After such a great experience PuG’ing last week, I decided to try it again last night.  One of my guildies, Exelus, put out the call in guild chat for a Naxx-25 PuG group he was in.  It was a little before 10pm my time, but I figured it wouldn’t take longer than 2 hours to clear the Military Wing, Sapphiron and Kel-Thuzzad.  I mean, how long could it take? 

I haven’t done much in Naxx-25 – just a couple of bosses and Sapphiron, but I know the 10-man very well and have cleared it on numerous occasions.  Even though it has better loot, I don’t think I would even bother with 25-man if it wasn’t for the achievements.  What can I say?  I’m an achievement whore.  Besides the obvious reason of not having a regular group to do 25-man content with, I also don’t like to do them because everything is so chaotic.  I always have to turn my settings down really low, but even then, its tough to see what’s going on all the time.  And while I imagine that there are regular 25-man groups out there that know each other and work well together, for me, our 10-mans work like a well oiled machine.  Our core group of raiders know and respect each other, which makes the runs go so much more smoothly, quickly and happy (even if we have 1 or 2 new people with us).  I’ve been amazed at what we have accomplished, even though we aren’t focused on raiding (only one or two nights a week for about 6 hours total).  So what if our gear isn’t as “leet” as those who run 25-man?  I prefer the happier, quieter times with my guild in 10-man.

We ended up accidentally starting the Instructor Razovious three times (once to a hunter pet, once to a DK ghoul and once to a priest who’s mind soothe buff wore off and aggro’d everything).  After that, we made it through Gothik the Harvester and the Four Horseman without too many difficulties, just at a slower pace than I’m used to.  Once the Military Wing was cleared, we headed up to take on Sapphiron…and that is where we seemed to get stuck in an awful, Star Trek-like, time loop.  For whatever reason, we just kept wiping.  After about the 3rd wipe I noticed how late it was getting (well past midnight), we wiped a couple more times, and at that point, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.  I also noticed I was making stupid mistakes – for example on one attempt I hit killing spree, got turned around and ran the wrong way, got tail swiped and then ran back only to be killed by a combo of a blizzard/curse. 

When the raid leader said over vent that we had at least 8 hours till it reset, I started to panic.  We were going to keep at it for 8 more hours?!

We finally defeated Sapphiron and were regrouping/handing out loot when I realized I could go no further.  I messaged the raid leader and said I had to leave, but I would stay a bit while he tried to find someone else to take my place.  No response.  I tried to find a guildie to take over for me, but nothing.  I messaged the raid leader again, but still no response.  I finally had to put it in raid chat that I was leaving, but this of course upset some of the rest of the group.  They had no clue that I had been messaging the raid leader for the last 10 minutes.  I felt horrible since I usually stick with PuG’s until they fall apart of their own accord, but it had been 3 hours already and I just couldn’t stay awake any longer.  The raid leader finally piped in and gave me the all clear to go, so I quickly hearthed and signed off for the evening.

I did manage to pick up my T7.5 breastplate from the 4 Horsemen during the run, which only served to make me feel worse for leaving.  So, boys and girls, my original warning still stands: All PuG’s DO end in tears.