Breakfast Topic: How do you respond when grinding goes competitive?
by Michelle Key 
Jan 14th 2011 at 8:00AM
I recently finished my Shatar Skyguard reputation grind. I'd previously done my share of rep grinding, including repeatedly decimating the populations of Felwood Timbermaw and Nagrand ogres, but I was, um, not prepared for Skettis.
We tend to be a friendly group on my server, and my previous experience rep grinding involved everyone giving each other a respectful distance, taking turns and sharing a friendly wave here or there. It is quite a bit different in the cutthroat world of the Skethyl Mountains, where more than once I detected stealthed Alliance lying in wait trying to grab my summoned mobs. When it came to summoning Terokk, I quickly learned to save that for early mornings and to scope the area beforehand just to be safe from Allies, but quite regularly, someone of either faction would swoop down into a camp where I was merrily grinding away and kill the very next mob in my sights, regardless of the fact that the next camp over was completely unoccupied. I had no idea Skyguard Rep was such serious business!
I eventually finished my grind and earned my Purple Riding Nether Ray and matching Nether Ray Fry, but I am still surprised by the experience. Ever enter into a WoW endeavor to find it unexpectedly competitive? Did you stick with it, or did you decide it was more trouble than it was worth?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Mazaltov Jan 14th 2011 8:10AM
Not so much with rep grinds, but in raids for sure. I have no competative spirit what-so-ever. I was the kid in gym class who would cheer for the other team when they scored a good goal. Thats why I like being a healer. DPSers are always soo competative. Last night in a raid i got to listen to a "friendly" debate about what is more important... damage done, or DPS. Meters were linked, e-peens were stroked, and I silently was very thankfull that a healers goal is not to be competative, but to work in tandum with the other healers. Healing meteres do not read the same way as DPS meters. And although I was on top, I knew it was all in context.
Jeroen Jan 14th 2011 10:03AM
e-peens... awesome word! And you're sooo right... That's why I tank and heal and almost have no dps chars...
I would like to suggest a poll to see the age differences between dps'ers and healers and tanks...
Lipstick Jan 14th 2011 10:33AM
Sad to say .. in many guilds healers -do- compete with each other. Even if it's not who did the most healing (though sometimes that does factor in there once in a while) it's who dispelled the most frequently, etc.
People who are competitive by nature will find anything to compete over. I've experienced some pretty cut-throat healer rivalry in a top end raiding guild before and it felt .. nasty. I think in a world where everyone strives to prove they're worth their raiding slot, some people make the natural conclusion it's their job to justify why they deserve the spot ... MORE.
Posts like yours though give me hope maybe other healers will come to see it your way!
Hrothgar Jan 14th 2011 10:34AM
@Jeroen, I'm 46 and have 5 toons above 80. All of them are DPS. Just to put the lie to your proposed assumption.
Faith Trust Jan 14th 2011 11:31AM
27 and i play all roles
Garthix Jan 14th 2011 11:47AM
I play all 3 roles but my main is a rogue I only raid with my guild who I've "known" for ages and I have to admit I constantly check dps meters
I'm not a jerk about it I'm just personally very competetive I think the only other person I discuss it with is one of the other dpsrs in outr guild who is like me
I'm 30 by the way but I get your point about it often being kids, I often talk people down in pugs who insist on posting recount in chat after every boss
Sir Broose Jan 14th 2011 1:37PM
I'm 42 and play mostly dps - although I do tank occasionally. I have a max-level resto druid, but, so far, I just keep her leveled up and never get the opportunity (or the nerve) to learn to actually do some healing, and right now, I'm more than a little intimidated to try to learn. But, in regard to being a dps:
I don't get into posting the meters in chat or taunting other dpsers with any seriousness, certainly not in PUGs. Although in guild runs, we do tend to always be poking at each other about dps or overall damage, in good fun. In honesty, we understand that people have different roles at different times (cc, interrupts, single-target versus multiple add duty) that greatly effect dps at the expense of doing what needs to be done to make the campaign successful, but there is a certain camaraderie among friends that makes it fun to needle each other about the numbers. But we I wouldn't do it in a way that disrupted the group or tempted someone to inflate numbers at the expense of doing this properly.
This is especially true between myself and 2 other fury warriors that I often run with. When you are the same role and spec and have similar gear and are all good friends, you just can't help but poke at each other about dps. In this case, I think it's even a good measure of how you are stacking up against your peers. A little healthy competition that lets you know if you really are living up to your potential. Again -- with the caveat that you fulfill your duties (cc, interrupt, aggro control, etc.) first.
Noyou Jan 14th 2011 4:39PM
I am a fairlry competitive person when it comes to certain things. I am also very helpful. If I am mining and someone happens to beat me to a node or snag mine while I am dispatching a mob it takes my game to another level. Then it's on. It usually results in me being much more productive. The same goes for mobs If I am rep farming. However. if there is a gesture of kindness or a friendly emote while farming or grinding then there will be helpful interaction. I'll even help take down mobs. After all the faster they die, the faster they spawn right? As far as stealing someones summoned mob. That's just low and trashy. Even if you are on the opposite faction. WoW is a social game. If you are taking an anti-social route be prepared for an anti-social response :) Karma is a beautiful thing. Best part is you don't have to believe in it for it to bite you in the arse.
VF Jan 14th 2011 8:18AM
Netherwing is worse, what with the eggs. A lot worse.
Fernin Jan 14th 2011 8:36AM
Amen to that.
Casey Jan 14th 2011 8:49AM
Seconded and Thirded. If you see an egg, you had best get it quick or it will get 'stolen'. But, it's not yours until it's in your bag, so act fast!!
anjeney Jan 14th 2011 8:56AM
You can say that again and again and again... the only good thing about getting it though... you turn into an orc when you have arch in the area.
SillyString Jan 14th 2011 10:06AM
Fortunately I only had that experience the very first time I Netherwing ground, before Wrath came out. After Wrath debuted the Netherwing experience has always been smooth sailing and eggs out the wazoo. I can finish the entire grind in 3 days or from egg-collecting.
loop_not_defined Jan 14th 2011 10:11AM
Yeah...I can honestly say I rarely found competition while doing the Shatari Skyguard, only occasionally running into people bombing eggs. I did it during Wrath, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.
On a side note, today's Breakfast Topic reminded me what question I wanted to pose on today's The Queue, regarding the 3rd person camera and Nether Ray mounts. o_O
jimthewino Jan 14th 2011 11:52AM
The worst part about the eggs was having to click "Okay" after you already clicked the cogwheel... I can't tell you how nervous I felt every time, because just that extra step made it feel so long!!! What if someone steals my egg!
Sanguinarius Jan 14th 2011 8:19AM
Yeah.... try the beginning weeks of Cata. Maybe the herbs that only spawn along the river in Uldum and nowhere else (to my knowledge)? The herbs that are used to craft healing potions apparently. As an herb/scribe, I was expecting healthy competition....But not the raging, frothing, berserker-style gen-chat hatred that ensued.
bdew Jan 14th 2011 10:25AM
Protip: Tol-barad.
The same herb spawns in CRAZY amounts in the crocolisk "marsh" near the keep. I have on a few occasions collected ~10 stacks of in between the 1am and 3am battles (when there's no one around). You can do it even when TB is controlled by the other faction, and on PVE servers you aren't even flagged outside of battles.
Sagretti Jan 14th 2011 8:18AM
I meet this pointlessly competitive environment every day when I do a little mining to relax. I'm generally respectful and non-competitive, and will gladly give up a node on the horizon if it's obvious someone else is closer. However, on rare occasions I still get people whispering insults because "I stole their node," even going so far as to complain about "worthless people" to general chat. Course, then I make a point of helping people asking questions in said chat just to prove I might not be the worthless one.
Hal Jan 14th 2011 9:20AM
As a miner, I can sympathize. Nothing is quite so frustrating as putting down a mob guarding a pyrite node, only to have somebody swoop in and mine it while you're still in combat. Of course, it can just as easily be innocent.
One time, for example, I found a node in Tol Barad and started mining, only to have someone come up behind me and start trying to mine it, too. I started first, so I got the ore, but the guy started swearing at me. "I died trying to get that!" Yeah, he wasn't there when I arrived, and I didn't see him on my way to it; how was I supposed to know that?
At least the account thieves haven't gone back to underground mining again (yet). It was really frustrating back in wrath to find an unoccupied node, only to have it despawn right in front of you because an invisible player was mining it.
Simpsons Rule Jan 14th 2011 9:49AM
@Hal
"At least the account thieves haven't gone back to underground mining again (yet). It was really frustrating back in wrath to find an unoccupied node, only to have it despawn right in front of you because an invisible player was mining it."
I've reported 5 people within a 1 hour mining session while getting Obsidium in Hyjal for doing just that. It's actually quite easy to spot them. I'll get to a mineral node and notice that the NPCs are standing there facing one focal point (usually the mineral node). When I click on the NPC I notice they are targeting a player. Trying to attack the NPC will result in it evading. If you target the NPC's target and place a raid marker over his/her head (something that can be done even if you're not in a group) you will most likely see the raid marker beneath the ground just as the mineral node despawns.
What I find slightly funny is that those raid markers will remain on that person's head until you or they log off, so all the while I was mining in Hyjal I could see before I landed whether someone I had already "tagged" was mining the mineral node.
So unfortunately those terrain modders are back in full force! At least on my server anyway.