World of Warcraft is a massively MULTIPLAYER online role playing game.

There are now some 9 MILLION registered players according to Blizzard, and it’s THE most popular online role playing game going.

With that many PEOPLE playing the game, it’s important as a member of the WoW community on your realm to think about how you can do things to “win friends and influence people”, as having friends in-game can be a huge benefit to you in ways you cannot comprehend nor predict when you first begin playing.

What is “Social Wheel Greasing”?

At some point in life we all learn that certain mechanical objects work better when they’re well-oiled than when they haven’t been oiled in a while. Not only that, but the guy who brings oil is appreciated by anyone who has experienced the pain of a poorly-oiled machine.

This applies to WoW as well: The player who has taken the time to prepare adequately for a group encounter is able to do their part in being part of that well-oiled machine, and isn’t the one to cause the group to “seize up” and experience complications.

Why Worry About Greasing The Wheels?

It’s completely possible to get your WoW toons from creation to max level without ever relying on another person (outside of those using the Auction House) to help you. If you’re fine with being 100% solo, then don’t worry about this stuff unless it directly helps you. Or, if you have Real Life friends playing, this may not apply.

However, most of us enjoy the opportunity to join our friends for questing groups, or join in on 5-person or larger parties that are going into progressively more difficult dungeons located throughout the game, and most of us are going to rely on building friendships with virtual strangers in order to join this experience.

So, in short, only worry about it if you’re interested in doing more dungeon-based group content or if you’ve got a dream to “maybe, someday, perhaps, join a raiding guild” with any of your characters.

How Does Wheel Greasing Help?

Truth: Relationships online aren’t like ones you develop with people you’re in the same room with. Physical presence offers a lot of influence and is less easy to ignore than when “you” are just words written on my screen.

As a result, players who have an interest in joining this fun and dynamic portion of the Warcraft universe (dungeon parties, guild questing groups, anything non-solo) benefit from learning how to “stand out” from the Average Player, while also learning to recognize other players who strive to be Above Average.

Average Players tend to get left behind when the “A Team” wants to go out and do a group-based venture because the A-Team consists of players who “go the extra mile” to make sure they’re in tip-top condition for contributing to the dungeon or raid team.

Are There Costs To Wheel Greasing?

Becoming a well-rounded Warcraft character does cost money, just like becoming a well-rounded Human Being does.

Some of the money comes in the form of skills learned, some in the form of materials purchased, and all require some of your time and purposeful attention.

Are There Downsides To Wheel Greasing?

Sure. Some players feel entitled to take advantage of any help offered them and the Wheel Greaser will be burned on occasion as a result - giving way more than they ever get back. It’s up to the Wheel Greaser to also step back emotionally and learn effective strategies for recognizing “users” before you allow yourself to get resentful.

When Does Wheel Greasing Pay Off?

The techniques one would use for the wheel-greasing actually benefit yourself as a player, so the technical pay-off does come right away.

However, the social pay-off is slower to accumulate and requires patience of its pursuers. I have noticed that below level 20, very few people stand out in dungeon parties as those who have gone the extra mile, even if they have begun the process. During the 20-30 trek the A-Team players tend to congregate more often within parties, but many level at different paces. (if you’re looking for a good levelling guild, join the guild of someone you’ve enjoyed running a dungeon or two with at this range as a great start)

By level 62, in low-level Outland dungeons, players who have not taken the time to round out their characters for Wheel Greasing begin to stand out like a sore thumb in the parties I take part in. By the level 70 pre-heriocs dungeons, Wheel Greasing techniques can help you make a great showing - even if you’re a bit undergeared - when you luck into a party with an obvious A-Team.

So, What Do I Do To “Grease The Wheels”?

Stay tuned, I have more entries coming in, now that I have this introduction that I can point back to :)

Tags: becoming an elite player, Class 101: Druid, Dungeons, Etiquette, getting onto the a team, greasing the social wheels, guildmaster guide, guildmaster mistakes, heroics guide, heroics playing guide, how the elite play, how to be a great guildmate, how to find a great guild, how to find a pug, how to find a raiding guild, how to make friends, instances, karma addon, making friends on warcraft, marked down on karma, party leader guide, pick up group, pugging, pugging strategy, raid leader guide, raider training guide, raiding guilds, social guide, tips and tricks, Warcraft Tips and Tricks, WoW Guilds

On a game like World of Warcraft, there are many directions a player could take to advance his or her characters. From the person to whom Soloing is a daily joy through to the person who finds a partner for nearly every quest or every playing moment of the day, there’s a wide variety of “player styles” in between.

We all come together in the form of a Pick Up Group, likely wishing to tackle a dungeon instance, but occasionally to tackle particularly difficult quests outside of dungeons (which happens a lot at level 70), and now our player styles have to mesh in some cohesive fashion so we can all accomplish what we came here to do.

What Is A Pick Up Group?

A Pick Up Group, also known as a “PUG” is likened to an impromptu game of soccer out on a field busy with kids - people playing in the same area who are interested in joining the game of soccer can band together in teams (with practical strangers) to play what cannot be played alone.

Tell Me More…

In a dungeon PUG, players are around the same level and wish to find a group of people interested in entering the same dungeon they want, but unless they PUG regularly or bring a guildmate along, it’s quite likely the people in their group are going to be complete strangers.

In a soccer game, specific positions need to be filled for the game to run smoothly: You need a goalie, you need defense and you need offense.

In a dungeon PUG, there are specific positions that need to be filled as well: Tank, Healer, and DPS. As players get more advanced, and certainly by Outland instances, DPS may also double with CC (crowd control) duties.

A tank can be one of many classes, but generally the most popular are Druid, Warrior and Paladin.

Only certain classes have a healing ability that works on others - Druid, Shaman, Priest and Paladin.

Most classes have the ability to specialize in a DPS (damage per second) style to their class, depending on how they spend their talent points, but the “pure” DPS classes (those that cannot really tank nor heal) are Hunter, Mage, Rogue and Warlock.

Crowd Control/CC is handled by a few different classes and for Mage in particular, makes the class a very valuable asset to the PUG: Mage can Polymorph (sheep) humanoids and beasts, Rogue can Sap humanoids and beasts, Hunter can use an Ice Trap, Priests can Mind Control humanoids and Shackle undead, and Warlock can seduce humanoids.

Assembling The Team

How a group is assembled can, right from the start, demonstrate quite clearly how the PUG is going to do.

Will the Leader take responsibility for filling out the group with its required parts? How many DPS have been invited into the group before a Tank or Healer has been secured? How many people in the party are waiting for a summon instead of making their way towards the instance?

Tip #1 For Joining A PUG

No matter what class you are, don’t join a party of 3 DPS “just” looking for a tank and healer to complete their PUG - even if you’re a Tank or a Healer.

One thing I’ve learned is that competent players learn how to make friends of Tanks and Healers and therefore their parties assemble quickly and get going without huge delays. Watch how long a “LF2M, tank and heals” group’s requests go on - sometimes for more than an hour before they give up.

Learning From The Experience / Making Friends

If you have no friends to invite to your PUG to help make it a little smoother, you’re at the mercy of the rest of the PUG’ing community for a little while, and this cannot be avoided.

What I’d suggest in order to improve your situation is to jump into some PUGs, see how they go, and keep track of what you learn so you can make use of it to make things run more smoothly in the future.

Start with considering downloading the Karma addon, which you can use to make notes on players you have partied with, and you can assign them a numerical value that reflects your opinion on whether you enjoyed partying with them or not as well. Next time you see them around, your notes will be there to remind you!

From there, PUG and pay attention to trying to PUG again with someone you enjoyed partying with in the past. Once you have a small core of friends you can turn to for a reliable playing experience, you’ll find this core will grow more easily and your groups will form with less effort.

And always - make friends with Tanks and Healers! Bring extra mana or health potions and offer them up… bring buff food and offer it up… buff and offer water/food as a mage without having to be asked.

And if you don’t mind tanking or healing - do it! You’ll be well loved and sought after, and will need to carefully choose your friends list so you don’t overdo it!

Tags: Addons I Use, crowd control, dps, dungeon instance, Etiquette, healing, how to find a good guild, how to find a great guild, how to find a guild, how to find a pug, joining a pug, karma addon, LFG tool, LFM Tool, making friends, pick up group, playing etiquette, pug tips and tricks, pugging, pugging strategy, PUGs, successful pugging guide, successful pugs, tanking, tips and tricks, Warcraft Tips and Tricks