Posts with tag pugs

The idea of playing in a PUG -- or a random pick up group -- was once a painful one. You might spend ages in chat trying to find random players willing to join you for a dungeon only to get stuck spending hours trying to successfully navigate the dungeon... or even longer if you were unlucky enough to be trying to run Blackrock Depths. Grouping could be painful, which meant you tended to stick with guildmates or friends for dungeon runs that wouldn't leave you wanting to tear your hair out.

Of course, in today's game, the dungeon finder and raid finder make getting groups together a simple task, and dungeon running itself has been streamlined to make it easier for random groups to succeed. With these changes, it's gotten a lot easier to run a random dungeon, and so some of the stigma around PUGs seems to have faded -- or perhaps just transferred to LFRs.

For today's discussion, I'm wondering: do you play WoW in random groups? Or do you rather stick with guildmates and friends?

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Good deeds are all well and good, but good people truly make the world go 'round. If you're recruiting for your guild, you couldn't do better than to find players like these. Good times with good people -- that's taking the random roll out of Random Acts of Uberness.

Caught being uber: Aret, Baelgun (US- Alliance) I'm leveling a Priest alt, Holygears, and I'm in Uldum. The area seems particularly busy perhaps because so many of us are trying to push alts to 90 (we have to use all that yummy Timeless Isle gear, don't we?).

My quest was The Bandit Warlord and required killing Warlord Ihsenn. While I'm flying there, I'm thinking I might have to wait awhile for a respawn because of how busy the area is. As the Warlord shows up on the horizon, I realize he's alive but already tagged. Bummer ... worst timing ever!

Just to help him go down faster, I start hitting the Warlord with Penance, Holy Fire, and a Smite. In the middle of whacking buttons, up pops a group invite. Since the Warlord is going down fast, I quickly accepted, the Warlord died, and I got credit. I typed "Thanks" in party chat and Aret of Baelgun replied with an abbreviated "No problem." Aret managed to invite me and Mesmerizze of Whisperwind before the Warlord died so we could all three get credit.

It's not a huge deal, but it turned a potential "sit and wait" depressing scenario into a "keep on going" moment. Thanks, Aret. -- Holygears, Alexstrasza (US-Alliance)

Why stop at one world boss when you can knock out a whole handful of them? It's easy with a little help from a fellow Hordie. No transportation? No problem!

Caught being uber: Kaza, Zul'jin (US-Horde) Why hello there! I'm Evianary, a level 84 Undead Mage, that's currently on Zul'jin. While on my mage the other day I found a World Boss group and thought why not do it on my mage to try and get prepared for level 90? Unfortunately, I cannot fly in Pandaria, and there were no Warlocks in my group!

I was in quite the pickle, till Kaza, an awesome troll hunter also from Zul'jin. She, or he, flew me to all the various bosses including Sha, Galleon, Oondasta, and Nalak! I even got some shiny epics that are currently waiting for me. I'd just like to really thank her/him for helping a fellow Hordie out! -- Evianary, Zul'jin (US-Horde)

After a veritable hurricane of goodwill during the holidays, it's seemingly back to business as usual on the highways and byways of Azeroth -- except for these players who took something personally in all the right ways.

Caught being uber: Glasnost and Purix, Zul'jin (US-Horde) So I've been trying to tame Degu for weeks on end. I'm just not coordinated enough to do it on my own. So tonight, after my fourth or fifth death, an 88 mage, Purix on Zul'Jin, asked if I wanted some help taming him. We both died a bunch more times trying. So I started advertising for a tank. Oddly enough, I had a DK volunteer, Glasnost on Zul'Jin.

The three of us tried countless times, and the three of us died countless times. Finally, after the DK made the comment, "Alright, now this is personal," we tried a few more times with the three of us and died. Then the DK had the idea to have the mage not do anything, just to let him tank Degu alone. He took the beating until Degu was down under 20% and let himself die. I threw down the ice trap, Deterrence, and hit tame. I got him! I tried to pay both the folks who helped me and they wouldn't let me. I gave the mage all the cloth I had in my bags and the DK says, "Nah, just name him after me." So I did. -- Zentagia, Zul'jin (US-Horde)

Nobody ever protected me from the Fel Reaver when I was a mere young'un in Hellfire Peninsula ... /sniff

Caught being uber: Fireßugz, Ravencrest (US-Alliance) I'd like to send a shout-out to Fireßugz, level 85 dwarf shaman on Ravencrest-US(Alliance). There I was, minding my own business killing Crust Bursters in Hellfire Peninsula ... when the notorious horror of Hellfire appeared overhead! It was a Fel Reaver, of course, and despite popping a health potion and Darkflight, things looked grim ... until suddenly the Fel Reaver turned aside from me, distracted by a flame shock!

Fireßugz descended from the heavens, destroyed the Fel Reaver, and went on his way. I don't know what he was doing in Hellfire Peninsula, or what inspired him to stop to kill it, but it's truly appreciated. -- Carnassial, Ravencrest-US (Alliance)

The author of this week's first Random Acts of Uberness letter reports hearing rumblings in trade chat as he was busily receiving Recruit-A-Friend levels. What happens when you attract the attention of townies when you're insta-leveling in public?

Caught being uber: Axtin, Stormreaver (US-Alliance) I was in Stormwind receiving free levels from 23 to 85 from the RAF benefit. Some people were commenting about it, and when I hit 85, I mentioned that I needed to get some gear, now. I was just going to go to the adventuring supplies vendor and buy everything I needed, when Axtin told me to hold on.

He came back a few minutes later and gave me a complete set of plate gear, rings, and weapon for my newly minted 85 warrior. I tried to pay him for it, but he refused. By far one of the coolest experiences I've had. Saved me a huge amount of gold buying all the vendor gear. -- Eriine, Stormreaver (US-Alliance)

That one holiday achievement you can never seem to check off, no matter how many years you persist? With the help of a random act of uberness, consider it done!

Caught being uber: Aliviani, Kilrogg (US-Alliance) I've been unable to complete the achievement Crashin' and Thrashin' for five years. My guild tends to scatter for the last half of December in order to enjoy the holidays, and I've had the darnedest luck getting people to crash my little toy car into. I had 4 crashes leading into the holiday this year. Well, that all changed!

Thanks to cross realm zones I headed over to Ironforge and asked for help. Aliviani, a druid from the Kilrogg server kindly offered to group up with me and summoned her own racer as many time as necessary until I had gotten the achievement. She already had the achievement, and wanted nothing in return! She has no idea how much I appreciate the kind gesture. Now that one achievement no longer haunts me! -- Celna, Silvermoon (US-Alliance)

The flood of holiday happiness continues this week with a record number of Random Acts of Uberness reported across Azeroth. This week, we start off with a note that turns the tables on the player who reported the lead story in last week's Random Acts, proving that when players reach out to build community, everybody wins.

Caught being uber: Kazekana, Hyjal (US-Horde) Well, during the Winter Festival, Mistsofjade and myself (Lucidluna) passed out free cookies, milk and ports to everyone who came up to us, then Christmas Eve night we handed out Fortune cards! We got tons of heartfelt sweet messages from people as well as thank yous and even a few gifts from players, but Misty and I both were SHOCKED to find out that we were on WoW insiders! We received a whisper while in LFR about it and tons of congratulations from the servers players.

Misty and I both really wanted to thank Kazehana from Hyjal for submitting us. Misty is actually my mom and we both were having a very less than fantastic Christmas this year, and that really meant allot to us both. It was really great of them to do that for us and they have no idea how much it lifted our spirits and made our Christmas! Thank you Kazehana for making our Christmas 100x better! -- Lucidluna and Mistsofjade, Hyjal (US-Horde)

'Tis the season to be uber, as demonstrated by this bursting-at-the-seams gift bag of Random Acts of Winter Veil Uberness.

Caught being uber: Mistsofjade, Lucidluna, and Taise, Hyjal (US-Horde) These ladies are handing out free cookies and milk to everyone on my server. The mage (Lucidluna) is also handing out free ports. They are dressed for the season as well. They are super nice. I also attached a screenshot of them handing stuff out under the tree in Org. I think they deserve the love and kindness they are giving this holiday season. -- Kazehana, Hyjal (US-Horde)

Apparently, the secret is getting out: It's building good times with other players that positions World of Warcraft at its most enjoyable. This principle helps explain why you'll find so many old timers not inside raid instances but spending entire evenings somewhere like the Amphitheater of Anguish helping other players.

This week's Good Samaritan was spotted on the Timeless Isle.

Caught being uber: Jakrer, Malfurion (US-Horde) Jakrer was using the new Raid Queue system to find those who needed Celestials, and he probably sat there all night doing it. I have a stack of alts, simply listing my name, earned an invite, the boss dropped fast, he remained with those who were left, invited more people from the Raid Que system, they downed it, and then he kept inviting more and more.

Easily a great help for us Altaholics out there. He probably made sure a lot of people got their legendary cloak as well. -- Anonymous, Malfurion (US)

That point in the quest line where you fully expect to stall out unless you happen to stumble across precisely the right collection of alts at precisely the same time? No issue -- not if a level-capped good samaritan is already waiting there to lend a hand.

Caught being uber: Kallirawr, Cairne (US-Alliance) While leveling my latest alt, and first alliance character, through Zul'Drak, I figured the Amphitheater of Anguish quests would be good for some fast XP and gold. Knowing there are usually people there looking for groups, I headed over figuring worst case, my heirlooms and hunter pet would let me get through the first few bosses while I waited to find members of a group.

Much to my surprise, there was a level 90 Worgen Hunter, Kallirawr from US-Cairne just chilling at the Amphitheater waiting for lowbies to show up needing a group. With his help, I was in and out in less than 5 minutes with a big chunk of XP and a decent amount of gold. Without thinking, I opened a trade window to give him some of the gold I had earned and before I could get the warning that cross realm trades are not permitted, he was closing the trade window telling me that he didn't want or need anything for his help.

It was a real pleasure to encounter a player who was willing to spend some of his gaming time helping others knowing that he wouldn't be able to get any rewards other than the satisfaction of helping a fellow gamer!! Thanks & Cheers! -- Trin/@Mageycake

Urgh, the Monday after a holiday. We've got a few weeks to plow through before winter breaks save us from the daily drill. Looking for something to keep your spirits up until then? It's looking like Azeroth's a pretty good place to find positive people and an uplifting experience.

Caught being uber: Delvthar, Khadgar (US-Alliance) Just a shoutout to a Dwarf Hunter from Khadgar named Delvthar! My home realm is also Khadgar and I was leveling my DK Gerrico with a friend and her Warlock in Dread Wastes last week, grinding to get to lvl 90! My friend and I saw a rare elite spawn and moved over near it and started buffing up and eating some stat food to take it out.

Before we could start, Delvthar swooped down on his flying mount landing just a short distance from the rare. I thought "here we go again, as has happened so many times, a lvl 90 swoops in and grabs the rare". I was more than pleasantly surprised when he not only didn't grab it, but he stood there and waited for us to tag it and then helped us kill it after which he humbly bowed, hopped on his mount and flew away! So thanks Delvthar for helping restore some faith, and for bein uber :) -- Gerrico, Khadgar (US-Alliance)

So what uber thing does it take to make the Sha of Happiness happy? This week, we have a special Random Acts of -- well, maybe not Uberness but more like Happiness from the Sha of Happiness herself (shown above with her snarling buddy Angryorc).

Caught being uber: Elderly couple met at BlizzCon Unfortunately, I don't have the name of the couple, but they were elderly. The lady started playing Warcraft due to her daughter asking her time and time again to play, then the daughter bought and set her up with an account. She met this man in game, and they quickly fell in love. BlizzCon was their honeymoon and for them to recognize me as someone that's a "pillar of the community" was humbling. We compared LFR battle stories and it was so interesting hearing their take on things. It is humbling and honouring that they asked lil' ol' me for a hug. -- Sha of Happiness

Among our other Random Acts this week is a little doggy who's so cute he got his human a resolved game time issue plus an extra snippet of game time. Tail-waggin' good times!

Somewhat fittingly, Random Acts of Uberness is a random act of publishing. Since the content isn't time-sensitive, the editors tuck it into any open niche that happens along in the front part of the week. What's not so random, however, is that I always compile this feature on Mondays, because even the most mournfully Monday-ish Mondays brighten up when I'm editing this treasure trove of positivity.

Keep 'em coming, guys -- we love publishing Random Acts of Uberness as much as you love reading (and experiencing) them!

Caught being uber: Xferhorde, Steamwheedle Cartel (EU-Horde) I was redoing a lot of Azshara last week for fun, I've always loved the zones new quests. As I was questing I saw the new mail icon pop up and just left it for a while. i assumed it was one of the automated mails from npcs thanking you for your help. Imagine how surprised I was to find 1500g sent from a character called Xferhorde. I was trying to raise money for heirlooms at the same time, I was thrilled! I tried to respond with thanks but his character wasn't found. All the letter said was 'enjoy'. So I just want to thank him for his awesomeness. -- Hundraxx, Steamwheedle Cartel (EU-Horde)

We may not get as many comments as The Queue, but I'd venture to say that people who read Random Acts of Uberness are as fond of this column as Queue readers are of their daily Q&A. Just take a peek at the comments we do get! I'm wondering if now wouldn't perhaps be a good time to start counting up all the comments Random Acts gets that say "This is my favorite feature on WoW Insider." You'd all be down with posting that to make our comments the most uber comments on WoW Insider, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?

And on to today's business: WoW players were cool to one another at BlizzCon this year -- but hey hey hey, so were the ones who weren't there, too!

Caught being uber: Dotup, Cenarius (US-Alliance) After a relatively clean run through wing three of SoO on LFR (it was my first time tanking in there), Dotup sent me a whisper giving me some advice for the next time we fought, saying what would make life a lot easier on the whole group. I just wanted to give a shout-out and say thanks for taking the time to help me do my job right! :D -- Anonymous LFR Tank