WHOA were we overdue for an update, or what!?



Since our last update so many ages ago, we have been busy busy, combating a rash of RL monster attacks on our raiders, and yet still managing to kill 11/12 heroic in ICC, RS, get our asses kicked by Heroic Halion and Lich King (hard to beat them with RL monster on their side), and finally after all that was done, we decided to go and get some new mounts to commemorate the occasion! (hot tandem-wing-flapping pix below)



And personally I'm glad we waited to work on mounts or we'd have all died from boredom with how long its taking to get some new content! We can only re-enact the Battle of Hymen Hill so many weeks in a row, after all.



Thankfully, Cataclysm is coming soon, and we are making BIG PLANS for VoA. Members and visitors alike, read on:



If you're looking for a home this expansion, I can promise you there will be no better guild environment than VoA, on our server, at least! We're the oldest guild on the server, and there's a reason for our longtime success. We've ALWAYS tried to offer a real home to our guildmates, with numerous benefits beyond hardmode kills and epics. Guilds come and go every few months, always failing from biased and corrupt leadership, mercenary attitudes with no loyalty to each other, poor loot systems, and host of other tragic reasons.



Yet VoA always soldiers on, smashing content in each new patch. We've got the best team of officers on the server, the best loot system on the server (maybe ANYWHERE once we make the tweaks we are planning for Cata), and the tightest family atmosphere on the server.



We've got a lot planned for Cataclysm, and we're looking to add to our community so we have plenty of people to participate in all the stuff we're going to be doing:



- TWO 25-man raids - Our current 2 raids are both flourishing and we plan to race one another to the top in Cata. Hopefully we can get a second JUKEBOX going in vent so both raids can have one even when I'm not around.



- Multiple PvP teams - Rated Battlegrounds REALLY appeal to this guild, because our main emphasis is hanging out with each other and having a good time. What better way than to get 20+ guildies together and kill some Horde?



- Big emphasis on guild leveling and guild achievements. We already KNOW we have the best guild community with the best BENEFITS to its members anywhere around, and guild achievements and rewards will finally let us show it. :)



- MAJOR payouts to guild members to celebrate the end of WOTLK - In what is become my favorite guild tradition, we celebrate the end of an expansion by emptying our MASSIVE guild bank into the pockets of our loyal members. It's just one of the many things we do to give free shit to our loyal members. Lylissa is not only a great businessman, he's very creative when it comes to giving away all our hard-earned shit!



- Major overhaul of our DKP system! Many people tell me VOA's DKP system is the best they've seen, but we also all agree there's room to improve. So we're making some big tweaks to account for all the things we've learned in WOTLK, and thanks to Meggatronn we've got our own in-house mods and database to handle it all!







I'd go on but there's a lot of plans still being made (like ways to increase our guild repair funds even higher, new ways to bring back our old traditions of give-aways for MVPs during raids, or give-aways to celebrate new boss kills), and this post can't afford to get much longer or no one will ever read it!



So, if you think you've got the goods to add something to this guild, then head over to the recruiting forum, or speak to me (Aaryndon) in-game.







Cataclysm is a statement from blizzard about the value of guilds as a community and home, more than just a place to go for easy epics. It's big opportunity for a guild like ours to shine, and we're excited to open the doors for new people to join our family and see why we are STILL at the top of this game since LAUNCH DAY, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.







VoA may not be able to make a good looking circle or other geometric shapes, but we've got synchronized wing-motions DOWN.

First off, if you don't get the title, then you are missing out on something awesome, and Google can point you in the right direction. You'll thank me for it when all is said and done, I assure you. :)



Historically, March is a bad month for raiding. Mainly because a large portion of our guild is either in college or have children in school who they vacation with for Spring Break. In short, the RL monster can be a tougher boss for a small tight-knit guild than the actual raid boss we're working on. But VoA has never been the sort of guild that demands its raiders AVOID the RL monster. We live with it. We keep it inside, like a pet. We feed it, play fetch. Occasionally it bites us, but at least we finally got it housebroken.



And once you've beaten the RL monster (for now), the Lich King is no sweat.



In all seriousness, this is a really great fight. My only regret is that we didn't put the time into it that it deserved before they put the zonewide 5% buff in. At least we beat it before the 10% buff. :P



Big thanks to all that were involved in the kill, who showed up on a sunday with their A game in tow... including those who had to sit out, and big thanks to LYLISSA who suprised everyone by handing out a truly MASSIVE amount of gold to the entire raid to celebrate.



If you don't know, it always pays to be there for progression in VoA with our various prizes and fun little bonuses and giveaways we like to do, but today was the biggest give-away we've done since we emptied the bank for the launch of WOTLK, and everybody inside ICC got a slice. :)



So with that said... we have room for more! If you aren't in VoA, you're missing out on fun times, RL monster attacks, free stuff, and a lot of questionable and inappropriate banter on vent.



We have TWO RAIDS in need of more mans, so get in touch with Rhunon or myself (Aaryndon) in-game, or just post an app up here on our site. We'll do our best to accomodate you.



Oh and one last thing: 2/12 Heroic ICC25 raid LFM. Festergut heroic is fun, we look forward to the rest.

Blizzard is certainly outdoing themselves so far. Professor Putricide is definitely one of the best encounters we have faced in WOTLK, and I hope everyone who reads this enjoys the fight as much as I have. Heroic mode should be... interesting, to say the least.



Major thanks to Ringo for great work leading our second raid from its infancy into a stable and thus far successful group. However, he feels the time has come to pass the torch, and with the change comes the need not only for new leaders to step up, but for new blood in the raid to help it push forward. So, we are recruiting for both our raids, although spots in raid 1 are very limited to specific raidcomp needs at this time.



If you wish to join the fun, please consult Aaryndon or Rhunon in-game, and/or put an application up in our recruiting forum. We look forward to meeting some cool new people to join our march through ICC, but please realize that we only want the best, and that includes WHO you are as well what you can do on a meter. :)



The Crimson Hall awaits. Only 4 bosses to go until we get our long awaited crack at Arthas himself. It makes me very proud to be approaching the big finish of this expansion with a guild that has been around since the infancy of WoW, toppling each new challenge laid before us in our own way, in our own time; raid bosses and otherwise.



To the guild: savor the victory... there are many more to come. To everyone else: Professor Putricide does NOT allow toy racecars in his lab. Science is serious business. You've been warned.

Patch days aren't exactly known for being stable or the best times to get a raid going. But VoA has never been known for listening to the masses. And today, we're very glad we dove into the lag circus. In fact, it wasn't the worst we've dealt with (kudos blizzard for a smooth launch, if a bit hilarious when our raid auto-disbanded and booted us all), and once we were able to get a raid started, well... you can see the results. I gotta say, Those are some FUN encounters, I look forward to the heroic versions. If you wanna join in the fun, talk to Rhunon or Aaryndon in-game about our openings for new raiders in either of our 2 successful raids.

Oh and... Dear Blizzard, please release the next few bosses, Lil' Cleave just couldn't hack it.

We got a facelift!



For once, our webmaster (you might know him as Anubes, Chrion, or Karu) finally got enough free time to work on our page, and now it will actually have some features! And it doesn't look as bleh as the last page, so that's a plus too.



We have MULTIPLE news entry displayed now, like a real site, some basic recruiting info at a glance (as you can see, we have a lot of openings thanks to our second raid, which needs more regulards to ensure smooth toc25 clears each week - but if the status reads red for your class, don't let that deter you from talking to us anyway if you want to join); we've also got more links and other features coming, but my personal favorite is a little inside humor for friends and visitors in the form of our new tag lines.



(Hint: refresh the page and look for what changes).



Oh yeah, and this happened:



APPARENTLY people think we used some "easy" strat that doesn't even actually WORK since blizz hotfixed the fight a couple weeks ago.



That's right: we're SO good we can do the impossible... AND we can exploit and not get banned. I'm so confident, I'll even tell you our plan to kill anub'arak is actually to just kite him to Vael's room.



In all seriousness, the heroic version of this encounter is almost perfectly tuned. No matter what you do, you must give something up to get something else. More mobility means less DPS but less dmg taken, etc. It's a great fight to learn and work on because every guild will need to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Our personal weakness is offline hunters, btw.

So after noticing that our old web page looked like a color blind five year old designed the page, we decided to try again and go with something inspired by the new expansion. The Don is preparing a news article with an update on our progress and recruiting needs so keep a look out for that coming shortly!