Pugs

[ursen]

No not the ugly dogs. I was just doing a cooperative nm Divinity coast mission with a whammo by the name of Hero of Troy with my Survivor paragon. 4 mins in he types, "You stink like the wind." and drops out. Fortunately it is an easy mission and I had a full complement of Heros. But the experience lowers even more my opinion of pugging. Several of you have had pretty good experience with pugs, how do you seem to find a decent pug on a regular basis? But even more importantly how do you maintain a Christian attitude after a sour pug, both inside and out. Yes prayer helps, but there is still a tendency to have lingering irritation and sometimes hurt. Any thoughts out there on this?

 

[Abba San]

I come running back to the guild and play with decent people until I forget and go try a pug again. I think - in all the years I've been playing - I can only remember one good pug experience.

 

[Kyrel Ruth]

Yes. Also, forgive them by faith, and remember to cast that onto Jesus to take care of <3 We know your a great player! Really it's the world speaking there a lot in PUGS and sometimes we meet awesome peeps, sometimes not. I feel your pain, but remember who you are in Christ...not who some random worldly peeps say. It's like fiery arrows from evil--keep your shield of faith solid to deflect! ^_^

 

[Elader Arkon]

Only time I pug is when I'm playing as my monk. And I get good pug groups by ruling with an iron fist. You will do what I say, when I say, or you won't get healed. After I let someone die, they tend to straighten out and are all the better for it once we get the mission bonus.

I've had some fantastic pugs this way. For every other class though, I solo with hero/hench.

 

[Stc95]

Only time I pug is when I'm playing as my monk. And I get good pug groups by ruling with an iron fist. You will do what I say, when I say, or you won't get healed. After I let someone die, they tend to straighten out and are all the better for it once we get the mission bonus.

I've had some fantastic pugs this way. For every other class though, I solo with hero/hench.

lol, that's why I monk

Actually, I tend to avoid lower-end PvE PUGS, because then you get those WAMMOS that doesn't know the pointy end of a sword from the handle, much less how to competently play GW. However, I have had great experience in the moderate/high-end PvE. Not counting UWSC. Generally the latter missions, or the more challenging areas like DoA have experienced players that want to be there and know what they're doing, however you do run the risk of eliteists that will ruin that experience, but I've found that most PUGS will stick up for you if the eliteist is clearly a jerk.

One thing that helps me when I get upset at people is that its not my job to punish people. Even if the person I'm mad at deserves to get rolled over by a steamroller its not my place to cast that judgment and, what will that do? Break a few bones? Big deal. What about something more realistic? What will it do to the person if you talk back to them? Especially in GW? But just think what Jesus can do to... A few minutes of getting reprimanded ain't nothing compared to eternal judgment.

 

[TheRaven]

You just gotta remember that the person cussing you out is most likely a 13 year old kid and you're much smarter and wiser than them in every aspect. They'll learn eventually or they'll go thru life being a pothead.

As far as pugging is concerned, I pug when I can and I get my share of good groups and bad groups. It's just that the bad groups are more memorable and make better stories.

I remember one time I was pugging in Sanctum Cay, NM and I brought my low level monk along for the trip. I pinged a bar that was half heal, half smite. (Yes, we had another full time healer in the party). The leader didn't like it and wanted me to change to a full healer but I insisted that we didn't need 2 healers in a 6 man group and besides smiters were great on undead.

We got to the start of the swamp area and a bunch of hellhounds run out and kill everyone. My whole team died in the poison muck trying to get away from them. I proceeded to kill all the hellhounds then the skeletons, then the Dragons and THEN I rezzed the rest of the team. Smiters are useless, huh?

 

[ursen]

lol@raven, who stands in poison muck smushing when you can avoid it? You can smite with me anytime. Kyrel Ruth thank you for the kind words, but I know my play style, slow, methodical, adequate, it gets the job done eventually. Play style was dictated by a passion for creating Survivors. What bothered me the most was leaving my Survivor exposed. I had it marked as a Indomitable Survivor, and had let the wammo know I was a Survivor, and for an ego trip he dumps out. Yes an easy mid-level mission, but that mind set makes forgiveness hard.

 

[Aleron]

I try to avoid PUGs whenever I can. I've had some good experiences, however. Some people, however, can be big jerks and ruin the experience for everyone. Such is true in life as well.

 

[TheIndigoTiger]

You just gotta remember that the person cussing you out is most likely a 13 year old kid and you're much smarter and wiser than them in every aspect. They'll learn eventually or they'll go thru life being a pothead.

LoL well said.. and sadly if they are not a kid they are probably the kid that grew up and became the pothead, which is why I solo a lot. If I have to group and see a jerk in the group I just bail, not worth it.

Smiters are useless, huh?

Smiters are a challenge but I'm finding out they are powerful if used right, just like a good mesmer. I remember a similar experience a while back in a pug where everyone died except my mesmer, which one guy had pleaded to have kicked before we started the mission because he wanted another tank in the group and he just knew all mesmers were fail. lol