Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.
Remember when The Burning Crusade launched and everyone was in a big hurry to ding 70? Apparently some guilds are still leveling up. This week's e-mail doesn't mention whether these are new players or rerolls, but the problem is the same: What should you do when the people you're counting on just aren't leveling up fast enough?
I am a member of a small guild on Gul'dan server. I sympathize with and thank K for sharing his guild problems. Our guild is a lot younger and most likely smaller than his is or was at one point, but as we progress to get our members leveled up and geared up for raiding I can already notice a slight discontent, similar to what K described.
We are very casual right now and our leader is letting the guild "breathe its own air", by not imposing any strict rule. This is done to allow the players to feel comfortable as they level up. The only real rule, more of a suggestion I would say, that we ask our members to follow, is to disregard any dungeon quest and just concentrate on leveling up as fast as possible, without having higher levels running you through areas.
Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.
This week, I finally get around to answering an email from Mattilda:
Hey Robin,
I really enjoyed your article on WoW Insider. I recently got married and that basically killed my play time in WoW which probably isn't that bad of a thing, but I still like to play and it is normally only for a couple of hours in the evening. One of the biggest problems I have is getting a group for an instance. I have a decent guild but they are all normally busy in Kara or ZA when I'm on, and since I only play one or 2 nights a week I'm not high on the importance list to help.
I like to do dailies and busy my self with solo stuff, but in order to get neutral with the Ogrila, there are some group quests. Looking for group is not always reliable and it seems that it basically puts you with 5 year olds most of the time. So my question is you can either put in in an article or just answer via e-mail, do you have any good ideas on how to get a reliable group in a short amount of time. There may not be a way, but just wanted to get your thoughts.
I've met some really cool people playing World of Warcraft.With the exception of a small handful of my RL friends, most of them are just friendly voices on Ventrilo. I had the opportunity to hang out with a guildie last spring.It was an awesome time.
We had been running lowbies on a new server.We had a Warrior, a Rogue, a Warlock and a Shaman that we were leveling together.All but the Warlock player live in Las Vegas.decided to spend part of his spring break with us.I went to pick him up at the airport holding a sign with his character name on it- probably not the strangest thing you'll ever see at McCarranInternationalAirport. With the exception of a couple dinners out, we spent the entire weekend playing WoW.No casinos, no strip, no shows, no clubs- just WoW.I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Dungeons, known as instances, are special zones where players group together to fight tougher monsters than the outside environment. They are called instances because each group who enters them is given a separate copy of the dungeon and will not interact with other players of either faction when inside. Higher quality loot is available in instances than the environment, in addition to excellent quest experience and rewards. Today's WoW Rookie gives you a guide to the dungeons may enter in your first forty levels or so.
Instances are known in most cases by their initials.Notable exceptions will be listed below.This guide also gives suggested levels for completing the dungeons.Entering at a lower level will usually prove difficult and, at times, painful. If you do an instance at a higher level than recommended will garner little experience and rewards that do not benefit your current level.
Nibuca from Mystic Chicanery gets credit for coining this one, but I don't disagree: Lurting is bad-- don't do it.
Lurting, as you can see in the video above, is a made-up term for looting during battle. Sometimes, we can't help it (yes, I'm a sometime lurter, too, I'm sorry to say)-- the thrill of seeing shiny sparkles on a foe is just too much. But while it seems like it won't matter, odds are that that's when things will go wrong-- looting not only distracts you from the fighting, but also can cause exactly what happens in this video. If a loot window pops up while you're trying to keep the main tank healed. And it's a distraction that could cost the whole group.
In short, no looting during combat: no lurting allowed. That loot ain't going anywhere, and it's got your name all over it. Wait until all the sheeps are dead, and all the targets are down, and then right click away and claim your goodies.
Straycat's story of "getting it" reminded me of when I first realized this game was something special. I'd played MMOs before, and I'm a longtime gamer, so I always knew that I'd get into it. But it was during my first group, right around level 7, where three people I'd never met and I did a few quests together, and traveled all over the Night Elf starting area (yeah, yeah) All of us kind of figured out just how great this game was-- even at that early point, we realized how different our classes where, and how much this game really had to offer.
So the question for today is: was there an exact time at which you "got it" too? Lots of WoW players are first-time gamers (at least first-time serious gamers), and there were probably a lot of surprises out there when it was discovered that video games really could be as fun as they say. Was there one point at which you "got it"?
Welcome everyone to Ask WoW Insider, where your questions get answers every week. Last week we looked at whether there are really people without alts, and this week we turn our attention to group strategy. David wants to settle the matter about who should be doing the pulling in groups:
Now, this may just be me, or does it seem strange when people talk about hunter or mage pulls? I understand that in certain cases there is a need to have a hunter pull, especially with Misdirect, but when it comes down to it, any time I run something I never get to pull (Hunter here). Not that it's much of a complaint, more of a curiousity. For the most part Warriors will have a ranged weapon, Bears will use Faerie Fire, and Pallies will go with Avenging Shield. I just usually find it more complicated to pull with a hunter and then have the tank grab the aggro, when they all have ranged capabilities for pulls. I might also have been spoiled with all my tanks, as it has been months since I've PuGed a tank and we never seem to use CC in any instances anyways. Thought this may be a viable question, or maybe I'm the only Hunter out there that has been spoiled like this?
What say you folks -- should hunters or any one class be doing the pulling in instances or in groups? Are there classes that should never pull? Should warlocks have "Wait for sunders!" mandatorily tattooed on their virtual eyelids? Who should pull -- let's hear it!
Think of the glory and fame that could await you here on Ask WoW Insider -- your name up in lights! If you'd like us to link to your guild site or personal blog, we are happy to promote you if we choose your question. So send 'em in to ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Last night, a warrior guildmate trying to score her Dungeon chest armor piece had her entire group drop before the final mob fight in Arcatraz. Four of us responded to her call for replacements and together we took down the giant cockroach from the planet Xenon, but we lost the priest in the final moments. The key to Arcatraz doesn't work from the inside and the priest didn't have the key. While the keyed rogue hearthed out and headed back to the zone entrance, the rest of us had to kill the time before we looted.
First, we used the joke emote and commented on the lame repetitive jokes the human females have. Then we brought out the illusions (furbolg, druid bear form dancing, shrinking). Then came the pets (sleepy willy, sprite darter; etc.) Finally, the conversation turned to mat gathering for epic recipes.
This would have been a perfect time for a mini-game. Eventually, the rest of our group arrived and, to the warrior's delight, her chestplate dropped. A happy dance later and we were off to return to whatever we were doing before.
But this led me to wonder: what do you do during enforced downtime?
Eldiron of the Silvermane server thought he heard a rumor that the dev team was considering implementing solo instances. Many players chimed in with their wish list for what could be accomplished in that: traps for rogues to detect and disarm; loot tailored to your class; making the instances accessible once daily. Other players pointed out that many classes can already solo old world instances like Blackrock Depths.
Finally, Community Manager Nathaera chimed in that there were no current plans for implementing solo instances in Warcraft. They consider instances as they place for group content and leave the solo content for the outdoor areas. Another blue explained in an earlier thread why designing this kind of content isn't a good use of developer time.
But what if they did consider this idea? What would you like to see in a solo instance?
Crowd control is definitely helpful, that I'll agree. It's much easier to do a Shadow Labs run with two mages who know how to sheep. But I also have to agree with sydney over at WoW Ladies: CC is far from necessary. You can have a great group and still fight all of the mobs all of the time.
Gear, of course, makes a big difference. If your shaman has a few epics on him, chances are he can take a few hits before the tank has a chance to grab a mob off. And a group with tons of DPS can do really well at tearing down a mob as they pull them-- I've played in groups where we never once bothered with sheeping. We just had so much DPS that when we pulled something off of the tank, we killed it before it could hit anyone.
Not to mention that even if you have a group without CC, there are plenty of abilities that you can use as CC. During my Heroic Slave Pens run this past weekend, we had me (a resto shaman), a prot warrior and a holy priest, a moonkin druid, and a warlock. Whoops, no sheeping or traps, right? Nope, but we did have cyclone, chain fear, my elemental pets, and mind control. Ok, well, my elemental pets did drop pretty quick (it was heroic, after all), but incredibly (even though we were a little undergeared for the instance), we made it far enough to pick up two Badges each. Yeah, the mind controller gave us a little trouble, but it was getting late anyway, so we called it.
CC helps, and you do kind of need the basics (tank, healer, and DPS, although it's true that even with those, you can make some subs that don't seem possible), but the truth is that the limit of your group is the limit of the players in it. All of the classes have some ability to keep mobs out of play (or just keep them busy for a little bit until you're ready to fight them). It's just up to players to think of creative ways to do so.
Here is, as she says, an interesting "moral quandary" from jumpingjessflash. She was making her way through Maraudon (one of my favorite instances) with a few guildies, and the BoE epic Icemail Jerkin dropped. At first, she thought it was an upgrade for her Hunter, so rolled Need and took it she asked for Need, but then eventually won it with Greed (see note below). But on second thought, she didn't like only +5 Agility-- turns out it wasn't the Jerkin for her.
So she's left with a choice: wear it anyway, or auction it and risk suffering the wrath of her guildies.
I've been in (almost*) the same position, but (especially with guildies), if I'm not sure whether I'll use something or not, I'll usually let everyone else in the group know that it's iffy for me-- usually they'll let me take it anyway, to keep as a sidegrade or a piece of a different set. If I want to be really nice, I'll sometimes let them reroll on it if I decide I don't want it, and then send it away to the winner. Another option is to sell it, and then split the gold.
Of course, you could also go the other way and send it to an unguilded alt to sell it anonymously. That way, you get the cash and no one is the wiser. Like I said, usually I don't care, but I'll admit that sometimes I'm a stickler-- if someone happens to roll Need on a BoE that I think is a questionable call, I have in the past asked them to put it on so I can see them wearing it via /inspect (I haven't ever done that to guildies, but in a PUG everything is fair game as far as I'm concerned).
Still, I don't have a problem with selling a piece picked up accidentally, if someone thought it was a good piece and then had second thoughts. If you did that and then put it on the AH, no one would accuse you of being a ninja-- would they?
*Update: As a few people have pointed out (including the livejournal poster), it seems like I did misunderstand her original post. She wasn't ninja-ing at all-- she asked for Need, but eventually won it rolling greed. Her concern was that someone may have passed because she asked for Need, not because she rolled Need and then decided she didn't need it. Because she rolled greed and won it, the piece was hers.
Anyway, I still think the issue of second guessing something that you roll Need on is an interesting one. That's not what the original post was talking about, but it's what I am talking about in this story, and I think it's worth a discussion.
I have to admit that the spawn camping has slowed down a lot since the expansion's release (mostly because I'm still hanging out around 66 when all the crazy people have made their way up to 70), but if I could send one message to all my fellow Hordies out there, it's this: if you're after a named kill (like Grillok 'Darkeye' here), and you see me or someone else sitting on the spawn point waiting with you, please, please, please invite us to group up and get the kill together.
There's no reason we should fight on this one. On a collecting quest, where there are so many boar's jaws to go around, I understand it's every Orc for himself-- in that case, I'll usually move on to greener pastures. But if we're both here for just the kill, why would you refuse a member of your own faction? This one's in Mystic Worlds' helpful Outland tips, too: if you're both camping the same named, group up.
Of course, this only goes for factions. I'll steal a kill from any Alliance I see out there, and I just expect those smarmy Night Elves to do the same to me (and I'll take them out when they're halfway down for doing it, too). But if members of the same faction are going after the same kill (or kills) for a quest reward, people, let's just all get along.
The following document was created to help Shaman, specifically Draenei Shaman, as they find themselves as the new class in the Alliance. It's also useful for those who are about to group with a Shaman (or two or three), to understand what role a shammy will play in your group or raid. Finally, it's definitely a good read for anyone who's just picking up the Shaman class, to give you a bit of a jump on your fellow players in knowing your place in groups and raids.
As with most of my shaman info, the credit here definitely goes to Skew, my leveling buddy who is now on his 3rd level 60 Shaman. He swore that if Shaman were ever given to the Alliance, he'd play one, and he has. His knowledge and support and love of the class have been instrumental in encouraging the same in me.
The bulk of the primer is posted after the break, so be sure to read and chime in with your thoughts on the role of a shaman.
Ravven at MBAzeroth has a post up about being "solo by nature." She says she leveled to 60 without putting together even one PUG, and except for her guild, she doesn't really chat with anyone else, and definitely hasn't made any friends that she regularly groups with ingame.
My first reaction was that WoW is a social game, and so of course I figured I must have made some friends along the way to 60. But when I think back on it, the only people I really talk to in game or know in any way are my own guildies. I did PUGs pretty often (because I love running instances), but beyond "thanks for the run" I never really had any extra relationship with those people. Even the folks I added to my friends list never seemed to come across my radar again.
Ravven wonders if she's the only one so shy (is shy the word?) while playing what's really a social game, and she wonders what to do about it. I know of noone better to ask than you, dear readers, so what do you think? Do you play the game as if it's a solo RPG, or have you made real ingame friends that you've grouped with regularly? And while I (and Ravven) consider being a guild a different relationship dynamic, is it? What does it take to make friends in game, or should you even bother at all?
We've probably all had bad pickup group experiences
-- from the healer who thought he was a tank to the hunter who decided she could do just fine without her pet, some of
them haunt us to this day. The Leeroy video is funny because it's true, after all...
Let's get it all off
our chests today -- what's the worst PuG experience you've had? Even worse, was it your fault?
Probably the
worst re-occurring PuG nightmare I run into is the kamikaze mage. She thinks she's invincible, she decides she wants
all the mobs' attention on her, and as a druid I have to judge whether to keep her alive or try to get aggro myself.
Neither usually works. I know I've been guilty of playing my class badly, especially when new to a class or rusty after
playing others for a while, so I expect I've afforded as much amusement to others as these have to me.
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.
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Crowd control is definitely helpful, that I'll agree. It's much easier to do a Shadow Labs run with two mages who know how to sheep. But I also have to agree with sydney over at WoW Ladies: 
Here is, as she says, 
I have to admit that the spawn camping has slowed down a lot since the expansion's release (mostly because I'm still hanging out around 66 when all the crazy people have made their way up to 70), but if I could send one message to all my fellow Hordies out there, it's this: if you're after a named kill (like 
The following document was created to help Shaman, specifically Draenei Shaman, as they find themselves as the new class in the Alliance. It's also useful for those who are about to group with a Shaman (or two or three), to understand what role a shammy will play in your group or raid. Finally, it's definitely a good read for anyone who's just picking up the Shaman class, to give you a bit of a jump on your fellow players in knowing your place in groups and raids.
Ravven at MBAzeroth has 
We've probably all had bad pickup group experiences
-- from the healer who thought he was a tank to the hunter who decided she could do just fine without her pet, some of
them haunt us to this day. The Leeroy video is funny because it's true, after all...
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