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Storyboard: Why am I still here?
Sometimes, the biggest problem you face isn't whether or not you can find dramatic roleplaying but whether or not your character has a reason to keep subjecting herself to it. I ran into the problem recently in Final Fantasy XIV. As a player, I enjoyed what was going on with one of the many organizations my character belongs to. The problem is that she wasn't enjoying it, and she didn't have any reason to keep subjecting herself to it. She didn't like most of these people, she didn't need money or resources from them, and she wasn't really deriving any benefit from it any longer. Obviously, I wanted her to stick around. But every so often you find yourself in situations where your character isn't happy and wants to leave... and has both reason and opportunity to do so. Two weeks ago I talked about getting someone out of your life; now it's time to talk about keeping a character in the mix.
Drama Mamas: When friends don't behave like friends
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. It hurts when your good friend doesn't have your back. I have an issue that I hope you can help me with. I've been playing wow for 6 and half years now and after my first guild folded I went to play on the hordes side of the fence for a little bit. After deciding to return to alliance I offered my support to a friend from the previous guild in her quest of making one of her own. It's been about a year since I joined the guild and was appointed assistant gm and being put in charge of raiding I even took care of the guild whilst my gm and her partner was moving states I farmed for mats and put gold in the guild bank and also gained a handful of recruits.
Officers' Quarters: Shaming gquitters
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. How do you react when players quit your guild? This week's email comes from a member of an EverQuest guild who is dismayed by her officer's aggressive response. Hi Scott, Thanks so much for writing this great column. It has provided me with beneficial insight and advice on many occasions. I don't actually play WoW (I play EverQuest), but the things you write about transcend that. I am currently a member of a struggling guild, which only has a few officers trying to run the show (the guild leader is pretty much absent, and the guild has been that way for years). The newest officer is in charge of recruitment. He does a good job of inviting people, but after experiencing our lack of timeliness and progression on raids, many of them seek greener pastures. The recruitment officer then posts something rather nasty and unprofessional on their application (which is visible to the public).
Drama Mamas: When you need some breathing room in game
WoW players -- can't play with 'em, can't play without 'em. Most of us would agree that Azeroth is best when shared with a congenial group of others, but what if you find yourself saddled with overly needy or intrusive game buddies? Or perhaps you get along just fine for the most part, but things get sticky whenever you decide you'd like to chill out with some uninterrupted solo time. Isn't there a nice way to tell someone to buzz off without hurting their feelings? There absolutely is -- so let's head off the drama before it happens with these techniques for friendly disengagement.
Drama Mamas: When you realize you've become That Guy
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Kudos to this week's letter writer for comprehending what his guild's problem is: him. I have a problem I haven't seen on DM before. First off let me say, I am the problem and I know it. I joined a raiding guild mid way through ToT as a tank and we progressed fairly well through it. As time went on and I grew more comfortable with them, a side of me emerged I have never seen before. I became more sensitive to what people said, impatient and just overall "jerky". Now the other night they raided, one shot all the normal bosses we would do and my guild leader said they sounded like they had fun because they didn't have to worry about upsetting me. This came as quite a shock. I didn't know people were walking on egg shells around me.
Drama Mamas: Don't be caught being That Guy at BlizzCon
BlizzCon 2013 is the year's richest opportunity to hobnob with fellow WoW enthusiasts. Thanks to Blizzard's polished event management, you can expect an entertaining weekend whether you're a party animal, a die-hard e-sports fan, a cosplay enthusiast, or simply squeeing at the opportunity to rub up against all things Blizzard. Make no mistake: With something in the neighborhood of 30,000 fans expected to attend, BlizzCon is most assuredly a social event. You'll be interacting with a great many people in close quarters, some of whom will be eager to meet you and some who won't. (The Drama Mamas will be there, too -- say hello at the WoW Insider/Wowhead Meetup on Thursday night, or come rest your tired dogs and review the weekend's fun with Drama Mama Lisa and others from the WoW Insider staff at the Meeting Stone at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.) Connecting with guildmates face to face for the first time? Meeting Blizzard staffers and well-known members of the WoW community? Making new WoW friends? Just enjoying the show? Bring it on -- but let's avoid bringing the drama by clarifying how not to act like That Guy in what's sure to be a spectacular nexus of WoW geeks and Azerothian energy.
Drama Mamas: Still haven't found the guild you're looking for
Sometimes you think you're just having a bad luck, drama bomb experience -- and sometimes it turns out that you're squarely in the wrong place at the wrong time because you haven't really found the guild you were looking for. I have been an avid WoW player since 2006 and have been in many guilds since. Some of them were great experiences that I just outgrew and reached out for something different and others were just...well, awful! My recent issue was a plethora of things. When I joined the guild, someone from a server I had just transferred off of happened to be in it. She didn't know me but I knew her. To keep things short and to the point, this young woman was known as a drama stirrer and someone I wouldn't want my boyfriend near for good reason. As the months began to go by, I noticed that this person began to compete with me for everything. My guild was an RP-PVP guild and ranks were based on how often you attended events and how competent you were at PVP on your class. I soon climbed the ranks, as did she, until we were both just below a sub officer rank. Getting the next rank was tricky as you had to pass a few criteria. Popularity, ability, and well...how good you could suck up to the officers. She wasn't a suck up type and so she began to try and outdo me via popularity... However, the method in which she did it was via lies and slander, and by convincing people who had been my friends that I was saying things that I clearly was not. Each time I would go to the officers with my issues, I would be told that I either got over the lies or I would be ejected for instigating a problem where there was none. Needless to say, I am gone now. But did I handle this poorly or was leaving the guild the best option?
Officers' Quarters: Tanksplosion
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. A good tank is a precious resource to a raid team. Few players want the responsibility and the pressure. Those who not only want it, but thrive in it, are rare indeed. This week's email asks, what do you do as a guild leader when your tank goes off the deep end? Hello Scott. Im a long time reader and I have implemented a lot of your suggestions in my own guild and it has helped sort out many of the issues, but I once again find my self at a crossroad and I have many doubts on which road to pick. In many of your blogs, you talk about the behaviour of one member within a guild, that is having a very negative effect on the guild as a whole, and Im sorry to say, that my problem concerns one such individual. [...] This guy is our guilds main tank, and he does suffer from the old: "I'm a tank, so therefor I AM GOD!" complex, but we can deal with that, since it has been contained to his tanking and not spread to the rest of the guild. That was untill a few months ago, when things suddently took a turn for the worse.
Drama Mamas: The case of the lingering ex
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. How do you handle moving on from one intense relationship to another? Dear Drama Mamas, [...] My first love, of nearly six months two nights ago told me, for the second time, that she had just wanted to be friends. And that a long-distance would never work out for her. A few days before the relationship ended for the first time, I could tell it was over. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. She was the first person that showed me just how special ERP could be. The first girl to ever trust me enough to be "naughty". There were many partners of hers before me, though she had constantly assured me that what she had with tens of others had meant next to nothing to her. She broke off all relations with these guys and girls to show me she was committed to me and only me. She was very clingy, and it didn't bother me one bit. I enjoyed having her around most of the hours of every day we played together.
Drama Mamas: There's a guide for that
Stand back, Drama Mamas readers -- Robin and I are going to put ourselves out of business this week. I say "this week" because I'm not going to spoiler-ize the Drama Mamas for all time ... Just for this week. And I'm doing it because I want to remind everyone about a resource we've been working on since the beginning of this year, something designed to shake loose new insights and solutions for frustrated WoW players, old and new alike: The Drama Mamas Drama-Buster Guide. Allow me to roll up my sleeves and demonstrate: Due to some very persuasive to give the Warcraft a try again i decided to jump into it. The first things i noticed once i stop the grind to max level is that. My old server...is empty...dead..The City where i do my auction house is all changed around. Also guilds seem to be less about community and more about guild perks. I'm scratching my head at a loss at what to do now that i am 90, with a guild who does not talk to each other. I've not played since Wrath of the Lich king. I've been curious what to do in game, and even if i should roll a new toon on another server with all the time I've been gone. Could you offer your thoughts? Confused Warcraft Player Thanks for writing in, Confused Warcraft Player. You're not alone in finding yourself socially adrift in game, despite how many other players constantly surround you. The Drama Mamas solution: There's a guide for that! As you've discovered, WoW's not as much fun without someone to share it with, so let us show you some proven tactics for finding some gaming buddies to play with. It sounds like your socially limp guild isn't much a help, either; a better guild match would go a long way toward propelling you back into the fun zone. And where is the friend who talked you into coming back to play? He or she really ought to be sharing this experience with you.
CCP responds to EVE Online favoritism scandal
It's never wise to kick a hornet's nest, and there is perhaps no hornet's nest in the world of MMOs that is as prone to swarm and sting as that of the EVE Online community. EVE players have been up in arms over allegations that CCP, the studio behind EVE, showed favoritism to SOMER.Blink, a third-party lottery site, by providing its employees with exceptionally rare Ishukone Watch Scorpions (fancy ships), as a reward for the site's continued contribution to the EVE community. After a few days of fan caterwauling, CCP has issued a lengthy and detailed response built to clarify what happened, why it happened, and what it means. First, CCP explained that the Ishukone Watch Scorpion is a promotional item with no value beyond that which is created by its rarity. The studio also noted that only 132 ships exist, all of which were handed out by CCP to community contributors. CCP explained that giving away the ships to fansites and contributors was meant to be a continued initiative but is now on hold.
Drama Mamas: To come out or not to come out
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Be excellent to each other. Hello, I'm in an extra interesting position presently. Let's start with the gameplay perspectives: I play a Protection Warrior currently, and I'm looking to partake in tanking for my guild. In most cases, this is fine, even with the use of Vent and all that. My significant other is a healer in the same guild, and we're working our way in and being friendly. And it's a great guild, one we both enjoy very much. But the kicker is that both my partner and I are Transgender, Male to Female, and hoping to start transitioning this year. We RP a couple of female Pandaren with the same guild, and after discussing it with eachother, we've decided we want to do what we can to simply stealth it. It's far easier to just be what we feel we should be online than it is to try and explain it all over again.
The 9 people you need to avoid in WoW
Almost five years ago, I wrote an article titled The 10 people you need to know in WoW. For some reason it never occurred to me to write a counterpart on the people you need to avoid. While I think these unpleasant folks are less important and influential than the people you actually want to have around, there's no denying that, once present, they can do a lot of damage to your ingame experience. If you haven't had at least one supremely frustrating experience yet as a result of the douche-nugget brigade, you are fortunate indeed. For the rest of us, some of the following players will be all too familiar.
Officers' Quarters: Divided loyalties
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. When guilds shatter, everyone involved has tough decisions to make. This week, a raider is forced to choose between the raid team he loves and the friend who invited him to the guild. Just a few months ago, I decided to transfer my secondary character to alliance on my server, because the only friend I have left who plays had an active guild. I was hesitant to play alliance, but it has been working out fairly well so far. I originally wanted to join her raid team, but they couldn't fit me in. But I was approached by the leader of team two to join their team. I gladly accepted, and we dove headfirst into ToT. Well, last Friday, after we cleared four bosses in SoO, I had to run to bed. After I left, they made the choice to leave the guild. Every single one of them. Now, I don't know the details, save for there had been plenty of behind the scenes drama.
How to live happily ever after with a nongaming partner
So your beloved spouse doesn't play WoW. It happens. Sometimes you can tempt them into trying; an enjoyable duo is great for a relationship, after all. And if your spouse does decide to give the game a whirl, we can show you how to get off on the right foot. But sometimes, getting your partner to join you in WoW just isn't in the cards. And that's okay. You don't have to quit your hobby simply because your other half doesn't share your enthusiasm. You can play, and your partner can not play, and you can both be as happy together as two bugs in a rug. We'll show you how to keep grouping in Azeroth from ungrouping you in life.
Drama Mamas: Progression vs. friends
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. I was going to embed this earworm because of this week's signature, but I just couldn't stomach it. I'm not a fan. So I've replaced it with a different earworm. Everybody clap and point now. Dear Drama Mamas: I am an officer and tank in a raiding guild with people I've known since mid Cataclysm. I took a break at the start of Mists due to getting a new job, and came back a couple of months ago to find the guild struggling on Horridon in 10N Throne of Thunder. I wasn't planning on returning to the game full-time and spent most of my time leveling and gearing an alt that I was using to fill a spare DPS slot when the guild needed me. I was eventually asked to come back as a full-time tank to help with progression, and since then we've slowly managed to clear normal T15, culminating in downing Lei Shen the first time a couple of weeks ago.
Officers' Quarters: A sudden tyrant
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. People change. Their opinions and tastes evolve. Sometimes a guild that was right for you in the past is no longer what you want. That's all well and good, unless this person is the guild leader, and they are bringing the whole guild along for the ride. Hi Scott, I am writing because I really need your advice. I am at a point in my guild where I may have to leave and I do not want to. I have been in a guild for over a year and am now the co-gl. We recently server transferred from a low pop server to a high pop server. We have always been a casual 10 man/ social guild. We did pretty well during DS, but due to some ppl leaving the guild/ raid team we had to stop at the beginning of MOP. We could not recruit on the old server and transferred... And this is when the trouble started.
How to help a friend or family member join you in WoW
You love this game with a passion. We get that -- so do we. All too often, however, our best friends and significant others don't share that passion. They might not have a scrap of interest in playing any video game at all. But you want them to experience the World of Warcraft with you. We get that, too. Close relationships benefit from shared experiences and fun. You want your other half to at least bite off a taste of Azeroth and savor this feast that's captured you body and soul. How can you convince your partner, buddy, or significant other to give WoW a try? Warning: This question represents merely the tip of the iceberg. Brace for impact with the true issue: How can you help a non-playing friend or family member get into WoW in way that's enjoyable for both of you?
Drama Mamas: The case of the auto-recruiting guild
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 the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Note: The above video has a little NSFW language. When the only criteria for becoming part of your guild is to press the Accept button, your guild is bound to have some issues. Dear Drama Mamas, I'm trying to grow our guild but nothing seems to work; I'm wondering if its me or its time to close up shop. Our guild (The Laundromat @ Shu'Halo) started 18 months ago and I tried to follow best practices for a new guild. I set up a website (laundromat.enjin.com), clearly written expectations, rank structure, a well stocked bank, set up 5-6 events a week in some cases, scavenger hunts, made trivia contests, created a welcome machinima, wrote 15 episodes of lore and more. In spite of all this, I can't seem to find people available or interested in participating. My question is -- what else can/should I do? Sit at the feet of a successful guild to observe, ask for criticism, rebrand and refocus, change servers or close down the guild and take up turnip farming? Respectfully, One Glum Goblin
Bottom-line expectations for raiders in World of Warcraft
While the shape of raiding has changed drastically since World of Warcraft debuted in 2004, you'll still find that raiders in any raid group -- even other players in a Looking For Raid group -- expect a certain level of preparation, game knowledge, and social savoir faire from everyone participating. Players who trip blithely and cluelessly into the LFR or, worse, a raiding guild have no one but themselves to blame if the experience explodes in a messy, contentious drama bomb. But isn't there a place for new raiders? Isn't the LFR supposed to be a casual, drop-in experience? Absolutely -– but that doesn't mean you can expect to stroll in with zero preparation or forethought. A game that's been running for this many years develops a higher bar for entry-level expectations. It's OK to head into a raid with no raiding experience, but you may find yourself dropped or mocked if you blunder in completely unprepared. Comport yourself with aplomb with these bottom-line expectations for anyone who wants to raid in World of Warcraft.
