a hard lesson, indeed at The Angry Raider

My rogue, who is in a mix of Kara and PvP epics, joined the best Horde guild on my server (Nightfall on Thunderlord). The guild is working on Illidan. Today they had a SSC and TK run to key folks for Hyjal and BT.

This guild gave me a spot. They counted on my skill, and knew that gear would come. It was a dream come true for me after three years in the game.

So I did the BT attunement chain up through Akama’s Promise, just like I was supposed to. Then we killed Vashj, and I was #7 in dps, which is pretty good considering my gear and the fact that I had 1700 AP raid-buffed. Vashj dies, I go to loot my vial, and I see that her corpse isn’t sparkly.

I had dropped the quest and didn’t realize it. I didn’t hear the raid leader remind us to get the quest if we didn’t have it (they were keying 7 others). After we killed Fathom-Lord, I even thought about it, but didn’t check. For some reason, I never gave Hyjal attunement any thought. I was so focused on Black Temple.

As this is the last time Nightfall is running SSC and TK, it was my one and only chance. Thus, it was over for me before it even began. Assuredly my days in Nightfall are numbered, and understandably so. [Update: I'm still in the guild. We'll have to see if another key run is ever scheduled.]

I know it’s just a game, but I am disappointed in myself and angry that I let down the people who gave me a chance. Game or not, these folks put a lot of time and effort into it and they were going to make sacrifices to take in someone who, gear-wise, wasn’t ready. I’m not being too hard on myself, and ultimately, it reminded me that I always have to pay attention to the details in everything I do. One small mistake cost me a major WoW goal. I’m just thankful it didn’t cost me a job or a friend.

My sweet fiancee cried, she was so upset.

Here I am at Vashj after the kill; that’s me to the bottom-left of Vashj.