What is your preference for a player to get a commendation?

good damage dealers

I give it to whoever made my life easiest, based on the role I'm in. That means as tank, that if the healer kept me alive, and blew everything up with Holy/Gravity/Bane, what have you, they're probably getting it. If they mostly AFKed and didn't even use Cleric Stance, I'm probably going to give it to the DPS that actually AoEd, and did damage. As a healer, I'll give it to a good DPS over a squishy tank. As DPS, I'll give it to my co-DPS if they actually did their job, over a terrible healer, and a tank that lost aggro to me. Again. With Quelling Strikes up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

[...] but I have to give the tank the comm because they did their job well and I like encouraging that.

---

That's exactly why some of us will give commendations to players who are actually capable of communicating: we like encouraging that.

The thing is that the dungeon is going to be done anyway, as most of the time people will play their role correctly, so I don't mind who has the most perfect skill of them all. Everyone is still doing their job. Some are just contributing to making the roulette a nice trip, and others are treating you like business they want to get over with. Since I'm a human being and not a robot, I will never encourage the unfriendly bot behaviour.

(It's not like we're asking for much anyway; having the courtesy of saying "hi" doesn't require a huge effort, I believe *laughs*)

It depends for me. Usually I run roulettes either with my OH and 2 friends or at least my OH in the party. If the other 2 players both did well, we bwill split our commendations between them.

If I am alone or in a raid it really depends on player performance. I won't comment a tank just because he manages to hold aggro (that's his job anyway), I also take in account the positioning and general "messiness" of the run.

For a dps, I take into account them avoiding aoes, adaptability and self-sufficiency (carry a few spine drops/antidotes etc).

Usually there will be one that sticks out. If everyone sucks, none gets it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vivi_Bushido

But on the other hand, if I were that tank, I would probably slowly quit doing my job if I began to feel like my ability to play my job goes ignored and unappreciated because having skill is no longer a factor in getting a commendation.

Basically what I'm getting at is, when people are giving out commendations just for saying something as simple as hello, and nothing more. All incentive for me to want to try my hardest goes out the window because I could Heavy Shot my way through a dungeon without using any other skill at all; and still get commendations all because I said hello. See where I'm getting at here? Not trying to sound rude, just being brutally honest. Some of us do want the commendation rewards, and if being good at your job is no longer a requirement to getting it, than, why bother? Your commendation is basically teaching me that it's okay to be bad as long as I'm friendly and talk.

Netflix and chill mode engage!

---

I don't require validation to enjoy the game so I have difficulty relating to that. I will (usually) play the game near enough to the best of my ability - assuming I am not taking part in a conversation on a shell or something - and I don't look for commendations at the end of the run to determine how "noticeable" my efforts were, regardless of how casually or seriously I took a particular run. If they commend me then great, I am happy I made enough of an impression to make their run slightly more enjoyable; if not then I do not take it personally and treat it as a reflection of their verdict on my overall efforts. I wouldn't commend anyone I noticed being lazy with their rotations or otherwise, but I am not interested in evaluating their performance as if it were anything that by definition mattered very much to them. For all I know they have no interest in end-game raiding and just like relaxing in the game while throwing themselves into a roulette or two now and then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

See, this I don't agree with. Based on your scenario, that tank pulled out victory from the jaws of defeat. They went above their basic rotation; maybe popped a perfectly timed Hallowed Ground or worked LB3 into their cooldown rotation to save the group from a wipe. Not giving them a comm because the healer apologized for mistakes feels cheap to me-- like you're giving them a participation award. I'll still be nice to said healer and tell them not to worry about it if it were an honest mistake, but I have to give the tank the comm because they did their job well and I like encouraging that.

---

But honestly speaking, they really didn't. It is up to everyone, no matter the job, to respond to the scenario as presented to them regardless of whether they wanted to or not. A Tank that clutched the raid from a wipe is not a hero. Personally, I place the experience of party members above my own unless they give me good reason not to, but even with that said, if I am the last person alive and I have a chance of finishing off the boss then all of my efforts build toward an outcome that is just as beneficial to me as it is for the rest of the dungeon/raid, so I have every incentive TO try my best. Now consider the same scenario from the point of view of someone who is a little more self-centred which, frankly, I think it quite typical of your average DF encounters.

Even with all of that said, they will nonetheless be praised by everyone and have all of their appreciation(mine included) and unless they have an insecurity complex then they certainly don't need anyone telling them that they did a good job. And let's be honest, they're already going to get a handful of commendations from the rest of the party anyways. If someone fails on the other hand, if they have half a conscience about it then they will actually feel guilty and - particularly so in raid environments - that can be stressful and embarrassing. That's what my commendation is for. To put it bluntly, I am far more concerned about about the feelings of someone who made an honest mistake than I am about the ego of someone who was only looking out for themselves. If they can own up to a mistake then they have my respect because too many people today are shameless enough to not take responsibility for something as basic as that. As Clover has already mentioned, I will encourage that behaviour and show my support for people like that, not someone who can just play the game well. Their substance and actual character behind the avatar has a lot more meaning to me than any perfectly timed Hallowed Ground ever will.

I main a healer, my partner mains a mnk. In the 2 years we have been playing together I have like 2000 comms, he has around 167.

For this reason I always degault to a random dps on my list. They just arnt given enough love.

If there is a greenleaf, I will give it to them.

If the party sucked - no one gets it.

If the tank or off healer really impresses me - then I might give it to them.

As a healer in 8 man content I will always commend my co healer if they were good - dpsing or at least taking all the healing if not.
Otherwise I would most likely comm a good tank or dps who remembers about their support skills. If everyone was great than the most friendly person (at least "hi" at the beginning)

I comm the person with the best name/glamour

My comm always goes to either the tank or healer unless the DPS does something amazing like solos the boss at 10% HP or saves the party from wiping by tanking.

For raids since I'm a scholar, Selene helps the other healer heal, I use shields when appropriate, I also handle emergency healing (tank at 2k HP or something.) Healing is pretty stressful, even when you know the fight, so yeah. Healer anxiety is real.

Other than that I give it to the tank, but I don't bother evaluating my teammates based on performance, so yeah. I'm too busy doing my own role to watch a black mage's rotation or to notice how well a dps is doing.

I'm not sure why talking or glamour are such hot ways to decide a comm. Nothing about those show your performance during the run.

If I comm, it'll be in this order: DPS if my fellow DPS was useful (Bards who sing without being asked get priority, since that's such a rare thing) and then Tanks that mass pull/use CDs. I have a pocket healer, so I never need to comm a healer.

I tend to go with the friendliest player. I'm always friendly, always start with an "Evening", "Afternoon" etc. and always try to respond to questions and always end with a "Thanks everyone".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aillith

I main a healer, my partner mains a mnk. In the 2 years we have been playing together I have like 2000 comms, he has around 167.

For this reason I always degault to a random dps on my list. They just arnt given enough love.

---

This, because it's very true dps don't get enough love. But sadly, even dps don't commend each other if they did a decent job. I think after getting the cold shoulder so often, most dps just don't commend much.

I've always believed tanks and healers generally trade commends. It's up to dps to commend each other. When I mained SCH, I get 1-2 commends just for doing my job. No such easy meals with being a dps.

I would give green leaf a commend if they performed well on mechanics.

I rarely give no commend at all, because if you think about it, you lose nothing for making someone's day a little brighter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zigabar

I'm not sure why talking or glamour are such hot ways to decide a comm. Nothing about those show your performance during the run.

---

Because in 99.995% of runs there is no clear standout person who deserves a comm, either everyone was good, or everyone was silent but competent. In runs like these you don't notice anyone, however if someone has a cool name, talks lots, or has a nice glamour, they are the person who you remember on the comm screen.

Whoever says hi and bye gets comm, the quiet ones gets nothing even if they are the best player in the universe.

To whoever I feel did the best at their job. Tanks that refuse to use tank stance because they want more dps and healers that dps until the tank is almost, if not entirely dead don't qualify. Same with dps who just float around and stand in AoEs.

Most of the time, if I'm tanking, I give it to the healer and if I'm DPSing, I give it to the other DPS. But it really just depends and I actively look at that sort of thing in dungeons to see who's really performing at their best.

My first priority for commendations are people who make the run a better place for the others. It doesn't matter if they die a time or two, or whatever, if they are polite and fun to play with. And people who actually take the time to explain mechanics and such to new people. If no one stand out, I'll commend people who perform that little extra, or at the very least, people who greet and thank for the run in a more vocal way than "Hi" and "gg".

Then, if none of the above take place, I don't commend. I don't dish them out just for the sake of it.

Depending on what role I play, I generally give it either to tanks who can stance dance well, healers who heals and dps well, or if the dps puts up numbers appropriate to what their gear is. But if they have a bad attitude then I won't give it to them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ryodi

Default DPS every time. The DPS would have to be incredibly bad or a tank/healer would have to blow my mind for it to change. My reasoning for this is because as a DPS player, far too often you will see tanks and healers get most of the commendations for getting out of bed in the morning, it's not even required to actually play well. So my contribution is always reserved for the DPS players that go unrecognised for actually playing well.

---

I don't see this that much. I get as many on dps as I do on tanks and heals. lost count the number of times ive come out of an expert or someothing with all 3 commendations on my ninja.

as for giving them out. I don't really have preferences it's just little things I see along the way through a piece of content. if I see another ninja using single target attacks while I'm dropping doton and deathblossoming a pack of 6+ mobs thenunlikely to commend that ninja. if I see a brd that never sings foe then again unlikely to get commended. if I see tanks who just stand in the centre of a pack of mobs and take a beating then no commendation.

as a tank I tend to position mobs so all there aoes overlap and conals all go the same direction. as a dps I hate seeing half dozen conals in all directions making that small step do dodge a mad dash to get out of... so if the tank places mobs well so I need only take 1 step to evade all those aoes i'm quite happy.

there's a lot that influences who I give commendations to.

personally though I don't put much weight behind them. couldn't tell you my total I don't track it. but I find sometimes I can be in a really bad party as a scholar where everyone is taking so much damage that i'm really struggling for mp. the other healers dead so are a couple of dps cos they ate a mega cleave. everyone is getting hit by everything they can possibly get hit by and somehow miraculously I manage to keep the rest of the group alive and win the fight with absolutely no mp left. and then I get no commendations at all. despite pulling off a proverbial miracle.

then however I can get my fairy enter content toss up some dots. and then send a text to a friend goof around in ls/fc chat boss dead move on to next one throw up dots goof off some more. and then exit with a half dozen commends at the end of the raid. wtf????

Usually half party leaves before I can open comm window. So I just pick randomly from whoever is left.

It goes to the one who left the best impression, so it varies. As a rule, I try to comm DPS, the underappreciated heroes (at least ones that can dish out some sick damage)

-If someone is cracking jokes and has a good attitude, it will often go to them, at least if their performance was decent.
-If everyone is silent, I will give it to DPS who did the most, unless the Tank/Healer did something particularly impressive. If I am also a DPS, I will usually give it to my partner if they were good.
-If the healer is going balls to the wall on their DPS while keeping everyone up, will likely give it to them.
-Tank rotating his cooldowns well and keeping his buffs/debuffs up, may give it to them.
-Oh, a Bard that sings or a Dragoon that actually combo's Ring of Thorns are in the serious contender for getting a comm, I almost never see it in the DF (though I sometimes see BRDs singing something like Ballad when no one needs it and where Requiem would be much more effective)
-If no one did a particularly good job and were silent the whole run, I generally won't comm anyone.

I almost never give comms based on names or appearances, though I did give one to a Highlander wearing shades named Arnold Schwarzenegger purely based on that fact.

in no particular order:

As a Damage Dealer
- i give it to my co-DPS who did the most damage and made the run faster
- i give it to the healer who manages to keep the tank and the party alive in case the tank decided he wants to pull everything and tank it before the next boss room
- i give it to the tank who knows how to position the boss effectively or the mobs effectively which help ease some gimmicks/mechanics

As a Healer
- i give it to the tank who knows what his tank stances do and when to dance
- i give it to the BRD who sings foe's
- i give it to the co-healer who would dps and not just sit there and spam heals
- i give it to the best DPS if the rest of the party is bad

I don't have rules for commendation. It means i'm appreciative or supportive of that person. So if someone knew the mechanics very well, or if it was someone's obvious first time (for effort), i'll commend for caring.

If I'm not on my tank, I give it to a tank that lives up to my tanking standards and expectations, which is honestly rather high.
If you've tanked for me and gotten my comm (and somehow know who gave it to you) you should feel honoured!

Otherwise it's someone that showed great ability in using their class. This can easily not apply to a team and I do sometimes go without giving a commendation.

I give it to the friendliest one or one who can make me laugh. If I get a bunch of mutes then I give it to whoever I feel like. If the other DPS can out DPS me I give it them or if we move at an nice I'll give it to the tank or healer. Unless it's the Vault, I always comm the healer in the Vault.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clover_Blake

That's exactly why some of us will give commendations to players who are actually capable of communicating: we like encouraging that.

The thing is that the dungeon is going to be done anyway, as most of the time people will play their role correctly, so I don't mind who has the most perfect skill of them all. Everyone is still doing their job. Some are just contributing to making the roulette a nice trip, and others are treating you like business they want to get over with. Since I'm a human being and not a robot, I will never encourage the unfriendly bot behaviour.

(It's not like we're asking for much anyway; having the courtesy of saying "hi" doesn't require a huge effort, I believe *laughs*)

---

Oh, no. I very seldom comm people who cannot even be bothered to say "hi." But the scenario Knahli presented showed off a tank going above the standard rotation. A recent example I had was our tank in Weeping City holding Hallowed Ground to purposely absorb the beam phase from Ozma after Alliance B made mistakes that caused most to die. Our tank knew the chances were good a lot of damage was going to be incoming and a healer LB3 when we couldn't handle two beams plus her Hallowed basically helped save us from a 2% wipe. If I hadn't been in a party with her already, she'd have gotten my comm for the situational awareness. My experiences have been very mixed with people in Weeping City. If she were entirely silent the whole run, I consider someone else if they also played well. But at the same time, I kind of want to give her a deserved pat on the back for helping pull us out from a wipe.

My rule of thumb has been this: All other things being equal, assuming that everyone performed at a base level of competency
- Healer coms tank
- Tank coms healer
- DPS com each other

If someone has done an especially great job, or the person by this measure did an especially poor job, I'll commend someone else. But this rule of them holds up pretty well, I've found.

As a BLM as well as a new, most time I give it to healer just because I might have made them suffering additional work, for my unskilled job.
Sometimes healers are in poor condition, or I really have not made obvious mistake, or just because others are more attractive, I may consider others, such as tanks who pull steadily or players who give useful advice/encouragement to the news.
Anyway, I do not know so much about who "play well", so it's unnecessary to trust my judgement...

And one more thing, when I play the dps role (my second job is tank), I really don't care if I receive a commendation.

my comm goes like this:

- if someone say -oh a new player- and start to make retarded emotes such as /shocked, /panic, /disappointed while we haven't even started moving because we are waiting for our healer buffs ( the green leaf can be a great deceiver ), they automatically get no comm.
- If someone start to auto-attack and start to blame our healer because they didn't get heals, and the dps didn't dodge the AOE, they get no comm.
- If they healer starts to auto-heal or stay in cleric stance the first 10 mins and doesn't do a good job healing, gets no comm
- if dps start to attack while I am pulling, they get no comm.

I think the hardest times were when I got two excellent dps and a healer. I understand some people don't start to talk in the first 5 mins or so. I have done that. Sometimes, you need to warm up to the people you are running the dungeon with. I got a very quiet party until we started to kill some mobs. They didn't talk much, but by running and doing a good job, we bonded and started to talk.

I wish I could give comm to all of them. It was a tough decision, but I ended up giving the comm to the Monk because he knew when to provide his AOE skills, dodge everything, use DOTs, how to position himself according to his skills, don't stand right behind or in front of me (I got a few dps that even when I re position myself, they decided to stand in front of the mobs), and allow me to pull the mobs before going crazy and attacking everything.

I'm kind of amused that people are offended that some of us give comms based on our own arbitrary rules, when they do the same ;)
I see the concept of "healer comms tank, tank comms healer, DPS each other" again and again in this thread, and I have to ask:
How is that any fairer?
Now I'll be honest, I'm fairly greedy for comms (although I'd never ask for them directly), so I perform to the best of my ability while also being friendly, open and communicative, explaining things and all that.
If most players actually followed the concept mentioned above, I'd never get more than 1 commendation per run, and even the most horrible failing and rude player would get exactly the same amount.
Why should I bother to do my best if being a detriment to the party gets awarded the same?
How is that fair in your eyes?

If the dungeon went smoothly order of general commendation:
1) If new player(bonus) , commend new player.
2) Commend if exceptionally engaged and friendly.
3) Commend Tank if on Healer and reverse. Commend other DPS if on DPS.

If anyone has a poor attitude, I'll move on to the next person on the list. Most partys start on 3, because no new players enter the dungeon, and no one usually talks, so you can't really gauge their attitude. That's how my commendation system works.

I might add that when people straight out ask for commendations, they don't get mine. That's like sucking up to the teacher for good grades, wether you did your homework or not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Leowilde

I might add that when people straight out ask for commendations, they don't get mine.

---

This goes without saying.

I default to DPS. I play both WHM and DPS on two different servers. The server with only WHM has x 3 amount of comms than my DPS which I've played for far longer. I get tired on my SMN raising, MAIN/back up healing, DOTing and being the last person a live and getting no comms lol. It's crazy wild the amount of people who default to healer/tanks no questions asked.

Also I like people who at least say hello. Leafies are next on the list!

1. Must be a female miqote.
2. Must dresses in a hot attire.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evangela

1. Must be a female miqote.
2. Must dresses in a hot attire.

---

only if I can poke your nose

nice people always, but usually ppl don't talk so - sometimes tank, sometimes healer, but i really should do dps more often bc they don't usually get comms i think. it's just hard to pick btwn the two if you're not one of them XD. but if there's a newbie and they do well i like giving them the comm, too! it's hard to pick one person sometimes....

Always given based on performance.
If healers are actually healing, rezzing, etc.. they get a comm, it really varies though, tank dps or heals could get a comm

If no one stands out or everyone was performing top notch, I just go by the following:

If I'm tank, it goes to the healer.
If I'm healer, it goes to the tank.
If I'm dps, it goes to the other dps.

If it's an 8man, it's whoever hasn't left before I can get the comm out. ;p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Heart-of-Asia

I default to DPS. I play both WHM and DPS on two different servers. The server with only WHM has x 3 amount of comms than my DPS which I've played for far longer. I get tired on my SMN raising, MAIN/back up healing, DOTing and being the last person a live and getting no comms lol. It's crazy wild the amount of people who default to healer/tanks no questions asked.

Also I like people who at least say hello. Leafies are next on the list!

---

Funny, my smn has more comm's than my healer and even in shorter amount of time... Maybe having to raise 21 times the brd during some primal X/roulette progressions/clears and my 20hp OP heals on tanks is something people like. Who know's but not gonna ask that question :d