I’ve never considered myself a “WoW snob” before – but maybe I am. There are two group situations that REALLY piss me off to the point of saying something in group to the people involved. This is not how I would typically handle a situation, but I find myself unable to stop.
Situation 1: You’re a tank spec’d class like a warrior or a paladin and you’ve got a good set of tank gear but you queue for random dungeons as DPS. You personally can not parse more then the current tank, or even the heal spec’d priest. This was the situation in Heroic Pit last night. I understand that people want to earn emblems for both sets of gear but if you have nothing but tank gear and are unable to keep up dps (we’re talking 1-1.5k here) you’re not doing anything but hurting the group you’re in. It was incredibly disheartening for me to be out parsing as a healer in my heal gear (and I don’t have raid gear).
Situation 2: You’re so uber and aware of your own awesomeness that you just run around without any consideration for anyone else in your group, especially the tank. There are a few events in Heroic Pit that I have seen happen time and time again. Number one, after the first named there are these jumping leaping ghouls that like to bound around. If you happen to be an over zealous character without regards to anyone around you, chances are you bound off down the path and these ghouls see you, find you, and make short work of you. Number two, did you know you can skip a few of the encounters on the hill after the 2nd boss? The trick is that the entire group must run up the hill TOGETHER and you must stay AWAY from the hill until you are all ready. Approaching causes the mobs to spawn. They will not spawn until you get close. Even after telling the group that we would move as a unit, a few of those awesome unique players decided that they were too good to listen and ran off on their own. Then trained a few groups onto us remaining players, wiped us, and then left group.
I don’t mind new players. I think it’s cute, and I’m always making “awe, so cute we have noobs!” comments in guild. I don’t mind people who can’t parse as high as I’d personally like as long as they’re not parsing low because of something easily within their control like queuing for dps as a tank. It would be fantastic if every group I entered was filled with players who listened and were aware of their surroundings (HOW many times do people have to pull the mobs by the slaves in Pit “accidentally” as they work on their quest that they never did in regular mode. Just speak up and let the tank know you need the slaves! They’ll clear for you instead of you acting like bait).
Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s about to happen any time soon.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
I was harsher than I meant to be yesterday. WoW is a game I so much want to love. It means a lot to so many people. I have tried and tried, though, and it just never reaches that feeling of “fun”.
Every WoW guild I have been in has devolved into waves of drama, so I have sworn off guilds in WoW.
WoW — to me, and obviously only in my opinion — has managed to squeeze every bit of fun out of the MMO formula, leaving every activity feeling like a thankless job with a boss who hates you — YOU, personally — and wants you to be miserable.
Given all that, I still keep trying WoW, hoping that some of the magic others feel rubs off on me.
Cute, you were in the same boat as many of these people recently :)
I suppose WoW is a game that leaves so little room for error, freedom of specs, play styles and most of all- enjoying the game and having fun. We’re all so worried about maxing dps and checking to make sure everyone else is doing their job. I don’t enjoy playing babysitter anymore. Plus after running the same raids and heroics for the past two years… It’s actually more entertaining to help a newbie out than to whine about someones spec and gear. The rest of the group should be more than compensated to carry a ‘newb’. People are truly horrific to new players, often they get lumped up with bad players- pretty sad.
When it comes to bad players you will always, always have people not pulling their weight but that is the way the river runs.. more so in WoW with the LFD. Sometimes it can be annoying but- It is what it is.
Tipa is right though this game is like no other with abuse from players. (Tipa you should have come to my server to play, like I suggested=p)
Glad you are enjoying the game and it’s fresh and new to you!
I am a very firm believer in the notion that it is the community sets the tone for the server. It is the community that, through a general concencus, determines what is considered acceptable behavior, and what is not (despite what the EULA or game mechanics allow)
Let me illustrate with a little antecdote:
Long ago, and far away, when I used to be in Britannia, I played on Sonoma Shard (’97 seems like a long, long time ago now). As a new player, I was based out of Minoc, working the mines there (trying to become a Grand Master Blacksmith). Miners always were naked in those times to save every ounce of weight. (carrying the ore was heavy; and could, in fact, encumber you to the point of not being able to move at all.) We miners had nothing but our mining picks and shovels; no weapons, armour or reagents for spells.
There was a PK named ZUG ZUG in those days, who was the terror of the mines. Everyday he would show up and slaughter the hepless miners, trying to build up his vile reputation. We were easy prey, like shooting fish in a barrel! Shouts of “PK!”, “PK!” would echo from the halls, as miners scattered in all directions, or fell victim under his blows.
One day though, we had had enough. We met together and planned. When ZUG ZUG made his appearance that day, he was greeted with shouts of, “ZUG ZUG in the mines!” “Let’s get him!”
Dozens of naked miners wielding their mining picks swarmed him. We fell in swaths, but:
we started to wear him down. Miners would die, run to a healer for a rez, and run back to rejoin the fight! (just like a raid in EQ2 against a boss MOB). Slowly, step by step, we pushed him back, until he finally turned and fled, with an angry crowd of pick-wielding miners in hot pursuit!
Adventurers in the town watched, doubled over in laughter. Some offered to form a ‘posse commitatus’ to help guard the mines. ZUG ZUG’s reputation as a PK was seriuosly damaged, and he was never seen in the mines again.
It was one of the most satisfying experiences I have ever had in any MMORPG, and it made an impression on me. I have been an advocate of community ever since. If players work together, as a community, they can shape the climate of their server.
I have found that roleplay servers (no matter the game) generally have a more tolerant and helpful community than non-roleplay servers. It’s not a given, of course, but *generally* speaking it seems to hold true, especially for players new to the game.
I guess my problem with WoW was mostly the groups. They were either silent or insulted you. I never got one offer of friendship or community in the game. It came down to, how much do I want to be punished to play WoW when I could save my money and not have to deal with the frustration? As a single player game, WoW was, for me, incredibly dull; I’d have to be watching a movie or something to make it at all tolerable.
I don’t know of any other MMO where people were punished so much by other players. EQ had elitism going on, but uber guilders only grouped with each other, and the rest of the players were more or less equal in their abilities once you got to a sufficient level. Always exceptions, of course, but usually a max level PUG featured fairly competent people who talked. And then sometimes you’d get a uberguilder in the group (bored or something) and then you’d see something new.
“I don’t mind new players. I think it’s cute, and I’m always making “awe, so cute we have noobs!” comments in guild.”
This makes me sad. I was already so self-conscious about my gear and dps that I stopped queuing for dungeons and eventually let my sub run out, but knowing someone was calling me a noob in guild would have just ended it for me right there.
I was trying my best.
Wow I haven’t come across that yet in HoR, sounds like FUN TIMES. =X
Oops commenting on iPhone and hit go -:( was going to say the tank who pulls the whole room and blames healer and the priest in hor who said I’m going in the middle I know best lol