Just how much better is ROI than the rest of the top guilds?

So as we all know ROI has been the number one guild for quite some time. I am just curious as to what makes them so good? Do they just have more of the top players of each class? How much of their success is due to taking off work when expansions release and being willing to raid whenever lockouts drop?

Is the worst player in ROI as good as the best player in say, Reckless Ascension or Crimson Tempest? Or maybe a better way to put it...is a top player in any top ten guild good enough to be in ROI?

Some say, they made a deal with an unspeakable being for the knowledge to beat death itself.
Or that they sacrifice small cuddly animals to Absor for the power of jt_buff.

Ibtl.

2 or 3 members of ROI came there from a guild I was in that folded. They were all core players (very high attendance, played well, paid attention, got along with others) in the guild that folded, but not phenomenal.

On the same server is Machin Shin which generally finishes 2nd serverwide not too many days after ROI beats an expansion. MS also has members from that gild I was in. Interestingly that guild, Dark Horizon, habitually finished 1st on its server with MS 2nd or sometimes 3rd. (As a result MS does not have many server 1sts, kinda amusing). I mention this because it should be evident that MS night have fared better without the presence of Dark Horizon and later ROI.

Where am I going with this? Many top guilds contain members of former top guilds that folded or members who are a better fit with then than they were in their former guilds. Depending on how much testing time a guild has in Beta with devs, how long the core has played together, how rapidly they find strategies that work for them, how well they harvest raid affecting items from group content, ... they do better or poorer.

In short I suggest that there is a pool of uber/potentially uber members of every class who will thrive or not thrive in a successful raiding organization.They are "parts" who can do the job in a well oiled "machine". There are enough parts around and guilds become the machines who tend to operate the same way regardless of what quality parts (you don't need 54 super stars) are plugged into them.

Just as players become more powerful as a result of accumulating small upgrades and more efficient spell/discipline use so do guilds based on the accumulation of advantages obtained by effort and opportunity nurtured by determination.

Not as much as one might think, but an inch is as good as a mile. (Finishing each 1 day earlier than others is done by being 1 day more efficient - that's a pretty good accomplishment given the short time it takes top 10 guilds to beat expansions.)

(Beat PoWar with a pickup raid and you'll begin to appreciate the fact that talent isn't just in one guild).

(Beat PoWar with a pickup raid and you'll begin to appreciate the fact that talent isn't just in one guild).

This.

I keep seeing mention to guilds getting testing time in Beta with Devs, or even getting rewarded, I am curious what exactly this means?

Crazy world when I agree with BB.

RoI is basically Dark Horizon, Triality and Realm of Insanity.

Obviously RoI is #1 because it has DH members.

Troll Thread.

But for record, Guild Ranks don't equal Individual Player Skill Ranks

The best rogue could be in #10 guild. Best Berserker in #5. Best Cleric in #3. So on.

Guild Ranks are a factor of 4 Things
1) Leadership Skill at figuring out Mechanics/Raid Instruction
2) Dedication (Average Raid Attendance % of members. Top Guild will have way more 80%+ Raid Attendence people then #10)
3) Full Rosters of Right mix of classes
4) Less Deadweight (while Top Guilds don't have "Higher Skilled" people than below them they don't have "Worse Skilled" players either)

It means that raids get tested during Beta. A guild might be invited to test a raid with a developer present and asking then to do things.

I've heard (you agree to an NDA if you Beta test) that sometimes you can earn a trinket by testing things - nothing afaik that's game changing.

Oh good, more stroking.

Edit: The things this forum decides to censor are pretty absurd.

Pretty sure there won't be anything left of the horse... it's going to be obliterated.

As said above ROI for the most part has become the sum of the best from all servers. It is not the TLP guild it started as and hasn't been during most of its live success.

There might be a lot of former Triality and DH members now idk exactly but for quite awhile 25-40% of ROI was from another unmentioned guild. Oh had they only stayed put this run might have been broken!

Wait no mention of you cant use 3rd party software on any other server. You just cant use it to create Unattended Gameplay, else your ok.. You do the math folks.

Lets have a live server with the same rules as Phinigel and see who is actually the best guild.

They are the top guild because they don't fail emotes and punish those that fail them habitually.



Lol.
No, there is more to it then that. I just can't stand chronic emote failing.

http://www.elitegamerslounge.com/home/progress/ is your friend. MS was serverwide first on the first three TBM events. Any claims regarding pocket devs, cheating, or anything other than dedication, skill, and tons of hard work are unfounded and 100% false.

Better question: Who cares?

Might said guild get inside information on how the mechanics of a raid work before anyone else? Personally, I would love to have before-hand information that when the giant gingerbread man points at you, you have to Hop on your left foot, pat your head, and say rubber baby buggy bumpers to the old guy in the corner (who's invisible), or everyone dies, they can't request raid again for a month, and everyone knows you did it.

ROI is a collection of every other top guilds best players, you get what you'd expect from that.

The good and the bad...more bad than good lately, looking at the roster since VoA or so they've lost what made them ROI (Mykaylla and the like) and gained people like Bloodydagger.

I know nothing of their internal politics for a while now, but seeing some of the people they've added I imagine there has been some serious drama/issues over the years.

This expansion we got all of 3 nights with a dev. First night we tested demi of life both events, second night we did fear, and 3rd was doing the expansion promotion video. The rest of the time in beta we did the raids all on our own. Don't get why people keep trying to claim we get all the dev testing time.

it's a large gap, if rafather or any other long term high attendance member of roi wants to post some times of raid related achievements note how quickly they beat raids (expect for the black mark of wiping to bixie1) and note the raid achievements from prior to tbm that many guilds have not completed to this day

Pretty much what Raf said. In all honesty, we didn't beta test as much as we probably should have and we put most of it off until as late as possible.

I imagine this post is one big trollfest, but the honest answer to that original question isn't really answerable. It seems in eq these days all you need as a guild to succeed is the following:

1) A dedicated force of people who can be on consistently and have some flexibility.
2) A raid leader who knows how to construct effective groups.
3) Someone, preferably a raid leader, who can read emotes and parses. Look up spells in lucy or wheverer they're hosted now and see what they do if it isn't already clear(most times it's pretty obvious if you can read). Adjust accordingly.
4) People who know their class and push each other to be better. Competition within the guild is fun and necessary for continued improvement.

Contrary to rumors, we don't raid as much as you probably think we do. RoI likes to get in and get out. We all have lives and things to do, so we try to focus at the task at hand as much as possible. The roster is full of very skilled players, but I'm certain there are plenty of people out there just as talented as some of our best.

Calm down folks.