Pick Up Groups

I am, really, not a fan of PUGs. That said, I really love it when I finish an instance run with a PUG and it went well -- that means that, against all odds, people paid attention, listened to strategies and played well and we finished. How often does that happen?

As a tank (or a healer to some extent) you are saved certain problems that DPSers have to contend with when it comes to PUGs. Tanks are usually the ones that are running the show, with marking and "going". They can make the run as quick or as slow as they like (excepting for people dropping group because they don't like the pace). Plus, as tank, you are usually the leader, or can be made the leader quite easily ("Hey, make me lead, I gotta mark.") and can kick unruly or truly evil players at your discretion.

Last night I ran The Amphitheater of Anguish with a PUG, didn't put it together, didn't even pay attention to roles and levels or gear and it was smooth, like a baby's bottom. Granted the fights aren't all that hard, but still -- it was very nice to know that you can count on most players who are in their mid-70s to pull together for a few quick fights in order to attain mucho XP and perhaps some decent gear.



I was surprised and delighted at how little communication was needed or, really, desired for this event. We all pretty much knew our jobs (tank, healz, dps, dps, dps) and the fights are pretty straight forward tank and spank. Seriously, though, I think I may have exchanged 2 sentences with the other players after the invite, and that was "Rdy?" on the first fight and "Thanks alot all. Seeya around."

Normally at the end of an instance run, even when I was a healer I had a standard farewell that included a "good job" and "fun" -- but most importantly I would let most if not all the players in my group know that they could call on me anytime to tank (or heal). Truly if it was a good group and if I'm available then I will tank for almost any instance I am leveled for. It's good practice and it gets me introduced to more and more players (fairly new to this server) and, more importantly, more HEALERS. It's always nice to have a friends list full of healers as a tank, because, as we all know, it's not so hard to find DPS.

In the end, unless you have a good group of friends that are always on at the same time, or a nice big guild, you will have to PUG at some point or another in your progression to level cap. I find that if you go into it with a positive attitude and do your best things have a way, most times, of working themselves out. This is not to say that a 4 hour Gnomer run can't end in total disaster, with players coming in and going out and finally after the fifth wipe people just giving up, BUT I find, especially with the short and seemingly easy instances in Northrend this is the exception, not the rule.

Happy hunting.