practical-jokes
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The Daily Grind: Have you messed with other players?
Sometimes, something beautiful happens in shared chat channels. I was playing Final Fantasy XIV and wandering through Coerthas when someone asked at random whether Halo or Metroid would win in a fight. This prompted no shortage of people explaining that those games were not eponymous, which just spun off into more comedy like the original speaker asserting that The Legend of Zelda is about a green guy named Zelda, since why would you name a game after someone who needs to be rescued? It's Super Mario Bros. not Super Princess Peach Is Kidnapped. It was a pretty obvious attempt to get people to correct an assumption that didn't exist, and it was pretty funny. It was also harmless, which is another plus. Not everyone who messes with players is that kind; I've seen people teleport someone to a high-level area and then warp away, leaving the other player stranded, or a tank undressing and then pulling the boss just for giggles. Those might be a little less funny, depending on perspective. But today we're not asking about validity; we're asking about the act itself. Have you messed with other players just for the heck of it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's the cruelest prank you've played on a new player?
We all intend to be nice to the newer players, really we do. It's not as if anyone forgets that we were new at one point, not knowing our aft launcher from our elbow in Star Trek Online. And yet for some reason, after the right barrage of questions about how you loot things in Final Fantasy XI, where you can get travel powers in City of Heroes, or how to train pistols in Fallen Earth... well, eventually you just snap. You give someone advice that isn't just bad -- it's malicious. Almost every veteran has done it at least once, ranging from assuring a player that the dragon is totally soloable to explaining that black dye is cheap and unwanted. So what's the worst thing you've ever pulled over on a new player? Was it something that got the character killed, or even worse, something that forced the player to throw away what could have been a long-term benefit? And in the unlikely event that you don't have a cruel sense of humor, have you ever been on the receiving end?
Forum post of the day: Mage confessions
Apparently Warlocks are not the only evil class in World of Warcraft. Today on the official forums, Mages aired their dirty laundry. Gompers of Archimonde began a thread that quickly filled to capacity with some of the tricks, cheats, and jokes Mages employ for amusement and profit. Some of the highlights include*: Shlippmack of Earthen Ring, "I pyro the lvl 1 critters to boost damage." Tiinsi of Bloodhoof, "On wipes I ice block and let everyone else who's fleeing pull the mobs further away so I have time to invis." Amarius of Alleria, "I sheep horde who are fighting warlocks or hunters just to give them a heal and hopefully the help they need to kill said warlock or hunter." Reoko of Sargeras, "I confess most of my deaths are caused by me hitting the windows button** when I'm trying to press alt 2 for ice block. /facepalm" Haruka of Shadow Council, "I once carried around multiple stacks of Scrolls of Intellect rank 1 that I would use on people in the raid who complained about not getting an int buff." Walugiee of Zul'jin, "I sometimes break my own sheeps and blame hunter multi-shots just so the raid leader yells at them." The thread has some real gems in it. If I ever level my Mage, I may steal some of their ideas. Do you have anything you'd like to share with the group? * Quotes are copied directly, I take no ownership of spelling and grammatical mistakes.** This is why there are holes where the Windows keys were on my keyboard. They were pried off about my second day of playing WoW.
Alterac Valley practical jokes
I am writing this while I wait for my Deserter debuff to wear off. No, I didn't exit a Battleground because it was going badly (I don't do that). No, I didn't have to leave because my daughter needed me (she's fine). I have the debuff because I am absurdly gullible. Yes, I just fell for the latest Alterac Valley practical joke and I'm pretty angry at myself about it.Orange is the emote color. I know this. Yet, I still fell for it when someone emoted that I had been reported for AFK and to type /AFK Report to find out why. I couldn't believe someone would have reported me for being AFK before the game even started! (Can you even do that?) And so I immediately typed /AFK report, hit enter and got slapped in the face with the loading screen. My husband tried to stop me, but he was too late. So now he's snickering. I feel so stupid.
Practical and impractical jokes
The other day I was invited via the LFG queue to join in on a heroic Mechanar run. The other four players were all in the same guild and seemed to be good friends, based upon the way they were joking around while we all made our way to the instance. Not long after we entered the dungeon, I received private messages from three of the other group members telling me that they were going to play a practical joke on the tank. As soon as he attacked the first creature, the rest of us were going to run out of the instance, leaving him alone to die. I wasn't really sure what to make of the idea, but when they all ran out, I followed, not wanting to die myself. The guy seemed to take it well and laughed it off with some good natured teasing, but I've seen similar situations where the outcome wasn't as pleasant. For instance, several months ago, when my guild was trying to enlist new members to raid the larger dungeons, we were in an alliance with another guild for a short period. A lot of the people in my guild like to joke around and one of them decided to play a prank on the hunters in the raid while we were learning how to take down Gruul. After the tanks died on one of our attempts, this player decided it would be funny to run to the area near the doorway where the hunters were feigning death, hoping to avoid repair bills. Of course, he pulled Gruul right on top of the hunters, turning their fake deaths into real ones. Most of them laughed it off, but one guy in particular became really upset and made a big commotion in raid chat. It took him awhile to calm down, but the group eventually pulled it together and went on to kill Gruul.Ever had an experience like this? Does this sort of thing annoy you or do you think it has a place in WoW?
