Enigma is one of the most prominent brotherhoods in the kingdom of Deathwing and its members are very committed to facing the greatest challenges that World of Warcraft offers in each dungeon. A guild at the top of the US - with many "Kingdom First!" Plus other notable achievements, including Conqueror of Ulduar, Observed (25 player), Alone in Darkness (25 player). j.) and A tribute to madness (25 j.).
They recently completed The Frostwing Halls in Icecrown Citadel in its 10- and 25-player versions for the first forty-eight hours since it opened (in patch 3.3.2), after which they finished off the Lich King. the first of his kingdom the following week. Enigma quickly gets down to business every time new band content is released. Although like the rest of the guilds, Enigma has a pool of players from all corners of the United States, it has an incredibly competent and mature bandleader at nineteen years of age, who also has a vast knowledge of the complex mechanics of World of Warcraft game. We recently interviewed Fraya, Enigma Guildmaster, to share with us his experiences as a successful party leader and as a dedicated player in the World of Warcraft community.
First of all, how long has Enigma been dealing with band content and what led to its creation?
Enigma was formed two weeks before the release of Wrath of the Lich King, with the purpose of clearly standing out from the rest of the competition in our realm, Deathwing. Despite all our efforts, at first when we started inviting people, things seemed uncertain. Duffmanoyea and I had tried to gather people to create a nucleus of the best, but so many people ended up backing down that we had to get together with some players that we had previously struggled with. It wasn't just that, but when Wrath of the Lich King came out we were barely twenty members. Fortunately, the first few weeks went quite well for us. Many players came out of nowhere and took an interest in our guild, plus the three opening stays rewarded everyone who rushed in there, rather than the more organized groups. From that moment on, everything got better.
We couldn't help but notice that you have the Warlord title from the pre-launch battlefield scoring system of The Burning Crusade. How long have you been playing World of Warcraft and how old were you when you started?
When World of Warcraft was in beta, my older brother had a friend who was very into it. He was the one who planted the idea in my head, but at the time I was 14 years old and the Defense of the Ancients map for Warcraft III was the only game I had spent a decent amount of time on. At the time, paying a monthly subscription seemed pretty ridiculous to me and I'm sure if I had convinced my brother to do it, he would never have played. At first he was a fairly casual player. So when I turned 15 and my personal circumstances changed, I had enough time to earn the title of Warlord. You could say that I have become a hardcore gamer ever since. As for the title, it stays forever, unless you withdraw it. Don't do it, please.
Are there any notable events or memories since you started playing?
There are two very special to me. The first is the week after I became a Warlord, hanging my title around with all the time in the world. To get that title I had to play battlegrounds non-stop for a long time. Most of those who were trying to achieve the title of Great Warlord were burned halfway and stayed in General, which was a shame after all the effort invested. Fortunately, for a Feral druid like me, Warlord was the furthest he needed to go. I was completely euphoric, it was the best week I had in World of Warcraft. The second was the first time we beat Kael'thas. One night, it was late enough, the whitebait was starting to reappear and the whole band was in a foul mood, so even though we still had time, no one wanted to clear it all up again. 80% of the band wanted to leave. A few of us, who wanted to continue, managed to drag the others to clear everything again and after a few more attempts, that was the moment in which we achieved our first victory, after five weeks of effort and a hiatus of three months in the brotherhood between them.
What aspects of the game have kept you hooked and playing all this time?
Honestly, my Enigma teammates are what keeps me playing right now. The new content and the important changes keep me interested, but after all this time I already know all the corners of World of Warcraft. For newcomers, World of Warcraft is now better locked than ever. It's the crazy changes that keep farts like us interested, those that touch the foundations of the style of play, whether we agree with them or not.
What were the first experiences with World of Warcraft that got you into raid missions and then led you to be a Guild Leader?
Let's go back to the time of the Warlord. If you wanted to be successful in the old PvP system, you created a battlefield group and went to fight all the random groups in exchange for honor. When the guy who ran my group before me got the title, I took on his responsibilities and did everything I could to make sure everyone had a good time. After getting the title he had a pretty solid reputation in the kingdom. And I chose to join the sorority that seemed most suitable. A few months later a position was opened as an officer without rank and it occurred to me that I could do a good job. You learn a lot of things when you start leading. I fell on my face thinking that if I was good and fair to everyone, they would do their best out of respect, but that was not the case. It was a bit disappointing. It is surprising to find that being rational and logical to calm a person does not work, but a slap in the face does. It took me a bit to figure that out, and I still haven't stopped learning things. The characteristics of good leadership and organizing people are practically endless, and that will always keep me hooked. However, you must never take your eyes off yourself, you must make sure that you do things right and for the right reasons. Either way, a year later the brotherhood started to collapse and I was the person everyone pointed to to take the next step. I have remained in that position ever since.
How many raid dungeons have you cleared since then, not counting the ones you have retryed upon reaching a higher level?
My previous progression level was nothing to write home about. It went all the way to the defeat of the Twin Emperors in the original World of Warcraft, with some successes here and there in Naxxramas in 40-player mode and even Felmyst in The Burning Crusade. It has been recently, with Enigma, when we have managed to be the first of the kingdom and much less (the last weeks) that we have had a continental impact. Being at the top feels great.
Since your guild belongs to a PvP realm, how much do you dedicate to PvP? Do you have organized battlefield groups or do you maintain Arena teams on a regular basis?
At the guild level only a few of us are really into PvP. Although I have nothing against PvP. Now the Arenas are pretty balanced. In my personal opinion, since my old Arenas teammates stopped playing, I feel quite ashamed of my status in PvP. For a few months in Season 3 I was ranked the highest Feral Druid in the world, but I don't even have Gladiator at 80. Finding someone good and keeping up has gotten quite difficult lately in our realm. When it comes to battlefields, they have now become the prelude to a bigger goal (Arenas). Whether Enigma wants to participate in the battlefields in Cataclysm will be up to them, but we will have to allocate a specific group to PvP.
What was your experience earning the For the Horde! Achievement? Did you get that achievement with the brotherhood?
I'm pretty sure we did it as a sorority, but it's not that bad either. We tried it once at level 70 with about 40 people and were humiliated upon reaching Tyrande. The DPS caster had something like a 3% chance to hit with a spell, kind of insane. At level 80, however, it was quite affordable. After getting the achievement I realized that the antics are very interesting. For example, killing auctioneers or having forty people chase a level 6 gnome for 45 minutes.
Are you very rigorous in your brotherhood with the meetings for bands? For example, do you place a lot of importance on 10-player content with multiple dedicated groups, compared to 25-player matches?
Rigorous? Well, it's not that exaggerated. We have meetings about sixteen hours a week, with four extra hours a week in case we don't feel like doing more. Most of the time we end up doing about eight hours a week. I don't think anyone has ever dropped out because they were too tired from meeting at night. When it comes to 10-player content, it only takes priority over a group of 25 players if we need to use that group of 10 to teach us a boss. Usually on Tuesdays we send a group as close to the reboot of the kingdom to learn as much as possible, but on a main meeting night we send three groups simultaneously. The most advanced thing that has been done lately in the subject of encounters, of the type changing the brotherhood to have a second chance during the week, is to use the alternate characters to supply equipment to the main ones. For a few weeks we sent two guild groups to Icecrown Citadel for 25 players, and we only had 30 players in total. Some sororities make many more attempts, up to four for each stay and per person. This does not work in any weekly progression, as you would have the necessary characters to finish a boss scattered in different rooms.
Has the Icecrown Citadel, and more specifically the encounter with the Lich King, provided your brotherhood with an enjoyable experience thus far?
The Icecrown Citadel has been excellent for us. It was the first time I've seen how far a PvE map goes. The only downside I have found so far in Icecrown Citadel is the same as most advanced players, the level of difficulty. Apart from that, everything has been fantastic, the wing at the end with the bosses was very good, and the Lich King himself is not just anybody. He is undoubtedly the most difficult boss in the room, and the duration of the fight is in line with the character's story. My favorite boss on this ranch is Putricidio.
As the game is constantly evolving, how do you expect your guild to react to the upcoming changes in Cataclysm?
It just depends on how much Cataclysm changes. I really hope the game changes significantly. Adaptability is one of the most important qualities of a player. It will give me a good insight into the transition of our members in the face of changes in their class, maybe some of them will be lucky and come up with a style of play that fits this expansion or maybe some of them will become the world leaders in mathematical analysis. of the "theorycraft" game about the changes to come. It would be interesting to see from my point of view how the quality of the core of our band varies when it is a clean slate.
You obviously have a great pool of committed members, but are you still looking for new members? If so, what do you usually look for and how do you apply?
All guilds have to recruit people at one point or another. Personally, I am of the opinion that a guild should be constantly recruiting people, or at least pending applications. The classes and specs we are looking for can vary from month to month as people drop out and have to be replaced, or sometimes we decide that someone is no longer up to scratch. If anyone is interested, the recruitment process begins on our page http://enigma-dw.com/. If any application looks good, it passes a trial month and then its incorporation is put to a vote.