I agree.

In a situation like this it can be better to just fight fire with a bit of fire. Just remember not to say anything that could get you in trouble if someone decides to be a wanker and report you as payback :P

I will always come to the defense of a bullied and berated player. If the player is visibly upset I will step in and play daddy. If I'm tanking, I'll sit down and wait for an apology before I continue to pull. If I'm healing, I will simply stop healing the bullies and refuse to rez them. Sometimes you just have to step up and play daddy.

There's plenty of historical precedent, most of it vastly, vastly more serious than some shouting in WoW, to say that if you think someone's being victimised, you should (ethically speaking) ALWAYS speak up.

And for all that I say "vastly more serious", bullying in WoW is still bullying, and it can be very serious for the person concerned. Victimisation isn't a joke even if it's done via text.

I agree, and don't think Allison was a jerk with her comment at all. Bravo for her for standing up to the bullies behind the screen.

Agree with this comment.

Behaviour is only tolerated so long as people are willing to ignore it - you are giving your tactit approval if all you do is remain silent.

I used to be more of a just ignore it type person, but recently I've pretty much vowed that I'll stick up for someone who's getting bullied- I won't engage the person too much, but I will state that they're being a dick or something of that effect.

I've also stopped tolerating offensive language (I don't mean a swear word here or there, either) and will not only tell someone that their language is unacceptable, but I'll ignore/report as necessary.

I realize that it doesn't necessarily do that much good, but at the same time, it does more good than just ignoring it, and I hope that if enough people start letting others know that their behavior is unacceptable, maybe some of those people will stop acting like that.

I have to kind of liken it to bullies at school. I remember getting picked on something terrible as I was growing up, and teachers/parents (not mine)/etc would always tell me the best course of action was to just ignore it, and of course the bullies would get away with it. I don't think you should ignore bullies; you keep shaming them until they get the picture.

I agree with Hugh,
Something I've noticed as a tank: The ones who are bullies are generally the ones that are bad players, like the ones that pull before the healer is ready, then blames the healer for letting them die and starting crap etc. When I get into situations like this I do what Meatwadz does, I won't pull aggro off them and I let them die. It helps that my g/f usually heals for me and that we can both agree when a person is being a complete dick, especially when there is a new 80 in the group... yes they don't have your ICC gear and they don't fully understand the fights... guess what? At some point in time you were in the same position, stop being a jerk or the two players that keep you alive are going to stop doing their job.

I have a slightly different scenario...I was in a pug and just happened to get matched with a guildy (someone i wasn't actually familiar with tho). The other 3 party members got upset that my guildy wasn't dpsing up to their standards and asked him to drop, politely actually. His response was that he hadn't been paying close attention before and that he would be sure to focus better from here on out. That really set off the other guys and they then began to berate him for "wasting their time" and pushing me to kick him from the group. I responded that I was not going to do that to a guildy and offered to drop from the group if they wanted to replace me instead. They responded that they did not want me to leave but still insisted that I vote to kick. I was not really sure how to respond and so decided to drop and go back to farming, but I still don't know what the "right move" was in that situation.