Jankage - Combat Rogue

A. Basic Information

   * Name? Jake
   * Age? Gender? Occupation? 25, Male. MIS Grad/Lead bartender at a prominent micro brewery in downtown Omaha, NE.
   * Tell us a little about yourself. I'm a pretty normal guy. I live by myself and have for the past several years in my own apartment (steady income, living situation, transportation, and internet). I bartend several days a week while building/maintaining a few websites for some local businesses on the side, but nothing too crazy.

B. System Information

   * What are your system specs? Core 2 Dup E6550 @ 2.33GHz, 4GB Ram, Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT, and I play on Windows 7.
   * Do you have any objections to speaking on vent when needed? No, not at all.
   * Any disconnection problem at all? Average Latency while raiding? 99.9% of the time, None at all. Every now and then during a late night 10 man I'll get a several minute pocket of cable modem resets. I'm assuming this is overnight maintenance being done by Cox. It only ever happens around 3am CST, but again, this is very rare. Average latency to LA is ~130ms.

   * Post a speed test from http://www.speedtest.net/ (Use the Dallas test server)

* Post a ping test from http://www.pingtest.net/ (Use the Dallas test server)

* Average FPS in raid during a boss? I run around 30-60fps depending on the fight environment. My FPS performance never dips low enough to the point where I notice sluggishness and it most certainly never has a negative impact on my game play. Even while frapsing everything stays very playable.

C. Raiding and Character information

1. Character Name | Spec | Class | Race (Horde Race upon acceptance)
Jankage | Combat | Rogue | Human → Troll
2. Are you a clicker? Be honest
I don't click anything.
3. Are you exalted with Sons of Hodir?
Yes

4. What is your raiding experience Pre-BC? In BC? WoTLK? Specify the guilds you were in/leadership role/responsibility. I joined Bushido Blade on Suramar before Sunwell was released. I stayed with BB for several months of BT clears and then the first two bosses in Sunwell. At this point, the summer slump hit and the top alliance guild on Suramar (Old School) had some roster issues and needed to fill their holes with our members as we were the #2 alliance side guild. They had two solid rogues and no reason to bring on a third so I took a break from raiding until The All Mighty asked me to fill a full time rogue raid spot. We were working on Felmyst when the pre-wrath patch came out and made Sunwell a joke. Our biggest issues were slow mass dispels and players reacting to encap (so the whole fight then? Yes, pretty much). The next raid night after the patch we cleaned up Felmyst, Twins, and Muru. The guild decided to call it quits for the expansion after just a couple pulls on KJ. This bothered me quite a bit, but I hung around and leveled up with TAM and stayed for OS, Naxx, and EoE at 80.

It was at this point that I was promoted to officer and class leader. After being in an officer position for awhile and wanting more out of the game I prompted discussions on our officer forums about what the expectations and goals were for the guild. It didn't take long to realize that you can't simply change an entire guilds mindset towards raiding. Players in a guild at that level (3000th world) will mostly be content with skipping achievements and not pushing hard modes.

I wanted more as a raider. I started looking around on EJ's LFGuild forums for a realm first raiding guild who expected more out of their raiders and had higher goals for Ulduar. I found my current guild, Eternal, and I have been with them for the past 14+ months. I transferred over and immediately showed my desire to raid and perform at a high level. I was given a spot in the 10 man PTR raids and was a permanent fixture in live raids immediately following that. I spent time in vent during our post-PTR raid strat discussions and was always on top of the rogue theory craft.

TL;DR
Raid experience in Eternal includes: US 135th t8. US 123rd Alone in the Darkness. US 128th t9. US 139th Tribute to Insanity. Currently, US 155th t10. 11/12 HC ICC25, working on H-LK. H-Halion and H-LK kills on 10 man.

During my time in Eternal I've had responsibilities such as keeping track of and updating DKP, initiating, setting up, and running 10 man raids for mains and alts, and have been offered an officer position more than once.

5. Provide an armory link to your character and a wowhead link to your normal raiding spec.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Scarlet+Crusade&cn=jankage
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fhg00tLZMgVo0cxqru0xRt:kNhVmz

My other spec is a rupture spec. I would switch specs back and forth several times through out an ICC raid based on fight to maximize DPS, but even on the spank and tank fights my evis only spec had been coming out ahead, so I hardly use the rupture spec. As far as glyphs are concerned, I run with stacks of all relevant glyphs in my bags. I'm fully aware of the benefits of tricks glyph in terms of extra threat transfer as well as raid DPS. I'm also aware of how the evis glyph is a personal DPS increase, but still is still my least valuable glyph and the first one I rotate out when needed.

6. You will need lots of consumables to keep up with the pace during progression raids. Do you have the will and time to put in enough effort to keep an adequate amount?
Yes, I have no issues with farming mats or buying them. I have never had any concerns about burning through consumables. I eat ArP food and speed pot before the pull even on our H-LK learning. I'm always going to use whatever I can to push out every bit of performance. Also, my priest alt is an Alch to easily make flasks/pots for myself.

7. Will you come to a progression raid having already read any available information relevant to encounters?
Yes, I will. I greatly enjoyed PTR raiding in Ulduar and being a part of the learning phase before the raid was even live. Unfortunately, my guild got away from that in ICC and I was limited to learning from kill videos and encounter discussions on the EJ rogue forum. This is one reason I'm leaving my current guild.

8. What do you think about beginning raids early and staying beyond the required raid times to down new content?
I'm very much for this. I'm not just a raid logger when there's content to push. I'll be on before and after raids. I also play a couple alts at a decently high level and enjoy pugging ICC with them on off days/down time. I think being able to tank, heal, and DPS fights on a few other toons helps me understand my role better and how I can make other players jobs easier. When to cloak infest myself, at what points the healers will be most stressed, and when tricks will free up a few GCDs for the tank to use some raid utility abilities, or let all other DPS start immediately on an add(s), etc..

9. Post a WWS report / Wow Meter Online / World of Logs of a few recent raids in your guild. If your guild does not run these, post a screenshot(s) of your recount for some boss encounters. (DO NOT LEAVE THIS OUT)
My personl WoL: http://worldoflogs.com/guilds/61878/
Eternal's WoL: http://www.worldoflogs.com/guilds/938/

Specific note worthy fights:
7/13 18.2k Marrowgar: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-ty53vr81hfieq57i/sum/damageDone/?s=243&e=389

7/13 17.5k Saurfang: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-ty53vr81hfieq57i/sum/damageDone/?s=2965&e=3135
7/06 17.3k Saurfang: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-47qd0twyg9mijxd3/sum/damageDone/?s=2680&e=2860
6/22 17.4k Saurfang: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-ft5vymas0dn5lrrh/sum/damageDone/?s=3749&e=3933

7/13 16.6k Festergut: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-ty53vr81hfieq57i/sum/damageDone/?s=5556&e=5769
7/06 17.5k Festergut: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-ct3ccizldlnjchn5/sum/damageDone/?s=5038&e=5262

My 6/22 Saurfang kill started out as 9th, but has since slid down the list. I've ranked in the top 50 for combat rogues in fights from Rotfrace to Prince Council. I haven't taken any upgrades since 6/22 and as a result my numbers have stayed fairly consistent since. I provided the three Saurfang parses to show this. I like to look at Festergut parses to evaluate players since there is a little movement, some spatial awareness, and defensive ability useage in this fight. I feint blight and do not get hit by goo.

10. Post a screenshot of your UI while in a raid enviroment (in combat). (Give a list of any relevant addons not shown.)
http://members.cox.net/jankage/jankss2.jpg

These are all from H-LK, but they show some different bars, cooldowns, and procs that I track. I understand a potential short coming of my UI would be the fact that my player and target frames are up in the top left. I have played with frames stacked on the middle-left side of my screen as well as those frames on the bottom of my screen above my bars. I'm definitely not opposed to having my HP placed on the bottom, right in front of my face.

I did a quick movie of my H-Halion 10 kill which you can see here for more insight:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rmb1uhO82J8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Rmb1uhO82J8</a>

D. Dual Spec

1. What is your secondary spec?
Combat with rupture and a different glyph set up. Currently, my evis spec gives me the best performance across the board on every fight. I rotate glyphs when needed. (example: tricks glyph replaces evis glyph on H-Halion/H-LK for more reliably getting adds to the off tank)

2. Are you able to play it as well as your main spec?
Yes, they were interchangeable based on fight. Since this question is probably aimed more towards my ability to play mutilate, my answer would be yes to that as well. I played mutilate in Naxx and for the first several months of Ulduar. I switched to combat in mid/late Ulduar when the combat CDs were more beneficial on the majority of the Ulduar fights that mattered. In ToGC and ICC I have stayed combat to give the raid savage combat, as well as proper CD usage at crucial times.

3. Are you willing to change your main spec and/or secondary spec for guild needs?
I have no issues flipping between either spec or adjusting my secondary spec/glyphs as needed. I keep 4+ of each glyph in my bags. Beyond just my class, I was the player who would swap to Unholy DK when ours was MIA and we were working on heroic deathwhisper and EP was critical. I was also the player who would swap to play Disc when we had issues there.

E. Professions

1. What are your 2 professions? if they are not maxed to the level of profession perks, why not?
Enchanting and JC. Both are maxed.

2. If you have a gathering profession/non-optimal race, what is stopping you from changing it to benefit you more?
I've had enchanting from when I started my character so I've just stuck with it. My other profession was LW in BT/SWP as I was an integral part of the melee groups drum rotation. Once the drum bit was removed I changed to JC since it offered the biggest raid benefit to rogues at the time. I made the profession change over the span of a few hours and I will most definitely never be without the full benefit of both professions for any raid content.

F. Other Questions

1. What guild are you currently in? Who is/was the GM? Include their website.
Eternal on Scarlet Crusade. Kdorf is the GM and RL. www.EternalSC.com

2. Why are you leaving your current guild?
Everything about Eternal is fine as far as guild structure, logistics, and leadership is concerned. The variable that I can not easily change though is the range of performance in the raid. I've posted multiple times in our forums to try to motivate players to increase personal output and have done my best to lead by example when it comes to double potting and efficient active time across all fights for the whole duration of the raid; new content and old. This guild has functioned just fine with the goals and expectations that they have set forth and have followed for the past five years with the majority of the raiders being very content with this level of average play. Any attempt by myself to change this environment has only had adverse affects. Due to this, I believe the best thing for me is to move up.

You could describe Eternal as a hardcore friends and family guild. Our raid spots are not given/earned based on performance. As a result, there are players who are unmotivated to constantly better themselves. It gets frustrating when I play up to my highest theoretical limits, but then see that not every one else in the raid is trying to do the same. It's particularly frustrating when top end guilds are running Saurfang kills around 2:30 and my group is finishing just over 3 minutes with the 25% buff (just one example to put the performance gap in perspective). Other frustrations include player(s) afk during H-LK getting shadow trapped, consistent internet connection issues from the same raiders with critical roles, consistent sub-par performance from the same raiders, as well as filling our summer attendance holes with players who clearly have not raided at a high level before and are not ready for it now. From lack of knowledge regarding basic raid concepts, movement, and efficiency, to specific class knowledge (gems/spec/rotation).

3. Do you play actively outside of raiding?
Currently, I'm raiding on my main M,T,W,TH from 8pm-12 CST. On any given Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I'm also raiding on alts up to as late as 3am. I rarely raid on Friday and Saturday at this time, but my current guild is a wasteland on those nights and it's usually when I'm at work making the most money.

I play three other toons aside from the rogue.
Priest: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Scarlet+Crusade&cn=Jinkage
DK: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Scarlet+Crusade&cn=Junkage
Pala: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Scarlet+Crusade&cn=Jnkztu

With these three, I have experience playing blood tank, DW frost DPS, unholy DPS, disc, shadow, and holy for the paladin. 264+ gear for all specs would be indicative of my activity outside of main raiding.

4. Are you able to take and improve upon harsh criticism?
Very much so. I pay attention and am always trying to improve myself without needing any outside influence. That's just the type of person I am. Even if the current content outside of H-LK doesn't require min-maxing, I've always required it of myself. I check my performance and try to build on that whether it be via rotation efficiency or increased active time. I'm always trying to be more efficient with my GCDs and CDs as well as an all around better player. I'll always take any piece of criticism with an open mind, no matter how harsh. I also have no problems with admitting when I screwed up. I'll give reasons, rather than excuses if something goes wrong or I am at fault. I don't believe lag or fps are ever reasons for not being able to perform. I prefer bluntness and open communication.

With that said, I am not a project. I believe I play this class to its fullest potential and I have a sound understanding of raid expectations and principles.

5. There will be Bench time. Everyone will have to sit at one point in time or another. Are you okay with this?
Yes, I'm very okay with this. I like to raid, and will always be one of the players who WANTS to raid, even if it's the previous tier content, but when it comes time to benching for whatever reason I will do what's best for the raid group without question. I currently raid with two other rogues and we are very easy going when it comes to subbing in and out for boss fights depending on what's needed.

The rogue has always been my main so I'm very aware of group comp and in which situations it makes the most sense to sit an extra rogue for a certain class that is more beneficial. I've been doing this for my entire raid career.

6. Why are you interested in joining CUTIES ONLY? do you currently know anyone in CUTIES?
I want to join Cuties to play with a group, of what I believe, to be like-minded players. I like to play this game at a very high level. I demand results and performance above all else. I believe this guild has the same expectations and ideals as myself and this would make a nice fit for the type of player that I am.

7. What are the other guilds you applied to? any particular reason why you are shopping for multiple guilds? keep in mind we do have very good contacts in other guilds, your omission on certain information may be held against you.
I have not applied to any other guilds.

8. If your application is accepted. What kind of raider can we expect you to be? Give a brief description of your attitude towards raiding in both progression and farm content. Does your level of play decline during the farm period?
You can expect me to be a dedicated raider. I've stayed with each of my last guilds for over a year. I have a flexible work schedule that allows me to switch day/night time availability with just a weeks notice, as well as take vacation time for new instance releases.

In regards to raiding new and old content, I will always be the player who wants to be in these raids. I'll never be the first person to volunteer to hop out of the raid when we go back to do ToGC or the like, but I will sit when needed without issue. I will volunteer if I look at the raid comp and see that my position is the easiest to cut out for bringing in another class (as a rogue I'm quite used to this situation). With that said, I enjoy raiding. I play this game to raid. From progression to farm, from early in the raid to the end of the night, you can be sure I want to be there and will be playing at a high level. For these reasons, I believe I am a raider that will benefit your guild rather than hinder it.

9. How can we contact you outside of the game? AIM, Email, etc...

jankage(at)cox(dot)net or through these forums