I was in a guild with some people like this. The guild catered to the very casual.

Some people just don't like being told anything even if it is in the most friendly way possible. Not that you were -telling- him to do anything but they will take it that way no matter what you do.

It's pretty much the equivalent of telling your friend that you know where the escalators are when he is heading to the stairs and having him tell you that he can do what ever he feels like.

That guild I was in had Hunters and Death Knights with spell power. Melee Hunters. Petless Hunters. Melee Boominks with melee gear. Resto Shaman stacking Spirit and Spirit gems/enchants.

Even the slightest mention of anything concerning what they could improve or what other gear may be available would end in that person flipping out with, "THIS IS MY GAME AND I'LL PLAY IT HOW I WANT. IF I WANT YOUR ADVISE I'LL ASK FOR IT!!" and them logging. The next day there would be more drama posts on the guild forums about "This is a casual guild, bleh bleh bleh, don't say anything to anyone about anything they may be doing. Everyone plays how they want to."

While I understand and appreciate a guild that has such values, it is incredibly frustrating for the members that are asked to run with the melee hunters and spell power Death Knights.

@Lolikitty
Yeah you did something bad. You assumed he wanted your thoughts on his gear and that he'd take your unwanted advice as gospel. Maybe you were right, but you aren't the raid leader and your mage friend didn't ASK for your advice. You critiqued his gear firstly and then insulted him (mockingly or not, he didn't ask for your opinion remember) and now you're throwing a hissy fit because he basically told you - in a nice way - to shove it ( you want HIM to take advice but when he tells YOU something you sulk..hmmm you might want to think about that too)
If his dps is 'less than stellar' I'm sure he'll lose his raid spot - or perhaps your guild just enjoys his company and doesn't care about his dps? WoW isn't 'all about dps' its about having fun, enjoying people's company AND dps. Relax a little man, have some fun and stop obsessing about what other people are doing, or not doing. You aren't in charge so it's really not your concern.

As for the DISC-overy about the priest (see I can do it too!), I'd keep my mouth shut. He isn't a guild ninja or an account buyer - and you guys get on fine. Let seleeping dogs lie - or in this case, sleeping hunters.

Voting this for the next Drama Mama

To give advice or to quietly face palm as your Hunter friend melees away?

I don't think it's at all unreasonable to submit unsolicited recommendations to people, and I can't really agree with JayJay on this. Just because you're not an officer / raid / class leader doesn't mean you can't help out. In my previous guild I would often recieve helpful advice from others which I was always happy to consider (even with me being an officer and they not - I don't consider that a problem). Similarly, I always tried to repay our little community by helping out and training others. Because this was just the way of things in the guild, we had very few problems.

If you offered some advice and it was rejected, I don't believe you've done anything wrong at all - so long as you don't keep pushing that individual!

>Did i do something bad ?<

No, assuming everything else you said was true. Ignore people like Jayjay, they're so stuck on themselves that they can't realize other people may just want others to do well, and that it's not bad thing to offer criticism.

There are bad ways to do it, but you said you tried to avoid them, so what else can you do except leave this person as they are?

@ Jayjay

I suppose "noone asked you" wins.
I know it's none of my business, but i just hate to see that damn trinket on a high level mage, and not do anything against it.
Then again, I sometimes rearrange the fruits at the supermarket ...
ok I'm a control freak D:

@ DurkonKell

I really didn't push him at all, and since he said no, well then ok, he knows the alternatives but choses not to consider them, at least i've cleaned my conscience about it.

(double post ftl)

It could just be special to them for some reason, or mean something. I once did a quest on my orc shaman - I went out of my way to do it, actually, and earned a neat hat for my trouble: a wolf helmet. It had the stats for my spec, and it was from Outland so it wasn't especially out of date. But I would never replace it. Ever. It looked cool on me, and it supplemented my character's name. People came to attenuate me with it, and couldn't convince me for the world to upgrade it.

I could still pull off decent DPS without an up-to-date head, so I suppose nobody really cared so long as it didn't hurt anything.