Who's afraid of the big, bad P.U.G.?
We've all experienced it. There you are sitting in your favorite MMOG when suddenly you're "blessed" with a quest or mission that you simply can't handle alone. Your mind races, beads of sweat form on your brow, and a zing of panic rifles up your spine. You realize you have no choice but to enter... The P.U.G. Zone.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, P.U.G. is the acronym for Pick Up Group. It might as well stand for "Insta-death." More often then not when you're forced to form a group consisting of unknown players it usually ends in multiple deaths, and failure of said mission. If that weren't bad enough there's also a part of you that truly wants to make a good impression on your new found teammates. Thankfully there are many sites (like Massively, Ten Ton Hammer, etc.) dedicated to helping players deal with issues just like this.
Ten Ton Hammer's Ten Tips for Successful Grouping is one such helpful tome. While aimed at groups in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventure, they can be applied to all MMOs. Several of them are pretty obvious. Well, they should be obvious. Things like not being greedy, a ninja looter or a leech. Yet amazingly virtually every P.U.G. in fact usually has one or more of these particular player types. That's when tips like being considerate to fellow group members comes in handy. But the biggest tip is the hardest one to dredge up from your pizza and Bawls soaked inner depths - patience. It really is a virtue.
If everyone followed these tips - Rules of Etiquette really... The P.U.G. Zone would be a much safer and happier place to play in.
