vote-kicking
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Have you ever been vote kicked?
Applied with discretion and thoughtfulness it's a useful tool, but in the hands of an overly snarky or bad-tempered group it can certainly be abused--we are talking, of course, about the group vote kick option. Most of the time when I run group content I don't even remember it's there, but occasionally there's that one person who won't stop butt-pulling adds before the tank is ready, or who just can't seem to resist spewing a never-ending stream of gross and offensive epithets, or someone logs off and just doesn't ever come back online. When that happens I'm very, very grateful for vote kicks. Sometimes, unfortunately, it gets applied less sensibly; I've heard of players being kicked for every reason from their choice of toon being disliked to not having "enough" heirloom gear equipped, and situations like that can be infuriating. When I stopped to think about it, I realized that I have never myself been kicked from a group. I'm sure this is mostly due to the fact that I'm not a huge dungeon runner, so I'm not in random groups very often, but also at least partially because when I do run group content I tend to play a healer. Kicking a healer, while sometimes necessary, can also occasionally result in a very bored group sitting around for a while waiting for a new one, which is no fun. Sometimes people don't believe me that I've never been kicked, but I've met plenty of players who also say they haven't, either, so I've never thought myself particularly unusual, but I still I count myself as being lucky in this respect. How about you, though? Have you ever been kicked? And, perhaps more importantly, was it deserved or were you the victim of a trigger-happy kicker? %Poll-83117%
Dungeon finder, vote kicking hotfixes on the way
There's a new group of hotfixes on the way, and along with the hotfixes come a number of changes to the dungeon finder and vote kick tools. Community Manager Bashiok released a post detailing the changes, which will take realm restarts to implement. In other words, we'll likely see these changes go into effect after next Tuesday's maintenance -- unless, of course, Blizzard pulls the servers down before then. It's Blizzard's hope that these hotfixes will do a little to address poor behavior and unfair group kicks in dungeon finder groups. Bashiok We're making a number of hotfixes to address use of the Dungeon Finder and vote kick tools. The following hotfixes will require realm restarts to implement, which are likely to be next Tuesday's weekly maintenance. Players who are outside a dungeon for more than a few minutes are now immediately able to be kicked. If queuing as a group with a tank or healer, and the tank or healer drops group (or is kicked) soon after joining, those that queued with them will also be removed from the dungeon. If three or more players group queue with each other it will require an additional vote for them to kick anyone they did not group queue with. If a group queue of 4 kicks the one person that they did not group queue with they will each receive a more severe penalty to their ability to initiate future kicks. If someone initiates a vote kick for someone they group queued with they will not incur a penalty to their ability to initiate future kicks. With these changes we hope to reduce some undesirable behavior and annoyances, and encourage greater patience when using the Dungeon Finder. In addition, keep in mind that both initiating and agreeing to vote kick have always carried the same weight to your ability to kick in the future. It's always best to save your votes for when it really counts to ensure your ability to kick is available when it does. We'll of course be watching how these changes work to improve these systems, and always appreciate your feedback. As these and other hotfixes are implemented, they'll be added to the hotfix blog - http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2259389#blog source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Making the dungeon finder suck less
Anyone who's read the official forums lately has probably seen a raft of complaints directed at players abusing the dungeon finder and vote to kick features. It's a reminder that people will always figure out a way to twist a system to their own benefit. The most upsetting technique I've read about is two hybrid DPS in cahoots with a third DPS queuing as a tank/healer duo, getting an instant invite to dungeons, and then pressuring the two other members of the party to shoulder the tank or healer job. If they don't or can't fill these roles -- kick 'em after the 15 min grace period and requeue themselves as straight DPS. Voilà -- they are now at the head of the dungeon queue for the next tank or healer! Is it any wonder that players find this enraging? Heartbourne of Lore Hound offers an analysis of some potential solutions to dungeon finder abuse. As he observes, a proposed rating system for players could be easily abused on its own, so maybe that's not the best way to go. However, I find his suggestion of a social networking angle to be pretty interesting. What if there were a priority system to be grouped with players you met and "liked" before? What if guilds across servers could "friend" each other and form pools of players from which to draw 5-man groups?
Drama Mamas: Too sexy for your group
NSFW warning: Video may be slightly NSFW (bikinis and shirtless guys). Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Does Right Said Fred hold the answer to the latest WoW drama? This week, the Drama Mamas help a frustrated player who can't figure out why so many of her groupmates seem to feel they're simply too sexy for their groups. To my dearest Drama Mamas, In a random heroic I did earlier, I kept getting prompted to kick members of my party. I saw nothing wrong with the way these players were performing, and I always voted against it. After it happened again, I asked my party why there were so many random kick attempts. I was told by a hunter in my party that the tank, who was in a guild with the hunter, was being an ass and that it was funny, after which the tank sent a smiley face in party chat. I did not say anything further and continued healing, only to be kicked a minute later. Oh, did I mention we were in the middle of Falric? Was I right to question why there were so many kick attempts? Is there anything I could have done to avoid this situation? It seems like kick abuse is happening more and more frequently. It is not uncommon for me to be in a party where a tank or DPS will start a vote simply because that player won a piece of gear they wanted; I have even been in groups where a member has started a vote to kick a player who is pumping out higher DPS.
Advancing the battlegrounds
With all of the hubbub around the new LFG interface coming in patch 3.3, we haven't done much thinking lately about that other form of group play in the game, battleground PvP. But Cassandri at HoTs and DoTs has, and she has some interesting insight about what players are doing in the battlegrounds and why. She notes that some people dive off on their own, like Lone Rangers. And she hints that maybe, if these people were so persuaded, things would go better if they fought together, rather than on their own. An interesting thought, for sure, and probably true -- while there are situations where I aim to be by myself in the battlegrounds (if I'm on my rogue and just want to hunt down some clothies), things almost always go better in there when you work as a team. So here's an idea: why not take the rewards implemented in the LFG system and apply them to better behavior in the battlegrounds?
