Friday, December 18, 2009

Just Because It's Easy

With the random dungeon finder, I've been getting in a lot of groups where people don't know what to do, don't understand, have never been in a heroic before...and hey, that would be fine.

See, I have no problem with people being new to an instance. That's totally cool; everyone starts sometime, somewhere. The problem is people don't try to learn.

What am I talking about?

Well, let's take three anecdotal examples from my experiences, shall we?

First, Oculus. Yay, Oculus! Some of you may know that I love Oculus. However, Blizzard has nerfed Oculus into the ground so hard I literally had a group member stand on the electrified floor without moving out of the sustained breath-beam-thing of a sky captain with little to no heals without dying. This is really teaching people get out of the fire skills, tell you what.

But I digress.

See, the whole group but me (on Sugarcake; almost all of my bad groups are on my huntard) and the Paladin healer had never been to Oculus before. So, the Paladin and I attempted to explain the layout, the bosses, how to avoid pulling a zillion blue drakes, how to use the drakes...and we got through everything by brute-forcing it, until we got to the last boss. Continual explanations, drake shifts to give them something easier weren't helpful. The tank couldn't even find the drake vendor, still, after wiping multiple times. No one was paying attention, at all. It's not even "vehicles are hard" at that point; it's "you're not trying to learn."

And then...Old Kingdom. Oh my goodness, Old Kingdom. I got this instance twice in a row, and both times I had to leave early because it was just not worth the repair bills anymore. I felt bad about it, but I just couldn't stay.

The first time, the tank had no idea where he was going. This is okay; everyone has their moments when they're learning an instance. But he wouldn't listen when the group tried to show him the correct way to go, instead running in circles around the first boss's area, pulling extra packs of mobs that actually ended up wiping us a couple times (because, hey, no one is controlling the insta-kill spell flingers, and when I try to freeze them in place the mage is purposely breaking my CC). It didn't help the healer was continually AFK (or unglyphed HT healing), either.

The second time in OK, the tank was "undergeared" (i.e. in blues). Now, obviously these heroics can be accomplished by "undergeared" people; we did it in the beginning of Wrath. However, this tank played like he was in ToC epics, pulling without worrying about control or even threat, really. So, of course, spell flingers were eating people, lots of wipes were had. After the second boss, the DK DPS pulled a second pack of adds for no reason and killed everyone but the rogue and I.

As the Rogue and I talked, we discussed how if we didn't Misdirect or Tricks the tank, the adds wouldn't get picked up; but if we did, then he would die. My CC would get broken. No one was using defensive cooldowns. The Holy Paladin was apparently half-awake, and the tank liked to die in a blaze of glory. Half the time the rogue was evasion tanking or I was kiting or my pet was tanking.

When the tank pulled an extra pack of mobs on his way back in, I apologized to the Rogue and left the group.

It is becoming somewhat common that I find people think just because it's easy, they can do it without any sort of thought or care. They try to brute-force everything because many things can be brute-forced. They don't take into account that their gear can't handle it, that some things still will one-shot them, that they need to pay attention.

I could see how the current content would breed that mindset. After all, I remember logging in early when ToC first came out, getting extra consumables and reagents and feasts and preparing myself to stay on late, because this new boss had to be hard. After all, it was after Ulduar, and with only releasing one boss at a time, it was going to require some work, right?

We killed Beasts in 2-3 shots and went back to Ulduar. This left us totally unprepared for Hardmode, as we'd been lulled into a false sense of security by the ease of normal.

Some of it could also be that people skipped the "hard heroics" like OK and Oculus with gear resets, and now think they can just merrily romp through collecting their badges with no idea what they're doing. Which is, in essence, the same thing.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean it can't kill you.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you can slide through it.

Just because something is easy doesn't make you immortal.

So pay attention. If you don't know, ask. Do your own investigating, even if that means simply reading the text supplied to explain how your dragon works. Slow down. Mark groups. Don't break CC. Look where you're running. Listen to your group members. And remember:

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you can't mess it up.

10 comments:

jeffo said...

We killed the Maiden of Grief in HoS in 38 seconds last night. We one-healed Razuvious, finishing with both Understudies in excellent health. We 8-manned Sapphiron and killed her (him?) in record time.

It's very, very easy to become complacent; a good smackdown from one of these 'easy' old bosses is actually a good thing once in a while, though if you're in a random PuG it may well get someone 'vote kicked'.

Paul said...

I do try to ask. New at the whole instance thing. It is easier to slow the group down a bit when I'm the tank. I can actually state I'm new to this instance please point which way you want me to go. Also, any notes on this boss? Did another LFG PUG as DPS. They were running at full speed. My first time in that one. Caught some lip from a warrior during that run. I want to learn, just tired of the rude remarks. It's probably just a PUG thing...

Anonymous said...

I have had similar experiences using the new system, also mostly with OK and Occulus.

I had a tank in OK wearing greens and a DTK trinket (I kid you not). I tried to heal her but it just wasn't possible.

On the flip side I've had groups that really do know their stuff. Typically though those groups are also so well geared that it just doesn't matter.

Jyorore said...

I've been very fortunate in my (Level 80, I should specify) pugs where the worst thing going on has only been someone needing on the frozen orb at the end. My Shaman who's healing his way through outlands...is another story entirely.

I guess you just win some and loose some, the wins send you merrily back about your day, and the loses cost you 50gold, an hour, and an ignore slot.

jorani said...

Lovely post. Really touched a cord."just because its easy". I have tried tanking recently. My gear has been getting better and better. And yet more wipes. High dps attack the wrong mob, or just pull aggro, expect me to control everything even though i am new. Then it all turns to custard. Now if that happens, i ask for courtesy and if its not given then just leave. If i am not having fun why stay, other people will be better.

Thanks again
J

Fuzzbubble/Droodyboy/Dethbringerr said...

I have used the dungeon finder tool a lot since it came out and have come up with a few rules that i stick to.

If i'm on my healer i check the hp and dps of each member. so i know what to expect. (who could grab aggro and how fast i will have to react)

If tanking i start slowly and check dps and healers capabilities and speed up if it's do-able

If i'm dpsing i go all out on the first few trach pulls to see the quality of the tank. if he doesn't hold aggro i'll ease off for the rest of the run.

So far it's worked ok.

Sky_Paladin said...

Heylo there, Bellwether. I dreamed that I was in a pug with you last night so I felt it appropriate to drop you a line :)

I have had great success using the random dungeon tool as a tank. My main issue is when somebody else is given group leader, and they clearly do not know how to be a group leader.

I have found healing Forge of Souls to be difficult because pugs do not understand the concept of 'stop dps during mirrored soul', and I haven't healed Halls of Reflection yet.

I always remember you as a capable and well geared player, the epitome of her class, so it troubles me to hear that you are having difficulties. I hope that your future pugs are more reasonable and less difficult for you to complete.

Also, have a Merry Christmas :)

Maaya said...

When I heal Forge of Souls, I just let the Mirrored Soul target die. I'll throw up a Rejuv on him but that's about all. I don't support brute forcing encounters (especially something as simple as this). If we wipe, we wipe, and I'll tell the group why they wiped.

Anonymous said...

I'm a fresh 80 dk and grouped into Occulus (first time "ever" there on any of my toons). I told the group that... reply was "nice". I just told them I am competent at my spec (unholy) and am not an aggro nor pull king. A little confusion for me with where to fly but the run went really well.

Anabella said...

Since I have taken a short leave of WoW (not entirely by my own choice), I haven't had a chance to try out the new LFG. However, I have been reading through blogs and this is one recurring theme. I completely agree with you.
Unfortunately - we people who read blogs understand the need for learning, even in the situation where it is possible to brute force. That's one of the reasons why we read blogs. The people who would benefit most from your advice - do not read. At all.