New Player: Need Progression Advice!? (Icecrown gear snobs)

[SuperiorSkillz]

I recently started playing on Warmane a couple months ago with two buddies who've been on here for years. I got my Rogue to 80 and started the gearing process. My friends helped as much as they could and I got to 5200+ pretty quick... but now i'm S.T.U.C.K! I sit in Dalaran and watch the Global Chat for groups only to find that people are expecting gear scores WELL IN EXCESS of what's needed to clear these bosses. I could post examples, but i've seen people wanting 5.5-5.8 for Naxx and Ulduar... I understand wanting higher 5.7+ for ICC, but Ulduar? COME ON!

So, this is my issue. I've completed my Triumph set, fully gemmed and enchanted, I've bought a couple pieces and had a friend make me boots... so i'm up to 5.2GS. Where do I go from here? Progression is locked behind a wall made of Frost Gems and I can only get 2 a day from daily heroics.... and if I'm lucky I can get an extra 5 a week from the weekly raid quest, assuming I can get in one. At this rate, it will take me months (8+) to get my Frost Emblum set. I can farm gold to get a couple more pieces, but that will only get me to like 5.3-5.4 if i'm lucky.

Any advice? I don't wanna quit Warmane, but this progression pacing is non-sensical. In end-game retail wow you can use RF to gear pretty quick, then its Heroic Raids, then Mythic... I can gear a character start to finish in a few months.. but here its insane.

Again, any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[OhieMitzen]

It's hard to progress from that point without a guild.

5.2 - 5.5K is a struggle, as your next logical step would be ToC25, but for that they often require 5.4K. 5.2K is often considered 'bit too low' for 'alt' ICC 10's.
So, what to do?
Make sure you have the proper gear, even if it's low. Gem it, enchant it, slap it with all the goods you can throw at it. That goes a long way when you try to get your foothold of any ToC25/ICC10 runs. It's pricey, but you have downtime anyway, as you don't have to RDF spam anymore, so get gold.

Lie a little about your GS. Raid wants +5.4K? Say you're 5.4K, when in reality you're 5.2K, they'll see your well gemmed and enchanted gear when inspecting, and most likely will keep you around. They're tired of scrubs running with Yellow/Red hybrid gems on Blue sockets, or people with ****ty enchants, or lacking both.

Best is, if you're WotLK experienced player, tell them that! Ask them to ask you a raid tactics about the raid and give them your answer. Do you know how many PUG's are fed up when people can't do PP oozes, or don't know how Deathbringer Saurfangs adds should be dealt with? Or tell them to ask about your class?

In the end, truly the best case would be to find a guild to raid with, as PUG's and their high GS requirements to brute-force content, are disgusting and awful.