This post is a quicky… In response to Snake in the Grass’ post Let’s talk about the LFG system, pugging and sex baby. I was going to write a comment, then realised how big the comment was becoming.
The more I blog, the more I see parallels with my situation. I read on someone’s blog yesterday how much better they feel now that they realise that most of the bloggers out there aren’t high end raiders, rather people trying to pug their way through Kara, or daily their way through epic flying mounts.
Anyway Green Hunter, your situation is so similar to mine. Group of 5 mates (got up to 9, now back to 7) left server (and toons) behind to avoid the impending implosion of a guild we had created. We have several “private use” guilds, primarily for bank vaults, but 99% of the comms occurs over a custom channel or via vent. But 6-7 toons doesn’t make a raid, so we try to pug the rest. This can be 15min – 2 hours worth of searching.. at which point you wonder if it’s worth it (especially if you offer the 1st pugger a near complete run).
One of the issues we have is who do you pick? Our raid leader can be quite fussy… must have good gear. But we all know that having the best gear doesn’t necessary = a good player. These days, having bad gear might be a better indication – how? The character with the bad gear is most likely an alt (whose guild is doing bigger and better, thus no raid mates) – so if nothing else, the player will have the raid knowledge.
I wish I had an answer… the chances of a good semi-pug group seem as good as winning the $30 million lottery some days.
Ohh, and on a slightly different note, in response to Green Hunter’s offer to dance… at one point I was desperate for cash. But I had myself a “Purple Pimp’s hat” from some quest in HFP. So I was considering pimping my two mate’s toons – both sexy humans with little desire to wear more than g-strings… I though the sight of 1 Gnome pimp and 2 dancing girls would have pulled in the gold… ended up getting my cash elsewhere, but the thought still comes up occasionally.
Gnomer and Out!
Once upon a time my friends said I was the PuG Queen. So far if I want a group I’ve never been too hard pressed to get it. This occurs because 1. Im not overly picky, and 2. Im willing to teach! However there are a few warning signs I do watch out for.
When I grab a pug I tend to watch out for if thier english is well established or not. If I can’t communicate with them, the run will go badly. I also have a vent server I use just for pugs, that I can change the info on if I feel I need to.
Finally, I build my ideal group and go. I set up the rules of the raid and make it clear what I expect to see. I also offer to discribe boss fights and answer questions about classes privately. Most people want to learn to do better if you are kind about it.
But I shall dance for you, in hopes it makes you a raid.
ahahaha – perfect – I have this great image of gnome in hat with dancing girls! (My insane head took the visual comic strip further and ended up with a headline: ‘gnome inspired RAID of dancing girls’ – grin)
At least small groups are usually filled with people you really like.
I find the hardest thing is thinking *who do we make wipe on this new content with us* @_@