Hello everyone, Grisbourne here, just dropping a quick post from the airport. It seems to be a mutual feeling among the more active and vocal clan mates that some solidity is needed to keep the clan progressing in a positive direction. Some connection issues kept me offline for almost a week but I would like to think that I am back in full force with a newfound sense of responsibility within the clan. For those of you who don't know me yet, here is a little history about myself. I am 35 years old, a relic to some of you and a young whippersnapper to the rest. I have been playing games a very long time, mostly RPG's, since the days of Ultima and Zork on the Apple IIe. I love games, but more importantly, I love helping people out in games. Seeing a group of people progress, have fun and promote a positive atmosphere for those who are not here yet is about the only reason I log into games these days. I was a very active clan leader in more than a handful of extremely large scale, raid focused, MMORPG's over the last 15 years and I tend to thrive in that environment. A laid back console version of these seems to provide me with that same "fix" while being about 20% as intense, it is awesome. With that being said, I would like to take the time to say a few things to those of you who are struggling and/or having a hard time finding groups for environment (Strikes, Dailies and Weeklies and the Raid) activities. If we are to survive in a console game that has a large portion of the endgame focused on Raiding and group activities we need to develop a system that includes everyone reaping the benefits on a weekly basis. The communication inside of Destiny is...well...pretty crappy. Sure you can send a message to people on your roster, grab a complete stranger in the tower or just not do these things that require 3-6 players to complete, that is always an option. These events are huge though, especially the Raid, and they will take your character further in about 2-4 hours than a week of straight up grinding will, there is no doubt about that. We all play at a different pace, we all come from different backgrounds but we ALL have one thing in common - we are all playing a game, the same game, that we enjoy. I want to extend a hand to those of you who are brand new to Raiding. These activities are the pinnacle of Destiny at the moment, they take focus, concentration, teamwork and time, lots of time. I personally love raiding, it is the final form of PvE and it is ALWAYS a challenge. Maybe not in the form of difficulty, but sometimes it takes a lot of thinking to make a team work. People are better in situations than others, those of you who choose to play in the Crucible are most likely walking badasses at close to medium range. Those of you who PvE are probably masters at taking your enemies out at mid to long range, and there are those of you who just dominate, or get killed by, everything that you come across. Raiding can be a pain in the ass. It can be brutal, it requires patience, teamwork, patience, a little more patience and finally some patience. Sure, you may be able to find a video of some exploit that allows you to kill the final boss with some cheapass move, that is always an option, but you wont be able to get there by yourself. If you take this route you will never understand what it is like to be part of a team that completes an activity together and make it through alive...and grab a bigass pile of loot along the way. There are probably quite a few of you that haven't been able to set foot inside the Raid yet because you can't find a team, you are scared, you hate the word "Raid" or you just simply may be getting to the level required to participate. Whatever it is, myself, and quite a few others in the clan would love to help you. Over the course of this week I am going to try and put together a list of people who are willing to help out with environment activities. These include the Daily Story Missions on level 28 for maximum rewards (These are extremely easy and low levels can be carried through in a snap), Weekly Strikes, The Nightfall Strike (Tuesdays should be reserved for this because of the weekly experience boost you get for reputation) and finally the Vault of Glass and future raids. I have a very odd schedule, I work out of state so my play times vary according to whether I am at home or away from home. When I am at work I play from about 5 pm. Mountain Time to whenever I fall asleep, usually a good 5-7 hours. When I am at home I play between catching up on chores when my kids are at school, and for an hour or two after they go to bed. I have nothing left to do in the game so I can donate a very large portion of my time to helping people out. I have made a few posts in the forums about posting your play times, your strengths and weaknesses and any other related info. that will help us form groups up for the Raid. Bottom line is this guys, we are a CLAN. It may be in the early stages, communication may not be the best, but for a game that has a planned lifespan of ten years across multiple releases with absolutely NO form of grouping up for activities within the game, we are doing pretty damn good. We are a CLAN. We can only move forward when all of us are communicating, making progress, having fun and helping out. A clan that thrives is a clan that survives, in every aspect of the game, please, PLEASE, be vocal, help out, be patient, teach people don't yell at them, be respectful at all times and have fun. The next time you do a Strike, a Weekly, A Nightfall....anything that some of us can solo, just throw a quick message up on the app, I catch myself from time to time bypassing this because if my crusty old skills can do some of these alone then I just figure everyone should be able to do it. That isn't the case. There are people within the clan, in the clan that we all belong to, our family, that are being left out of events, Raids, Nightfalls and whatever else there is. These people may become a friend, a person that you may need one day in a Raid, a quick pickup for a Crucible match...who knows. Keep an eye out in the forums for future posts about activities, raid groups and anything else related to said topics. I would love to take the opportunity to run each and every one of you through a Raid environment, it doesn't have to suck, it doesn't have to be difficult. It can actually be pretty fun when you have a group that is properly informed and not treated like 85% of the people who try and find random groups. Please, if you are trying to Raid and finding out that you hate the atmosphere simply because of the people you are trying to do it with send me a message, I will make time to help you through it. Your BEST chance at getting ahold of me is on xbox live, send a proper message (not something like "hey u raid whatup lol omg" ) and I will get with you as soon as I can. Like I said I am 35 years old, a single Dad, a workaholic and have erratic sleep patterns. Oh, and ADD. The ONLY Requirements you need to raid are as follows: * The minimum level required to do the Vault of Glass Raid on normal, level 25, or 29 (28 if cleared from start to finish previously) on Hard. * A Microphone (There is no getting around a mic, you HAVE to have one) * Patience - Be willing to work for your loot in more ways than pressing your triggers * Patience - Do not be afraid of defeat, it only makes victory that much sweeter * Patience - In a raid you are part of a team, it is NEVER, EVER, one person's fault for failing. * Common sense If you have these and want to learn, be part of a group that teaches you, will never yell at you, will inform you of what is coming next and the best way to approach it, send me a message on Xbox Live, my Gamertag is Grisbourne, thanks for your time.