2 June 2010

On pug etiquette

The debate around random groups seems to hinge on the quality of the players you get: either they are rubbish, or they are not rubbish. Observers can be found at both ends of the spectrum, strenuously arguing their corner.

Honestly, I don't care about the quality of players available, except in the extreme. You can succeed in most situations with bad dps, and even bad tanks or healers do not automatically mean failure if other players in the group are skilled enough to compensate. Only the perfect storm of five idiots is guaranteed to fail, but this is a very rare occurrence. (And no smart arse ask me when I've ever been in one, thank you very much...)

In my experience, pugs rise and fall not on the skills of the players but their emotional maturity, their manners, and consideration.

I do not vote to kick bad players. They are there to get better gear, and to learn to play more effectively. I am more patient of the bad player who says 'please bear with me as I'm new to this spec' than the tier 10 jerk who zones in and goes AFK so you can earn his badges while he watches TV. This has happened to me. Many times. I vote to kick for a 10-minute DC, for wiping the group unnecessarily, for harassment of other players, and for general asshattery.

And if I had the power to summon back every tank or healer that has quit for no reason and with no warning and vote to kick them myself, I would.

But if a player can barely muster 1k dps while we are otherwise making good progress, I don't care. Clearly the bar for acceptability lies a little higher for tanks and healers, but the principle is the same.

If I think my fellow players are basically all brain damaged, I will choose a break in combat to politely take my leave and suffer the consequences.

The upcoming changes to the 'vote to kick' feature are therefore a mixed blessing to me.

While they assume that frequent vote kickers are all elitist bullies out to destroy the confidence of new players, we have no evidence of this. What if they, like me, are on a mission to cleanse the game of twats?

1 comment:

Etti said...

There is a reason behind what you said,but that case is not that simple.This thing is more complicated I think.If this new vote option will be implemented,only those players will using it what you mentioned in your post,those people who are going to afk to collect badge only in a HC.
But in some cases if in a HC there is a player who are causing more damage to the team tha helping it it will be a useful thing.There are players who are not eligable to a HC,so they must learn how to play this game,but I don't have to teach all of them.If he/she is can do what must to do in a HC than should he come to do one.Not when he just currently reach lvl 80 and want to be in full gear immadiately.