Never thought I'd make a thread like this

[Eilierie]

I've mostly encountered really great people on Orien.

Lately... what is the deal with people

Based on time of day of occurrence I'm guessing its the after school crowd....

Sigh.

Been a lot of jerks lately.

[Sarzor]

I don't know what it is, but I've had bad luck as of late as well.

I post a whole lot of BYOH/1st-five groups (and before anyone attacks me, I tend to move quickly and expect anyone to join that group to be able to keep themselves afloat. I don't care if they aren't the lead killer, so much as the quest is more fun/better with them there. I like company, but I have limited playtime and prefer to not spend all of it waiting for that one last person to decide to die on traps in partycrashers when we're waiting at the end) and I've seen a whole lot of people who simply don't know the game. I have 6 levels of paladin and sorcerers expecting me to heal them. There's also been a whole lot of really rude people as well as people just spouting racial insults. One of my groups this morning had a woman who was using voice chat, and another person kept just saying... explicit things about her. The woman on voice chat was obviously new, and I was trying to be overly nice to this woman to try to convince her not everyone in the game was as bad as this person.

[FranOhmsford]

I don't know what it is, but I've had bad luck as of late as well.

I post a whole lot of BYOH/1st-five groups (and before anyone attacks me, I tend to move quickly and expect anyone to join that group to be able to keep themselves afloat. I don't care if they aren't the lead killer, so much as the quest is more fun/better with them there. I like company, but I have limited playtime and prefer to not spend all of it waiting for that one last person to decide to die on traps in partycrashers when we're waiting at the end) and I've seen a whole lot of people who simply don't know the game. I have 6 levels of paladin and sorcerers expecting me to heal them. There's also been a whole lot of really rude people as well as people just spouting racial insults. One of my groups this morning had a woman who was using voice chat, and another person kept just saying... explicit things about her. The woman on voice chat was obviously new, and I was trying to be overly nice to this woman to try to convince her not everyone in the game was as bad as this person.

You should have reported that person!
Why didn't you regroup without said person?
Anyone expecting healing from a Paladin before Lvl 15/16 is in a dreamland frankly!

As for Partycrashers - Did you let said person know that they could completely bypass all the traps by entering the other door?
I assume as you were waiting at the end of the quest you had spoken to Cyan?

[Eilierie]

I don't know what it is, but I've had bad luck as of late as well.

I post a whole lot of BYOH/1st-five groups (and before anyone attacks me, I tend to move quickly and expect anyone to join that group to be able to keep themselves afloat. I don't care if they aren't the lead killer, so much as the quest is more fun/better with them there. I like company, but I have limited playtime and prefer to not spend all of it waiting for that one last person to decide to die on traps in partycrashers when we're waiting at the end) and I've seen a whole lot of people who simply don't know the game. I have 6 levels of paladin and sorcerers expecting me to heal them. There's also been a whole lot of really rude people as well as people just spouting racial insults. One of my groups this morning had a woman who was using voice chat, and another person kept just saying... explicit things about her. The woman on voice chat was obviously new, and I was trying to be overly nice to this woman to try to convince her not everyone in the game was as bad as this person.

At least for me... I'm not the only one !

I don't know if we had an influx of players, or it did seem to me to happen mostly after school lets out hours of the day....

I dunno, but I don't like it - rude people get off my server !

[SemiraLynn]

I've also had bad luck with the quality of groups. It feels virtually impossible to find people who are actually enjoyable to party with. There's only a couple of people left on my friend's list that still log on and are worth partying with.

All groups are basically:

1. The Silent Zerg. People join, maybe say "hi" and then everyone quietly zergs to the end. Quest finishes, everyone leaves. Zerging is fine...but these dull robotic silent zergs are no different than running with a hireling.
2. The Clueless Zerg. People join. Lots of "share plz". Everyone takes 20 minutes to get their ship buffs. Half the party starts the quest way before the other half. Half the party complains about the people who either already starting or have still not entered. Everyone solos and does their own thing and eventually the quest is completed. Everyone then leaves the group.
3. The Lonely Hero(ine). Only one person joins an lfm, that one person goes *ding* immediately and the party leader solos either in silence or while listening to the other person complaining/apologizing for being dead.
4. The Semi-Stale Farm. A group forms to farm a quest. The majority of chat is "hi", "share plz", "brt", "afk", "rebuffing", "I'll go that way or kill such and such", "got window", and maybe a "what are you farming next?". There's enough talking to force you to have to watch the chat window sometimes, but none of it is remotely interesting.
5. Elitist Knows Best. Pretty much any quest posted by a know-it-all that insults everyone who isn't their friend, even if they happen to contribute.

[Eilierie]

That list of 5 is pretty good list

[Fomori]

When 2 and 5 come together in the same quest it can either be really funny, watching the elitist make a total verbal fool of themselves, or so painful you need to remove your headphones... then recall and solo it.

[zwiebelring]

I understand, why some people turn out to be elitist jerks. Posting for Marauding the Mine farm but all who joined were not able to do that.

A WF barb without any healing or pot.s joined, died. Did not call a hire, not even ask for it. A Rog joined, called a Hire, fell off into the lava, the hire with him/her, both died. *sigh*

My Pal turned out to be the healer and farming was not possible. Instead I got a laugh. I was not angry, streak + tome of learning give enough xp.

The door swings both ways and sometimes you might be in a no-fail-mood. Nothing wrong with that, imho.

[karl_k0ch]

1. The Silent Zerg ...but these dull robotic silent zergs are no different than running with a hireling.

Except there's less standing in traps and more 'healing yourself when needed'.

5. Elitist Knows Best. Pretty much any quest posted by a know-it-all that insults everyone who isn't their friend, even if they happen to contribute.

Related to this is the mind set: Everyone who has a smaller kill count that I is gimp, everyone who has a larger kill count is an insidious kill stealer.

[marybee]

I've encountered a lot of really good people on Orien, which is one reason why I like staying here, and my guild of course, they are awesome people.

On the other hand, there have been a few people that are so immature they are not even worth babysitting! I would not mind if they were genuinely 5 year olds but really I know 5 year olds with more manners so that can't be it. I don't think age comes into it too much. I've played with some good players of all ages, both male and female. The one thing that makes a good group is people being understanding, which of course takes patience, and being able to communicate in a pleasant way.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how specific I have to be in the kind of chatter I want to hear over the headset when I'm leading a group. Once in a PUG I remember clearly having to state that there would be no mention of races or religions to avoid causing offense as we wanted to be welcoming of everyone. If anyone didn't like that they could leave now. I also sent one tell as a warning at the same time. Nothing was said that made me want to immediately report someone, but, if I had not intervened I'm sure there would have been. Remarkably the conversation tone picked up dramatically after that. Really I shouldn't have to remind people to play nice! I don't now remember any names, but I do remember the incident.

Sometimes I think that people just don't think they are being rude because they are not thinking about anyone else apart from themselves, which sadly is a reflection of part of society and only natural that it enters our game space. Sooo... Let them all Zerg together! I frequently remind people that if they can't see my cleric or my cleric can't see them, then my cleric can't heal them. It's funny really how often players are deaf to what they don't want to hear.

[Brendae]

In any community of a decent size you're going to get an interesting mix of people - idiots and otherwise.
Just don't allow the idiots to ruin your experience. Play, have your fun and don't let them get to you.

[susiedupfer]

In any community of a decent size you're going to get an interesting mix of people - idiots and otherwise.
Just don't allow the idiots to ruin your experience. Play, have your fun and don't let them get to you.

^
This. And learn how to use the /squelch. That way you don't have to repeat bad experiences.

[Therigar]

Well, Ruh Roh Shaggy is on Orien and he's awesome!

Oh, wait, that's me....

Lots of good people on Orien, I'm not really having your experience. It is true that groups are often silent. OTOH, most of the quests are well known and not a lot of communication is really needed.

Also, was watching King of the Nerds last night and it might be that everyone....

Nah, that's not it.

[LordMond63]

I have noticed that there seems to be less conversation going in groups of late (save for my Guild groups....though some of the puns in those will make you long for silence). It's not terribly unusual for me to be the only one using a mic, and I find myself using it less if there's no one else using one. No idea why this is so and now.

As for the caliber of the group....it varies, as it always has. I can't say that I've seen an increase in what I'd term "bad" players lately, though I admit that used to be the case in MMOs after Christmas (in which case the influx was laregly new players rather than bad ones). Maybe the OP has just had a streak of bad luck.

[Sarzor]

You should have reported that person!
Why didn't you regroup without said person?
Anyone expecting healing from a Paladin before Lvl 15/16 is in a dreamland frankly!

As for Partycrashers - Did you let said person know that they could completely bypass all the traps by entering the other door?
I assume as you were waiting at the end of the quest you had spoken to Cyan?

I did report them, but I'm still not convinced anything comes of reports. I think it's only the second person I've reported (first was incredibly anti-Semitic). Main reason we didn't reform was I just thought we could get through the quest and I could boot him. After that quest was over, I booted him.

My problem is I tend to accept anyone who joins my LFM, unless I know I have a problem with them for some reason. This means that I tend to accept in-progress to one extent or another, with the quote of "we're almost done, you probably want to get in quickly." Some people get in quickly, some don't. Of those who don't, I get alot of complaints from them that I should have waited for them to rebuff/buy components/take their level/etc. Those people don't stick around long. These people also tend to be the sort who don't follow instructions well.

I like company while I level, as Semira pointed out her like of as well. I run across alot of new/clueless players and depending on how they act, I'll run with them more or not. My only stipulation for being in my group long-term is that the quest is better with you there. This life there are a few players I run with often who, no offense to them, suck at the game. They are almost guaranteed 10% xp loss and slow down the quest. I however continue to run with them because they make awesome conversation and make the TR grind more enjoyable. Same with many people I've run with who shorten the quest time considerably but are silent as a dead turtle, but I run with since they make the quest better in their way. It's the whiny incompetent players I just can't take.

[eden2760]

I've also had bad luck with the quality of groups. It feels virtually impossible to find people who are actually enjoyable to party with. There's only a couple of people left on my friend's list that still log on and are worth partying with.

All groups are basically:

1. The Silent Zerg. People join, maybe say "hi" and then everyone quietly zergs to the end. Quest finishes, everyone leaves. Zerging is fine...but these dull robotic silent zergs are no different than running with a hireling.
2. The Clueless Zerg. People join. Lots of "share plz". Everyone takes 20 minutes to get their ship buffs. Half the party starts the quest way before the other half. Half the party complains about the people who either already starting or have still not entered. Everyone solos and does their own thing and eventually the quest is completed. Everyone then leaves the group.
3. The Lonely Hero(ine). Only one person joins an lfm, that one person goes *ding* immediately and the party leader solos either in silence or while listening to the other person complaining/apologizing for being dead.
4. The Semi-Stale Farm. A group forms to farm a quest. The majority of chat is "hi", "share plz", "brt", "afk", "rebuffing", "I'll go that way or kill such and such", "got window", and maybe a "what are you farming next?". There's enough talking to force you to have to watch the chat window sometimes, but none of it is remotely interesting.
5. Elitist Knows Best. Pretty much any quest posted by a know-it-all that insults everyone who isn't their friend, even if they happen to contribute.

Thanks kaethe, this made me laugh, cause it's just so freakin' true.

[Khoa37]

1. The Silent Zerg. People join, maybe say "hi" and then everyone quietly zergs to the end. Quest finishes, everyone leaves. Zerging is fine...but these dull robotic silent zergs are no different than running with a hireling.

I quite enjoy these, I must admit. Quick and clean completions/xp. Though, I know what you meant by "dull robotic zergs", but sometimes they're so nice after a bad, drama-loaded run which some people cause. :P