Breakfast Topic: Remember that one guy who ...?
by Raya Q. Antonio 
Sep 10th 2011 at 8:00AM
That One Guy. Every social group has at least one.
You know the guy. He's that chatty, insufferable goofball who constantly gets himself into trouble just to get a smile out of you. Or maybe he's that quiet fellow in the corner, shooting a warm smile in your direction, ready to lend a helping hand or a listening ear. Maybe he's both chatty and shy. No matter what flavor he comes in, rarely is any day complete without hearing at least once from this special breed of friend.
In a guild setting, he's That One Guy who greets you in guild chat when you first log in for the day. Some days, he's quiet and tosses a genuine "Grats!" your way whenever you ding a level or squeeze out an achievement. Other days, he's the one who spouts out random things in an effort to get a conversation going. His antics might have even earned him an affectionate nickname from your guildmates. In a raid, his tanking isn't all that great, he can't heal for beans, and (oh, God help you) his DPS is for the birds. ... but where he lacks in skill and raw oomph, he brings in morale. Morale in spades. He's always raring to go, and he's open to learning everything to help improve your chances of winning. He's that one optimistic guy who will go to great lengths to keep your hearts soaring wipe after wipe, and he's perhaps the very reason why you even had the gumption to put that boss on farm for good.
So shout-out to that lovable scamp that completes your WoW time! What does he do to add a little light and happiness to dreary Azeroth for you? Any fond memories of That One Guy you'd like to share?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Snakeeater Sep 10th 2011 8:17AM
He's no longer in our guild (I don't know where he even is now - or if he still plays), but there's 'That One Guy' I remember very well. I'm in a small guild (almost always have been) with a few IRL friends, and back in Wrath, we had a random guy begging to join it. When there's only five or six of you, another guy to dungeon, quest or battleground with is always a bonus, so with no interviews or discussions, we let him into our guild. You'd expect, a relatively lowbie player joining a guild in which everybody not only knows each other well but socialise together outside the game as well, he might not be the biggest talker. But day in, day out, he never failed to make conversation, and he was a fun person to be with. After a few months, he was hitting the higher levels, and said (in very apologetic terms) that he felt he had to leave the guild to progress.
With no hard feelings, we said our group goodbyes, and he went on his way. Not only was guild chat suddenly quieter, but a few days later, we noticed that on the day he'd left (more or less right before he /gquit), he'd deposited a huge sum of money into our guild bank - a guild bank which had never been particularly rife with excess gold. He never took anything from our guild bank, he never even used it for repairs, and he never hassled us for anything; he just made our days a bit brighter, and, when all was said and done, left a genuinely heartwarming parting gift. Looking bad, it's depressing me all over again that he's no longer around. It's not everyday you meet a through-and-through, bonafide gentleman on WoW.
That one Joey Sep 10th 2011 10:27AM
What the...I don't remember condensation around my eyes.
GhostWhoWalks Sep 10th 2011 8:21AM
Oh, I definitely used to know someone like this in my previous guild. Always eager to get a bunch of people together and go run some heroics, often just because. His tanking was sub-par and his DPS was only a bit better, but he was always good for a laugh and some witty banter. He played a Ret Paladin, and had a macro where he shouted "Red Bull gives you wings!!!" every time he cast Avenging Wrath, so our chat logs were always peppered with "Red Bull gives you wings!!!" "Red Bull gives you wings!!!"
Easily the highlight of running with him was his penchant for getting himself killed in The Nexus. After killing Anomalus, we would jump off the platform leading towards The Singing Grove, and every time, every single time, he would screw up the jump and fall to his death, and we would get a good laugh about it while he ran back to us.
Molly Sep 10th 2011 8:22AM
Not gonna help deflate either of these guys' egos, but here we go ;)
Not honestly sure our guild would still be together without Murtagh on US Malygos-A. I may have taken over the mechanics of the guild, but he is definitely the morale booster (and also a competent player in all three party roles). We wouldn't be raiding without him, and he is infinitely funny and kind-hearted. You're the best, Murtagh!
Second shout-out to Azrayell on US Malygos-A as well. He's in one of the best guilds on the server, and really has no reason to help out with our backwater guild other than liking us and wanting to hang out. He's hilarious, kind to a fault as we bumble our way through dungeons and raids, and one hell of a tank. I owe it to him to try tanking on my DK again...
Mortenebra Sep 10th 2011 8:25AM
I think my raid team-- who make up the majority of the guild-- is full of Those Guys (and Gal). I'm usually the "listening ear" portion of the Morale Voltron: most people come to me when they want to talk about something in-game or of rl. Guess I gave out the "mom vibe" long before I ever became a mom! Our resident "elitist jerk" only employs his powers with a spoonful of sugar: constructive, helpful, but he's not doing it just to be a PITA. He genuinely believes that "progression" lies in how much better we're doing on a fight rather than boss kill tallies; he also apologizes profusely if he feels like he's coming on too strong. Our guild "drunkard" is an awesome rogue who likes to look on the bright side of things (and is sometimes *my* "listening ear"). The "Mac User" is less of a metro hipster and more of a cheerleader even in the worst of times-- he just happens to use a Mac. And our raid "screw up" once disenchanted his main hand weapon during one of our LK attempts in Wrath... We still laugh about it to this day but he's a good sport about it and, ultimately, is a very good player. He's just goofy and accident-prone. Between myself and another teammate, the puns fly over Vent or raid/guild chat, making everyone else groan and virtually roll their eyes.
TL;DR: I love my guildmates and raid team. In their own individual ways, they've made my playing experience all the better by embodying some attribute of That Guy. We're a family. They frustrate me and get on my nerves from time to time. But I would never have it any other way. They're great people, some of my best and closest friends whom I've never met irl before.
To Innuendo of Runetotem (US-H), I love you.
Mortenebra Sep 10th 2011 8:37AM
I should add that the list above is only a small sampling of the great people in my guild, springboarding off of the article itself to find people who most closely matched those descriptions. There are people on the team and those not even raiding in the guild who are good people as well... It would just take pages and pages to talk about how awesome they all are!!
... It's too early in the morning on a Saturday for me to be thinking this deeply.
A_V Sep 10th 2011 8:42AM
I have no need to name names, because the words Frostmourne and Kirby macros are all that's needed. If he reads this, That Guy will know.
sarah Sep 10th 2011 8:42AM
We've got one. "Blame the hunter" is our cry, even when he's not in the raid. He's a rascal, but he's also friendly and a great officer.
sinceritystar Sep 10th 2011 8:45AM
My new raid team is excellent and we're always laughing and joking around, but my old raid team had struggles. We'd wipe on bosses and people would get really, really frustrated and angry. One of our tanks has a young daughter, and when things would get a little too tense, he'd get her on Vent and get her to say things like "Kick that monster's ass!" or "You can do it!" It would always boost morale a bit and get us to yell "FOR THE CHILDREN!" before the next pull (which sometimes actually resulted in a kill).
I raid more for the friends than the progression. I don't mind wiping if I'm with a group of good people that make me laugh. Last night we took some alts into Firelands, and only downed Shannox. It was perfectly all right, because we were having a good time. No one was upset or angry (I'm sure it might have been another story if it weren't an alt run though).
TL;DR, good people make raiding fun, and "That One Guy" is something to be treasured.
Lsprof4 Sep 10th 2011 10:56AM
"I don't mind wiping if I'm with a group of good people that make me laugh." A thousand times this, the best part of WoW.
giga.gigas Sep 10th 2011 8:52AM
I'm in Shadowman Tribe, one of the oldest guilds on Runetotem (EU). I'm a casual raider but I always contribute to progression where I can, and I've gotten to know the guildies quite well.
The 'one guy' in my SMT, for me, is probably Freejack. He's honest, committed, helpful and utterly hilarious. It's a joy to raid with him because he'll wait for half an hour just to get through the next group of trash mobs if that's how long the rest of the team needs.
If it weren't for him, I reckon it would take at least half an hour longer to fill up a good Heroic raid group, simply because he attracts good company.
Kira Sep 10th 2011 8:56AM
Sergis the Tauren Hunter on Eonar-US. I don't know where you went, but I miss you and our discussions about "EGGS SERGIS EGGS!!!!!!"
Roguebert@Ulduar Sep 10th 2011 9:00AM
During Wrath, our guild had a smoothly running 25 man group. The raid leader was a bit of a dictator but everybody enjoyed the tight logistics and the reliability of the group. Everyone was supposed to be on vent, communicating efficiently and everybody was supposed to fulfill their role with a minimum of bravado. Except "Nimbu", the owlkin. In the year I spent with that guilt I never heard him utter a word on vent. He would spend his time emoting, yelling, dancing... frolicking around like a madman with endless resources of energy. He enjoyed the privileges of a court jester... he could just pull trash and bosses he could do whatever he wanted. He was well known outside of the guild as well, stalking random people all over Azeroth and roosting in the trees in Dalaran. He changed servers because of a real-life move around the globe. As a farewell gift, he sang to some of on vent... but he never spoke.
Xantenise Sep 10th 2011 7:13PM
This reminds me of Veldbarad Bornevalesh's resident boomkin, back in the day. He did speak in Guild, if rarely, but most of the time you found him in moonkin form /panicking, or sitting beside people (or their pets) and /cuddling them.
I only ever saw him out of moonkin form once. Ever.
Sinderion Sep 10th 2011 9:06AM
This sounds like one of those Bud Light commercials. Here's to you Mr. Raid moral booster but suck guy!! Get that guy an ice cold beverage of his/her choosing.
ronanite Sep 10th 2011 9:18AM
We have "one of those guys" in our guild as well. He is known as the "guild dog". We don't invite a new guildie without a good guild dog leg humping lol! Our guild is much more quiet when he is not on, he always has a smart-azz comment to joke about something, he will bend over backwards to help anyone out with anything they may need and he is truely a wonderful asset to our guild. So here's to you Randydan of Ronin- US-Anvilmar! We truely appreciate you and are grateful to have you with us!
/salute
Jere Hunter Sep 10th 2011 9:27AM
OMG, I'm 'That Guy' , what do I do now
Tabasa Sep 10th 2011 9:40AM
Throw a party!
Ging Sep 10th 2011 10:02AM
I'd have to say that our old hunter, Olthur is 'that guy'. Sadly, he's taking a break from WoW, but we refuse to delete him from the roster.
We would be in dungeons or raids and he'd bust out with the most random things. We were under Wyrmrest about to go into Ruby Sanctum when he says on vent "Anyone ever just stop and look up at the ceiling?" We kind of laughed, but many of us did stop and looked up to see BEAUTIFUL artwork. Made us appreciate the art team at Blizz a bit more.
I was spouting out numbers and theory crafting for him about hunters when he stopped me in mid-sentence with "Hunters don't need math, we have guns!"
Come back to us Olthur!!!!
babywhiz Sep 10th 2011 10:34AM
Bar!! Come Back!!! We Miss your singing in the 25's!