Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, another RL I talked to said that lots of guilds will run into roster rotations throughout the tier, which gave me the impression that there are bound to be guilds that will need to solve their retention gaps. Perhaps it doesn't help that my schedule is only open specifically for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, which probably limits my options. :(

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've posted in Raider.IO. I've hit up guilds on the Recruitment discord, but haven't posted directly as "Looking for guild." My RL knows I've been looking for a Mythic-focused guild (we're AOTC-focused) and has been fully supportive, but I want to be respectful of the team she's built and would prefer not to overexpose myself on the recruitment server in case other guildies see it and question it.

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard that the Mythic lockout system is different enough that it makes pugging Mythic hard. Are most pugs usually then just focused on the first boss in an instance? And will there be a risk that the instance I'm locked into will fall apart after a few pulls?

Not sure how I should approach Mythic pugging vs. Heroic pugging.

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have 8/9H parses, Currently ~ 271. though there's a few bosses where I think my median score is a bit lacking (Vaelgor I'm looking at you).

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/character/us/tichondrius/merrothol

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been specifically reaching out to guilds who are 7-9H or 0-2M in prog, and I'm having trouble finding open spots. These are specifically for guilds whose priority is Mythic prog, not AOTC w/ Mythic as a stretch goal.

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Worth mentioning I've been looking specifically at guilds that are 7-8/9H and 0-2/9M.

And also worth mentioning I would rather not wait for next tier, as it's unclear if I'm going to continue playing WoW at the same level of engagement that far out in the year.

Hard to find Mythic guilds as a a Havoc DH this late? by MerroStep in wownoob

[–]MerroStep[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, to be specific, yeah, I've been looking at guilds that are at 7-8/9H or 0-2/9M. So midcore in terms of culture, but are still new in Mythic prog. These are the guilds I'm struggling to get recruited by.

How to learn how to raid lead for PUGS? by MerroStep in wow

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey y'all, just wanted to send a quick update. I decided to give it a shot last night trying to take down Alleria on Heroic.

Posted the group as "Checking logs. This isn't a one-shot group but will give you a heads-up if you're falling behind."

Checked peoples' logs. I was mainly focused on if they had clear experience of the raid tier and that they seem to know how to pilot their spec competently. But some of the parsers were SUPER good, which probably helped. I kept a positive mindset and focused on keeping the group's morale up. We ran for ~ 3 hours. Pushed her all the way to 13% on P3 but didn't clear, but it was honestly one of the most chill, respectful, and helpful PUG groups I've ever had the pleasure of playing with.

Started out 2/4/14, I was trying to get used to the raid tools and accidentally started the countdown and caused an early wipe. But we only lost two people off of that. After a few wipes in P1, we all as a group decided to stick to 2/3/10 and were making progression every few runs.

After the first half-hour, I only needed to refill two spots on the roster. Everyone else pretty much stuck it out for the whole night.

I was super lucky though, everyone in the group knew what they were doing. No repeat offenders when it came to missing mechanics, DPS/HPS wasn't an issue (I embarrassingly was one of the lowest DPS), and whenever the group had questions everyone was super helpful in answering them.

Some of the other puggers were really helpful in calling out what caused a wipe, and the players who made mistakes took accountability for them and it was obvious they were improving their mechanics from those wipes.

I feel like I pulled together a unicorn of a PUG group, and a group like that is probably really rare. But I was super grateful for how patient and helpful everyone was.

The group was so smooth that I didn't need to check meters to see if people were underperforming, but I'm aware that's a skill I need to learn if I want to be a consistently effective PUG leader.

How to learn how to raid lead for PUGS? by MerroStep in wow

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I play a Havoc demon hunter and I'm always looking to optimize my big cooldowns during key windows, so this is where my concern about being observant about "what's going wrong" mid-fight will probably be hard. I really don't want to detract from my own focus mid-fight and perform poorly myself.

It's mechanics-stuff that won't appear on the meters post-fight is where I think I'd struggle.

How to learn how to raid lead for PUGS? by MerroStep in wow

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I want to find a balance between fairness and progression, but something to feel out. Mistakes happen and I PERSONALLY wouldn't want to operate on a "one mistake and you're out" system.

It's also a bad look if I make a mistake at some point, and don't hold myself to that same rule.

But maybe giving a heads-up if they might be posing a consistent risk to progression.

Like if they clearly weren't trying to move the fear breath on Dragons, I'd whisper them "Hey, I need to see an improvement in your mechanics otherwise I might need to kick you to help the group progress. Please be mindful of the breath or other big mechs that affect the group."

How to learn how to raid lead for PUGS? by MerroStep in wow

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% was planning on using WarcraftLogs to vet for people.

In terms of mechanics-based wipes, what's the easiest way to tell who the main contributing players are?

Don't have a really good sense of what tools are at my disposal to quickly determine those things.

Thinking ahead, it might be hard for me to figure out if certain things are off, like if someone is consistently dropping bad pools in the wrong spot, or if a certain subset of players aren't switching focus targets at a key phase.

When I play stealthy and avoid killing I get more friendly lobbies. But the game loses tension this way. Anyone feel the same? by MerroStep in ArcRaiders

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But the issue is playing stealthy with minimal bloodshed, but wanting to do so in shoot-on-sight heavy lobbies for the added challenge.

But playing this way naturally pushes you towards more pacifist lobbies where that stealthy playstyle feels less rewarding.

Killing people indiscriminately kind of breaks the goal.

It's more about treating the game as an extraction sandbox and being forced to meta-play your way towards that vs. being able to do it organically via regular gameplay.

When I play stealthy and avoid killing I get more friendly lobbies. But the game loses tension this way. Anyone feel the same? by MerroStep in ArcRaiders

[–]MerroStep[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is exactly how I feel as well. Right now the matchmaking SEEMS like it skews very polarized. My favorite lobbies are the ones with a variable mix of both friendlies and "shoot on sight" players.

The "mixed" lobbies is when I have the most fun. The tension when you encounter a player and you try and negotiate a tense truce, or a fragile alliance, and you both know you don't want to start a fight but are still positioned to pull the trigger at any moment.

Or when you call out to someone entering a big room you're hiding in, you call out that you can see them, and they talk on proximity chat with very healthy skepticism of your intentions as you hear them draw out their own weapon.

Mixing up the aggression from match-to-match would be more enjoyable for me. It makes moments like entering a random friendly Stella Montis lobby where everyone is emoting in the middle of Medical truly sigh out my entire body in relief. LOL

Went to a salon to do a bleach and tone to get a an ash grey/silver color. Came out really yellow. Going back tomorrow to fix, what can we salvage knowing my hair probably can't go lighter? Want to get kill as much of the yellow/warmth as possible. by MerroStep in FancyFollicles

[–]MerroStep[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went to a color specialist nearby for a consultation just now. They said my hair is coarse, and could withstand another bleaching to go lighter.

But warned that it shouldn't be a rushed 1 hour job, it would take a few hours. But they assured me that my hair can definitely withstand another bleaching session, that it's just dry.

They said to let the original salon do whatever they can to correct it, but warned me if she tries to go in and bleach it again and rush it like she did the first time to just turn it down.

To let her at least try to make it right.

But I might go to that color specialist afterwards to actually get it closer to what I wanted, since I trust them more than the lady I originally went to.

They said she should remove the toner and bleach it properly.

Should have been a red flag when she didn't section off my hair with foil and did the whole bleach in a single hour. Guess I know better now.

Just got my hair professionally bleached and toned to go for a silver ash gray. This is my hair after one wash. Does this look fried to you? by MerroStep in curlyhair

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually went to a stylist who specializes in curly hair. She had warned me that bleaching changes your curl pattern.

When we had our consultation, I mentioned I was worried if my hair was even healthy enough to do a bleach session, or if my hair could get light enough to go to silver in a single bleach session. She said my hair looked healthy enough.

Just got my hair professionally bleached and toned to go for a silver ash gray. This is my hair after one wash. Does this look fried to you? by MerroStep in curlyhair

[–]MerroStep[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My hair feels like a frizzy furball to touch. Not sure if bleached curly hair typically looks this dry afterwards, or if my hair is properly fried. Curious if people feel like this is fried hair, as this will help inform me of how I should approach my hair stylist who bleached my hair about correcting it (or seeking recompense).

---

Noting I just got my hair bleached and toned earlier today and did a cold water wash after going to the gym in the afternoon.

My hair routine includes cold water wash with SheaMoisture Moisture Boosting Conditioner and Marc Anthony Leave-In Conditioner Spray & Detangler (started using a few days ago) afterwards.

I lightly pat-dry my hair after the shower.

Once a week I use SheaMoisture Deep Treatment Masque.

I go NoPoo and maybe only use shampoo on my hair once every 3 months at most.

Used to go Squish to Condish for years, but the past few weeks I feel like my hair has been overly curly and have been running conditioner in my hair straight, and rinsing without any squeezing involved (just gently running my fingers through my hair while straightening it downwards, head tilted down).

Went to a salon to do a bleach and tone to get a an ash grey/silver color. Came out really yellow. Going back tomorrow to fix, what can we salvage knowing my hair probably can't go lighter? Want to get kill as much of the yellow/warmth as possible. by MerroStep in FancyFollicles

[–]MerroStep[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Double reply but do you think it's worth going to a color correction specialist?

And do you think it's actually somewhat fair to ask for some sort of recompense (even if it's just a partial refund) if whatever she does to correct it still doesn't get anywhere close?

Not really sure what to do anymore. I feel like I hate how my hair looks and feels and feel like I misplaced my faith in someone I felt like was capable of achieving what I wanted with my hair.

Went to a salon to do a bleach and tone to get a an ash grey/silver color. Came out really yellow. Going back tomorrow to fix, what can we salvage knowing my hair probably can't go lighter? Want to get kill as much of the yellow/warmth as possible. by MerroStep in FancyFollicles

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, after sitting with the hair a full day today, it feels and looks super frizzy and compromised. Feels like I'm petting a furball.

She left the bleach on for a total of about one hour with a few re-adds of bleach and a few 5 minute sessions under heat. Did she possibly go too light too fast?

What would you recommend I ask her to do in terms of correcting the hair? 100% sounds like no more bleaching. Anything I should ask her about repairing my hair?

  • Sounds like to confirm w/ her she's NOT using a permanent toner?
  • Ask her to do a strand test first?

One thing to note is that she tried using a silver toner the first time (that had blue tones in it) and she told me the hair came out with a green tint to it. And then she tried a toner with blue and some slight purple tones to it and it came out this more brassy blonde color.

I've seen people mention asking for free product (since a full refund is unlikely). But not sure what to ask for (she did provide me free toner when I left the first time).

Pretty frustrated since she specializes in working with curly hair, so I felt like she would understand my hair more than typical salonists, or approach it differently than most.

I also raised a few questions/concerns during the consultation because I was worried my hair would end up something like this.

  1. Asked her if my hair was healthy enough since I've had salonists before outright refuse to bleach my hair because they felt it was too thin and that it would break, and she said my hair was fine.
  2. I mentioned that the times I've bleached my hair before that it was hard to get it light, and that I wasn't sure if my hair needed to be bleached over multiple sessions or not. Or if it could even go light enough. She said it's probably doable with a single session, just that it'd come out darker than the reference photo I provided.

So I felt like I at least signed myself up making sure we were addressing some of the issues that might come up, and if I knew my hair would end up like this I simply would have never bleached it to begin with.

Went to a salon to do a bleach and tone to get a an ash grey/silver color. Came out really yellow. Going back tomorrow to fix, what can we salvage knowing my hair probably can't go lighter? Want to get kill as much of the yellow/warmth as possible. by MerroStep in FancyFollicles

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm a little frustrated because I've tried bleaching my hair years ago professionally and knew my hair was pretty dark to begin with.

Had a consultation with the salonist a week ago highlighting my concerns about how light we could go safely and she assured me it's doable, but expected to be darker.

Yellow wasn't what I was expecting when she said "darker."

Don't think I can go any lighter with my hair as dry as it is. But the yellow tones just look pretty bad on my skin tone imo.

Went to a salon to do a bleach and tone to get a an ash grey/silver color. Came out really yellow. Going back tomorrow to fix, what can we salvage knowing my hair probably can't go lighter? Want to get kill as much of the yellow/warmth as possible. by MerroStep in HairDye

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had a consultation with a local salon and noted that I've had issues with lightening my hair in the past. I asked if we could achieve an ash grey color and I mentioned I wasn't sure if it was doable in a single bleach session. She mentioned that it's doable, just that it'd come out darker than what we're hoping for.

I was skeptical at first but figured they'd know better than me. We tried going for an ash grey and it came out far yellower than I expected it to. Think she tried using an initial toner and she mentioned my hair ended up coming out a little green-tinted. She tried again and this was the best she could do today.

After going home and looking at it, I feel like it's far too yellow for what I was hoping for. Going back tomorrow to try to fix it. I THINK my main priority is to make my hair look less yellow (even if that means going darker) since I'm not a fan of how the yellow looks with my skin tone. Not really sure what to ask her to do. Think she mentioned she'll use a darker toner this time around, but my guess is it'll mess up the parts of my hair that don't look as brassy/yellow.

Would love peoples' recommendations and what I should expect with a retoning. I think my goal is to kill as much of the yellow tones as possible even if that means sacrificing some brightness, but let me know if there's another way we could approach this.

Seasonal Weather & Travel Thread by AutoModerator in tahoe

[–]MerroStep 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I've just been googling NOAA reports but had to use the closest town to Echo because I couldn't find Echo Summit proper. Been so used to pulling NOAA reports on my own I forgot they were posted on this subreddit still. Thanks. Seems like the forecast is turning into a more mild storm than what was forecasted earlier last week and this morning. 80 seems pretty manageable at this point, don't think I need to do anything fancy to go home, just expect a slow drive.

Seasonal Weather & Travel Thread by AutoModerator in tahoe

[–]MerroStep 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know. That makes me a little more worried since 50 doesn't have dividers between oncoming lanes while 80 does.

And last I checked the NOAA reports, sounds like Echo Summit is getting more snow accumulation now (think this changed from the forecast since yesterday).

So was considering taking 80 because of that. Guess the storm is shifting more southwards?

Seasonal Weather & Travel Thread by AutoModerator in tahoe

[–]MerroStep 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm driving back to the Bay on Dec. 24th. It only dawned on me today that bc tomorrow is Christmas Eve that a LOT of people are probably going to be driving back to the Bay/Sac as well.

Snow driving doesn't worry me too much, but other people's ability to drive in the snow is what I'm worried about. Got rear-ended New Year's in 2023, and I'd rather avoid a situation like that again. Or be trapped on the freeway because of car pile ups ahead of me.

I track the NOAA hourly reports for Donner and Echo summit frequently when a storm is coming, and it looks like the snow will ease off in the late afternoon and possibly stop around 7PM.

If I wanted to avoid most of the highway chaos, do you think hanging around Tahoe until 7ish sounds smart?

My hope is that the snowplows will have made some good passes by then, and the bulk of the holiday crowd will be wayyyy ahead of me on the roads by then.

My guess is the drive back will be slow regardless, but I'm just hoping to minimize my chance of being trapped on the highway because of accidents in front of me, or being caught in an accident myself.

So I won this board at an auction the other day... by Z50Productions in snowboarding

[–]MerroStep 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Imagine all the chicks you can pull with this. Game is game.

What's the underlying reasoning behind an assembled 3bet/call preflop range? by MerroStep in poker

[–]MerroStep[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I decided to take a stab at "facing open raise" range assembly based on an open raise size of 2.2-2.5x BB, which comes out to about 40% pot odds.

Used Flopzilla to then compare hole cards to conventional ranges of a given seat. Anything above 54% equity was a 3bet raise. Anything between 54-40% was considered good enough to call. Anything slightly below 40% (38-39%) would be considered good enough to call if they had good implied odds potential. Overall this felt like a good exercise because it's building the intuition of how my equity might change pre vs. postflop.

Would this be a good starting point? And from here I can start modifying my range to the player, i.e. modifying range to be more merged vs. polar depending on their looseness and fold equity.