Hmm

In life it's easy to point the finger at someone else for mistakes. It happens in the office, at school, and of course at home. Why do people do that? At times you could point the finger at someone else but most of the time you need to look in the mirror and take a good look at yourself.

Is it possible that I caused the chain of events? Is it possible that maybe I caused the domino effect? Is this new? Of course not. If you recall Eve's statement to God when she ate from the tree, she said it was the devil. She still had the choice. We all do. It's easy to pass blame to someone else. It's not easy to take blame for actions that happen.

Take for example this that I didn't understand then but I understand now. Bonded by Blood was a success. We were a strong guild pre-tbc. After the expansion hit we helped many obtain keys in order to raid Kara. Many that made it to 70 waited but we continued to help those get to 70 and obtain their keys. By doing so those who were waiting grew tired of waiting and thus left. I would say about 10 to 15 players in the course of 1 week. We were ok and marched on. Shortly after that maybe a few months raiding finally started. We had two groups going at the same time. There was some good that came from that and of course bad. If one group was doing better than the other, the guild as a whole would view the so called better group as the group to be in.

This even though we were all one guild and those who claimed they never got upset or felt as if there wasn't a competition are lying. I knew who said what, when they said it, and why they said it. I just let it go and tried to work through it and make it better. Because we were clearing 10-man we never really got 25-man raids going. Both teams that were in Kara should have merged and started 25-man teams and it did happen for a bit but did not continue. By then other members were raiding with other guilds and some of our so-called I would never leave guys left.

Like I said, I didn't understand then but I understand now. The only reason why the core left and why others left before the core was simply because leadership could not move the guild to the next level. Leadership included those in high rank in the guild but when it came down to it, it fell all on my shoulders and I indeed failed Bonded and it's members. It wasn't them and they had every right to leave. It was me and I accept that. I learned so much from it that now I can see clearly that you cannot blame any member for leaving your guild. You just can't. You have to look in the mirror and ask yourself. WHY and if you can look that deep and judge yourself and admit where you go wrong then the road to recovery isn't far away.

Could I have turned Bonded around? No there is no way because in order to see clearly you have to remove what's blocking your vision. You have to set all pride aside, all emotion, everything and then take a good look at yourself. Because I'm on the outside looking in, I can see clearly where I went wrong and how I could have improved. When people left Bonded I was upset at them. I did not point the finger at myself. I did not look in the mirror, I was pissed at them and could not see clearly why they left.

It's simple: People will leave if you

A. Are not advancing in raids
B. Leveling Alts instead of Raiding
C. Investing all in one tank, healer, dps instead of preparing all
D. Coming to Raids and forcing your way in even though you are not ready.

I can go on and on but example D is amazing because I went through that personally. Folks if you are not geared to go into an instance, DON'T GO INTO THE INSTANCE. There is a reason why there is requirements that you must meet. If it's a 10-man instance your part in it could cause wipes. Work on your gear and return when you are ready. If you are in a tanking position do not go in any raid unless you are prepared. If you force your way in because you have power in the guild then you are a newb and deserves to be removed from your position.

It's easy to whisper those who left your guild and call them bad words or whatever, what you need to do is look in the mirror and ask yourself, can I be the cause of it all?

And no to answer another question that was asked of me...I did not have anything to do with what's going on currently. It just so happens that I did not burn my bridges and I have spoken to many. I also made it a point to talk to those old Bonded members and apologize because I did not speak to them after they left. I don't and won't become a person who gets all upset because of a video game. It's a paying game so you have to understand that people will do whatever in order to move forward, they will do it with you or do it without you but should that be the reason why they should never speak to you again?

GROW UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!