The Great WOTLK Cataclysm

The Great WotLK Cataclysm is the nickname given to the period of WotLK (all during WotLK really...) when several long time and short time CSM members decided to either quit the game entirely or go casual. This was caused by the game deteriorating very much and losing much of its fun aspect while trying to cater to the masses (casuals/shitties). Ulduar was boring, "hard modes" weren't fun enough to keep people's attention, and class changes becoming increasingly balanced around arena (despite many people not giving a two shits about pvp or arena).

Victor's take on the state of the officer core at the end of Ulduar progression.

Major members who quit or went casual during this period

Note: when referring to a "Major Member" we are talking about a CSM member that either was a part of the guild for a really long time (usually 2 years old), OR a recently added member with a strong personality that stood out from the rest.

• Zelf: Grew increasingly dissatisfied with the WoW raiding game since the Sunwell days as well as the loss of multiple old CSM members who didn't finish TBC. The recycling of Naxxramas as the WOTLK introductory instance, and later Ulduar, sealed the deal for him.

• Cromich: Tired of playing his mage switched mains to his rogue, Verick. After a couple nights of raiding completely lost interest in the raiding aspect of the game and went casual for good.

• Atena: Another victim of the recycling of Naxxaramas and the absurdness that was the first tier of raiding content in WOTLK. The release of Ulduar renewed his interest in raiding, but this interest was crushed with the announcement of Patch 3.2 and the Crusader's Coliseum. Now spends most of the day AFK in Crystalsong Forest.

• Haywire: Never a fan of the Achievement-driven difficulty of WOTLK raids, and completely appalled at Blizzard's decision to reuse a once great instance, decided to call it quits a few weeks before Ulduar was released.

• Darkspectre: Expressed his frustration with the state of the game to several officers. Agreed to stay a bit and help while a new priest was found, but couldn't take it anymore after a long night of Firefighter wipes and logged off, never to be seen again. We'll miss you Bandwagon.

• Samjay: Quickly grew bored of Ulduar and decided to spend more time with his girlfriend (now his fiance) instead.

• Vossler: By his own admission, never enjoyed WOTLK raiding. The absurd amounts of RNG found in some Ulduar hard modes (Freya, for example) took a toll on his attitude, deteriorating it. Despite this, he tried to stick around and help as long as he could. He called it quits 3 weeks before 3.2 was released.

• Supa: Game sucked, raiding sucked.

• Faex: Got progressively angry and frustrated during the later stages of Ulduar progression. One night after a quality Farm status kill of Iron Council, Timmers jokingly gkicked him for the rest of the night. Did not log on again until the release of 3.2, about a week later. Got a reinvite as a casual.

Lingering spirits.

• Bloodreign: Another player who is not a big fan of Achievement-driven difficulty. Loves new content, but hates raiding the same instance for Achievements over and over. He was always available to help whenever needed, even though he continuously threatened to fill the officer's front yards with the corpses of dead niggers every time he was called to raid.

• Asmodean: His work schedule made it impossible for him to raid.

• Minimoose: His new job had him working very late at night, way past the raid start time. Still helped with several raids whenever needed.

• Scynzy: With a work schedule that changes from week to week, he could no longer commit to a full time raiding spot. Later returned to help and raid semi casually during the last few weeks of 3.1.

• Kendoch: His work schedule and studies, coupled with a lack of quality ISP options in his area forced him into early retirement.

• Churagar: Moved to the East Coast after finishing his University degree. Started training that had him waking up at 7:00 am and could no longer meet the raiding requirements. Eventually decided to put his personal health and his career over the game.

• Isiah: Appointed raid leader early in WOTLK, first quit a month before 3.2 when he felt frustrated over the little help he was getting from the other officers. Was convinced to come back by some members only to transfer off to join another guild 1 week after. He lasted all of 3 raiding nights with his new guild before realizing how much he missed CSM and quitting again, this time for good.

• Sadou: Faced with an ever-changing work schedule or raiding and starvation, finally decided to quit raiding in favor of hard work.

• Goris: Despite being a good player, decided to follow his friend Hbx to Nightmare's Asylum. Later regretted his decision and went casual.

• Timmers: Decided to go play with his old Nova friends. A number of things motivated his decision, amongst them: his dislike for leadership positions (he had just been promoted to officer), his dislike for the new officership, and the fact that Antagonist drove him crazy.

• Inordinate: A power surge blew up his computer. Being unable to get it running in a timely manner, decided to quit.

• Outclassed: Got tired of running Ulduar hardmodes when Blizzard released a mind-numbingly easy new tier of content and announced a revamped Onyxia that would have better loot than Algalon/Yogg+0.

• Gordonramsay: Transferred to raid on an East coast schedule.

• Caliskunk: Transferred off server to make real life easier after getting married. Attempted to leave us with replacements, however the attempted recruits turned down guild invites when they learned Cali was gone.