Introducing one of the new features rolling out over the next couple of weeks, FAILPUG! will make you feel better about that pug you previously thought was bad just by showing you how much worse it could have been. If you find yourself in a true FAILPUG!, take some screenies and send them our way.
Everyone expects VoA pugs to end terribly. Everyone except me that is. I’m like an innocent, fragile flower who has been sheltered from the raging storm of frustrating players by hiding behind my big rock of not-pugging. Good analogy, eh? So last time I saw a callout in Wintergrasp general for more to do a quick 10-man, I rolled up my sleeves and thought what the hell…
And Lo! Elitists Ahoy!
My first inkling that all would not be going to plan was when the raid leader asked if anyone knew a tank. Some replied that they had one, but try as he might the RL could not get a name out of this guy. The first 5 mins of so of the pug was spent like this.
So after much fannying about, giving up and getting a totally different tank, a warlock in the group uttered the fateful words “kick X, his gear bad”. If memory serves it was in reference to one of the DPS who was in blues, with one or two greens, but it’s only VoA. Unfortunately the raid leader kicked him without warning, and because I have a low tolerance for morons in pugs this prompted me to leave the group. Well…nearly.
What’s this, has the raid leader had a change of heart? Perhaps he’d been caught up in the moment, we all know what the power of being in charge can do to people. I’d give him a second chance.
Ok maybe not. Poor DK.
Let’s Kill Something
Finally with a full group we were on to Koralon, where the off-tank promptly died. Whether it was not standing close enough together, or standing in fire, or one of the other pug cliches I’ll never know, but we somehow got through the fight with one tank up and, spirits buoyed, made our way to Emalon.
The paladin boss tank ran in first without warning, leaving the poor warrior off-tank scrambling to get the adds off him and under control. This method did not work well.
In the pally’s defense he did apologise, but not before It started. You know It, that moment in all pugs when someone is insulted, setting off a chain reaction.
So off we went confidently for another try, whereupon at least half of the DPS failed to switch to the overpowered add. Again, not the best tactic, and in this case the final straw (thank the Noodly Lord)!
Main Offenders
If you’re to take anything from this new column, we hope it’ll be an ability to spot the warning signs and prior offenders and avoid situations like this. In the spirit of warning, I would suggest avoiding raids run by or including the following main offenders:
- Mikuru
- Wiizor
- Healsson
- Forlax
And an honourable mention for Throndill, who was mostly ok, for the inevitable
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Have to say I don’t usually kick vote people or ignore them and I tend to put up with pugs even when they suck because of the hassle but pug raid is just asking for fun. I am surprised to not see people asking about the achieves for the new boss in voa already
Lol Mikuru, he invented raging
That is too funny! Regarding the gear thing in VOA I remember when ages and ages ago when a guildy rogue in Spice just dinged and was in shoddyish gear. He pugged raids and had the strategy of standing inside a tauren or inside a warlock summon stone to avoid the dreaded “gear judgementt” I think it was after that raid or a Naxx run, where some guy gave him a BOE epic and said his DPS could use a boost. See we have some nice people on Horde
and nowadays he pretty much sits on the top of the DPS meters and is a superb player.
Funny thing is I presume most of these guys in Shell’s raid will be asking for achievements today
Last night I was leading a VoA pug. unfortunately we didn’t get the boss down but I had fun anyways.
For example when I got like the most stupid question ever..
Me: X you heal the tank
X: what do you mean?
Me: you, healer
Me: tank, tank
Me: you, heal, tank.
Me: got it?
X: you don’t have to be a smartass
ppl from the raid: you gotta love vossie xD
“Regarding the gear thing in VOA I remember when ages and ages ago when a guildy rogue in Spice just dinged and was in shoddyish gear. He pugged raids and had the strategy of standing inside a tauren or inside a warlock summon stone to avoid the dreaded “gear judgement””
Ah yes, I enjoyed that trick, never get away with it now with Gearscore and everything else. Fortunally my gear has got slightly better since those days!
i just tried my very first PUG using the Dungeon Finder…was on my lvl61 warlock…a bit nervous as my main is a warrior and im used to tanking everything…so randomed Blood Furnace…got there and everyone started buffing…except the pala….he didn’t say a thing…just jumped up and down on the spot til we were all ready…so…then we took out the first room easy…tho somone did ask if the pala was a noob since he hadn’t buffed himself yet….no reply…onto next room…tank runs in and pala instantly follows behind…then as the tank takes the first group the pala decides it is a good idea to go grab the other groups around the room…obviously he thought the tank was slacking and needed more of a challenge…then pala dies….tank dies and the rest of us run for our lives before dying
tank says its all the palas fault and moans about the healer not healing then quits…followed by the healer…and the other guy…living me and the pala…who still says nothing…fun…not so much but i will try again…hopefully with an awesome group of ppl who talk to one another and know what they are doing just a little…
I got like 4 lvl 60 chars, poke me if Im not busy and Ill come with you.
Ill talk enough even when the other 3 wont say a word ^^
Pugged VoA last night again, failed again, but most of the group were actually really nice and polite and optimistic so never fear, good pugs do exist!
Just had a brilliant one in Gundrak:
Kill 3rd boss, healer wants to go to Eck for the badge + achieve, tank doesn’t want to. Tank jumps in water to go to final boss, so I thought, sod it, went with him, pally tank, 53k hp should be np… He and I start clearing trash while healer and him have an argument, eventually the 2 dps join us as does the healer but healer refuses to heal and /dance with the tank.
We killed the last boss with no heals, and the fight descends into a slanging match of caps during the boss:
Dragonblight tank: WHY YOU BEING A TWAT?
Al’akir healer: because you decided to be one first perhaps?
DB: PLUS I TOLD YOU I DNT NEED HEALS
DB: FUCKIGN PALADIN MATE
DB: PLUS MY GEAR RAPES YOURS
AK: nice epeen
rogue from Al’akir (lolrouge [sic]) yet your still a twat
rogue: well done
healer: ever heard of alts
tank:
tank: YEH
healer: caps freak
healer: see you
tank: SUCK ME
tank
healer: no thanks
>tank and healer leave party<
win!
I usually try to lead my own pug to avoid those issues
Last Voa 10 I made, I actually managed to allocate not one but two items wrong (screw me for using ml in voa really) fortunately was lucky enough that people who got the item just gave it away to the real winner and we moved on
I effing hate it when people say heal pls, its like they think were ignoring them or something. i must have so much self control not to let them die
Hmm….
“What does we need?”
“kick the new dk to..he have bader gear”
Then he calls people “retards”? Can’t believe the language, annoying text speak, and bad attitudes in that. You have more patience than me Shell
Gear, GS, your dps count, immature effwits, the “Bring the gear, not the player” philosophy. I’m trying to get myself back into WoW after a break. This did not help lol ^^
You should have kicked them all into line, like you did on that Onyxia pug back when I was newb
Haha,I didn’t kick anyone into line I was merely giving them the benefit of my superior knowledge of the fight in a non-threatening, supportive way.
*shifty eyes*
lol ^^
In retrospect that was a good pug though
Okay our first try was a wipe, since everyone just charged in and had no idea about what to do. However when you took charge before the second one nobody complained. They appreciated being told what to do. You did it in a good way, and I learned a lot from it.
There were no ego’s being bruised by the suggestion they may not know as much as they thought, quite the opposite in that they wanted to succeed so were willing to listen (rather than just saying “Retards!” after the first wipe and quitting the group)
I realise now that was quite rare. If I remember right we kicked Onyxia ass after that. Plus I think I won the head and was the toast of Org
So yes, good pugs do exist I guess. They must really. If all pugs were awful then nobody would ever do them ^^