In March this year Carnage Inc will be 11 years old.... 11 whole years of playing this game! I never in my wildest dreams thought that a seeming naff gift of a battle chest would turn into so many late nights, early mornings, laughter, tears and so many amazing friendships that have latest even when game time expired! So why this post? Why now? What's it all about. Those of you who know me well will be thinking 'oh god, Shell's on an emotional one again' lol. And you may well be right, because even though I have not been playing wow for quite some time, Carnage Inc and the friendships forged there have always been in my heart. And yes, I’m sat here right now with a tear in my eye waiting for Tapps to look up from building one of the kid’s games and groan 'oh god, what are you crying for stupid?' lol. He knows more than most how much Carnage Inc has meant to me over the years.
Through all the expansions that have been and gone I still hold tight to Wrath and wish with all my heart that I could feel the magic I felt back then. It truly was the best time for me and I am sure for many of you reading this too. Carnage Inc back then had not long begun and we were pretty crap, but naturally thought otherwise. We bumbled out way through Naxx, always got lost on the way and was forever telling Crem not to kill Mr. Biggleworth (that poor bloody cat) lol, Dray always died to the slimes after Patchwork, BUT we had fun and made some amazing memories. Carnage Inc evolved over time and we got better and better and found ourselves competing with Charlie Foxtrot for the top 25-man guild on the Server. We came to a point where we outgrew Saufang and moved the entire guild to a new sever. We continued to grow, and I tried my hardest to hold on the guild values and our guild motto 'A forged friendship, an unstoppable power' but sadly this wasn't always soo easy. Guild loyalty wasn't high on people’s priorities, raiders were forever looking for the fastest way to kill a boss and progress. And I began to accept that no raider was irreplaceable. This was a bitter pill to swallow. Yes, we got the kills and climbed the ranks and continued to do so through the good, bad, and ugly all the way to date. And kudos to Tapps and the Officers and Raiders for taking Carnage to new heights in mythic raiding. Sadly, once again the need for more overtook guild loyalty and Carnage Inc was forced to stop Mythic progress with raiders seeking faster progress. It seems that without meaning to Carnage fell fate to elitism. And d'ya know, it's okay to want more, but constantly seeking more despite friendships and guild loyalty was NEVER what Carnage Inc was about. I guess that throughout life each of us find ourselves wanting different things from the game. And I for one am the worst for accepting 'it's just a game' but at the end of the day it is. And the way I see it is all raiders have a common goal - to kill bosses, right? Now I am not stupid enough to think it's as simple as take 20 players/friends and go kill bosses, not for Mythic raiding anyway. And there are many different levels of player within the game, and bottom line is some are Mythic raiders, some are not! And that's okay! We used to be a guild for everyone. We had a Mythic raid team ever progressing and then on non-raid nights we had a packed calendar of fun runs, old skool raids, mount runs etc. We were such a tight community that when it came to the end of a tier it was a case of 'no man left behind' after every raider had their tier mount we continued to farm until the bitter end for everyone else in the guild. That's what Carnage was about, achieving things as a guild, helping each other and maybe not being THE BEST but always being the best, we could be, and that was all that mattered! Okay, so I am rambling now, and you may be thinking this is all very nice but what's the point? Well as many of you know I have not played wow for some time, short of logging in and running about Dalaran reminiscing. Am I able to raid Mythic? Hell yes, I am a Mythic raider! But the reality is that life has largely got in the way and I’m seriously lacking in gear and practice. I am currently capable of nothing more than trying to get my wow mojo back and see where it takes me. I make no promises and tell no lies. I can't promise you all we will smash Mythic raiding, we will get server rankings and all the other stuff a mythic raiders heart desires. But I can tell you this... I wear my heart on my sleeve and genuinely have faith that there are many of you out there of all different abilities that feel the same as me about wow. Nothing is impossible with friends if you try hard enough. So here is a chance, for all of you; friends of Carnage Inc old and new to return to Carnage and see what we can achieve together. For some that may mean trying to form a raid team, for some it may not be raid focussed, whatever your focus I am confident that I can reach out to so many of the amazing people I have had the pleasure to play with over the years and implore you to take a leap of faith and try to make Carnage what it always was.... HOME! If you’re with me then please give me a message in game: shell#2116 and we can take it from there. CARNAGE FOR LIFE!!
Please take a moment to share a memory below, I'd love to hear from you all! x
