To this day it is still amazing that so few people understand courtesy and etiquette when dealing with others. What I find even more disturbing, though, is that many people do not understand how to fulfill their function in a group. In no particular order, and with quite a bit of repetition from my previous etiquette post, here we go:

• I know my job in a group. I expect you to know yours. I have no reason to yell out “In need more DPS on (x) now!” and I fully expect you not to yell out “I need healing!”
• Unless you are the tank you should not have aggro. If you do more than likely you will die. Even with the proliferation of AoE tanking and DPS, and the ease of heroics in Wrath, I still expect you to control your threat.
• I expect you to move out of something causing massive damage to you. If you’re standing in that big, black circle of death, or deciding to relax in a cloud of poisonous gas, I’m going to let you die. It may take a lot longer to finish the fight, and we may even wipe as a result, but it’s better than me running out of mana trying to keep you alive for being stupid.
• If I die then everyone who dies runs back unless there is another person in the party who can resurrect us all.
• If you’re an ass, or you act like a jerk in any way, you will die. Either be courteous or shut up.
• I’ll heal and resurrect pets as much as I can. I actually like to keep everything alive or I wouldn’t be playing a healer. However, pets will be the first sacrificed every time. Get used to it. I also expect you to make sure your pet isn’t pulling aggro or standing in a puddle of death. If it is I’m not wasting the mana to heal.
• I watch what goes on around me. Sometimes I have no choice but to stand and take hits in order to keep someone alive. I expect you, as a tank, to be aware of mobs going after me. I’ll try to bring them to you, but you should be prepared to come to me if necessary.
• I also expect you, as a tank, to hold aggro. I’ll try to time heals where I won’t pull threat if I can, but I don’t get the same luxury the DPS does with being able to really hold back. If I stop generating threat, more than likely, someone dies.
• I realize your class has the ability to tank. Unless you are specifically in a group as the tank, and read this very carefully, you can not tank. The same rules apply to you as everyone else, do not pull aggro unless told to do so.
• When someone does something well it will not kill you to pay them a compliment.
• Respect. Learn the definition. Apply it.
• Be prepared to demonstrate anything that you claim works, or to “put your money where your mouth is.” One of the few things I cannot stand is someone who repeats opinions or things they have heard as the only way to do something, or as fact, without any knowledge of the issue.

I know there are more, but these are the main ones that have annoyed me as of late. Seriously, are we getting an influx of morons all of a sudden, or am I just finally encountering those people everyone talks about? (Rhetorical question by the way.)

Jaramon over at Deathcoil.org has a post up entitled Good players versus GOOD Players that prompted me to think more about how I define a “good” player and what it actually means, as well as a second thought that I’ll share later in this post:

What is it that I expect out of someone to consider them a good player?

Let’s start with some basic thoughts that come to mind:

A “good” player should…

• … understand common group etiquette.
• … know enough about their class to understand what their role is and be able to fulfill said role in a satisfactory¹ manner.
• … be courteous.
• … be mindful of their surroundings and the other people in the group.

What then, after those thoughts, makes a GOOD player?

GOOD players are the ones that make you stop and pay attention to the name. The ones you recognize again later. The ones who did something to stand out from the crowd in a positive way.

To avoid confusion, let’s think of “good” players as average players, and GOOD players as above average players (average, in this case, being the standard set forth above). One might notice an above average player because of their willingness to do whatever is asked without grumbling, or because of their ability to actually handle threat, or perhaps even something as simple as providing humor after the thirteenth consecutive wipe…

The point is, an average player is typically going to do what they are asked to do, and at least do it well enough to skate by. Above average players will try to go above and beyond what they are called upon to do.

These thoughts vary a little depending upon content, which is where the second item (… know enough about their class to understand what their role is and be able to fulfill said role in a satisfactory¹ manner) comes from:

For a general guideline, satisfactory in 5-man content is quite different from satisfactory in a raid environment. Where one person is above average for dungeons they may fall into the average category for raid content, or even vice versa. Perhaps this is just the nature of raiding, wherein the expectation of someone reaching that content means they have to bring more to the table than others. I know that I, personally, hold a different set of expectations for raiders than I do the general player.

With that in mind, what truly makes an all-around, above average player?

• Focus and attention, and experienced at playing their class. I normally consider an above average player to be a person who pushes the envelope, doing what they can to maximize their contribution to the objective at hand.
• Above average players will have their own consumables normally, and know enough about the fights to adapt to the group’s composition and strategy.
• And perhaps most importantly, an above average player will have a very specific type of attitude. They’ll be able to accept suggestions without getting defensive. They’ll make suggestions when the group is stuck on an objective. Realistically, they’ll simply be courteous and supportive.

This is an interesting thought process to undertake, especially because we generally do not tend to objectively step back and analyze ourselves using the same generalized standards we apply to others.

What do you think, are you an above average player?

There are a good many things that are considered rude to do in groups, and sometimes I find myself quite surprised that people do not know better. Although this post is potentially rant-ish in nature, I think it is something that we all should understand and know going into any grouping scenario.

• Never, ever, under any circumstances, call out for healing during a fight. I am quite aware of who is taking damage, and monitoring everyone in the party. If I don’t heal you it is because I have to heal someone else first, or because I don’t have the ability to get a heal off on you at that point.
• Be prepared to use healthstones, potions, bandages, etc. Yes, I’m going to try to heal everyone without having to worry about it. That is not, however, always possible.
• When adjusting to a fight in progress where you are about to take an add or something reactionary to avoid a wipe, and you know you are about to really need some heavy healing, then it is permissible to mention it once, and only once, in case I did not already see the move coming.
• I do not like to hear “OMGIMDED,” or any such variation alluding to a lack of heals, ever. EVER. When that happens you will most likely end up not receiving healing from me for the rest of the evening, or very scarcely at best. Go back to the first item in this list and you’ll understand why.
• Some people are bad about buffing. I can understand asking for them on occasion. However, wait until you see that the person is bad about buffing (even if it means going a couple of trash pulls without buffs) before you start asking for buffs. This gets irritating quickly. I wait for everyone to be grouped before I buff so I don’t waste consumables.
• Asking for being revived is generally bad form. It is acceptable in the case of not knowing whether you should run back or wait, but leave it at that.

Now, for the longer, more robust explanation:

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I am a healer. I will do what I can to keep everyone alive. That is my role, and I do it well. However, there are many circumstances where this is, quite simply, not possible.

Sometimes healers have to decide who lives and who dies. It is that simple. Even with instantly castable heals, albeit HoTs, I cannot always keep everyone alive. I will heal you as I can, but if you die then it is because I had to heal someone else first, or I was silenced, or my spell was interrupted, or I ran out of mana, or… you get the point.

Tanks and healers have the first priority on my heals, because if they die it is pretty much a guaranteed wipe. If we lose a dps or two that same case can be made, but it is much easier to recover from than losing a tank or healer. There will be times when I cannot focus on giving heals to someone else because of the sheer amount of damage being taken by said tanks/healers. In these case you, unfortunately, are on your own.

There is also the argument on self-healing techniques. There is a reason those are in the game to begin with, and that is because there are times when that is the only way you are going to receive any healing for a moment or two. Use them.

And finally, on asking for healing: Do you hear me asking for more dps, or more defense? Why not thank me instead?