There's no need to belittle....

[ZzpxpzZ]

Reasonably speaking, there just is no reason to freak out over other players in most content of the game no matter the circumstances.

If you feel you are good enough to be talking down to other players then you must be good enough to run the content alone. If I open up my group for pugs I just go with the assumption that im going to have a -10% xp penalty but who cares, its more fun playing with other players.

I feel like some people are too concerned with what other people are doing. I dont even mind when someone joins my party, steps into an almost completed quest and gets free xp without having done anything, or if someone goes afk or something - no sweat.

My only rule is I wont slow down. If you are keeping up and die, I will drop your stone at the next shrine. If you have fallen behind and die, you get the pleasure of piking some free xp. If there is some reason why a quest could be ruined by a PUG I just wont open it to LFM.

Basically, if you cant handle other people not being just like you, dont pug. If you are joining OTHER peoples groups, then you are just as much a pug and have no right to say anything.

[Son_of_the_South]

Interesting take on it (Blerkington). I've always found that the groups where people are all (or almost all) talking over mic tend to be the best ones/most sociable and friendly. When you can hear someone else's voice i think you empathise more with them. Groups where typing has been the only form of communication is where i have found issues (I'm not always on mic as sometimes I'm unable to).

As a good friend of mine once said; non verbal communication is fraught with danger.

This is very true. There is no font for inflection.

Having said that I do see your point of view - if it isn't in wirting it can't be quoted, per se.

On a side note and back to the original point though, just recently i grouped with a guy playing a Drow Wizard/Monk who was level 8 and had 24 hit points. He had 2 Con. Out of professional curiosity I asked him how he got it so low at that level (Drow Con penalty, Monk stance and an item). He said he was aiming at 14 HP. We had a good chuckle.

But. He. Didn't. Die. Once. And we were running Stormcleave Outpost (albeit on Normal).

[Quetzacoala]

I joined a group for Tempests Spine last night and, almost as soon as i joined there was a Monk harassing one of the Wizards in the party about their HP (was around 100 for a level 9 or 10 Wiz). This was all done in the chat tab btw (its just so easy to pick on people 'anonymously' isnt it??). He then suggested that someone with HP that low is an "auto kick". Nevermind the fact that the Monk (at level 10) only had 190 HP themself and, when i mentioned this to them (I use voice chat, i feel it puts the human element into things and i believe I am man enough to voice my opinions, not just write them) they left shortly thereafter.

My point is, not everybody has been playing the game for ever and knows all the ins-and-outs yet. Rather than ridicule people and belittle them, why not try and suggest ways they can improve - perhaps even wait till they ask you first (manners are always welcomed). If they want your advice, i am sure they will ask, otherwise it's no big deal.

It's a game after all.

While I agree that the player should have been made aware that their hit points were a bit low for the content, I do not agree with how the monk went about informing the player.

In my experiences talking about how a player's hit points, I find that if you are not outright aggressive and offensive the player is often more receptive to the advice. I have no problems helping people who lack the proper gear or were not aware of the existence of the Toughness feat and I generally give them any hit point item in my possession; unfortunately, I must confess to not having much patience with those who brush off my advice and then constantly die, but that is another story