Mr. Tough-Tank

Dun-duh-DUH! (That's the sound of LFG dinging to say my wait time is over!). I pause my questing in Borean Tundra to run an instance. Let's set the scene, shall we?

source: WoW Wiki

Drak'Tharon Keep. Yes! I love this place. It's quick, it's fun and there aren't that many mechanics to wipe PUGs. It's also great experience for my level 74 self.  The group is a warrior tank, pally healer, enhancement shaman, unholy death knight, and me the fire mage as the DPS. Not a bad draw!

So, as usual, I'll greet the party in chat to engage communications...

Me: Hi all!

Wham!  Here it comes.

Tank: LISTEN UP! ME AND HEALZ R IN THE SAME GUILD AND WE R IN VENT. WE R TALKING ABOUT U. IF U SUCK U WILL DIE.
Tank: HEALZ WILL NOT HEAL BADS. DON'T PULL UNLESS U WANT TO DIE. DON'T BE BADS UNLESS U WANT TO DIE.

Yeah, that's pretty much word for word what the dude said, and he did yell it all in caps. I swear his caps lock was broken. I'm assuming he's male. I'm also assuming he doesn't get out much. If I were a gambling man, and I am, I'll bet you those assumptions are correct.

Anyway, already my hackles are up. Not only is this attitude an issue, but also I despise "chat speek". If you're too lazy to type the words "are" or "you", you need to log off and go text your pals on a number-pad phone. It's not that much more effort to actually spell these things called words, and it makes you look competent instead of childish. And don't even get me started on being called "bads".  Ugh.

That aside....

After the oh-so-wonderful introduction of putting all of us non-guilded inferior DPS into our places, he begins on the first hallway. On the second pull, the caster puts a pool of black death on the ground. Mr. Tough-Tank side steps slightly, but not dramatically so the DK and the shammy stay right where they are and proceed to die. They aren't healed.

DK: Why did I die?
Tank: YOUR BAD.
Healer: You stood in black stuff.

So, at least this clown's healer is trying to be somewhat helpful. The tank continues to be a jerk and berate people for their lack of 'skillz'. Ugh! After rezzes, we successfully clear the first hall and move into Trollgore's anteroom. Mr. Tough-Tank then proceeds to pull the entire room. He also fails to turn the golems so now all of us are getting poison spat at us as we're all jammed in the doorway and it's an instantaneous wipe.

So I'm cussing to myself and trying not to go ballistic in party chat, thereby causing more drama, but I'm barely containing my inner nerd-rager. I zone back into DTK. The tank and heals are just ahead of me, but the other two are both still 'Dead'. They haven't released. Ugh. I know what's gonna happen next. Drama!

Shaman: Rez, please?
Tank: F%!K U. (My censoring)
DK: ???
Tank: RUN.
Shaman: Wow. Nice.
Healer: Sec
Tank: WTF? NO REZZING!
Healer: Hey, I'm nice that way.
Healer proceeds to resurrect the dead.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tough-Tank is going on and on a little tirade to prove the point of what I thought was common instance etiquette; on a full group wipe, unless there is a survivor to mass resurrect the party, everybody runs in. In other words, if the healer has to run, then everyone runs.

Well, now the moaning really starts and insults are flying in party chat as we're clearing the anteroom. Mr. Tough-Tank is getting called out in party chat for being a schmuck by the DK and the Shaman, but he doesn't take well to being challenged. Next thing I see is:

Tank: OH YEAH?

The jackass runs ahead, pulls Trollgore, and quits group mid-fight along with the healer. Yay for three dead DPS. DK quits. Shaman quits.  Are you flipping kidding me?!?

What's the moral of this story? None. Morals are intended to teach a lesson. I have no illusions that anything I say will ever change that clown's mind. For the rest of you, though, I have hope! Indulge me as I step up on the soapbox.

Random Groups Are Random

Looking For Group (LFG),  and by extension Looking For Raid (LFR), combines random people into a group to attempt an instance.  If you decide queue for this random pairing, you must understand you have no choice or control over who you're grouped with.  They could be heroic DS raiders, or they could be scraping by on the iLevel requirements in all the wrong gear.  Don't get me wrong -- seeing a rogue wearing spirit leather to meet minimum iLevel requirements is mind boggling.  My point is that you have to expect some level of that craziness when you're randomly matched with other people.

This further applies to PVP; if you want to PVP with elite PVPers, form a pre-made and run rated battlegrounds. Random BGs may have folks in PVE gear without any resilience. There's a whole series of posts on this (The Harpy's Nest has a great one), but it boils down to this:  because the game matched people for you, you live with what you get.

I take exception to players that complain when they are in random groups about other players abilities. Now, I'm not talking about calling out that rogue in +SPI leather. If that is an honest mistake, it needs to be corrected. If it's a shortcut to get into an instance, it's negatively impacting my experience by sandbagging me and I take exception to that. What I am referring to is having adequate DPS but not necessarily heroic-caliber DPS within a non-heroic instance.  As long as the bad guys are dying and the good guys are living, all is well. I'm talking about berating a tank for not having a million health while running a level 74 instance. I'm talking about not giving the healer grief because the tank died while trying to pull an entire wing instead of 3-4 adds at a time.

There seems to be a level of elitism where the self-proclaimed 'Goods' berate and ridicule the 'Bads'. If you want to play that way and be all elite, suit yourself. But, please stay the hell out of LFG. Or at least shut up while you're there.

Educate, Don't Berate

Once you are matched, you may get lucky and have an elite squad of veterans that breeze through the run without fuss and with minimal communication. Consider yourself blessed! Now, for the rest of us, there will be challenges.  People will not know the instance. They will be brand new tank specs because they're tired of waiting for hours in the DPS queue. They may be inebriated and just not give a shit. Before going on a nerd-rage vent, try actually communicating and explaining the problem. "Hey, don't stand in the black poop. You have to move out of it".  They may honestly not even know!
Save the raging for the ones that are inebriated or obnoxious. Spare the ignorant!

I like to feel that I can help others. I've run Wrath instances over and over. I know 'em. I can explain the mechanics. I have alts for every classes, and all but a few are level 85. I'm not the Big Red Kitty or Frostheim of Hunters, but I know the class. I can offer suggestions and help improve players.  Assuming a player is even open to suggestions, when something is phrased as a suggestion rather than a dramatic criticism of epic failure, I for one would be much more open to considering that advice.  But if someone's just going to insult me, welcome to ignoreville!

And now I can step off the soapbox. Hey, if all else fails, start a blog and post the experiences for others!