Yeah, I feel like there's something missing too. I can see the first guild getting annoyed if he's rolling on everything - it's late in the expansion cycle, how much do upgrades matter? - but not to the point of warning other guilds he might apply to about him. I suspect there's something else about the way he presents himself that he's not mentioning or maybe not even realizing.

I got the impression that it was more about the fact that the original writer was consistently rolling against people; not just went loot wasn't wanted. Now, personally, if I was leading a raid and they kept rolling despite being told clearly at the start to only do so if no one else wanted it, I'd start getting annoyed. Fast.

Obviously, you shouldn't not roll either, but just wait and see if people actually want the item; if no one does, then you roll, not as soon as it drops.

I kind of sympathise though that the RL should probably have said something, but then again, it was a trial and they're not there to babysit you. Although "not a team player" suggests something more was happening; it could just be they didn't like your personality. Sucks but there you go, it happens.

Yea... after re-reading the letter and the comments, I'm wondering if it isn't some combination of what Pyro and Kaphik said. I don't think we're getting the full story... would be nice if Drama Mamas could some day hear from both sides and rule on it!

Check out the very first paragraph -- the writer feels it's important to mention RIGHT OFF THE BAT that he chose a "foolish name" that "gets some weird responses." This is someone who's working with a significant social handicap, one that's so bad that the writer has already decided he inevitably is going to change it.

You better believe that foolish name is creating a bad impression right off the bat.

Robin - I don't think it changes the advice at all. Sometimes servers are just a bad fit. A server transfer was the best decision I ever made in WoW, even if it was a difficult one. It's just also natural for readers to put themselves into the situation, or identify the letter writer with someone they've encountered. So it's not just "should he transfer?" Yeah, most likely. He should also stop quoting song lyrics in full in trade and/or guild chat, or holding forth in Trade about how Blizz is catering to Evil Casuals by making T9 purchasable with emblems from heroics while running heroics for emblems to buy T9, or hitting on the GM's wife. Not that he's actually doing any of these things! But I've seen other players do them. If he transfers to another server under the assumption that rolling on loot and having a stupid name were his great sins, he's probably just going to annoy a new server.

And Lisa - Yeah, I'm on an RP server, and while I don't RP, I have a knee-jerk negative reaction to some kinds of names. I'm sure that contributes to the reception he got, but it's something he already knows he needs to fix.

Lisa, I agree that your advice is good in terms of him playing wow.

The point that I think I wanted to make is that if this person has some other social issues, a server change and name change won't help that. I'm not saying he needs to see a psychologist or life-coach, but I think what I'm saying is that he may find himself in the same situation again if there is some deeper social issue. In which case the suggestions you guys gave out would be more of a band-aid than a real solution.

I think the GMs statement was probably quoted verbatim - it sounds very reasonable and diplomatic. If I was making up a villain I'd have him spew hyperbolic vitriol. The criticism might not provide a clear goal to work for, but at least hints to something he can work on. Perhaps there are details that he's missing, perhaps the GM just wanted to put a spin on a decision he knew was excessive. But I doubt we'll ever get the fully story in either case.