DrakeCrator

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again.

I may lead Rush the Rikti, but you, the players make it possible!

On top of that you, the players, are what make Rush the Rikti great because that is what it was tonight. We had two runs that I would personally define as epic.

Long live Protector!

Thank you again and I look forward to next week!

We're doing this again in just over an hour at 5PM Eastern, 2PM Pacific!

Thanks for that Stalemate. Good words that are accurate to what I wish to express. I have been on perfect raids, at least raids that I feel were perfect and those were lead by Blazing Blue and Storm Tiger. To me perfect raids are the ones I get to sit back and let the cogs turn without having to give instruction or watch like a hawk to keep the mob together.

I may, strike that, I do strive for perfection. I acknowledge that there's many different views on it and most of the time I am content to let people act as they will. After leading for a year I have adopted a system where I feel I am doing everything I can to ensure everyone gets a much credit as they can but understand that all the leadership and instruction in the world does not guarantee success. A single individual a few months ago caused a cataclysmic split at the GM that resulted in a majority of people not getting credit, another group being killed on the spot and a handful getting full credit for the GM. As to the high gains some people express could easily be due to fewer being able to claim part of those rewards because of deaths while participating in the raid.

I have, in the past, delegated different tasks to closer friends on the game but feel I have always been open and welcome others to contact me before the raid starts if they wish to do something in particular such as pull the GM or tank Pylons; or at least have always hoped and intended to be approachable in this manner. In those cases I ensure the individual is on my team, in some cases joining their team, so that we have a direct line of communication. (Some how I always end up with the star though.) This was done for Blazing Blue by me bringing my tank, Diffidentia Angelus, so that he did not have to worry about the point position during Pylons and pulling the GM enabling him to play alternate characters.

At the same time I’d like to remind everyone that this is a labor of love on my part and is done on a character that is getting virtually no rewards; I've capped Vanguard Merits (twice), have all the badges and am eager to see Incarnate Shards just like everyone else. I am taking time out every week to show up at least thirty minutes early (closer to an hour currently) on the same character and am (usually) exceedingly patient with everyone. I do this to ensure everyone else has a fair shot at rewards and has as much fun as possible.

My action this past Wednesday (2011-Jan-12) was not how I should have handled the situation presented to me. However, I invite everyone to look at it from my point of view. I work hard to ensure that everyone gets to have a good time, I try to keep it as fun as I can while still completing the typical objectives of Rush the Rikti, and take an inordinate amount of time to do all of this for the benefit of everyone else. So when there is a group who jump in a full two minutes early and they or others follow with disrespectful trash talk I don’t take kindly to it. It would be similar to someone being in Atlas during a Costume Contest showing up out of the blue and saying they’re a judge; then they continue it by arguing with the decision(s) of the true judge(s) on an open/visible channel.

I suppose I'd ultimately like to hear from more people, more often and in more detail about how they feel Rush the Rikti is doing and if there are any ways it can be improved; however, I'd like to do that over the forum rather than in game. In game works well enough for the typical thank you I get but not much beyond that; plus, I’d like to be as transparent as possible about recommendations. (Though I may ask to flesh out ideas over forum PM as to prevent confusion and clogging of the thread.)

After all, I’m only human.

I like leading RtR, I do it for everyone's enjoyment; I feel confident when I say: Last night was not for everyone's enjoyment. I fully admit that my own inaction caused events to turn badly.

For those who were not there, the night started off poorly from the jump which was early and had not been called for. In the scramble that followed I opted to distance myself from the night's proceedings including singling out an individual; which I now regret as he was not the cause of the night's events. I do apologize to Mr. Walton/@Mave, my actions were rash and unjustified.

I announced that I would not take part in any of the leadership aspects/roles of last night's RtR—I felt I had been disrespected and in turn disrespected and turned against the rest of you for the actions of a decidedly small group. The crime, if it can truly be called that, was simply over enthusiasm; an enthusiasm I try to encourage on any other night and feel is, at times, lacking.

Last night I found myself thinking:
What could I have done better?
throughout the raid.

My team was filled with good friends—people with five stars over their heads. Half of which had missed RtR for weeks and what they were presented with was shameful. I agree it does not take any great amount of intellect to call pylons—no offense to my predecessors whom I regard with the highest respect and admiration—the majority of people know the order by heart.

However, the uncoordinated efforts continued when we reached the ship and GM, which was pulled with no visible prompting or warning at a time when there was more Venge Bait than fighters. The push for the center staggered and stumbled all the way to the bowl.

Again, I admit my own inaction played a large part in the disastrous events at Rush the Rikti last night. In the future I will not abuse or take advantage of the good will of the players who make RtR possible. To that effect I ask for forgiveness from all parties, my actions were rash, immature and ill motivated.

I also forgive any and all jump starters at last night's RtR and ask that everyone else forgive them as well as they are not, truly, the ones whom should be blamed.

I look forward to leading RtR next Wednesday 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific.

Thank you,
Drake C.
@Drake Crator
Diffidentia Angelus

This is today everyone!

The Second Bombing Run will be at 5pm Eastern / 2pm Pacific!

Looks like I am going to officialy keep this as a weekly event, 5pm eastern/2pm pacific on Sundays.

Stalemate already added it to the calendar for me.

Like Hyper said before me, that was an absolutely spectacular run. There's a long chain of expletives that I'd like to add but cannot here.



Thank you all for participating!

The Plan
(Update identical from first post in thread.)

As of the time of this writing it has not been proven that the time of the Mother Ship Shields can as a fact be extended beyond the 34 hour window. We do have theories but have not, as of yet, been able to test them completely and may not have an opportunity to do so prior to our Bombing Run. This will not deter us.

Current plan is simple, as this is not truly a large task, just a challenge. We will proceed as a normal raid and destroy the Pylons; however, as opposed to planting bombs rapidly we will work carefully and diligently to plant bombs in a timely manner.

Ultimately, if the shield can be maintained in a downed state or not, we will work thus. We will start on the south section (Side A) of the ship as always and plant bombs on the left side of this section and only the left side until U'Kon'Grai is spawned, if the GM is not spawned by 3 bombs we will plant additional bombs on the right hand side until he is. Once the GM is dealt with we will proceed to the north west section (Side B), again planting on the left (south) first. Should the GM be spawned by this set of bombs he will be pulled and dealt with once more as per normal raid procedure. This pattern will repeat, going around the ship clock wise until no bombs are left to plant or until time runs out.

All teams will need to move as a unit as we will not be able to camp the center of the ship while making our attempt at this bombing run; however, this should not be an issue.

I am currently looking for team leads to take point and more people to volunteer to be Ronin players that are not tied to a team and can thus plant and alt as needed.

Thank you again,
Drake Crator
aka Diffidentia Angelus

Aye, bombing run is still a go.

Who knows, maybe that 34 minute limit can be broken with enough bombs.

Protector is planning a Bombing Run on New Years Day.

Mother Ship Bombing Run

Quick filling in of changes to original post.

Do to testing during our weekly runs it has been determined that there is a strict 34 minute limit on the shields; however, the event is in no way canceled.

Instead of having multiple rounds of bomb planting we'll Ronin/Wandering players that Alt mid raid to accomplish the goal of the bombing run.

I'll be giving more detail at a reasonable hour, presumably this weekend.

Thank you all for your interest and the continued success of our weekly raids.

There's a good chance I will not be home for tomorrow night's raid, real life is a pain some times.

However, there is no reason to fear, Stone Daemon (@Stone Daemon), who's been my wing-man leading the raids for a few months now (including pulling the GM), will be leading tomorrow night while I miss my first Rikti Raid in a very very very long time.

Well I'd love to test it out and see what happens.

Hello to all my fellow Protectors! We're having nice solid turn outs for Rush the Rikti (AKA Mother Ship Raids, AKA Rikti Raids); admittedly, some do not go as well as others but the good significantly out weigh the bad. I want to take a chance and thank each and every person who comes out to Rush the Rikti on Wednesdays and especially those that come out to unscheduled raids that I and others have done.

So: Thank you! All of you make each and every raid possible.

Now then, to the new topic at hand: I would like to personally invite everyone to a Mother Ship Bombing Run on New Years Day. What is a bombing run you ask? A Bombing Run is when we assault the mother ship and plant a bomb at every bomb site on the ship. All eight-teen (18). So those of you that need the bombs this will be a great opportunity.

For now, this is only an initial announcement and I will be working with others to lead this.

When:
New Years Day
Saturday, January 1st, 2011
4 PM Eastern / 3 PM Central / 2 PM Mountain / 1 PM Pacific (Time has be adjusted to be One Hour earlier to allow for Hamidon Raid to proceed at regularly scheduled time.)

Do to testing performed during weeklies we have determined the maximum time for the shields to be down is 34 minutes; this has changed the plans a bit.

Unlike our typical runs of Rush the Rikti forming random Pick Up Groups will not see us through to a successful Bombing Run. All teams will need to be balanced and working together through out the raid.

In addition, the strict 34 minute time table will force us to have Ronin or Wandering players; to that effect we'll need 8 to 12 people who are willing and able to alt mid raid. More details to be presented later.

If you feel up to the task please speak up by replying with your Global Handle, preferred Character, their AT and power sets and if you are willing to be a Ronin/Wandering player please speak up.

The Plan

As of the time of this editing (2010-12-23 0300 GMT) it has not been proven that the time of the Mother Ship Shields can as a fact be extended beyond the 34 minute window. We do have theories but have not, as of yet, been able to test them completely and may not have an opportunity to do so prior to our Bombing Run. This will not deter us.

The Plan is simple, as this is not truly a large task, just a challenging one. We will proceed as a normal raid and destroy the Pylons; however, as opposed to planting bombs rapidly we will work carefully and diligently to plant bombs in a timely manner.

Ultimately, if the shield can be maintained in a downed state or not, we will work thus. We will start on the south section (Side A) of the ship as always and plant bombs on the left side of this section and only the left side until U'Kon'Grai is spawned, if the GM is not spawned by 3 bombs we will plant additional bombs on the right hand side until he is. Once the GM is dealt with we will proceed to the north west section (Side B), again planting on the left (south) first. Should the GM be spawned by this set of bombs he will be pulled and dealt with once more as per normal raid procedure. This pattern will repeat, going around the ship clock wise until no bombs are left to plant or until time runs out.

All teams will need to move as a unit as we will not be able to camp the center of the ship while making our attempt at this bombing run; however, this should not be an issue.

I am currently looking for team leads to take point and more people to volunteer to be Ronin players that are not tied to a team and can thus plant and alt as needed.

Thank you again,
Drake Crator
aka Diffidentia Angelus

(This post may be edited at a later date for further details and information regarding the event described.)

Hi AIB - I believe we've played a few times (that or there another AIB running around on a WS). I'm Diffidentia Angelus, Adonis Soul, Solar Baron, Constantine Krauss and the current leader of Rush the Rikti / Mother Ship Raids on Wednesdays.

Personal thanks to everyone who took the time away from Praetoria to participate in the Raid last week - it was a success and I look forward to doing it again tonight.

Update Sept 8, 2010 - 10:48 Eastern. Two successful Raids tonight, looking forward to more raids in the coming weeks!

Thought it might be prudent to take a moment to refresh everyone.

Yes, Rush the Rikti, known to some as Mother Ship Raid, is going strong with the primary RWZ at capacity or a half dozen short.

For anyone that wants to join us we do it every Wednesday at 9PM Eastern, 8PM Central, 7PM Mountain or 6PM Pacific (depending on your region).

At present I cannot accommodate two runs every Wednesday, I do try but we also tend not to have the participation necessary for a second run most nights.

On another note: I have been asked by a few people at various times if it would be possible to schedule additional Raids. Yes, I would love to do this more often and just need the participation of other players to permit doing so.

I have tried in the past to get additional Rush the Rikti/Mother Ship Raids to run on other nights but have, as of yet, not been successful. I am open to most nights and most weekend afternoons to accommodate those with work schedules that do not permit them to participate in our Wednesday night raids.

I'd love to hear from people, feel free to PM me in game @Drake Crator or hit me back here on the forums!

Thanks all, you make Rush the Rikti possible!

Personal opinion from me is a Fire/Energy blaster - Boost Range is a huge bonus and Fire does exceptional damage. Energy Manipulation is primarily melee which helps with soloing.

I feel that a general lack of regularity with Hamidon Raids on Protector is likely the largest contributing factor to the failure of last night's Hamidon Raid. (This is not a knock at the normal Hamidon Raid Leaders it is simply something that may contribute.) Rush the Rikti works like a well oiled machine because we do it every week and some times twice in a single night. A few months ago (I want to say August) we completed four Rikti Raids in a single night due to having two Rikti War Zones going at the same time. I know RWZ2 had two successful campaigns and I was informed of similar for the primary RWZ. If Rush the Rikti was not done as often as it was I feel that the second zone would have had only a team or two and lack the people necessary to complete the task.

I will certainly be joining any Hamidon Raids that come up to better learn the ins and outs of Hamidon Raiding.

Thanks BB - good to have everyone there this week. Got a good turn out and lookforward to continuing it.

I want to personally thank everyone who took part in the attempt of Raiding Hamidon this evening. Unfortunately, many things went wrong - I myself am not without fault. Sadly the mistakes of the first raid have doomed the second. The Hamidon spawned very quickly after only a hand full of Devouring Earth GMs were defeated and thusly, very very few EoEs could be obtained.

Again, I thank everyone who came to participate and I do fully intended to at least take part in Hamidon Raids and perhaps lead them more often as well.