The response to Monday's breakfast topic got me thinking about drugs, alcohol and WoW. A lot of people said they drink to pass the time while farming in WoW. If you're 21 or whatever the legal drinking age in your country is, that's fine -- at least you're not driving. And as for other substances, well .... we're not the FBI and we're not here to judge or moralize. Generally, it's probably better to play WoW while intoxicated than, say, perform brain surgery or control the country's nuclear arsenal.
But dealing with drugs and alcohol can be tough if you're in a group situation, especially if you're in a raiding guild. There's a thin line between "having a good time" and "wiping the entire group because the suppression room is spinning." I've been in raid groups with extremely drunk or high people, and the result has rarely been good. Sure, there's the odd person who can heal or tank just as well while under the influence, but I've also seen a drunk mage whisper me with "loool im kiting gluths stuff," and heard one too many guildmates explain that they couldn't remember why they quit the guild/insulted the officers/yelled out their phone number in Vent. Pretty entertaining for those of us watching, but for a guild actually trying to make progression, such members can be hard to handle.
The worst I've seen was when I was guilded with a tank with an admitted drug and alcohol problem. He was an excellent tank when he was present and conscious, which is why guilds kept giving him chances. The end of the line for him with our guild was when he was the main tank for Nefarian -- we were just beginning to learn the fight, and the guild leader figured a tank with Will of the Forsaken might make things easier. He did a good job the first try. He did a good job the second try. But after the ten minute break before the third try, he disappeared. He didn't log out or tell anyone he was going AFK -- he just stayed still until he disconnected. Turns out he had taken quite a bit of alcohol and/or cocaine before the raid and had passed out at his computer. Needless to say, he didn't get to tank Nef again (although he did stay in the guild.)
What does your guild do with people who are clearly intoxicated during instances? Do you have a drug-free zone policy during raids, or do you consider it a violation of the person's privacy to tell them what to do in their personal lives?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-20-2007 @ 7:56PM
Jeffrey said...
HAHAHAh that's hilarious... as me.. being 16 and all i dont drink or take drugs so yeah..
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2-20-2007 @ 8:09PM
Acceptable Risk said...
Personally, I feel what you do in the privacy of your own home is your own business. I just don't want to hear about it. I'm sure it's great if you're totally stoned, but I really don't want the play by play.
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2-20-2007 @ 8:12PM
jdmdrew said...
I have farmed/grinded drunk but thats about it. WoW is a little to much when I have had one too many. I would love to play with an all drunk guild tho.
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2-20-2007 @ 8:16PM
Pritchard said...
I never farm until I've done a line of coke off a whore's ass.
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2-20-2007 @ 8:31PM
Doug said...
If i'm in a party and someone says "dude i'm soooo high/wasted", that's a good sign for me to leave or if i'm leading, to get ready to boot them. First of all, I have limited time to play, so i don't want to waste my time wiping if someone can't handle their job in the instance/raid. Secondly, if they have to brag about it, then generally they are immature children that want attention. Again, limited time, and i don't want to waste time with people like that. In fact, it is a personal rule of mine to never group with anyone with a drug-related name, for the reason stated above.
I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but this is my personal experience.
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2-20-2007 @ 8:43PM
Kristoffer Belau said...
Back in my old guild we used to do a ZG drinking game. Certian coins had a # of drinks attached to it, Bijou's were 2 drinks. Boss kills were 2 drinks.. bunch of other stuff.
Our main tank used hard alcohol one time instead of beer. That raid ended early
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2-20-2007 @ 8:50PM
jestergoblin said...
I used to drink and play all the time. I would never be wasted but after a long day at work, I'd kick back with a few drinks and a few hours of drinking. I never felt it really affected my gameplay other than I would be very short with people who seemed unable to do basic things.
Such examples included me being the priest in the group and getting kicked out so the level 60 could run us through even though I was the first person to join the group. Or the time when I had to explain that the rogue was not a good tank choice. They didn't listen and my heals pulled more arggo than their attacks.
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2-20-2007 @ 9:23PM
FadedReality said...
there's a guild on dalaran called Smoke Gods. I'm far from against the herb, but I find it amusing that the single most amateur horde guild on the server has a pot reference as their name.
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2-20-2007 @ 9:33PM
Sinkari said...
beer im for when grinding/raiding but anything heavier im against
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2-20-2007 @ 9:48PM
meeee said...
I won't instance with anyone thats knocked out ever since my experience in BRD with a drunk tank. The poor guy was begging our group to stay together to atleast get to the fire anvil so he can make some armour. We felt bad for him so we stuck through it, there was a lot of pressure on me (the priest)to keep everyone alive but we made it and the guy got his armour...
It was extremly frustrating, and that's only a 5 man instance. I can't imagine trying to do a raid with a tank like that...
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2-20-2007 @ 9:52PM
jpn said...
a little smoke makes things go better, ive found.
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2-21-2007 @ 12:35AM
ShatteredChaos said...
Once my raid had gotten used to MC and it became a total grind a few of us turned the run into a drinking game based on who was smooth enough to pull aggro (one drink) or really smooth and got themselves killed (two drinks). Of course you got to finish off your drink if you were able to get the raid leader and only the raid leader killed.
It was all in good fun and everyone of us had a good time. Afterwards we did an UBRS run still completely drunk. It was either the fastest run ever, or I don't remember that much, but it was prolly the most fun I'd had in UBRS in a long time.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:00AM
Sporkle said...
"I don't remember that much, but it was prolly the most fun I'd had in UBRS in a long time"
lol
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2-21-2007 @ 1:50AM
vince said...
i main healed a botanica run completely smashed last week (ret paladin).
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2-21-2007 @ 2:46AM
chimera said...
I raided MC/BWL and cleared CoT Durnholde Keep for the first time completely drunk :D It's no problem, mage is not hard to play :)
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2-21-2007 @ 3:20AM
ninja said...
man...i play all the time after a few beers, or i just have some during play time...sometimes i get home drunk and play...it's all good...kinda cool :D
as for high..that is SO COOL...after a litlle joint the WoW experience is so...different...btw alot of people smoke weed and play the game.
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2-21-2007 @ 7:44AM
crucifier said...
I dont raid anymore, but last year when I lived in the mountains of Vermont and had nothing better to do but raid in WoW, as I was the raid leader for the guild I was working with. After a while, the only way I'd make it to the end of a 5 hour Molten Chore run if I had downers/sedatives handy... I personally have no problem doing most drugs, and they rarely impact my logic/executive functions. I've raided on Xanax, Valium, brown and white Heroin (never injected though), Oxyconton, Alcohol, and of course Marijuana -- including combinations thereof.
I personally believe that what the people in my group do on the other side of their keyboard is their own business, as long as it doesnt impact my gameplay. I don't care to hear people ramble on about how messed up they are, and if I did I'd be playing Counterstrike -- but that doesn't mean that drugs and alcohol are going to make you a worse player. Its a videogame, not a racecar.
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2-21-2007 @ 8:00AM
Angua said...
I roll up a joint between pulls/during downtime in instances/grinding/questing..
I rarely drink alcohol and I find I'm far, far more in control of my senses while stoned in that it doesnt affect my playstyle for the worse at all. I get typo-tastic at times but thats about it.
In fact, if anything it keeps me calm during pulls that go wrong when I know I have to AoE and really watch my health and frost nova/cold snap/Ice block/Ice Barrier cooldowns whilst keeping half an eye on the healer and the other half on any other squishies in the event I have to freeze some mobs to buy them time to break free.
All that aside, I know its cliched and however much you dont want to agree due to years of social conditioning or whatever... if you raid/quest/grind while even drinking a coffee, your under the influence.
Same for smoking... Nicotine and Caffeine are still drugs, still affect your mental state, are addictive and cause bodily harm.. they just tend to be socially tolerated and named in a manner that doesnt conjure up images of people off their heads on dope unable to speak.
Seriously, all the people saying they wont raid/group with people who are high. I can see in some circumstances from player to player that it may be detrimental but dont write all stoners off as no good to quest with :-)
I've been smoking herb and playing Video Games for years and have no detrimental hand-to-eye co-ord problems and I wouldnt spam chat up with nonsense while high. Give some of us the chance we deserve ;-)
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2-21-2007 @ 8:33AM
Romnious said...
3 Cheers the great drinking game of the PVP grind.
- Die, one drink.
- 3 killing blows, one drink
- Lose, one drink
- WIN, your doing to good. take 2 more drinks.
Anyone else do anything creative to pass the time while grinding out honor Pre-BC ?
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2-21-2007 @ 8:51AM
Bobonice said...
when i got vicadin somehow, and i was making growling noises into the teamspeex....
yea....
i could never remember doing that.
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