WoWGrrl's World » PUGs

All I Do These Days Is PUG

Valdesta — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:33:27 +0000

I'll admit it, I don't play NEAR as much as I used to.

I still enjoy the game because I've made some good friends that I still hang around with on my Ventrilo server, and Dad and I still play together once a week, questing and advancing our characters into the 70s that started together in their 20s.

Upcoming Video Content

And I still enjoy the LFG tool because of its quick access to a packaged amount of playing that I can psychologically tell myself is an acceptable amount of play time, and a line in the sand as to when to log out and accomplish things in Real Life.

And I still have the drive to make videos and offer helpful tips and tricks every time I play.

So, as a result of a wee bit of playing recently, I've got a video coming out soon that I'm working on putting the finishing touches on right now in iMovie '09, and I'll be posting it to my long-estranged YouTube channel which you can subscribe to through that link.

I hope to see a lot of comments on the videos when they're posted! Feel free to link to the video from your guild website or blog or wherever, if you think the tips and tricks would be helpful for your friends.

Do You Feel Guilty Ditching An LFG PUG?

Valdesta — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:06:19 +0000

With the upgrade of the Dungeon Tool for regular 5-player instances, increasing the pool of potential PUGmates you'll be assigned to because of the cross-realm battlegroups being included, I'd love to hear from everyone else your opinion about ditching PUG parties with little or no warning.

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?

What’s With All The Healer Ninjas??!!

Valdesta — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:06:12 +0000

So, I don't know if you've experienced this or not since the new Dungeon Tool came in...

But man, what's with all the Healer Ninjas in the leveling dungeons??!!

Playing With Friends? Playing With Strangers.

Personally, I love the challenge of PUGs with complete and utter strangers.

Druid Tanking In Wailing Caverns

Ever since BC came out, and the first rendition of the LFG tool, I've gained a huge amount of playing skill just by playing with strangers instead of friends.

In fact, for a while there were social friends I wouldn't invite into dungeons to fill final slots in parties, because I found that playing with complete and utter strangers was a more positive playing experience with less negative ramifications after the party was complete.

After all, BC was a time where Crowd Control was valued extremely highly, and as a Mage I was getting into parties right left and center specifically because I was not only DPS, but I was one of the more reliable classes in terms of repeatable Crowd Control techniques.

The social friends I would avoid inviting to fill out dungeon groups were generally DPS classes (Healers and Tanks got regular invites), and the ones I'd avoid inviting the most were the ones who only wanted to go into dungeons in "guild groups", and then once they got there demonstrated exactly why - they had NO grouping skills, and didn't think that was a problem.

For whatever reason, guild Hunters were the ones I remember the most in terms of ones I'd avoid grouping with in a dungeon.

Huntards who refused to freeze trap. Who broke other forms of CC with their flame traps, snakes and multi-shot. Who "liked chaos" and therefore didn't pay attention to kill order. Who pulled aggro, and only feigned death once the mob was on top of them... generally leaving the mob to turn its attention to the nearby healer. Or a DPS wearing more than toilet paper for gear if the healer was lucky.

After a few runs with such social guildmates and hearing them talk about their beliefs and intentions for future runs, I started to realize that in order for my playing skills to improve while I'm actually enjoying myself, I'd be way better off playing with complete and utter strangers.

Crazy Eyed Gnome!

Some Strangers Suck, But I Can Ignore Them

This isn't to say that all of the strangers played better than these social guildmates - not at all.

There are always plenty of strangers who are either under-experienced or over-experienced, and both of those levels of understanding can result in challenging (or annoying) group situations.

But at least they're strangers, which means I have no urge to say "hello" to them when they log in the next day, or the next week. If they're annoying, boasting, aggro-pulling, chaos-generating players, I can pretend they don't exist - at least until the next time we end up in a PUG together (which didn't tend to happen much with the bad ones, even before cross-realm LFG).

Yet Another Dungeon Tool Effect On Parties

These days, it's not very often that a social guildmate is the right level to join me in the Dungeon Tool, so I'm doing a lot of PUGs with complete strangers. My social guildmates are all pretty decently skilled now that we've been playing for years, though, which makes it easier to invite them to groups when we do match up.

But now what I'm finding is that it's BETTER to bring in a social guildmate (as long as they're not complete tools), because that extra person that I can influence cuts down on potentially annoying, time-wasting situations.

Like the Healers who are incredibly crappy healers, but who have discovered they can get into dungeons much more quickly if they mark off that they're able to heal, than if they just list themselves as DPS.

Healing In Deadmines

Beware The Healer Ninja

As a lowbie tank, I completely expect that every dungeon I go into is going to have its share of challenges.

Whether the challenge is that the dungeon is Wailing Caverns or Gnomeregon which have players drop as soon as they zone in (because both are very long and have huge potentials for someone unknowledgable to spend a lot of time wandering around trying to find their way to the end to get the satchel), or the challenge is that the DPS are predominantly weak (due to inexperience, class dynamics or just plain laziness), or it's that the healer is new to their job and doesn't have any addons to help them heal (*cough* Healbot *cough*), I fully expect there to be SOME kind of challenge.

I am, after all, tanking at under level 30 at this point, and by default most players haven't had much experience with their characters to really know how to rock their role.

Most challenges aren't a big deal - if someone leaves the group, the Dungeon Tool fills their spot. DPS and Healing requirements are quite light for low level instances as well - everything is very forgiving and it's not very often that a DPS who pulls aggro even experiences death at this point.

But the one challenge that's bugging me these days is all about the Ninja Healer.

What's A Ninja Healer?

Simply put, it's a player who joins the party in the Healing role and then chooses "Need" on every gear drop they can roll on.

And on top of that annoying behavior, they're usually horribad healers who prefer to DPS (and do), but don't want to wait for the Dungeon Tool to place them as DPS!

The Dungeon Tool's restriction for kicking players early in an instance is what makes this player especially annoying to me more than anything - if after the first five minutes I've done 40% of my own healing, as a Warrior Tank using Healing Potions periodically, something is very wrong. And my not being able to vote the healer out because we haven't been in the party for long enough is highly frustrating to the rest of the group as well.

Sometimes I'm lucky and there's a class that can cast backup heals to keep us going until we can remove the dead weight, but lately I haven't been so lucky, and I've had to make the long run back to the instance because the One Who Doesn't Heal But Needs Everything also doesn't ressurect - and generally doesn't even respond to conversation on the party chat line.

It's getting to the point where I can recognize a Healer Ninja within the first three or so pulls in an instance, just by watching my health as I progress from group to group. The healing meters in Recount serve as a source to back up what I've noticed, and at times communicate it to the rest of the group before I initiate a kick.

But unfortunately, as I mentioned before, early in an instance there are kick restrictions in place, and therefore our group generally has to live with a Ninja in the group for what feels like an eternity before the vote actually gets past the restrictions and has a chance to pass.

How High Do The Healer Ninjas Show Up?

I'm working on lowbies right now when I get a chance to play, and I'm finding that Healer Ninjas are more prevalent at 20-30 than they were from 15-19.

I wonder, what's your experience with crappy Dungeon Tool healers who have to be kicked early in the instance because they're rolling Need on everything they get a chance to roll on?

At what level can I expect this horribad population to more or less die out?

To The LFG Tool: Some Laments

Valdesta — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:22:33 +0000

My previous entry was about all the awesome things that the new cross-realm LFG tool has brought to us as Heroic-rompers and Leveling Lowbies.

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

I'm not good at being forced into something and enjoying it, but at the same time, I can always find the "silver lining" in pretty much any situation I'm faced with (you should hear how I find the silver lining during yucky movies).

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?

The Part Of Raiding About Self-Defense

Valdesta — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:41:34 +0000

Raiding is a fun and interesting part of World of Warcraft.

Not only is it more chaotically challenging than regular leveling content or 5-player dungeon content, but it more solidly introduces the concept of teamwork within the game setting.

Self-Defense In Raiding, Defined

When I first think about self-defense in a raiding context, "staying alive" is what comes to mind.

Raiders Gather for their ToTC Raids

You know, simple things like not standing in the fire, or in the roof cave in, or in the big circle that Hodir's about to drop a big ice shard onto.

Those are dynamics that are also in play in Regular and Heroic 5-player dungeons as well, so there's a lot of practice available for any given raider in terms of that type of self defense.

Second up, I think of self-defense in a "something is on you, and you're not a tank" kind of way.

If that something doesn't one-shot you, or you have a chance to react to their making a bee-line towards you, self-defense tactics are the ones you use to keep yourself alive long enough for that mob to be downed or taken back by a tank (or by another less squishy raid member).

But ultimately, neither of these types of self-defense are what inspired this entry.

The one that inspired it is a third type of self-defense - that of defending yourself against your own raid members' and their (sometimes warped) senses of humor.

Someone Always Thinks It's Funny

Unless you're in a raid team with zero roster movement, you're always bringing in new blood to your guild raids, and if you PUG raid at all, generally over 50% of the raid tends to be "new blood", at least when it comes to your familiarity with them.

And when there's new blood, there's always someone who gets a kick out of using a skill or object that negatively impacts others.

For example, for the first time since January someone put down a Toy Train Set in our official raid last week. Of course it was destroyed immediately, and it was put down by someone brand new to the guild (not a veteran by any stretch), but part of me was deeply saddened.

Thankfully, our guild isn't filled with people whose humor is triggered at the expense of others, and has officership that is respected enough that when they say stop, folks stop.

Slow Falling To The Anub'arak Fight

Mages, Priests in ToTC: Slowfall/Levitate Your Friends FTW

In closing I'd like to say that the one thing I've learned about this phase of WoTLK raiding, especially in PUG groups with a bunch of strangers, is the one place I can defend my friends and stymy the guy who is trying to find laughter by laughing at them.

Slowfall and Levitate are your friends, Mages and Priests (just happen to be my two raiding toons). Cast them on your friends just before the fall to take on Anub'arak, and cast them on yourself.

Let someone else die if there's an annoying DK in the group, but above all else, defend yourself and your friends with just a few clicks.

That's my 2c on the topic anyway!

The Entertainment Of A FailPUG Adventure In Blood Furnace

Valdesta — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:10:15 +0000

Hey! Don't walk away from me!

A lot of what I do in-game is meant for one thing:

To Entertain Myself.

Whether it's completing daily quests, or going into PUG dungeons at various levels, or PUG raids that are failure raids right from the start (follow me on Twitter to read about my #failpug #badpugs experiences as they happen), I'm in them for my own personal entertainment.

Sure, some of what I do helps other people too - raiding, running friends' lowbies through instances for gear and leveling up, Wintergrasp - but I've taken up the mindset that if I'm not going to have fun doing whatever I do, I'm not going to do it.

Raids and PUGS Need To Be Kept "Fun"

I know, I know - some people wonder how in the heck I can have "fun" while in some of the FailPUGs that we all get into.

More tips for keeping your playing fun, even with crabby teammates! Sign Up For Free Today!

WoWGrrl's Email Series

FailPUGs with inexperienced players or socially inept individuals or DPS plate-wearers (or Shaman) who think they can tank just fine.

Or loud-mouthed individuals who talk on and on about themselves, like any of us care ;)

Or the new VoA PUGs that are forming still full of people who expect a faceroll raid and don't gear-check.

How do I have fun?

Well, first of all, I view everything as being like an interactive television program, specifically created for my personal entertainment.

This way, I get to play the awesome character that everyone loves, AND I get to laugh my ass off at the stereotyped personalities that are presented to me through the "WoW Sitcom".

Maybe I can give an example of what I mean, to make my example more clear:

A Recent FailPug Adventure Into Blood Furnace

Shaman Ready To Heal BF

Here I am in Thrallmar on my low-60s Resto Shaman, looking to get some quick experience and quick gear without running all over Hellfire's Acreage. I put myself in LFG for Hellfire Ramparts and Blood Furnace, and for Slave Pens too, for the heck of it.

I see an advertisement immediately on the LookingForGroup channel that a BF group is looking for a healer and is good to go. I respond, they invite, we exchange pleasantries, and the adventure begins.

Before we even got into Blood Furnace, I am reminded that Hellfire Citadel is, indeed, a Driving and Coordination Test for new players. Those pathways are thin in some spots, you have to be comfortable with the speed and turning abilities of your mount.

Needless to say, two people died "falling" deaths before we made it into the instance.

They make their way back to their bodies and get summoned back up and eventually we all make it to the instance.

We get in and get started, and it's all going great - we were rockin' through the instance, clearing trash packs at a time, and we defeat the first boss no problem.

Casualties, and Loss Of PUGmates

But then an unfortunate pull in a place with bombs silenced my healing for a while, and we wiped.

One of our DPS logs out without a word, leaving the party and the game.

We pick up someone new.

On the way to summon the new DPS, the Tank (who had had a falling death before coming in) fell to his death AGAIN. When he ran back, he repeated his performance (by dying a THIRD time to falling), and then just left the party and logged out. In frustration, I'd suppose.

I really can't help but laugh at the vision of the frustrated Tank who couldn't figure out how to drive his mount safely...

What's Our Party About, Again?

So, we summon the new DPS and pick up a new Tank. Only, the new tank is dead, and Flagged for PvP.

A DPS in the group decides it would be smart to go over and resurrect the Tank so we can get going on our dungeon quest, but then HE gets PvP'd.

The Tank's other DPS buddy tries to convince our entire party to go out there and join in the PvP.

Suddenly, I'm AFK. ;)

Continued Challenge of Re-Filling

We get back to the instance - four of us, and then the DPS who attempted to rez the Tank, leaves without a word.

And JUST WHEN YOU THINK it can't possibly get worse, we pick up a new DPS and his first words are:

"How do I get there? I'm new to the Outlands"

Guess what class he is?

Deathknight, of course. So he's new to Outlands, which means he's probably pretty new to the game.

At this point, the party fell apart because the new leader left without word as the new Tank was trying to lead the newbie DK up to where the Blood Furnace entry point was, and myself and a Mage who had been there all along during this debacle both exclaimed at the same time how crazy this attempt at Blood Furnace turned out to be.

How Can That Be Anything But Hilarious?

Okay, truthfully I know the answer to my own question, but let me say this:

That whole escapade was a royal waste of time, I didn't get any gear upgrades from it, but I still choose to see it as completely and utterly hilarious.

I love to know that there are still a lot of players who are new to the game and improving their skills from a very raw state, just like there are a lot of quality players who have honed their skills to a near art.

After all, I think it's a healthy game that attracts both the new and the elite at the same time - and every time I get into a party like I was in above, I'm able to see how far my own understanding of playing various classes on WoW has improved from my first days where I feared dungeons since I had a habit of killing people in them.

And of course, it also makes me appreciate the groups that run smoothly and don't waste my time.

I'm always up for things that bring me reasons to be appreciative, aren't you? :)

I Love Every Fight, Every Boss, Every Instance.

Valdesta — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:05:48 +0000

Staring Down The Lich King

While it's not Life, World of Warcraft is a pretty nifty place.

The quests are interesting, the lore is expansive, and the group content is challenging.

The majority of what makes group content challenging isn't really the content itself necessarily, although that's part of the equation - the biggest variable that determines success versus failure in a group encounter is the group itself.

The people in the group.

Their level of experience with the encounter and with their class.

How much attention they're giving to the encounter.

How competitive they are within themselves and with others in terms of doing the very best they can do.

And when it comes to player attitudes, how much each individual adds to the party or detracts from it during particularly rough sections of the encounter.

I 'R' A PUGger

I PUG all the time. And when I mean I PUG all the time, I mean that I generally run at least one PUG per day on average, and some weeks I luck into some awesome PUGs and we romp through 3-5 instances within 2-3 hours, which brings my daily averages up over the week.

And for the record, my definition of PUG is that at least 75% of the other party members are either completely or only just *largely* unfamiliar to me in terms of all those attributes I listed above.

If I've played with them before, it was so long ago or so infrequently that all I'm left with is a "good vibe" or a "bad vibe".

Stacking The PUG Towards Joy

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to bring in one (or more, in raids) "known variable" to the parties, and I always choose people who are not only good players with good gear and plenty of playing experience, but also have attitudes that are a match to what brings me personal joy.

Why joy?

Because I, personally, enjoy dungeon runs way more when I can share my state of joyfulness with someone else, especially in the face of someone who may not be so joyous in the group.

A Sample Of My Joyful PUGging Thoughts

I love difficult fights.

Shrimproll and Loken in Halls of Lightning

Ones that require a lot of movement, ones that keep you on your toes and require you to pay attention, and be aware of your environment.

Fights like Utgarde Pinnacle's battle against Skadi the Ruthless and his mist-breathing dragon, with all of the waves of adds for a healer to worry about aggroing with an ill-timed cast, and the dragon's breath itself... those are great.

Going through Azjol Nerub the first time, and misunderstanding how to handle the Gauntlet event before Hadronox and wiping horribly was pretty funny, too. I still remember how running around on the spider web floors there made my knees feel week IRL!!

I love how the Heroics of today are reminiscent of the Raids of Burning Crusade, so those of us who did the raids have a bit of a familiarity advantage, and can re-visit some of the fun fights that were super-hard in BC. Plus, anyone who didn't get a chance to raid in BC will get a taste of real raider training by learning the Heroic fights of today.

What I Don't Understand

Almost every heroic I'm in, and definitely every raid I'm in where people have the freedom to speak their thoughts instantaneously, there's at least one person who "hates this fight".

I wonder, those people who hate difficult fights, do they realize that people who thrive on the challenge and derive joy from it are going to be the ones who easily defeat the encounter, and those of us deriving joy aren't going to want to bring along wet blankets who "hate" every second fight?

Do the people who "hate" fights ever get to the point where they can reliably beat them, or do they just avoid what they dislike and therefore begin to stagnate in their learning and personal progression, relying on others to carry them through to the loot?

Is *this* the main reason why people "hate" PUGs?

Advancing The Lowbie Shaman

Valdesta — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:08:33 +0000

My lowbie Shaman just hit level 30 and got skills like Astral Recall (hearth with a 15 min cooldown) and the ability to self-ressurrect with the help of a reagent, the Ankh.

About My Shammy

Shammy is spec'd a mix of all three trees, with 5 points in speeding up my main healing cast by .5 seconds (resto) and 5 points in increasing my mana pool by up to 5% (enhancement), and the rest of the meagre points spent in elemental.

My gear is mostly cloth with a few leather pieces I could find. I'm a caster Shaman who generally goes into parties as a damage-dealer and then acts as backup heals when things get messy, and there's very few pieces of caster leather out there that I've found.

My professions are Skinning and Leatherworking on this toon, knowing that at end game Leatherworking is useful to a Mail-wearing Shaman, and also having had a profession gap there for a long time, with no Leatherworker. Shammy's at 225 Leatherworking, waiting for level 35 when she can start to advance to 300.

Shammy In Recent Days

Recently, Shammy has been peacefully resting. Having spent all my rest bonus while advancing from 26 to 29, I put her into an Inn and turned out the light, and have only checked in on her a few times.

Checking in on my toons usually means I'm making sure they're all ready for the next set of dungeon runs that will happen when they're pulled out of the Inn. Enough water? Reagents? Do I have any quests to collect?

Then, I log out again if I'm not planning to run something at that moment. When I log back in I know it's ready to go.

Upcoming Dungeoning Plans

I've already progressed through a handful of lowbie instances, and finished all of the quests in each of them. My next focus is Scarlet Monestary, and I've spent time running around gathering all of the pre-requisite quest chains and finishing them up to the point of needing to go into Scarlet Monestary to finish my quests.

This weekend I will log in and put myself into the LFG tool and find some Scarlet Monestary groups to heal or DPS for, and by the end of the weekend, with a few successful runs, I will have spent my rest bonus and Shammy will be sent to rest again for another while.

Why PUG?

Valdesta — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:45:10 +0000

Pick Up Groups are the name given to parties that form without a previous agreed-upon roster or schedule, in order to take on content that can't be handled solo at that level.

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 ;)

What I Look Forward To Doing

Valdesta — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:04:32 +0000

World of Warcraft is a great game - I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here... even those who have been disillusioned and left for some reason can still likely say that the game is pretty great, but some of the game's aspects or followers, perhaps, weren't.

At any rate, despite holing myself up in a Guild of One recently, I want to say that Yes, I still think World of Warcraft is a pretty great game, and I have no real intention of being completely devoid of social contact in this Massively Multiplayer Online game.

But I can definitely say that what I looked forward to a month ago is different than what I look forward to today, and today I feel much happier about the future than I did a month ago.

Looking Towards The Future

I've always enjoyed the life of a Casual player, so getting into Raiding was an interestying foray, but not ultimately what I've wanted to do with my time.

Now that I have my free time back, I'm looking towards the future and making some plans.

I'm kind of, but not really, looking at setting some goals that I can have done by the time The Lich King expansion pack comes out, whenever that may be. I haven't clearly defined my goals yet, however, nor do I keep up on the latest of when it's coming out.

Heck, I'm still entertained plenty in the Azeroth areas and dungeons - getting the expansion pack isn't a huge goal of its own, other than the fact that everyone will have it and I might as well get it too.

Some Goals For Before LK Releases

Priest
My first Toon Family goal is to get my 63 Priest to 70 through a combination of reputation-specific quests and healing in PUGs.

As a Jewelcrafter, I'll be focusing on The Consortium reputation for this toon, and will probably dive into the Shattered Sun dailies once I hit 70 so I can get all of those recipes as well.

While I'm levelling through dungeons or questing for specific reputation gain, I plan to be making recordings with the intent of making various videos. I'd really love feedback on these things once I start posting them, to help me improve both in my healing and in my video-making.

Like my thoughts, I'm sure the topics will range far and wide, venturing even into the ridiculous.

Druid
I've got a level 30 Druid who has been level 30 for a number of months. I'd like to get her to at least 60, because I'm sure with the expansion pack there'll be a large number of Death Knights looking to party their way through the Outland instances even when Northrend is up and going.

I'm looking forward to putting some real time and love into the Druid - it'll be my first truly Hybrid toon of any level, and I intend to practice all of its aspects so I'm good at switching around between DPS, Healing and Tanking as the group requires.

And I'm sure a lot of PUGs will give me a lot of opportunity to hone and improve those skills... only to have "what works and what's needed" change all around when the expansion comes out ;)

Shaman and Paladin

I have teen-level Shaman and Paladin characters that have been sitting for a bit while I got caught up in raiding - I'm thinking if I can get them both to 58 or so for the expansion and situate the Shaman as a healer and the Pally as a tank, these in combination with the Druid will give me awesome angles of others playing their DeathKnights when the expansion hits. (can you tell I don't plan to roll one right away?)

Mage
I love my Mage but would rather advance up my plethora of other toons because with the gear level my Mage is at, raiding and heroics are the only "real" challenges, and I don't want to get back into raiding. I ponder on PUGging Karazhan for the badges, hoping to find a group each week that can accomplish a fast run (ie: under 3 hours would be nifty), but know that would just lead to invites to other things on my Mage, who I largely don't want to invest time in anymore.

I'll probably mainly bring him out to run my lowbie Shaman and Pally through quests or dungeons once in a while, and to help out friends who I trade favors with.

Hunter
No real goals, aside from respec'ing to a solid pet-centric solo spec and using this toon to help my friends and lower toons (on the other WoW account) complete quests or obtain gear from Azeroth dungeons.

But For Now...

But for now, it's time to head outside into the sunshine and take advantage of the warmth that is springtime.

Yet another wonderful thing I can do with my time, less committed!