Basic Dungeon Etiquette

With the introduction of the Looking For Dungeon system we all have been spoiled, especially those who never seriously played before it was implemented. Also with the new system it has caused servers to lose a lot of community it once had. I'm not here to say I hate the dungeon system, because I love it. It would've made my life seventy-five thousand times easier when I leveled my priest from 13-70 all in dungeons during Burning Crusade.

Sadly with the new system the worst change in my opinion is we've now made it so there's a second level of anonymity in this game. You join the Random Heroic queue and when it pops you are almost never put with people of your same server. You don't know these people. And players take advantage of this by doing things they normally wouldn't do. Like before Frozen Orb looting got changed people would ninja those. Or if a BoE ever drops people do whatever they can to need it. Why? Because they will never see these people again. There are no consequences. These people they've been paired with are nothing more than fictional tools to them. Tools they use to take advantage of the Dungeon Finder.

So after thinking about this I've grown concerned. I mean let's face it, Wrath of the Lich King five man dungeons were a cake walk. There was essentially no challenge outside of raiding. Players who primarily played in WotLK don't know how to handle five man dungeons that require skill and have difficulty. The hardest dungeon in Wrath was The Halls of Reflection and if you've ever gotten it on heroic, you'll always notice at least one or two people will leave the group after loading in. Why? Because it's too hard. I've got bad news for those two people in groups: Cataclysm heroics are designed for difficulty.

So today I wanted to do sort of a public service announcement regarding etiquette in five man dungeons, as I feel like some of the community needs a refresher.

(For the record, I realized halfway through making this post that there is a thread on the MMO-Champion forums about a very similar topic to that of which I wrote about for today. You can find this excellent post here. This post is in no way me copying what the other guy said or anything, I guess we can just consider this my opinion on the subject. Please don't comment and say I copied because well, I didn't =P)

Know the instance? Help your group!

If you've done a heroic before and someone in your group hasn't, this isn't the time to try to feel superior and grief them. This is your time to help them. If you don't say anything about how boss fights work and someone asked earlier if there's anything they should know about the dungeon, you're doing it wrong. Help your group! Dungeons and raids are about team work, not about getting you geared at the expense of others. Just because someone has never done a dungeon doesn't make them bad.

However, on another note. There is such thing as too much help. Too much help would be trying to explain every trash pull (even if it's the same trash pull over and over) or trying to tell someone how to play their class. If the person asked how to play their class better, that's different. But don't go off on rants about how that person is doing their class horribly and blah blah blah. That is not your call. At least not in a random five man dungeon.

If someone is failing at polymorphing a target, don't say "YOU FAIL YOU SHOULD JUST /UNINSTALL YOU'RE TERRIBLE RAWRAWRARWARAWR I'M SUPERIOR ON THE INTERNET." 

Instead, just say "Hey I think we might need a polymorph on *target*, can you help us out *mage name*." Now if he says doesn't have polymorph, then you might have some problems.

Dungeon Guide doesn't help you queue faster, so only click it if you are going to help guide your group!

I get tired of seeing this. People click dungeon guide on their role tab only because they think it queues them faster, then when we get into the group they have no intention of helping. So seeing as I already covered the topic of helping your group above, I'll keep this paragraph short and simple.

Bottom line: Only hit Dungeon Guide if you are going to help.

If you are the tank you are not the King/Queen of the group.

Just because you have instant queues doesn't mean you're better than everyone else. This goes for healers as well. They're called five man dungeons, you need DPS/Healers/Tanks equally. Think you're better than your group? Go try to solo the dungeon, then tell me how awesome you are. Leave your ego with your raiding guild, I'm sure you guys are awesome or something.

Do not ninja!

This is pretty self explanatory. Just because you will never see these people again doesn't mean you should ninja things. I personally have zero tolerance for people ninjaing items. It's not funny, it's not cute, it's immature. Grow up. Also along these lines is...

If you need something for off-spec, ask the group first before needing!

Someone else may need that same thing for main spec. They should get priority if that's the case. Don't even give me the reason of you'll never see them again, blah blah blah. Whatever, loot drops again. Main spec in a dungeon should get priority without a doubt. Be nice and stop being so selfish. 

You will wipe. When it happens, do not rage quit.

I don't blame the people who never did Burning Crusade heroics and only did Wrath heroics for leaving groups when they wipe. They were raised wrong. They were raised in world where if a group wipes it wasn't because an encounter was difficult, it was because the group was clearly bad since there really was no challenge in five mans.

However, this needs to change. People need to get used to the idea that wipes will happen. If you leave a group every time a group wipes, you will get no where. If you tear into someone whenever there's a wipe and tell them that they're reason you failed, you will get no where. Dungeons, raids, battlegrounds all have one thing in common: team work. Work as a team and be supportive and you'll go places.

When you wipe run back!

Wipes are not the time to go AFK and assume the healer will revive you. Unless you ask and the healer okays it do not AFK during this time. Run back to your body then get back to where you were in the instance THEN do your business. As a healer I do not revive people who do not run back. I have to run back, why don't you? I am not your spiritual servant, stop being lazy!

 Do not go AFK for longer than a minute!

Nothing worse than zoning into a fresh instance then you see the dreaded words "Brb a few minutes." from the tank. It's like, really? Don't queue if you'll have to leave the computer for longer than a minute in the near future! Not that hard and it really kills the group's spirit.

Let the tank pull.

Pretty self explanatory. Impatient DPS, please calm down. It will save your life. Coming from a Healer, I don't heal people who pull for the tank (unless it's a hunter, obviously). And if you're in that big a rush, you probably shouldn't have joined the queue in the first place. All you'll accomplish from pulling before the tank is looking like a fool with yo corpse on the ground (old joke is old). If the tank is pulling slower than you'd prefer, calmly and politely ask if he wouldn't mind pulling a little faster. It's as easy as that.

If the item you wanted didn't drop, do not leave group!

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves in the age of the dungeon tool. People will join up for an instance, if what they wanted didn't drop off the first boss they'd leave without saying a word. I don't have words for how selfish this is. You really don't have time to complete the dungeon? Not like they take that long. People continue to surpass my expectations when it comes to their greed. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, something else happens. But I guess that's the Internet for you.

If you're a gatherer (mining/skinning/herbalism) please ask before taking nodes!

Skinning may be the exception here, but definitely for mining and herbalism please ask before you take the nodes. Nothing worse than right as we pull a pack nearby a mineral node some rogue hops over there while I'm healing and snatches it while I'm busy actually helping the group. It's as simple as having everyone roll for it. Or even splitting all the nodes if there are enough in the instance. Stop being greedy.

Don't feed trolls!

People will make problems in groups. It's just a fact of life. Being anonymous makes people think they're tough guys, everyone knows this. But don't let them win. They want you to react, they want you to rage. Don't give in. If ignoring doesn't work and you can't vote kick them from the group, report them. Do not fight back. Blizzard takes harassment seriously, trust me I know. Live by example, someone not raging will discourage them.

Play like you are raiding!

People seem to think that just because it's a five man dungeon that you don't have to try as hard, or give it your best effort. Why do people think this? If you try your best it gets done faster. If you wouldn't normally stand in the fire, don't do it in five mans. It's not funny and wastes time. Play like you're raiding. Now this doesn't mean take it so seriously that no ones having fun, but don't be foolish!

If you follow these tips you will be a great example of the awesome people that do actually play this game, and make your group that much more pleasant to be in. Groups can be awful, but also groups can be amazing and provide memorable experiences.

One person can make a change in people's behaviour, be that person. You'll be doing the whole World of Warcraft a favour.