I've been going back to running random heroics this week, and while none of them were exactly awful, none of them were truly pleasant experiences either. In particular there were two types of behaviour that got on my nerves a lot.
Firstly, dps pulling for the tank. I know, people have been complaining about this almost since the dungeon finder's introduction, but I honestly didn't actually see anyone doing it all that often. In the past week however, nearly every pug I've been in has had a dpser doing it. Mostly it's dps warriors, but other classes have been guilty of doing it as well. Only today I ended up healing a heroic Halls of Stone run where the mage started blizzarding the first group of trash mobs almost as soon as we had zoned in. The tank and I just took a step backwards and out of the instance until the fighting was over and then came back to res the culprit and those he had taken with him. What was he thinking?
I refuse to believe that so many people get off on pissing off tanks and reducing their numbers even further; are they just all that ignorant? Here's a hint: if you're running headlong into groups of mobs without being the tank or truly being able to finish them all off on your own, you're being stupid. You're effectively trying to kill yourself and relying on the tank or the healer to bail you out. I usually don't intentionally let people die for being stupid, but if I see that the tank doesn't want to babysit you, I won't do so either. We're here to fulfill our roles within a normal five-man dungeon run, not to serve as your personal bodyguards while you hurl yourself from one suicidal situation into the next.
The second annoying behaviour that I had to deal with repeatedly this week is sort of a reaction to the former I suppose - tanks treating the instance like a race to the point of stupidity. I'm not talking about fast pulls here, I'm talking about cases like the tank I had in heroic Utgarde Keep who would aggro a group of mobs, hit them once, and then run off into the next room while the mobs beat on the dps who were actually trying to kill things before moving on. News flash: you're supposed to actually tank things, not just aggro them once on the way to the last boss!
I have a limited amount of understanding for how "tanking" like this might serve as a sort of defense mechanism against the first peeve mentioned in this post, but the tank playing badly instead of one of the dpsers still doesn't make the run any more enjoyable for the rest of the group.
Posts
There Is No Game #3: Who knew RNG Could Be Annoying?
58 minutes ago
Really, it was the mage? I thought it was the warrior who got me killed. I didn't even know what was going on. I thought we were still buffing and bam I'm dead.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was the mage, or at least his Blizzard was the first thing I noticed. Maybe I'm wrong and the warrior charged in first after all. It was dumb of them either way!
ReplyDeleteYeah,I wish I'd noticed you two had stepped out already, but then before I knew it I was a goner. The fear the mage used also was not handy at all. It kept the mobs running everywhere.
ReplyDeleteBoth of those things annoy me horribly too. I'm admittedly usually the tank, and people pulling "for" me is only okay if they're a hunter or rogue and misdirecting/tot. If not, I'd rather they didn't.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't run ahead into another room either. I might pull a second pack if I know the group can handle it - but not before knowing I have sufficient aggro on the first group. And really, I'd not run off.. I'm too lazy :P It's more like if there's another group close by that I can reach by a taunt or something *lol*
Aha! I have found anonymous posting! I do have an account here but for the life of me I can't remember what the password is..... Anyways, I have been tanking dailies again, and I did tank dailies almost the whole of WotLK, and I definitely think that the "impatience" level has gone up. Over the last 2 weeks in particular I have found tanking more than usually onerous, and I have enough threat and HP that I can usually over-ride annoying DPSers.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the only practical tip I can offer is, that I find a very early morning PUG is usually the best way to go. I've found that the people that log on and want to get their daily over with as soon as possible, are usually of above average gear and competence. At least so far, it's worked for me!
@Ihunuial: The fear was definitely the warrior cause mages don't have one. ;) Thijs was joking about how the guy seemed to have no other buttons but whirlwind and intimidating shout.
ReplyDelete@"Anonymous": Yay, nice to see you actually commenting here. :D
I think it all comes down to the dysfunctional way in which we judge the performance of other players.
ReplyDeleteIf a tank rushes through the instance, pulling huge waves of mobs at once before stopping, ninety percent of players will think he is an awesome tank, when in fact he is a crappy tank.
Similarly if a DPSer waits for the tank to pull before opening up their AoE spam, that will put them further down the damage meters, which can *actually lead to them getting vote-kicked* by people who don't want to "carry" "lazy" players.