The ins and outs of PuGs
by Amanda Miller 
Oct 30th 2007 at 7:00PM
So, you have your consumables, you've donned your good gear, and you've got two hours until you need to log. Why aren't you in Shadow Labs? Sure, there was that hunter who said he'd go but then his mom called. Your friend said maybe, if they decide not to do their guild's Kara run tonight. A Mage joined your group, and left wordlessly after two minutes. The joys of the PuG begin even before you've effectively made a "pick-up group".
There has been speculation about the difficulties of even acquiring a PuG, let alone working in one to the successful completion of a dungeon or 5-man quest. There are several guides to leading your PuG to victory, but sometimes, I think we'd all settle for engaging in one that doesn't turn into an all-out brawl.
To this effect, Kestrel recently posted Ten Commandments for Casual Groups, in which the ten most important rules for working as a team with unknown players, and leaving the experience feeling - dare we hope - pleasant, are explored.
The ten rules are not only basic etiquette, but also the ones that are quite commonly broken, and end up causing the most chaos. For the experienced player, these rules are nothing new, although a good brush-up is therapeutic (that's right, "Ninjabobfive", even Kestrel thinks you need to L2P!) It also makes a great gift for the n00b nearest you!
I would also like to draw attention to Ratshag's comment; most players are willing to forgive even the biggest blunder causing the longest corpse-run in history, as long as the player who transgressed fesses up immediately.
Filed under: Tips, How-tos, Odds and ends, Instances
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Autumnbear Oct 30th 2007 7:13PM
And that folks is why pets hate Halloween.
Chris Oct 30th 2007 7:23PM
Lol, I remeber when you had to get a group of 10 people to do UBRS (It used to be 15). Also it was one thing to get the group together, another thing to down drak. I remeber spending 45 minutes organizing a group just to realize we had to find someone who could open the door. So in the end I definately think its easier to find PuG's for today's 70 instances (heroics are different) than back in the pre-bc days.
Dave Oct 30th 2007 7:33PM
well for starters if you need voice chat in a PUG, you're doing something wrong. There are no difficult 5-mans that need verbal explanation. Learn to play the game without the crutch of needing a microphone and someone's voice in your ear telling you what to do, or stop expecting to be able to tell everyone else what to do, or whatever reasons people might insist on voice chat in a PUG 5-man. I'd laugh and quit the group instantly if anyone ever insisted on voice chat.
The rest should be pretty obvious, and just don't group with people who don't play well with others in general. You break my sheeps, you get a warning. Keep doing it, you'll probably die a few times. Usually dying a few times and hearing "I guess you shouldn't break my sheeps" tends to work it out of someone. Same goes for pulling aggro, dotting things, etc etc. Sometimes people gotta die to learn a lesson.
Randy Oct 30th 2007 7:44PM
Having started playing WoW quite late in the game, I have done many instances with many PuGs and while it can be frustrating, it can also be very entertaining.
Unlike grouping with the same 5 people and running an instance "by the book", you never know what's going to happen next in a PuG. From party chat to ninja looters, to people dropping group and how to handle CC, every PuG brings something original to my WoW experience. As long as you are patient and don't take them too seriously, PuGs will get you the most entertainment and the best stories possible.
Jason Oct 30th 2007 8:22PM
I have had issues with people in guild runs who didn't know what they were doing. And i've had pugs that worked perfectly. So it really all depends.
Acceptable Risk Oct 30th 2007 8:49PM
Some of my characters are in guilds so incompetent that I'd actually rather do a pick up group than run an instance with them. Nice folks, but some of them couldn't find their asses with both hands. I've been in a Shadow Labs group with them that seriously took forty minutes to recover from a partial wipe. Somehow no one would respond to my pleas to just stay freaking put and wait to be summoned.
Being in a guild is nowhere near a guarantee of expertise.
Milktub Oct 30th 2007 9:09PM
I have love/hate with PuGs.
My rogue hates PuGs. But that's a recent phenomenon, due to having tried unsucessfully to get a SL group together to get the first part of my kara key. Last couple times I've pulled together a good group, then someone has to be afk for 5 minutes. During that 5 minutes, someone invariably gets called away, then the healer drops out, and I'm back to square one.
My warrior loves PuGs. Something about being a good tank gives me a sense of power and authority, so I get to have fun being the boss of the group. I tell the hunter to turn the damn pet's growl off, or I kick them. I tell the rogue to stop cheapshotting every mob or I kick them. It's fun, and I couch my advice in "kind" language, so I like to think I'm helping these players to be better group members in the future.
Tonkah Stormscale Oct 30th 2007 11:29PM
I quite enjoy PuGs, because as a relative noob it gives me the chance to practise my tanking. Fortunately I play with some RL friends, so I don't have to group with randoms that often.
That said, I love playing with good randoms for the extra you can learn from them - especially the player whose main was a lv 70 war, he was full of good pointers during my first instance run (SFK).
I haven't dealt with any REALLY bad randoms yet, so this view may change...
Noshtzy Oct 31st 2007 12:01AM
I don't understand what the big deal is. This is the type of grouping all the time since I don't want to join a guld and I didn't even know it had a name. "PuG". I only group when necessary. I prefer soloing.
Thijz Oct 31st 2007 7:02AM
Seriously, you can do this, you can do that. But if you have a bunch of Bulgarian/Polish/Russian guys in your PUG that don't speak English, you still won't get very far...! This might work on the US realms where practically all the players speak/understand english. But on the EU realms there's just too much variety in players to communicatie properly!
Thijz Oct 31st 2007 7:02AM
Seriously, you can do this, you can do that. But if you have a bunch of Bulgarian/Polish/Russian guys in your PUG that don't speak English, you still won't get very far...! This might work on the US realms where practically all the players speak/understand english. But on the EU realms there's just too much variety in players to communicate properly!
Paw Oct 31st 2007 9:27AM
The real downside to PuGs is if that is your only option. Like Noshtzy, I do not belong to a guild, and do not want to. So that means I am at the mercy of finding enouugh competent people who want to run an instance the same time that I can. That is not easy on the preTBC content. My warlock just hit 60, and I do not think I will be getting the warlock mount any time soon. Even though Scholo and DM are upper-level (pre-TBC) instances, I am having a difficult time putting together more than one other person to go in. Last night I even announced that I would forgo all loot in Scholo, except for what I needed for the mount quest. No takers. Most of the players on my server are in Outlands and working on their own flying mount requirements, so they aren't excited to come help me during prime time play hours. I will get it eventually. Might not be for a level or two or more, but eventually I will find a PuG that can go in and get it done.
FireStar Oct 31st 2007 9:37AM
I like pugs.
The trick is to be a Tank or Healer and you don't have problems getting or staying in the group. I don't normally have a problem with ppl leaving because Luckily the Tanks almost always lead the group and do the pulls...so things normally run smooth as long as it's not my first time in the heroic dungeon.
superfrank Oct 31st 2007 10:05AM
WHEN PUGS GO WRONG
As a tank I find that when pugs have gone wrong and there have been a few wipes, you're at the point where people are getting pissed off and thinking about quitting the group.
In my experience either I (or someone else) works out what's going wrong and makes constructive suggestions (e.g. pay attention to kill order) and whoever's making the mistakes starts playing better and the pug goes on to kill the end boss, OR if noone is on the ball enough to work out what's going wrong, people blame the group and quit.
Moral: as long as people are in control, people learn from their mistakes and there is communication between players you will have a happy pug.
Epiny Oct 31st 2007 12:01PM
Typically none of this matters if I'm running a guild group.
I can only be so tolerant (sp?) of some PuG's for so long. Two days ago in Mech I was trying to explain to our tank how to pull the instance and he just wouldn't listen. He skipped the first Key Boss, and wouldn't go back until I refused to move (healer's ftw) and on the first boss by the stairs he kepts moving him onto the stairs and wiping the group.
I tried to explain the instance over and over again and he just kept pulling randomly without replying to me. So we kicked him, I logged on my tank, and got a friend to heal on his shaman. No more wipes.