Given the lack of guild members online as of late, grouping in order to even run the daily dungeon quests has proven challenging. It is still annoying to me that so many people have no idea how to operate in groups on so many different levels. Is it really that difficult to be considerate?

First, if you are looking for a group then you are expecting to run some dungeon or raid. Make sure your gear is repaired, at least to a level that will allow you to finish the run. You should have any consumables you need already, and you should be fully prepared to make your way to the instance instead of relying on someone to summon you there. Seriously, this is just common courtesy.

Second, there are some basic guidelines everyone should follow in a group. Classes that buff know they should do so, there is no need to call out for buffs as soon as you zone into an instance. This goes along with calling out for healing, yelling out about aggro, or asking for a rez as soon as the fight concludes. The people filling the roles of healing and tanking, and those whose classes provide buffs, are fully aware of these things. Give them time to get it handled and the respect they deserve in getting those tasks completed.

Even before getting into a group there are a number of idiotic things I see. The ability to sustain 3k dps for a heroic? Completely ridiculous as a requirement. Asking healers what their spellpower and mana regen numbers are for heroics? I can understand the concern, but seriously if you are a healer and you know you cannot heal the content then you shouldn’t even be in the queue. Give them a shot, you may very well be surprised at what someone is capable of even when you are skeptical of their gear. For the longest time I maintained a number of blues on Byaghro simply because the gear was better and more synergetic overall than what I would have received with “upgrades.”

If you really want to make the content nothing more than an AoE pull of practically the entire dungeon then feel free to keep trying these tactics in building a group, I certainly won’t run with you. I would much rather have a group of people who are not geared as well but are competent and able to not wipe than try to make things nothing more than a boring AoE-fest and see deaths.

Perhaps a part of this is also due to my preference for not sleeping through content I run. Even so, being courteous to those in the group should not be optional under any circumstances.

In the end, many people don’t care. They just want to get the run over with and go on about their business. I normally don’t use the LFG queue anymore, because using these basic concepts I have a long list of friends who are more than willing to jump in and run a heroic together simply because we remember each other well thanks to the respect shown for those filling each role and the courteousness shown by each.

In a social game how you interact with others sticks with you. Maybe you think it is cool to be known as a prick. Maybe you and others like you get along great and have consistent runs you enjoy. I know my way works well and is remembered by others, including gaining me repeat requests to run with groups. Does yours?