A Farewell to Bloodhoof

As I write this, the Bank of Nihao is packing everything up in preparation for a server move - off Bloodhoof and onto Nagrand, an Oceanic server. We've been discussing the move for more than a month now, and in light of our small raider base and our need to grow as we move deeper and deeper into Ulduar, it's a move that makes sense.

We're not leaving Bloodhoof without regrets. We're leaving behind friends we've known for a long time - friends with whom we've formed relationships with over vent and Guild/party/raid chat. We're leaving two of our raiders behind as well - which hurts our numbers even more than I care to think about, but that's the way it has to be, I guess.

Our last Bloodhoof raids this past weekend were glorious. We downed Flame Leviathan with one tower up, Razorscale, XT-002 Deconstructor, Kologarn, and Auriaya before clearing out Naxxramas and the Eye of Eternity. A few months ago, if you'd told me we would be at this level of progression, I would have laughed in your face. We've struggled so much with so many issues that it's a wonder we've achieved as much as we have.



We're moving off Bloodhoof because we're running out of raiders. In the past couple of weeks, we've lost a Retribution Paladin and a Balance Druid. For us to maintain our momentum, we need to recruit. Constantly borrowing raiders from GoV just isn't feasible any more. A server transfer to a GMT+8-friendly environment seemed the best option for us to continue raiding.

Nagrand is the unofficial GMT+8 server. When the first generation of ASTIG raiders moved on, a large group moved to Nagrand. (The current ASTIG raids on Thaurissan.) By my count, there are four large Asian-time Guilds making their way through Ulduar on Nagrand. That means that we won't have to wake up early on weekends to PUG Naxx-25; we'll have the opportunity to PUG on weeknights instead. It also means that recruitment will be easier for us, or at least we hope it will be easier.



Oh, but I will miss Bloodhoof.

Bloodhoof is where I moved after ASTIG went stale... after ASTIG gave up on endgame raiding. It's where I first stepped into SSC and TK and Hyjal. (I haven't tried raiding Black Temple or Sunwell yet, although I still hope to someday.) It's where Froufrou learned to raid.

Bloodhoof is where our little band of brothers first put together the thought of raiding together. When we first started playing together, we were officemates first and Guildies second. Now, we're Guildies first and (ex-)officemates second, bound by beer, Ventrilo and shiny purple pixels.

And now we're leaving Bloodhoof.



I am sorely tempted to close this blog now. I've lost a lot of the angst that drove me to start blogging in the first place, and when I need a quick fix I can just hop on Twitter and let the world know I'm annoyed at something.

If anything, though, this blog is about remembering things as they were when they were fresh. Reading old posts brings me back, sort of like reading an old diary. (My God, was I ever that naive?)

So here's what I can promise: I'll think about keeping this blog up. I really will. I don't want to commit and not follow through, but I also don't want to lose this blog entirely.

So farewell, Bloodhoof, and hello Nagrand: I'm looking forward to meeting you.