short version: pugs ftw.
conclusion at end.
wot-version: keep reading, otherwise scroll down.


/ranton
I joined a madstone crater run on a 16 wf wiz. only text on the lfm was "madstone crater". I was the last to join, so i informed the party I can teleport so will catch up with them if they want to start. no answer... using the teleporter I arrive and find that all 5 of them were spread out in the ruins.
I ask why and they say they are running "as a group" incase anyone had not completed it yet for the toon they were on. fair enough, I say I will just wait at the entrance since I'm already there.
couple of minutes later 4/5 of those running die. I ask if they need help but no, they are fine.
long story short, 20+ minutes and a couple of more deaths later, they have went to about any rare you can run to and I'm not talking about the ones on the way to the crater.
I say something alone the lines "lfm said madstone, not slayers,rares. If you are going to pop a bunch of chests I can just run with you"
party leaders mumbles something about needing relics for a guildie and leaves it at that.
finally some chests later and after 25+ mins everyone arrive at the entrance and the group with several 16s enters on normal. now, I should have asked about difficulty before joining (my fault there) since I would have soloed it on normal by then but w/e, it is not like I would drop from group over that.

I buff everyone up completely, including the things they don't really need but makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside and ask if anyone is new to this.
no response.
3 mins later most of them have died at least once before even clearing to the 1st charmed seer. the healer puts down a couple of blade barrier on him. seeing thatI try to explain what the objective is and what role the seer has, I get YELLED at over voice by that healer sounding pretty drunk or high on some experimental stuff to shut up.

I am spending more sp rebuffing them after deaths than I am spending on casting myself, so i rebuff them once more and run ahead to clear the 1st encounter. once again, I ask if anyone else is new to this. no answer.
running ahead trying to keep more ppl from dieing, since the healer obviously couldn't handle his job even on normal and I could heal myself, I clear to the 1st seer, set up what was needed and hope they will survive the 3-5 mobs that didn't follow me. 1 person dies.

the whole group arives at the seer as he shatters the crystal. I say we are done here and jump to the next part. 2 ppl jump into the lava and die. one releases to run back and 1 is trying to find a shrine. I say I will clear the 2nd seer, which I do. by the time they are somewhat back in a group 2nd seer is done and it is time to move to the 3rd seer at which point half the melee dies again while trying to fight everything in their way after being told to simply ignore those mobs and run to the cave. those mobs at the base of the stairs, like the skellie giants you just use to bar the way to the seer that is.

at that point the leader of the group gets verbally abusive basically letting me know, that the lfm didn't have zerging in it and that we should stay in a group bc then everything goes better. now, that was the first attempt once in the quest he actually made at "leading" anything.
the only one not staying in a group after watching them die with 4 mobs on them, then fully buffing them again was me. they still died left and right with just a fraction of the mobs, that would have been on them if they were not following me while running ahead so I get somewhat annoyed, mainly bc of his tone and cursing. I remind him I waited 25+ mins outside the quest while they were doing rares/slayers, the lfm also didn't say anything about and that we are in a quest 2 levels under our level. all in a civil manner. he keeps cursing and nerdrages into dropping group. soon after the healer and a 3rd guy drops. they were in the same guild with the pleader. 2 ppl stay. I quickly explain to them what the plan is, they follow instructions to the letter and we complete the quest a couple of minutes later without any more deaths/complications and are back in town while the ppl that dropped are still standing around the tavern.
/rantoff



now: the 2 ppl that stayed and completed the quest were from a no-name guild or guildless.
the 3 ppl that left were all from the same guild which is well-known on the server and seems to have a lot of guild pride building up on the forums and in their lfms lately. (no, not one of the "most members, recruit you in korthos" ones).

to my conclusion:
I will keep pugging bc otherwise I would not meet ppl, like the 2 that stayed and behaved perfectly. they can join a pug of mine anytime. tis the ones, that behave like the other 3 I need to meet and filter out before they hit up an LFM for something demanding, keeping me from really wasting my time in epics or hard/elite raids.

Party leaders PLEASE describe what you want to do in the LFMs and stick to that description. some ppl are not unemployed or similar and actually have limited time to play. it is not our role to guess. if you say you are doing A, stick with A, so we all can be respectful of each other's time and rl. if you want to do B, then don't advertise for A. tis like saying you are going to Vegas for the weekend, then flying ppl out to a Jechova's witnesses convention to discuss piety. not cool.

A specific guild tag can be an indication but not a guarantee of quality or lack thereof of a player. I didn't use to have issues with members of that guild before but that pleader is the first person to ever make my squelch list. just need to figure out who his alts are -.- similarilly, I had no clue the no-name guilded guys would behave as well as they did in the end.

imho PUGs have gotten a far worse reputation, than they deserve because the PUGs that go really bad stand out. most ppl won't remember an smooth completion but will remember all the details of one that went horribly wrong. *points at wot above*. so gives pug a chance! ^^

p.s. don't pm me about the name of the guild, that is not the intention of this thread, not to mention I had positive experience with other members of theirs.