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Drama Mamas: The results edition
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. Once upon a time, we published the results of some of our advice. Since then, a few of the letter writers from the last year have responded, so we again get to tell you what happened next. (Note: Some of the responses had to be edited for length.) Let's get right to it, shall we? Robby from when "just friends" intrude on love gives us more details on his situation and reports a mostly happy ending for him and his girlfriend. It also seems I (Robin) was completely incorrect in my assumptions -- but I'm OK with that. Thank you very much for posting my letter in your column. I found both yours and Lisa's advice to be spot on considering what little bits of info I could fit into the letter. I feel that after reading all the comments thus far that I have a bit of explaining to do.
Drama Mamas: The case of the PvE wife and PvP husband
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. Next week will be another results edition of Drama Mamas. But there is still time to email us. If you have written the Drama Mamas and we have answered you in print, please send us an update at robin@wowinsider.com. We would love to know how your WoW dilemma worked out! Dear Drama mamas, I've been a longtime wow player and I almost exclusively pve, while my husband only enjoys pvp. I've tried without success to get him to try raiding, and have given up on that. Instead I found an awesome guild and I love raiding with them a couple nights a week.
Drama Mamas: Choosing between preferred class and raid leader
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. Happy Presidents' Day, if you are in the United States! Otherwise, happy Monday. We are getting in letters for an all-new results edition of Drama Mamas, but we could still use some more. If you have written the Drama Mamas and we have answered you in print, please send us an email at robin@wowinsider.com. We will compile the responses in a future column, once we get enough of them. What's up Drama Mamas?! Today I come with a problem of sorts... I'm part of this guild where we were all pretty close and get along great, we have been that way throughout cataclysm and I feel sorta connected to these folks. Now about a month or so ago a few of our core raid members that were originally on the team I was part of quit the game. That caused a rift in our guild and the leader of our second raid team stepped up to the plate and now leads our core group (as well as the guild but that's a different story). While we were trying to figure out who makes the cut for our first raid group we held try outs of sorts and in the group was myself and the rogue from the second group (we both play rogues so we needed to see who got the spot). Well I was beaten by the rogue of the second group by a slim margin so the leader decided to take him on as a regular.
Drama Mamas: When roleplayed love is in the air
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 think it is long past time for another results edition of Drama Mamas. Some letter writers have already sent me the outcome of our advice, which is always wonderful. But we could still use some more. If you have written the Drama Mamas and we have answered you in print, please send us an email at robin@wowinsider.com. We will compile the responses in a future column, once we get enough of them. On to the drama ... This week, we have another RP romance conundrum. Dear Drama Mamas -- I've recently started roleplaying on Wyrmrest Accord, and I really love it! It's a fun way to meet new people and really get into your character, even if I only do it somewhat-casually. However, I have an issue that I need some help with. When I first joined my roleplaying guild it was fine and dandy, but one person in particular gave me more attention than anyone else. I was fine with it, as we were in character and my character was single and all, so I flirted a bit and over time our characters started a (somewhat) romantic relationship.
Drama Mamas: Choosing between raiding and friendships
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. In the video above, Candace's friends are off having fun without her. Since she is unwilling to find her own fun, she takes a portal to Mars to hang out with strangers -- and breaks into song. There are parallels with this week's letter (except for the song part). Hi Robin & Lisa, I'm finally writing in with my own dilemma. Since I started playing this game in mid-Wrath, I've played with my girlfriend and our mutual friend. We have a strong bond and truly enjoy playing together, and GF and I have even met our friend IRL. In Wrath, I led our 10 man raid group, and we loved every minute of ICC. Once the Cataclysm was upon us, we expected to continue raiding. However, things rarely work out as planned, and we missed T11 completely, mostly due to the dissolution of our guild. Eventually I became frustrated with lack of progress and quit the game for a while.
Drama Mamas: How to find gaming buddies
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. We've talked before about how to leave your guild, but what happens after that? Hey Drama Mamas! Today i write to you lovely ladies with a problem that I have been wrestling with for almost 4 years: finding someone to play World of Warcraft with. Here is the high and low of it, or rather the long and short: Four or so years ago my brother starts playing a game that I considered to be a money sand trap: World of Warcraft, I cannot honestly say I was friendly to the franchise as at the time I was Neverwinter Night's personal slave (still am sometimes) but to make a long story short (too late) I was persuaded to take a vacation to Azeroth and I have never left. I fell in love with the planet and its people and while my hearth stone will always be set to Neverwinter, I am really enjoying my time in Azeroth.
Drama Mamas: The etiquette of AFKing in a group or raid
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. When is it OK to AFK during a boss fight? The answers range from "Never, unless you are about to call 911!" to "Any time you need to. Real life comes first!" This week, we address this common conundrum. Not a specific instance of drama but it definitely causes it often enough. I really love instancing but have been a bit stressed recently about how to deal with interruptions. How do you handle them? Knock on the door, kids waking up, anything really. We're not all college kids where the worst that could happen would be a power-outage or dorm fire alarm. From what I read there is not much help or sympathy out there - although that may just be the minority. They mostly say to not even run instances, which I can sympathize with - they want to run it fast - but I cannot accept that as an answer. What do they do when they have to answer the door during a boss fight? Really.
Drama Mamas: The case of the disreputable doppelganger
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. We get very attached to our online pseudonyms. But how unique are they, and what if you come across someone with the same name and a bad reputation? Dear Drama Mamas, I regularly comment on a certain WoW-based blogging-slash-news site under a given username that I've been attached to for many years. The site is read by a lot of people, and I've told quite a few stories there regarding events on my home realm, and today I had the unfortunate pleasure of overhearing mention of someone with a name near-exactly the same as mine whilst on an alt. But not in a good way. The doppleganger name was being addressed with disdain and malice (hate, even). I did a bit of digging on the armory and discovered that the character in question wasn't some fresh low-level character--it was 85, moderately geared, and even shared classes with my main that I had indeed, come to mention on occasion. What makes this slightly more interesting is that none of my characters share the name I use on the site--the name is unique to that location only.
Drama Mamas: Loot lessons
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. Loot drama rears its ugly head yet again this week. Good morning Drama Mamas, I was recently joined a guild run (not my guild) of Dragon Soul on my mage. I have never really had problems raiding on my alts. My main is in a semi hardcore raiding guild, and we were 8/8 in the first week of dragon soul. So on the off days I like to raid on my priest or mage. I really didn't think much of raiding with nine other people all from the same guild. It doesn't happen often, but guild runs typically go a lot smoother than complete PUGs. When I joined the raid no clear loot rules were announced. I typically just wait till the first boss is killed to see how loot works. So we killed a boss and a piece of loot dropped that I could use (a wand), and the master looter in raid chat said main spec roll and linked the piece of loot. I ultimately rolled the highest; however, I got a bit suspicious how long it took for the master looter to award me the loot. The guild didn't say anything after they gave me the loot and I said thanks. I am pretty appreciative when I receive loot.
Drama Mamas: Legendary drama
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. We have two letters this week -- both about legendaries. The first letter is below, and the second letter and our responses are after the break. Dear Drama Mamas, I've been thinking a lot about taking a long break from WoW recently since I have almost no interest in playing. The problem is I'm an officer in an active raiding guild and also the only person in the guild close to getting the legendary staff. The only reason I've been playing lately has been to finish the staff for many guild. It'll take me only 2 weeks of doing a full clear to complete it so the guild will get the achievement and pet; however the other officers are too interested in the new 4.3 content to do anything in Firelands, inculding work on the legendary staff. I'd really like to quit wow without burning any bridges or upsetting my long time guild mates, but I feel that if I quit with a 95% complete legenday I will be a considered a big jerk. Thanks for any advice you can give me. Burned Out
Drama Mamas: Falsely accused of public cybersex
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. This week's letter comes from France, which shows just how universal WoW drama is. Dear Drama Mamas, I recently transferred from a bottom-of-the-charts server to a high-rated one, and after a few raid as un PUG on my new server I found a guild that fitted me perfectly. I was recruited as a main tank, for Firelands and oncoming 4.3. The first weeks were idyllic: tons of raid, even with HM (I was 3/7 normal mode before my transfer). I learned a lot and worked hard to progress. I was the only woman in the guild but there wasn't a problem for me, as I consider me IG as a player and a tank above all.
Drama Mamas: Love and marriage and WoW
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. This is the story of how a World of Warcraft duo saved a marriage and how the end of the duo now threatens that marriage. Drama Mamas, Hi! I'm a newlywed, but I have been with my husband for the better part of three years and I have been living with him for about a year now. When I first moved here, I didn't play WoW -- I was mostly into console gaming. However, our relationship began to get rocky and we decided that we needed something to bond over. He seemed to have so much fun playing WoW, so I decided to give it a try, and I loved it. He created a character specifically to play with me, and it was a blast. Five months of playing and six days /played on my main character, I finally hit 85 and got into some minor endgame content -- the quests, the heroics, the gear. All of this was leading up to the hope that I could join his guild with him -- the top raiding guild on our server -- and continue to play together.
Drama Mamas: Loot drama redux
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. Recipe for smelly loot drama: Have clear rules that are only followed at the whim of the raid leader. Eww. Dear Drama Mamas, I just wanted to get your thoughts about some drama that has recently unfolded in the guild. We have been raiding Firelands for a couple months now but have been having some disagreements about loot. The guild leader and her boyfriend lead the raid and I assist as the main tank, my wife is also in the raid. A couple of weeks ago a ring dropped and the guild leader's boyfriend won the roll. The following week the item dropped again and he rolled and won again. I was confused so I inquired about it, he had given it to his girlfriend.
Drama Mamas: When "just friends" intrudes on love
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. The above song was played once an hour on MTV when it first came out. (In before the "when they were still playing music" comments.) Twenty-seven years later and I'm still sick of it. It is also from a movie about a love triangle -- I hear -- which makes it kind of pertinent to this week's letter. My name is Robby and I've recently stumbled upon your "Drama Mamas" section on WoW Insider. I find that this column focuses on an often overlooked facet in dealing with MMORPGS, the human part. I've been an avid WoW player for about 2.5 years. I'm fortunate enough to have a wonderful girlfriend of 4 years that plays with the same enthusiasm that I do. We try and play together when we can but life is life and we are limited by school and work etc.
Drama Mamas: How to share choosing what to do in a duo
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. Once upon a time, two shy people made a duo. They leveled happily ever after ... except one of the players always had to choose the activities. So are they both actually happy? I am very very close friends with my guildmate, oh let's call him Sam :). We're a guild of two and have been playing together for roughly two and a half years. Ever since RealID came out, we've been getting closer -- I'm very much an altaholic and being able to talk even if I wasn't on my main server was a huge blessing for us. When Cataclysm came out, he rolled on all the different servers I play alts on, created vanity guilds for the two of us, and now we have over a score of pairs that we play exclusively with each other! Now, every single toon he created was his own idea. I'll admit I definitely encouraged him to sprawl out with me but I never once said "You should come play on x server now!" or bullied him in any way.
Drama Mamas: How to help an abused guildie
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. Again, we have another serious topic -- and again, we'd really love some lighthearted, fun candidates for next week, please. I'm in a guild that is mostly comprised of married couples. I am particularly close to one woman in particular. We're the night-owls of the group, up after everyone else goes to bed, and we chat a lot. She has recently disclosed some pretty awful marital abuse and power-and-control-gaslighting stuff as well as sexual abuse, marital rape, etc. Everyone else in the guild thinks they're together, and makes the usual references and requests that you'd make of a married couple like "hey, can you click the accept-rez thing for her?" or "do you know when he'll be back from work?" but the thing is - she's already LEFT her husband - he just won't let her TELL anyone! He's still in guild with us, and still uses our raids as an opportunity to harass her, because he knows she'll be there, and knows she "can't" say anything.
Drama Mamas: A guide to when and how to leave your 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. The most popular question we get goes something like this: "X is happening in my guild, but I really like the rest of my guildmates. Should I leave?" We've covered this many times throughout the history of this column, but things changed quite a bit once Guild Rewards were introduced in Cataclysm. Also, we're now going through one of those pre-patch/expansion slumps (though the excitement from BlizzCon may rejuvenate interest for a bit). So this week is an update of our guild leaving advice -- both when to leave and how.
Drama Mamas: WoW vs. relationship
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. Neglect her once, shame on you. Neglect her multiple times ... Dear Drama Mamas, I have a little bit of real life drama that's preventing me from playing WoW. It goes like this, I started playing WoW shortly after release, I got to level 60 at a little below average speed but eventually got into a good raiding guild, though we never progressed past MC, I still had a lot of fun with them. Soon after that, I started dating this wonderful girl who I could never convince to start playing, despite the fact that she's a gamer. It took until patch 3.1 before she finally broke down and bought the game, after setting up her account we both rolled characters and started playing together whenever we had the chance, and it was a blast! We both had so much fun playing together and she grew to adore pvp, things were great.
Drama Mamas: Dealing with WoW bashing
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. Robin may or may not rant later. Dear Drama Mamas, I'm wondering if others have been experiencing something similar to a new guild I recently tried out: My wife and I have been looking for a new "home" to transfer to, since many of our RL friends hardly play, if at all, and our previous friends/family guild almost entirely perma-logged and moved on from WoW. We've been testing guilds by starting new toons and joining up to get a feel for the guild before dropping $$$ on transferring. One such guild was suggested by a WoW Insider poster. At first it was exciting to be in a guild with someone who was about as big a WoW nerd as I was, but after joining their guild's Facebook page, it quickly went from good to bad. There were about 3-5 members who regularly trash-talked WoW and were eager to play something new/different. I got the feeling much of this trash-talking was intended to draw more WoW guildies away to play with them. The worst part was that the poster who got me into the guild had become one of them.
Drama Mamas: Taking guild drama to Facebook
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. Drama is as drama does. Dear Drama Mamas, This is something I thought you'd be interested in. WoW being a social community and Facebook being the king of social connectivity right now, I'd like to share recent activities in my guild involving Facebook. To start from the beginning, about a year ago I quit my first guild with a large group to go form a raiding guild. The guild we left was a very large rp guild on an rp server. I was reluctant to leave the guild, as I had a lot of friends there, including the GM and it was my first guild ever. Needless to say, the way the group presented our leaving did not sit well with the gm of the guild we left. Toons were kicked, we were black listed, harassed, snubbed, etc.
