Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: How do you deal with self-entitled puggers?
by Christopher Fugate 
Aug 9th 2011 at 8:00AM
I pull hard and fast, so I don't want to hear about your drinking problems. Just keep up.
No, we're not doing that boss.
If you go in there, I'm not healing you.
Dude, I'm pulling more DPS than the other two put together, and I'm going for the achievement whether you like it or not.
Do any of those sound familiar? It's that one player in the PUG who thinks he's the star of the show and that everyone else is there to bow down to his demands. More often than not, this ends up being a tank, although anyone who thinks the group can't get along without them is prone to this sort of behavior. The tank thinks that DPS won't dare to kick him because of their long queue times (while they get instant queues). The healer refuses to heal anyone that he personally doesn't seem to like. DPSers can fall into this behavior as well, but this doesn't seem to be nearly as commonplace.
The same thing crops up when you down a boss, and suddenly someone just drops group. They didn't get their drop; therefore, they just leave the rest of you hanging. Has this happened to you? If not, consider yourself lucky (and brace for when it does). Or perhaps you've done it to groups you've been in; if so, remember, this is a group game, and those are four other people want their stuff just as much as you want yours. Be considerate. No single member of a PUG is irreplaceable, and the vote kick button is there for a reason.
How do you generally deal with self-entitled puggers?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 10)
Mortenebra Aug 9th 2011 8:48AM
"It wouldn't kill all of us to be a bit nicer to each other in LFG. "
Back when LFG was only server-wide, yes. Being nice was a requirement, or, at least, not being a total jerk was a requirement. It held people to a certain amount of accountability because one false move equated to total black-listing from the entire realm. Even if you were a tight-lipped, "I'm just here for the run and not making friends" sort, as long as you weren't a complete asshat, things were peachy keen. I'm not knocking the cross-server LFD tool or anything but, man, it just feels like the quality of the population has really sunk since then.
Since when was "I'll probably never see this person/these people again" a valid excuse to make a dungeon run Hell on Earth for others?
jlapolt Aug 9th 2011 9:31AM
People should try being nicer period, LFG or not. I understand this is world of WARcraft, but it is not world of DoucheCraft....wait, mebe it is
Tondef Aug 9th 2011 9:36AM
Just wish you could cross-server ignore for a couple of min after the group. Nothing like a ninja on the last boss who quickly leaves to suck the fun out. You can't even put him on ignore since he/she left group already.
LynMars Aug 9th 2011 9:43AM
@Tondeaf: Just type in their name and server combo manually. It's still in your chat history for a bit.
Arlys Aug 9th 2011 12:31PM
We don't even have to BE nice: in this medium, if one just PRETENDS to be nice... to be tolerant... to not be foul mouthed...
...no one will know the difference.
Nobody can force a cretin to be a mensch, but I still think Blizzard could help to foster a less toxic environment by instituting a popularity rating, with attendant vanity rewards. Just fancy: PUG ends, I think, "My, didn't that tank act nice! I'm going to vote him 10 PUG Popularity Points!" Tank is happy because he just managed to hoodwink that simpleton (me) into buying his act - but I'm happier because I didn't have to rinse another 30 minutes of poisonous PUG chat out of my eyes.
He'll never know the difference but, heck, he doesn't know now how many times we got along just fine after he plug-pulled on us. And maybe, just maybe, one or two out of the millions of WoW players will actually come to enjoy BEING civil.
Hey, stranger things have happened!
ekfxc Aug 9th 2011 8:13AM
I decapitate them.
Cowboy Aug 9th 2011 8:17AM
Im married with kids, which translates into very few wow friends so when I use to do pve content I was more often then not pugging, but this behavior that you described is what has turned me to strictly pvp these days. I don't even enjoying tanking because u usually at least get one dps who does nothing but watch his recount or the occasional healer who wants to try and dictate things these ppl are annoying and yes 1 out of every 3 tanks are usually divas.... Much like the nerd rage in random bgs yet that nerd does not have the power change the game for u so it's more humorous rather then frustrating... This attitude is not exclusive to wow either every mom has these douchebags.
furrama Aug 9th 2011 5:51PM
Do you mean mmo or mom? Because I have a kid, and I don't think he's a dbag. Maybe. Let's hope not.
Caliea Aug 9th 2011 8:17AM
I generally ignore them and move on. Life's too short to stress too much about stupid people.
That said, when I am first learning a class/role, I'm more likely to get upset by a random jerk because I'm unsure of my playstyle, and am more likely to worry about whether their uncalled for (typically bad) advice is something I should really worry about.
If they're being really rude or hateful to someone in particular, I try to speak up so that one person doesn't feel ganged up on. I've only vote kicked maybe 2 people for being jerks. Generally though - just finish the instance and queue again - don't sweat the small stuff.
rockychristine Aug 9th 2011 8:18AM
Ugh, I've dealt with far too many of these. Ignore works well. If their jerkiness is posing a serious danger to us making it through the instance, that's what vote-kicking is for. Otherwise, pay no mind to them and concentrate on doing what I'm doing. Unfortunately, you can't say "looking for nice, considerate, civilized group" in the dungeon queue.
MattKrotzer Aug 9th 2011 8:18AM
As a tank, I've found that I can generally avoid the worst of it by not queuing for the troll heroics. I've been going to Heroic Normals for the past week weeks, and have found the people to be generally much more relaxed and tolerant.
In my gear levels, I can damn near solo some of these places, so it generally goes pretty smoothly. Even with some weak DPS, I just put them on my back and wade through. The most frequent complaint I get in my groups is from the healers, asking if I'm going to start taking damage anytime soon.
If a group goes REALLY bad, or has a lot of these self-entitled people, I'll just start chain pulling us into oblivion by aggroing and not building threat. The DPS/heals will eat dirt, kick me, and I'll be back in another group before they even get a replacement.
Is that arrogant? Maybe, but it's something I earned by being in there when Cata launched, pushing and pulling people through the dungeons when they weren't overgeared and didn't know the fights, and still finding success.
MattKrotzer Aug 9th 2011 8:19AM
That should say "past FEW weeks," not "past week weeks."
It's going to be one of those days, I'm afraid.
Revnah Aug 9th 2011 8:51AM
I'm running regular heroics too when I PuG, and that's on my healer and dps as well. Honestly, a PuGged Zandalari can easily take twice as long as one of the other heroics so I'm not losing that much time and save my sanity. I'll only ever enter Zandalari when I have at least two other guildies with me!
One word about punishing self-entitled idiots by making them kick you: I understand your reasons, I really do, but please remember there's usually at least one nice dps in the group as well, and they've waited forever for you as tank and don't deserve having to wait for the next, *as well as* putting up with the idiotic PuG mates. If it's at all bearable, do a good deed and just finish the instance, they'll love you for it :-)
MattKrotzer Aug 9th 2011 8:54AM
Oh trust me, if/when I do things like that, it's usually well-earned by group effort. It's not something I do 2-3 pulls into an instance, really.
shomechely Aug 9th 2011 10:20AM
I've been grinding troll heroics for the past few weeks for Valor Points. I have noticed a marked improvement in PuG player skill and attitude in those dungeons at least. People have learned the fights, gear is a little better (Thank you, Firelands!). Everyone seems much more relaxed, willing to laugh off a wipe and more willing to help a player new to those instances.
raingod Aug 9th 2011 12:13PM
You don't earn the right to be a douchebag. Arrogant prick.
Yaroukh Aug 10th 2011 9:07AM
Funny thing is, this is actually a valid reason to report you. :)
MattKrotzer Aug 10th 2011 9:23AM
The really funny thing is how he totally ignored the part where I, despite needing nothing more than valor points, take undergeared and underskilled players and help them get geared in fun, generally pleasant runs.
But hey, people like him are why the tank queue is what it is. I wouldn't want to tank for him, either.
connor.carleton Aug 9th 2011 8:21AM
I am an asshole depending on the ability of other players. I usually keep quiet during PuG heroics because 90% of my runs go smoothly (or near smooth) and I don't really care enough when little mistakes are made (And yes I do make them too).
Then you get idiots who clearly can't play their class/spec, and should be thankful they're even in the dungeon. You know those morons who don't know their DPS rotation, stack the shit out of PvP gear and don't gem/enchant it? That's when I become your definition of a self-entitled PuG.
No, I don't care about your opinion when you pull 5k DPS
No, I don't care about your opinion when you stack stamina to no end
No, I don't care about your opinion when you go oom in 5 seconds because you have half the spirit you should.
This may be a group game, but it's not a carry retarded group members game. Last ZG I ran the shaman literally ran OOM in under a minute on a fight. I even used my hymn to bring him back up, but he went through it in another 20 seconds. The tank was geared, and the DPS weren't morons. On one pull (the boss bugged out) and it was just him and me (DPS) in the room. So what does he do? Tries to heal both of us and succeeds for like a minute making us take longer.
You think I give a shit that this is a group game at this point in time? Hell no. Be retarded on your own time.
Parknet Aug 9th 2011 8:56AM
what's your toon's name so i can pre-ignore you?