Fact: PUG Ditchers Used To Be More Annoying Than They Are Today

Not to say that I think people should feel free to ditch groups they got into and have progressed part way through the instance with, but I definitely think with the cross-realm LFG, there's a lot more flexibility than there used to be.

It used to KILL a group when the Tank or Healer would leave, especially when it comes to Heroics and having already completed one of the bosses in the instance. DPS has always been easier to replace, but there have been times where that wasn't possible either, so the loss of a DPS in the group killed the party, too.

But now any role can be replaced rather quickly and easily with just a little bit of patience.

Do You Commit To Stay For The Whole Instance?

I was listening to a podcast the other day (unfortunately I don't remember which one) and the hosts were talking about the new Dungeon Tool and how great it was, and about the types of parties they had been assigned to in terms of class balance and ultimate ability to quickly complete an instance.

One of the podcasters spoke strongly about his opinion regarding the quality of player who will leave a dungeon instance in the middle. He went so far as to say that if you could not finish an instance, then don't start it, because you're "screwing" the other four people in your group if you leave.

What do you think? Is it really a big deal to ditch PUGs these days?

And do you feel GUILTY when you leave, even if you know they'll likely find a replacement quickly?

Related posts:

1. What’s With All The Healer Ninjas??!!
2. To The LFG Tool: An Ode
3. To The LFG Tool: Some Laments

This entry is more about the things that I lament about the new LFG tool.

Ready Check For Random Dungeon

Like It? Don't Like It?

Now, don't get confused. Overall, I L-O-V-E the new LFG tool. I think it's a wicked upgrade to an already useful tool.

But, there are some things that "just aren't the same" anymore, and I can't help but miss them just a little bit.

Gimme Back My Global LookingForGroup!

The first thing I noticed about the LFG Tool upgrade that I didn't like was the fact that the LookingForGroup channel was now restricted to the cities, and if you moved out of those restricted areas, one couldn't "lurk" in it any longer as a way to find out what PUG raids were going on.

I don't know about you, but I rarely hang out in the city, and when I do, I'm probably doing something very specific and have most of my channels turned off to reduce spam. And when I'm actually interested in getting into a PUG raid, I'm generally out and about, doing Fishing or Jewelcrafting Dailies which take me out of the city.

I used to put myself in the LFG tool under something like the zone of Icecrown so I didn't get ninja invites, but was still able to keep a finger on the pulse of what was going on RIGHT NOW that I could get into with various toons. Now I've completely left the LookingForGroup channel because it's useless and spammy to me.

Don't Force Me To Commit

Space Goat Death Pose

Having to commit to Heroics *or* Raids, and not being able to pick and choose like we used to be able to do, sucks too!

I used to list myself for the one specific Heroic I wanted to do (daily, generally), and then I'd list myself for a couple of Raids as well. Whatever I got an invite for, I went to.

But now I have to commit to what I want to do - raid or do Heroics - and I find that a wee bit restrictive.

Although I do admit, the Heroics pop so fast these days that it doesn't make much sense to list myself in anything else when I list for Heroics. But I still resent being forced to make a commitment right from the start, as it takes away some of my "I like random things" joy. I've basically stopped listing myself for raids at all as a result.

Let Me Vote To Kick More People

In my Lowbie Leveling PUGs I quickly found that there's a limit to the number of people that can be voted out of a group.

So, in the Wailing Caverns run I had on my lowbie Paladin Tank, the guy who went AFK to girlfriend aggro (to do the dishes, 10 min into our run - yah, marry that one and keep bowing down to her, you'll be REAL happy together) got voted out, and then his replacement was a huntard who rolled Need on everything despite agreeing to our requests to only Need on what he'd equip himself, so he got voted out, and then a third person joined who couldn't find his way to us (and we weren't in the twisty part yet at all) yet rolled Need on everything that dropped... and we couldn't vote him out.

Now, I understand that the Vote to Kick feature can be abused if I were to bring three of my friends and myself into a group, and keep kicking anyone who rolls on anything for that fifth person, but when we're all virtual strangers from different realms, I don't see the potential for abuse as much. After all, it only takes one dissenting vote for the kick to not go through, and the tool "knows" whether we were grouped together to start, or randomly tossed together.

Is this Vote To Kick thing limited by time, does anyone know? If we were in an uber-long run, would we be able to Vote Out more than two/three people?

Related posts:

1. To The LFG Tool: An Ode
2. How To "Lurk" On The LFG Channel
3. How To “Lurk” On The LFG Channel

CURRENT FOR PATCH 3.3!

Here's a complete Gemming and Enchanting Guide for Elemental Shaman in WoTLK World of Warcraft.

This guide includes two sets of gem/enchant suggestions: One for the beginner and another for "pro" raiders

BONUS: Complete Materials Lists + helpful suggestions to help you reduce your raid gear-enhancing costs!

EVERY ELEMENTAL SHAMAN RAIDER NEEDS THIS GUIDE!

Raid-Geared Elemental Shaman

If you want to find a fast, efficient, friendly raiding team, read on!

Raiders Who Don't Waste Time Gem and Enchant Their Gear

Sure, gems and Enchants aren't NEEDED in order to get into raiding.

Lots of people get wicked gear upgrades, but then continue to raid week after week without enhancing that wicked gear. And yes, they're still invited into raids.

But if THEY are so poorly Gemmed and Enchanted, I'll bet you can tell what the rest of the group looks like, too!

Some entry-level raiding guilds overlook an applicant's Gems and Enchants initially, but then discriminate when it comes time to build in-guild raid teams. The well-gemmed and enchanted tend to only want to play with others of the same ilk, potentially leaving YOU on the outside.

Use this guide to shine up your gear the best you can before a raid guild application, or to shine up the gear of your new alt raider!

Shine up your gear to Awesome Raiding Guild standards and notice how your in-game social circles begin to change as playing with well-gemmed and enchanted players becomes your new standard.

Topics In This Document

Buy Now!

The Raiding Elemental Shaman's Gemming and Enchanting Guide

WoWGrrl's mini-guides are based on many hours of research, and therefore are comprehensive and specific, but I still keep them very low-cost. Your purchase helps support the hosting costs of the WoWGrrl.com website and production of future guides on various World of Warcraft topics.

I appreciate the opportunity to help you reduce your research time and increase your play time, while you help me keep my blogging and guide-writing costs down through your contributions!

Feel free to leave a note to suggest a topic you'd like to see covered in a guide!

Related posts:

1. Resto Shaman Gem and Enchant Guide
2. WoW Rogue Gem and Enchant Guide
3. WoW Hunter Gem and Enchant Guide

Deathknight Death Grip

There is nothing more "unfun" to me than running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, just trying to get in to a dungeon. Dungeon runs are generally fast experience in comparison to straight mob grinding and sometimes even better experience than questing - but only if you can get into the instance.

Deathknight Gets Some Love

During the PUGging downtime, I still ran a few PUG groups, but tried to keep all of the runs before 2 PM, since that was when the instance servers started giving significant queuing problems. Evenings were near impossible so I didn't even try.

It was at this point that my Deathknight got some leveling love for the first time in months. She had languished at level 62 for months and months, and then suddenly over the span of a couple of days had zipped up to level 65 or 66 while I burned off the full amount of rest bonus she had, grinding through Outland quests.

Of course, the fact that Patch 3.2 also lowered the level requirement for obtaining a flying mount was helpful - with my Deathknight being just one of a well-established family of toons on the realm, she was easily supplied with the ~800g it took to train and upgrade to a flyer, and from there, zipping around in Outland doing quests was OH SO MUCH easier.

It was during this time that I found a real love for my Deathknight. I actually started enjoying questing and killing and pushing myself right to the very edge of my health with almost every pull. I started to properly get used to my Deathknight skills when dealing with both casters and melee.

Dual Spec: Unholy Tank, Blood DPS

The majority of my toons that are 50+ have dual spec already, and I stand strongly by its value to my hybrid leveling characters. Even if I don't have any gear differences between the different specs yet, I find it valuable to be able to swap out between a DPS-focused spec and one that was more focused on mitigation than damage.

I've selected pretty much pure Blood as my Deathknight DPS spec, and a mix of Blood, Frost and Unholy for my Tanking spec (Unholy having the most points). The Blood spec has gotten more practice, that's for sure.

Sure, I've tanked 10-15 dungeon runs from as far back as Blackfathom Deeps on the Paladin that is leveled up to 55 now, but in terms of real tanking experience, I'm pretty new to it.

Why Starting Tanking In Northrend Is A Bad Thing

If this were my first character through the game and I had limited experience with dungeon and raid groups, taking this long to get into tanking would probably be a pretty bad thing.

My gear would reflect the lack of experience, my ability to hold aggro on multiple targets would be weak, and I wouldn't know what a bad idea it is to turn your back on instance mobs in order to try to run after one that got away.

So, if you're new to the game and new to instances, strongly consider going in as DPS instead of either Heals or Tanking, because if you screw up then the rest of the group isn't scrambling to make up for it quite so much.

Why Starting Tanking in Northrend Is A Good Thing

For someone like me who has hundreds if not a thousand dungeon runs under my WoWbelt and who has been raiding 2-3 times a week with solid teams for 2 years, waiting until the current expansion content to tank an instance isn't such a big deal.

In fact, I'm more familiar with the Northrend instances now than I am with the Outland ones, even though I ran all the Outland instances on three level 70s many, many times.

The reason I'm more familiar with the Northrend instances now is simply that those have been the instances I've been in the most LATELY.

So, starting tanking there is a good thing, because I'm already freshly familiar with the dynamics of the instance, and also, I've got my Resto Shammy at 72 that is still healing the very same instances. If I have troubles with tanking an instance, I can hop over and heal the same instance and use that perspective to improve my tanking strategies.

Blacksmith Hooks Me Up With A Tanking Set

Deathknight and the Lich King

When I was 69, I started to look ahead towards Northrend gear upgrades to replace my Outland and even DK starting area gear, but found that there really wasn't much in the Auction House.

I turned to a friend who was a Blacksmith and was very pleased to find that there's an excellent tanking set made purely of Cobalt Bars that can be crafted and worn all at level 70!

So my friend crafted out eight pieces of gear for me, and shipped them back along with the extra Cobalt Bars that were left over. I then took the bits of gear and applied various Stamina enchants and Armor Kits to all of them, and now I'm all ready to go!

Once I level up from 69 to 70, that is!

Stay tuned for some newbie tanking adventures at WoWGrrl.com :)

Related posts:

1. Deathknight Level 70 Tanking Gear Set
2. Forms of Travel Around Northrend
3. Tanking Practice in Hellfire Ramparts

I like knowing something that someone else wants to know but doesn't know.

And while I do like to help people and share things I've learned, I like it even more when the asker COULD know what they wanted, if they did something simple, but they choose not to take the action required.

"Does anyone have a DPS meter?" Is one of those questions that gives me cruel pleasure.

Pleasure for two reasons: Yes, I have a DPS meter, but no, I'm not going to admit it to you nor share the results of it. If someone else does, that's their decision, but I won't do it, not even for friends.

Turning Annoyance Into Pleasure

I'll admit, I didn't always feel this pleasure... It used to really annoy me, and I'd frequently say "if you want to know the meters, install them..." but that just served to escalate my own annoyance when the person ultimately responded something confirming just how lazy they really were, and how much they expected others (complete strangers!) to enable their laziness. And of course, they didn't feel guilty about this at all.

But, at some point in trying to feel good feelings more often than bad, I switched the way I looked at the situation and now find myself feeling pleasure about having knowledge that someone too lazy to get it themselves wants, and purposely withholding it.

According to the works of Esther Hicks (which are odd in some parts but very interesting and helpful in others if you're into the self-help/"how to live a joyous life" genre of books), I moved from Irritation to Pessimism, which is a step UP the ladder towards Joy and Appreciation and Empowerment, and away from the bottom of the ladder of Fear, Grief, Depression and Powerlessness.

Am I Being Mean?

Yes, it's true, it could be labelled "not nice" behavior, but I tell ya - I do this in other relationships as well, without guilt: I withhold certain types of information that someone could easily gather themselves if it were truly valuable information to them.

Why? Because I've learned that if I just GIVE them the answer they seek, I teach them they don't need to take responsibility for what they want to acquire/learn - they can rely on the organization or knowledge of others to get what they want. And worse, if they're someone I run into often, the more answers I give, the more they depend upon me as the source of their answers.

Oops, did I just twist my body while doing a little shrug? Is that why you're on the floor? Oh, I'm sorry. Looks like you'd better get up, as we're moving forward.

Funny Who Asks For Posting Of Meters...

I do find it interesting, tho, that the person asking for the DPS meters is either right on top on my charts, or way down at the bottom. Very few of them are in between. Maybe those people have meters and are striving, or maybe they just don't care?

Do you have some type of damage meter installed and running when you do an instance or a raid?

Or did you take offense to my attitude above, because you're one of those who cares about the meters but doesn't have them installed for whatever reason? :)

(and yes, I know some people's computers are too slow to run many addons. In my mind, a crappy computer is not a valid excuse for relying on complete strangers in a PUG, or even your "buddies" in a Raiding guild. RL friends, that's up to you.)

Related posts:

1. Player reputation WoW addon, Karma
2. A Letter To The Lazy PUG Member
3. For DPS Specs: How To Drive Away Healers And Tanks

I've written a lot about them here in my blog, because over the years of playing, I've come to recognize the high value of them for any player who likes to experience the depth of the game in all of its aspects, and the social value that PUGging has given me when it comes to holding my own with new friends I make while playing the game.

Why PUG?

Lots of answers spring to mind, but some of the main ones for me, are this:

Why I PUG:

• I like the concentrated encounters that dungeon runs offer (versus questing) - less running around, more playing
• I like the quietness of a small guild of introverts for my general hangout - that chat window isn't big enough to have real conversations going on very often
• My friends aren't always available for what I want to do, or there aren't enough of us
• I like my toons and love to practice all of their skills. Playing with different classes in a familiar encounter adds spice
• As I PUG, I meet other players who are solid in skill and attitude and we become friends, and I begin to meet their friends
• As my experience in PUGs grow, I'm invited to other parties with people I know play well more - and good players tend to gather together.
• As a writer, PUGs also inspire me in compiling educational information for those who, like me, have a competitive edge to do well in whatever they do, even if they don't have raiding aspirations :)

Why I Want My Friends To PUG

• So that when you decide to join in on a dungeon run I advertise on chat in the Outland (or at level 70), you're not making all of the cardinal sins that PUG-experienced players learned while PUGging in Azeroth. I don't want to have to say "dude, you stink".
• So you have a basic clue of what you need to do to handle heroics and I don't have to ask you each time whether you're heroics geared when you say you'd like to come along
• I want friends who will invite me into their dungeon group, without any type of reliance on me to help fill out the rest of the group.
• I want to share experiences with my friends, as it's much more fun that way - as long as it's not my friend who is committing cardinal dungeon party sins out of lack of experience (and thus looking like they're way younger than they are)

Now, that having been said, let me say this as well:

My Hunter was my first one up, and she really didn't do a LOT of PUGs. I did some, and killed a lot of people until I figured out how to control my pet and use it as a tank, and negotiate tight areas with difficulty getting Ranged to be able to sling arrows.

When I hit Outland the day of the expansion release, I didn't PUG at ALL with that toon, just did quests until I hit 70. I still rarely PUG with her as my Mage came up and that's where I got comfortable with PUGging and my role in it.

My second and subsequent toons have all PUGged a lot. In fact, my Healing Priest who just hit 69 in her second run of Shadow Labs, has been PUGging since level 38 almost exclusively for experience and leveling (52-58 I gave up, went Shadow and ground my way to Outland then went back holy and back into LFG). The toons lower than her are also on the same trek, with a few more traded run-throughs with friends added in there.

So, I understand getting familiar with the game, making a few friends and doing quests with another person or two, and only having larger parties on rare occasions to take down some group quest outside an instance... but once someone has any aspiration to get some gear from dungeons or experience the whole dungeon thing, I think PUGging is important and a respectful way to show your friends you want to do your part to be a solid contributor in the group.

So, maybe you don't PUG with this main toon for a bit, maybe you PUG with a lowbie where others are just as inexperienced as you. The skills transfer to your higher level toon as many are basic dungeon etiquette and dungeon processes more than class skills.

And of course, if you're on a 14.4k modem or simply don't have the time to even consider dungeon instances, no need to PUG.

But please, when I ask if any DPS wants to join in on a run that's forming in the Outland (Azeroth is way more forgiving and quite okay - it's where everyone is still learning the ropes), don't decide that now is the day you're going to "try dungeons". Jumping in to the deep end will be stressful for both of us ;)

Related posts:

1. How To Join A PUG
2. Toon Updates: Healing Priest Hits 44
3. Does Guild Building Include PUGs?

I've been going through my blog and cleaning things up over the past few weeks - after upgrading my version of Wordpress and getting a new design a couple of months ago (thanks to my brother, yay!), I've been working with the new technology tie-ins by turning what used to be Categories into Tags (which feed into Technorati where Categories did not), and refining my Category list quite a bit so it's not so full of junk.

In doing these hours of update, I'm going through every single one of the posts that I've done in the past and am editting the Categories and Tags, and re-saving the entries. So, I'm getting to see some stuff I'd forgotten about, and it makes me think...

Since I'm updating, I should probably go and update the Etiquette and Class Tips pages that are listed as navigational links - they need some serious update, as they haven't had "new" entries reflected in their listings for probably about a year.

What Entries Did You Most Enjoy?

I was wondering... are there any particular entries that you, the reader, think should strongly be considered for inclusion on these pages when I update them?

If any come to mind and you'd like to share your opinion, I'd sincerely appreciate it - leaving a note on the entry itself is probably the best way to communicate it.

The search function at the top of the first sidebar should help you find the exact entry, and don't forget to rate the entry 1-5 stars as well :)

Here are some I will probably link in there somewhere, from just before my foray into Raiding:

• Greasing The Social Wheels: An Introduction (a short series that needs to be expanded upon)

• How To Join A PUG
• How to "Lurk" on the LFG Channel

Related posts:

1. Tank/Healer Not Required: An Alternate Universe
2. Computer Security Online, Keep Your Computer Clean
3. I Wish That I Had Vanish

I've been raiding with a decent group since the beginning of January, and finally decided to make the official guild change-over on my raiding toon, the 70 Frost Mage, on February 21.

As for the rest, I moved my 70 Hunter over shortly afterwards and a few days later, brought the 51 Priest/Jewelcrafter over, but have left my "parked" 61 Warrior in my social/levelling guild along with my 58 Rogue, 30 Druid and a bank toon.

Why The Switch?

There's many reasons why I made the switch with my best-geared toon... the new guild is larger, more active, and since they are raiding regularly at the 25-man level (currently working on Al'ar), there are more players who are geared for heroics. The first day I was guilded, we went through 4 Heroics!

So, my badge count has gone through the roof, and my need to turn to the LFG line has toned way down. Most of the time I don't even have to look around for a party, because the limited times I'm available to run something, there's a guild group forming, and they love my Magely skills! It's awesome.

And as a bonus, because I had been raiding with these guys for nearly 2 months already, I only stayed as an "initiate" in the guild a couple of days - until I could get to the next 25-man raid at which point, at the end of another great raiding night, I was promoted to Member by the GM/RL and received many nice comments and welcomes from everyone present.

Oh, and I moved the Hunter across because our guild is actually LOW on quality Hunters - recruits with attitudes as big as their DPS (and we all know some Hunters can dish out the major DPS) have come and gone, and a lot of our members are on casual raiding schedules, only making 1 or 2 on a week that they can actually make it to any. So, I brought my keyed-but-not-really-geared-for-Karazhan Hunter across and have been on 4 or so Karazhan runs so far, after the Mage is already locked out with a different group.

And the Priest, I moved mainly because she's now a 375 Jewelcrafter with a mess of rare gem cuts, and I felt the raiding guild environment could make better use of that Professional skill than a social/levelling guild with less than a handful of people who pay enough attention to their characters to even gem up.

What About The Old Guild?

One of my old guildmates applied to the same raiding guild I'm in, and was accepted, and he occasionally attends raids when his schedule permits, but I haven't had a real chance to talk to him lately since my gaming schedule has been strained for time.

As for the rest of the folks, I still have some of my characters in that guild, and since I log into my bank toon every day, I tend to still chat with the folks and see how they're doing. I've also continued to trade favors with friends from the old guild, running through their lowbies in exchange for BRD run-throughs for my 50s Priest and the occasional rest-bonus-burnoff run for my 30 Druid.

And of course, some of us hung out on Ventrilo while we played, and I still do that regularly.

Was The Move A Good One?

In short, yes it was definitely a good one. I was getting frustrated with having to turn to strangers in the LFG line all the time, and doing a /who [guildname] to find folks from that guild I had been raiding with for two months. My levelling guild was indeed just a social/levelling guild and had no aspirations towards organized recruitment or coordinated efforts except on rare occasions (ie: 1-3 guildie dungeon runs a week, most below Outland level), and I really did want to do more, experience more, challenge myself more.

Of course, I wouldn't have made the switch if this new guild didn't also show some very good qualities in terms of behavior during raids, dealing with mouthy players, having equipment requirements, encouraging each individual to do their best to help the team, scheduling raids on a website with sign-ups... all sorts of great things. Sure, there's some crap that goes on too, and it's clear the GM/RL is a key part to holding the guild together cohesively, but all in all, I've really enjoyed the environment and lucky been able to remain distant from any potential drama.

I am quite surprised I was able to find a cool raiding guild like this so soon... Before Christmas I went on a couple of Karazhan raids with an ex-guildie's raiding guild only to find that the ranged DPS tended to attack from up-close (and subsequently die a lot), that the Raid Leader swore in all-caps on the Raid line (I don't recall him freaking on Vent tho) when yet another wipe occurred, and that I was the top damage of all three mages despite only being at +450 frost damage and them being better-geared. When I wasn't re-invited to their raid groups, I wasn't disappointed. I kind of expected to run into more of those before I hit the guild I'm now raiding with!

Related posts:

1. Gearing Toon #2 For Heroics – Hunter
2. Struggling With Desires: Raiding vs Writing
3. The Heroics Divide

I remember doing my Netherwing quests and seeing a fellow Hunter mow down three Dragonmaw Transporter guys in the time it took me to finish one, and I had to drink after every second fight and let Dragonmaws fly by.

Then, joining a Gruul's Lair-geared party that was nailing down the Ogri'la reputation quest chain (I had no idea it opened that reputation line at the time, but it sure was fun!) and looking for one more DPS - and seeing how completely pathetic my gearing and damage capability was in comparison to the group.

I had already decided by the time my Hunter hit 70 that it was my then mid-50s Mage I wanted to advance thoughtfully through Outland, now that I was familiar with it and ready to take on the new Instances with PUGs again (not having enough guildmates to pull together). So, I've spent most of my time levelling up, rep'ing up and gearing up my Mage over the past few months.

My Mage is now sitting at +750 frost damage, with a hit rating of over 100 and 7.2k health unbuffed, and has been doing Heroics since mid-December when I had +450 damage and a complete lack of understanding of spell hit-vs-spell penetration. I've been invited to multiple 10 and 25-man raids that have been a lot of fun, but raiding is not where my interest lies.

So, my attention has turned to improving the gearing on my Hunter, getting her ready for Heroics.

Where I Am Now - PUGs and Gear

Over the past two weeks I've gotten into PUGs with my Hunter after a long, long time of soloing or just using her as a farmer or guild/friend helper, and I've seen my "fears" lessen quite a bit about my ability to trap well, keep up to a swift-moving group and not pull aggro all the time during fights.

I've gotten a few gear upgrades from the 67+ dungeons as I've worked on improving my reputation well enough to get Heroics keys, but when I hit 70 I hadn't done a single Outland instance, and therefore the only Heroics reputation line I had at Honored was Cenarion Expedition, since quests alone can get you there. I've since done enough PUGs and guild runs (we actually had a few of those, amazing) that I have four of five heroics keys, missing the Keepers of Time one for now.

My gear consists of mostly dungeon blues 67+ and the crafted Felstalker set, with a little bit of Season 1 PvP gear which I bought from the PvP vendor for battleground tokens and general honor

Spec?

I didn't do enough reading before I went and spec'd myself Marksman/Survival after levelling to 70 as Beast Master. Once I did some reading, I realized that a Beastmaster/Marksman spec would be quite acceptable for Heroics. Right now, however, I've gone BM/SV to get improved traps, hoping that'll make my CC job easier in exchange for some DPS output.

I will probably re-spec a billion times over the next month as I continue to gear up and PUG and compare myself to others around me for learning purposes.

Stats?

Unbuffed and without any Aspects up, I'm at 8.2k health, 5.9k mana, 1k ranged attack power, and a 12.73% chance to crit. Not quite Heroics Geared yet, and certainly nowhere near a respectable resume for Karazhan, but it's getting there.

Keying Progress

After getting Kara keyed on my Mage, it was another month before I finally got the key to Shadow Labyrinth and Shattered Halls, which seems kind of backwards as I was able to do Heroics versions of them before I even had the key...

So, I'm trying to key up those other ones on my Hunter more quickly this time. Shattered Halls key quest chain was easy enough to do solo (with the assistance of the guards outside Thrallmar to help down the Fel Reaver), but Sethekk Halls doesn't seem to be a dungeon I get asked to join parties for, and therefore the Shadow Labyrinth key still eludes me.

My Hunter was able to pick up the first fragment of the Kara key in Shadow Labs last night in a partial-PUG, but since I'm not Heroics geared yet nor itching to get into Karazhan on my Hunter, I'm not in a rush to secure the second and third key fragments and will get them as I PUG my way through rep-grinds and gear-ups.

Reputation Grinds

I have yet to decide where to spend time grinding reputation, other than the ones required to get Heroics keys.

I think I'll probably focus on Cenarion Expedition reputation afterwards, however, as they have "the good arrows" from my understanding.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Related posts:

1. Gearing Up For Heroics
2. The Heroics Divide
3. 70 Hunter Gets New Crossbow from Arcatraz

Now there's an LFG Tool that you have to list yourself in, in order to subscribe to the "LFG line". You could just "/join lfg" but you wouldn't be subscribed to the same one as the tool - you need to have yourself listed as looking for a group or looking for another member for your group, in order to subscribe to the Global channel.

Often, I don't really want to commit myself to doing anything in a group, but I want to hear what's going on in general - what dungeon parties are being formed, what classes are required, who's doing the call-outs, etc. Even more often, I'm not sure what toon of mine I want to hit a dungeon with - it often depends on what others on the realm are looking to do, especially in low population hours.

So, what do I do? I "lurk" in the LFG Channel, and I'll show you how to as well.

What Is Lurking?

In short, to lurk is to prowl around, hoping to be undetected. Watching. Listening. But not actively participating in the activities at hand.

In this case, that means not listing yourself as available for a specific dungeon but still listing yourself in the LFG tool so you can keep up with what might be available for you to join if it interests you.

How To "Lurk" On The LFG Channel

Here's how you do it - you list yourself as available in a ZONE instead of a Dungeon or Quest, and if you choose a zone that is ill-frequented, it's quite unlikely anyone will ever do the proper search to find you there:

De-lurking To Join A Party

Sometimes I just subscribe to the LFG tool to hear what's going on but know that I don't have enough time to get into anything myself. Most times, however, I subscribe to the LFG tool and watch for something that one of my toons can do... and then when someone advertises on the LFG line for something I'm interested in, I whisper to them from whatever toon I'm on and offer to hop over to the other to join them. I've never been turned down, and find it's a reliable way to burn off rest bonus on my pre-Outland toons.

Related posts:

1. How To “Lurk” On The LFG Channel
2. How To Join A PUG
3. To The LFG Tool: Some Laments