In the Blog Azeroth chat today an interesting debate was brought forth, and it is one that many players feel very passionately about. It is also a topic which many officers find difficult to comment on, and one in which our guild has personally struggled with on occasion.

The original question revolved around healing styles and preferences, and for ease I’m paraphrasing the thought as: “How do you work with someone who you feel is not able to perform as well as they should in a role because of a refusal to use abilities their class possesses?”

In a way this topic presents two very distinct arguments. First, is this person fulfilling the role they are there to perform effectively, and second is this causing an undue burden on others trying to pick up any slack that may be present?

The best way I’ve found to answer any issues about a player’s spot in any group is relatively simple in theory: Do I trust person one to fill role one?

This is a very complicated question in practice though. Trusting someone to perform their role is very difficult, and relies on a large number of factors. These are the general criteria I go through:

1. Are they knowledgeable on this particular class and spec/role?
2. Are they consistently performing well, or are they relatively spotty with their performance?
3. Do they meet my expectations of a good player?
4. Are they open to feedback and trying new things if what they are currently doing just does not seem to cut it?
5. Do others in the group trust them to fill that role?

Those questions are tough to quantify, especially if it is a new role or spec for someone. This will require some time to show that they can do what is necessary, often using heroics as a proving ground of sorts.

Overall, the driving point that really gets the most attention should be that person’s focus and ability to grow. We all start out rather horrible. Practice makes us better, but the only people who will ever get better are the ones who are willing to try something different.

Let’s go back to the original question now: “How do you work with someone who you feel is not able to perform as well as they should in a role because of a refusal to use abilities their class possesses?”

If the person is performing fine, and no one is under any undue stress because of having to pick up more slack than they should, then you accept the playstyle as a personal choice. Agreed with or not, that is the beauty of a lot of the classes in WoW. There are ways to play each class that are effective, even if not necessarily efficient. Everyone needs to have fun playing their character though, and this is one of the ways to achieve that goal. More importantly, if you trust them to fulfill their role, and so does the rest of the group, then there is no issue.

Things become more complicated when someone wants to assume a different role than that which they have been fulfilling, because the only way to qualify their skill level is to look at their performance in a different role, which is not entirely fair. This is where tension and frustration become introduced into the equation, and where tempers can flare. This is also where the trust factor weighs much, much more heavily, as there are always many more reasons to disprove someone without giving them a fair chance based on subpar performance in some other area, or because of inattention on raids, or personality flaws, or the color of their eyes, or an innate mistrust of a particular date and time in which the sun is in a specific location and they just happened to ask at that time… you get the point.

This is, in many ways, a very rambling-ish post. This is a very, very difficult subject, and one that is passionately defended in all manners across all style of players. Basically, the TLDR version is this: when faced with an apparent dilemma regarding any player choice, the best way to help determine any course of action is twofold. First, is that person a good player and second, do you trust that person to fill the role in which they sit/want?

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?