbers on phase 3 damage. I always switched to the star in phase 1. Needless to say. they noticed. I applied. The next year was a blast with them.
EDIT: Forgot to add the important part. Before this, I hadn't gotten a single achievment in the Naxx10 guild I was in, we were barely downing KT and I had just started raiding a few months before for the first time. I'm also a WotLK baby.

TL;DR - Does it feel like you're ready? If so, back it up. Show them.

[Tuvok]

You don't really need all that shit.

If you're telling the truth about what kind of player you are you should be ok. See if you have a parse lying around on a guild website or something to show as a reference.

I wouldn't worry too much about that experience, you'd be surprised how far a well-written detailed application can be. If you can explain your situation in an intelligent way and assure them adequately that you are worth a trial it really doesn't matter if you killed Yogg.
Hell, it's almost a good thing you haven't been playing that long, it means you are fresh and encouraged - I burned out in Wrath, and don't know if I'll ever play again - so while my raiding experience dating back to vanilla may be a plus for me, the lack of motivation to play for yet more years is a negative.

Anyway, you seem like someone able to construct sentences well, write a nice long detailed application describing your goals and hopes, and what kind of player you are. Back it up with a parse if you can, and blow them away.

I guarantee you plenty of guilds would trial you if you did it well.

[Rhosis]

Most guilds will only take you if they missing a certain class, some of them keep a spot open for exceptional players but most dont. Try finding an Officer or apply on their website asking for a trial run( With no drops unless its passed by raid), this shows you willing to work and not be carried along.

[Radicalatom]

Thanks for all your input guys!

[babyback]

Most of the top guilds accept re-rollers and people with lesser gear. My guild just accepted a warlock who were in Naxx gear,. Yes, he had extreme good TBC experience but gear isnt all since it will be replaced early in Cata.

If guilds are ignoring you they are just elitist and narrow minded.