No, I’m not talking about what that cute little runt did to your carpet. I’m speaking of the mental detritus from running a particularly bad pug. That sour stain on your otherwise good day. Now we already know thanks to our mothers that blood stains are best removed by using… Wait… your mother didn’t teach you that?? I thought all mothers taught their sons about such things. Hmmm. Well no matter. This post is about gaming, not avoiding jail time. We’ll save that gem of a topic for another day.
Even though the title might give you other ideas, please don’t get me wrong. I love the new Dungeon Finder tool and it’s completely changed my perspective on running 5-mans. The daily heroic used to be a chore— several chores, really. Build the group, fly to the physical location of the instance, summon lazy group members (often while evading pvp-hungry Hordies, and then replace anyone who drops group before or during the run. Instancing has now become a fun way to spend those 2.25 hours until WG control flips back to the Horde. The vast majority of my random pugs using the new Dungeon Finder have been relatively smooth, and I’ve even gotten a couple opportunities to give a few wayward (or newbie) DPS some advice that was (shocker!) welcomed and followed.
Nevertheless, there will upon occasion be the pug that will bug, the heroic chain that will stain, the party that you wish wasn’t yours but still leaves you wanting to cry. It happens to all of us, and chances are if you haven’t been given the gift of ninja by now via our beautiful new Dungeon Finder, you’re either very lucky or don’t run many dungeons. If it’s the latter, don’t let this article scare you away. If your personality is anything like mine, the worst part about the experience is the feeling of impotence that lingers after a particularly bad experience. (Also, if your personality is anything like mine, seek a therapist immediately.)
Now, you may feel helpless, because you had no hand in picking these goons that were thrust randomly upon you. You couldn’t prevent someone from making what was supposed to be a fun experience into a bad spot in your day. You got robbed of your fun and perhaps the worst part is that feeling that they can just keep doing it again and again and you can’t do anything about it. That helplessness breeds anger, resentment, and/or frustration.
You probably need a vent. No, not the voice chat service. A vent as in a way to express your frustrations constructively, for your future benefit and/or that of other players. Though venting on your guildmates in voice chat might seem like a good venue, chances are it won’t do much good beyond the immediate minute, and you want your anger to mean something, don’t you? You want that jerky DK who needed on a 5-man dps weapon when he’s already got Shadowmourne equipped to face some consequences. You’d like the guy who ninja’ed orbs to be known for who he really is. You think that abusing system mechanics to effectively obtain multiple chances at a single piece of loot is shady.
If any of this sounds something like what you’ve been through recently, you’ll want to check back tomorrow Thursday for Part I of this series.
And one caveat: The methods discussed in this series are not about revenge. If you’re setting out to cause maximal pain to the person who wronged you, this will not be your best source of advice. If you’re seeking a constructive end, then read Part I tomorrow Thursday. If not, I suggest you head elsewhere.
Update: Raid’s on for tonight, and work is busy today, so I won’t really have much chance to polish and post Part I until late Weds/early Thursday. Sorry for the delay. To compensate, I promise juicy screenshots of tonight’s raid. Maybe. If you behave.
