Raid:The Newbian Institute

From Penny Arcade Alliance

Contents 1 Members of the Newbian Institute 1.1 Leaders 1.2 Other Members 1.3 Temporarily Retired Members 1.4 Infamous Members 1.4.1 AmazingLarry 1.4.2 Ahrorah 1.4.2.1 Not Ahrorah 2 Raiding with The Newbian Institute 2.1 General Rules 2.2 Newb Ranks 2.2.1 How the ranks are used 2.3 Raiding Times 2.4 Call the Newbian Institute! You'll be glad you did! 3 Current Progression 4 History 4.1 Raid History, The Short Version 4.2 The Newbian Institute Guild 4.3 Memes Explained 4.4 Week by Week Raid History (In Progress) 4.4.1 The Beginning: Molten Core to BWL

Members of the Newbian Institute

Leaders

The Newbian Institute has been lead by Brhino since its inception. Theodred has served as second-in-command and alternate raid leader since Fall 2006. Beyond Brhino and Theodred there is no official structure such as officers or class captains. Astribulus, Penian, and Garntoggle currently serve as leaders of 10-man raids and backup 25-man raidleaders. Kushana runs a Kara raid for the Newbian's alts. Agreus and Yandren are current raiders who have served as raid leaders in the past. Tarrou is the raid Angry Dwarf, a position that he often overachieves at. Healing leadership was originally foisted onto Kenko, and after he left the mantle was placed squarely on Allyria's shoulders. Due to an often unpredictable schedule Allyria sometimes relied on others to fill in as healing leader, notably Arcakhan. With Allyria's hiatus from frequent raiding and Arcakhan's departure from the game, Vitessa/Garntoggle filled the precarious position.

Other Members

• Amerdre
• Brothermike
• Crowing
• Geveeso
• Jallasar
• Jerakal
• Kushana
• Kysho
• Lambofhosts
• Lazaruss
• Mioke
• Moxxy
• Pendalghast
• Pershing
• Tarrou

Temporarily Retired Members

• Cervalis
• Fray
• Russad

Infamous Members

As a raid that focuses on giving new players opportunities and forgiving flaws in its members, the Newbians have taken in a number of players that other raids might reject. Many times players improve in both skill and attitude after being given the chance be a member of the institute. However, some players have proven to be beyond redemption. Three such members are described below, so that those that did not get the chance to raid with them may know of their villainy.

AmazingLarry

Many Newbians could be referred to as "crazy". AmazingLarry was the only Newbian who was actually a psychopath. His priest was one of the earlier members of the Newbian Institute, and he performed his role well enough. Beyond that, his behavior was bizarre and disturbing. He often berated people for the smallest mistakes, despite never being given any sort of raid leadership position. He posted a picture of himself standing next to a skinned deer, gleefully holding its severed head, in the Newbian picture thread. In the middle of a conversation about how mobs in world of warcraft (and in computer games in general) don't notice you even when you're killing their allies a few meters away, he announced that the enemies in the metal gear solid series must have their eye sockets surgically attacked by eggbeaters on a regularly scheduled basis.

Larry offended plenty of people in the wider PAA as well. He posted a rant slamming the way the PAA ran Onyxia raids - taking green-geared, inexperienced players into a difficult fight - even though such practices were very much in the spirit of the Newbian Institute's own policies. The final straw was when Larry posted in a thread about anime that underaged girls at anime conventions were easy to take advantage of. Larry was banned from the PAA at that point. He applied to Everlasting Vendetta (the top Alliance raiding guild at the time) alleging a vast PAA-wide conspiracy against him, claiming that he was erroneously dubbed a pedophile. Sadly, EV rejected Larry - telling him they were only accepting actual pedophiles. Larry eventually joined another alliance guild, the Drunkendis Order, and eventually aggravated Pendalghast so much she had him booted. It is unknown if he still plays.

AmazingLarry is now an Orc Warrior. Since this implies that the original was either transferred or deleted by its owner, ... ummm, ok, we don't know what this means. But if he's now in the Rapscallions, we couldn't be happier, since we don't like them.

Ahrorah

Ahrorah joined the Newbians in the days of BWL, and continued with the Newbians in Karazhan. She was removed from two different PAA guilds during that time and eventually joined the Kung Foo Roostaz. Ahrorah had a very difficult personality. She was very greedy about gear and demanding about getting raid time for her alts. She was willing to tease other raiders (as the vast majority of Newbians are) but often flew off the handle when she herself was teased. This led to grudges forming between her and several other raid members. Ahrorah was also a terrible raider. She could not be counted on to perform the basic raid functions of any of her characters with any reliability. Normally in the Newbian Institute, a struggling player would receive coaching and advice from the veteran raiders, but this was impossible due to her abrasive personality and inability to deal with criticism.

Ahrorah rolled a horde toon on Dark Iron and began to play it more than her alliance character. For attacking alliance members and then complaining when she herself was attacked, as well as inviting horde players to PAA resources such as vent and chat, she was kicked from her third and final PAA guild. At that point she began playing her horde character, Ahrorahtwo, and horde alts exclusively. She is currently an active player. Those wishing to engage her should be warned that while she herself is not particularly threatening, she seldom strays far from the protection of some of the horde's most highly skilled and well geared players.

Not Ahrorah

• Ahrorahthree is an alt of Garntoggle, created to mock everything about Ahrorah including her lack of imagination in choosing character names.
• Rorelora was a respectable yet unfortunately similarly named member of The Newbian Institute who was dismayed to find herself associated with the infamous. Theo audibly gagged when he tried to call her "Rora." At Rorelora's suggestion we now call her, "Rory." She has recently left the Institute to raid with friends in another guild, we wish her well.

Raiding with The Newbian Institute

In order to raid with The Newbian Institute there are no pre-requisites. It is preferred to see gear comparable or a bit below the current raiding zone but that isn't always necessary. The Newbians have brought raiders covered in green into places they shouldn't be and had fun doing it. As a general rule though raiders should be geared for the instance The Newbians are running.

General Rules

1. Signups are open to members of the Penny Arcade Alliance only. No exceptions.

2. The sign-ups for the raid will be posted promptly after the conclusion of the previous raid.

3. Invites begin half an hour before the start of the raid. The waitlist is used (if needed) 15 minutes before the listed raid start time, and the raid begins promptly thereafter.

Newb Ranks

There are 3 tiers or ranks that are assigned to raiders. These ranks only apply to the 40 and 25-man instances. All attendance or lack thereof is tracked for the raiders.

Rookies: These players are new to the raid. They have less than 4 runs.

Veterans: These players have at least 4 runs or more. They have shown interest in raiding with the Newbians and plan to continue. The number of raids required to be a veteran may be adjusted upwards in the future. However, this will not be used to de-rank an actively ranking veteran, it will only be used to remove veterans who no longer raid with the newbians.

Masters: These players have been around for a long time and contributed to the leadership, viability, and strength of the raid through their own means. They've taken a serious interest in seeing the Newbians succeed. Historically this was bestowed on the 12th run but now it is more of a title earned.

How the ranks are used

1. Masters get top priority, provided that they sign up by midnight (server time) the night before the raid. All masters are guaranteed spots if they sign up. Because of this, it is requested that if a master is unable to attend, he or she notify the raid leader (preferably in the sign up thread).

2. Veterans get second priority. Priority among veterans is determined as follows: any veteran that signs up by midnight on the day after the raid gets one of the top spots, the specific order being determined randomly. Veterans that sign up later are placed in the veteran list in the order in which they sign up.

Veterans are not guaranteed spots.

3. Rookies get last priority. Priority among rookies is determined in the same way as it is for veterans.

This system sometimes makes it difficult for new players to break into the Institute. However, as raiders come and go new spots do open up. Anyone who has ever been persistent enough to pass through the rookie period has eventually found a spot with the Newbians. The rules are generally very relaxed. That does not mean, however that there are no consequences for lackluster behavior. A consistent display of inability to perform your raid role, maintain a winning attitude, be reliable and listen consistently will be met with a forced hiatus from the flagship newbian raids.

Raiding Times

Thursday 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Server (5 PM invites)
Friday 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Server (5 PM invites)
Saturday 10 AM - 2 PM Server (9:30 AM invites)

Call the Newbian Institute! You'll be glad you did!

If you are interested in raiding with The Newbian Institute you may contact Brhino or Theodred (either by PM or in-game)

If you are interested in cyber sex you may contact Russad. (Over 18 only please, it's not AmazingRussad!)

Current Progression

As November 2008, the Newbians have cleared Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Magtheridon's Lair, Serpentshrine Cavern, TK:TE, Mount Hyjal and Black Temple. You can keep up with the latest boss kills by visiting our NKP (Newbian Kill Point) site or subscribing to our RSS news feed.

http://www.thenewbianinstitute.com

History

Raid History, The Short Version

The Newbian Institute started raiding Molten Core in March 2005, and cleared it in 12 weeks. The institute continued to run Molten Core until the Burning Crusade expansion, introducing a massive number of new people to raiding. Blackwing Lair was eventually put on farm. An "unofficial" Newbian AQ40 never progressed far (with the Newbians' only official foray into AQ40 being one raid the week after tBC launched). Naxx was only attempted by 20-25 person "trash runs". Karazhan raids were begun when enough Newbians hit 70, and eventually two intertwined raid groups were clearing it. Gruul's Lair and Magtheridon's Lair were put on farm and then eventually phased out.

The Newbian Institute's progression is not particularly fast. This is because it is very casual as far as static raids go, with only an hour or two each week devoted to learning the latest boss.

The Newbian Institute Guild

When the Penny Arcade Alliance leadership opened the possibility of new guilds joining, The Newbian Institute was the third such guild to apply (the first two being The Hurricane, which eventually withdrew its application, and I Require Frozen Treats, which was accepted but later removed due to inactivity). The Newbian Institute received a "yes" vote from 8 of the 12 PAA guilds, one short of the 75% majority needed to pass. Many Newbians were bitter about the handling of the application, and the PAA leadership voted shortly thereafter to suspend guild applications indefinitely.

In late March of 2008 the PAA leadership, after several months of discussion regarding the guild application process, re-opened the PAA to new guilds. The Newbian Institute was the first guild to apply for membership under the revised process, and in April of 2008 became the first new guild to join the PAA since the removal of I Require Frozen Treats. For more information please see the wiki page for the Newbian Institute Guild.

It should be noted that although the Newbian raid bank occupies some of the guild bank tabs of the Newbian guild there is not a direct relation between the guild and the raid. To clarify this point, although the guild and raid share the same leaders their membership is distinctly separate. Raiding is not a requirement for joining the guild, and the raid is open to anyone in the PAA. Veterans of the Newbian raid are, however, free to join the guild in order to access the raid bank.

Memes Explained

Over the course of raiding, many things that have happened that for reasons not understood or better not explained, have taken on a life of their own. Some of these, like Ol' Greg, are obscure pop culture references. Others need a little more explanation.

Week by Week Raid History (In Progress)

The Beginning: Molten Core to BWL

Pre-History, 2/25/06

Cherished and Meiko lead a group of new players into the Molten Core. Lucifron is confronted but not killed. Though both will leave the PAA less than a week later, this raid shows that a group of brand new raiders can make some headway into MC. Cherished named the raid The Newbian Institute, and the name stuck.

Week 1, 3/11/06

After a week off, Brhino assumes command and leads a new raid into the core. After 90+ minutes of waiting to get a (mostly) full group together, Lucifron is killed! The first ever loot of The Newbian Institute is the Choker of Enlightenment, which goes to Arcakahn, and the Felheart Gloves, which go to Mordn. Only 38 people were available for the kill.

Week 2, 3/18/06

Lucifron is killed again after another long wait, this time with only 36 people. A couple trash epics are found this run. The Arcanist Bindings go to Russad, sending him into negative AP, a place from which he is never to return. Magmadar is attempted, but with only one tranq shot present, the attempts are unsuccessful.

Week 3, 3/25/06

The Newbian Institute takes a dramatic leap forward, killing Magmadar and Gehennas.

Week 4, 4/01/06

On April fools day, low signup rates continue to hamper The Newbian Institute. Gehennas is killed again, but barely. The kill group consists of 34 people, only 3 of which are priests. There is a bright spot to the raid, however, as on this day Tafkaelmooch did us all a fucking favor.

Week 5, 4/08/06

The Newbian Institute begins to pick up steam. This time, a full raid of 40 smashes Gehennas and proceeds to Garr. Brhino leads by example, face pulling garr accidentally - twice, but Garr wins the day. The incident is forever immortalized in a hand drawing by Brhino as his profile picture.

Week 6, 4/15/06

This week starts the grand Newbian Institute tradition of kicking ass when Brhino isn't around. With Punkgurl leading, both Garr and Geddon go down.

Week 7, 4/22/06

Geddon is downed again, after a lengthy struggle. Trash mob respawns wipe the raid after Geddon, putting an end to the festivities for the week.

Week 8, 4/29/06

On another Brhinoless week, this time due to connection problems, Shazzrah and the Sulfuron Harbinger fall. Some people suggest that perhaps the raid is better off without Brhino. Their bodies are never found.

Week 9, 5/06/06

Golemagg falls, completing the "Crazy 8" bosses. Lack of enough Aqual Quintessences prevents further progress. The raid learns that there is no mistake a master looter makes that a GM can't fix, given time.

Week 10, 5/13/06

Majordomo Executus falls. The Newbian Institute confronts Ragnaros and discovers three things: 1. he is big 2. he is on fire 3. he hurts like hell.

Week 11, 5/20/06

The Newbian Institute learns that just because a group can get to Ragnaros doesn't mean it can't wipe on Lucifron.

Week 12, 5/27/06

With Tarrou and Punkgurl tanking, Ragnaros falls for the first time on the second and a half attempt. Brhino is absent, of course.

Week 13, 6/03/06

Things look grim for the Newbian Institute, as both Tarrou and Punkgurl are forced to miss their first raids each. However, Ivydancer and Theodred take up the challenge and Ragnaros dies on the second attempt. 79% of the raid votes that Amazinglarry should never mention eggbeaters again.

Week 14, 6/10/06

The trip starts a little rocky but ends well, as the Newbians one-shot Ragnaros for the first time. This week is unusual because team "motivator" Tarrou cannot get his teamspeak to work. The raid learns that he is actually more terrifying when he is NOT yelling, and redoubles its efforts to keep him alive.

Week 15, 6/17/06

The raid continues to improve, with only one wipe the whole time, and that being somewhat of a fluke. The Newbian Institute encounters and overcomes the dreaded core hound farts, and learns that lava annihilators have nipples.

Week 16, 6/24/06

Another successful run, but grumblings of discontent begin as Tarrou only dies twice during the entire run. Raid members begin to demand an incursion into Black Wing Lair in order to ensure a sufficient number of tank deaths.

Week 17, 7/01/06

No beard.

Week 18, 7/08/06

The Newbian Institute enters BWL for the first time. Kenko makes friends with the Orcs. They don't seem to speak his language as he dies near or on top of Theodred per usual.

Week 19, 7/15/06

In spite of (or perhaps because of) rampant nubbery from Theodred and Jerakal, among others, the Eye of Sulfuras drops, and the beard begins. BWL continues to be new scenery for a larger repair bill.

Week 20, 7/22/06

Sort of a down week, though MC is cleared again.

Week 21, 7/29/06

Molten core is cleared in 3 hours, 20 minutes. Back to blackwing lair, Razoregore finally goes down. The newbians' deaths only add to Vaelastrasz's failure.

Week 22, 7/05/06

Ragnaros dies pre-sons for the first time. In a suprise twist, Vaelastrasz's death adds to the newbian's success. Afterwards, Lazaruss wins the first annual Naked Newbian Supression Room Sprint.

Week 23, 7/12/06

The supression rooms and Broodlord Lashlayer fall to the newbians as the BWL strategy solidifies: when encountering a boss, feed him tanks until he chokes on one of them.