Being non-judgemental & helpful pays

[Etcher]

I've always been put off doing dungeons in MMOs because of the behaviour of other players to noobs. And because I came to these games late - in my 40s - I've often felt intimidated. So I've never really got beyond being a noob. I've avoided grouping mostly.

Yesterday I queued for Qarn, which I needed to do to finish my level 2 company log and level up my standing. It took over half an hour and I actually became tense waiting! It's like a phobia or something! Then when I got in the other players, well the two vocal ones, were so laidback and helpful from the start. Not a note of criticism throughout. And although two of us were noobs we cleared it fairly easily. I'm sure we wouldn't have cleared it so smoothly without the non-judgemental and helpful nature of the group. It was welcome positive experience and made me realise how much we depend on the behaviour of other players to enjoy MMOs.

tl;dr Criticising, raging and generally being a jerk is counter productive.

[Millerna]

Seeing as you're on the same server as me, if you ever need some help with a dungeon/trial/whatever, feel free to send me a tell. I quite enjoy doing dungeons with (partially) pre-made groups, and I don't mind taking time to do the dungeons. In fact, I once almost got timed out in Sastasha story mode because we kept exploring and enjoying the sights in there, we ended up having less than 5 minutes left on the final boss =)

[Tizzy_Tormentor]

I am generally helpful to new players in instances and will explain boss mechanics and strategies. They are new and would appreciate help, so I give it to them, it only seems fair.

I have been in instances where people were just so unpleasant and wanted runs over with that you would swear they couldn't stand the game. Such as one run in my EX roulette had a SMN that constantly criticized the tank for pulling one mob at a time and refused to DPS until he pulled more, which only dragged out the run, I don't see why people have to act like this to players who like to take things slow (beats the constant speed-runs you are absolutely expected to do in DF)

Criticism in itself is fine, but some players will lash at you for the more nonsensical things.

[Malevicton]

50% chance of this happening, or
50% chance of:
"Hey, standing on the glowing platform cleanses the doom debuff"
"STFU it's my sub elitist jerk!"

But yeah generally being a jerk is counterproductive.

[Sapphic]

I'm always willing to help new players in dungeons that are open for advice, have zero tolerance for those who take any advice as a personal insult.

[Zfz]

Indeed. It takes one jerk to put off many newbie players from joining dungeons. It also only take one jerk to put off many veterans from ever trying to help again.

I used to help actively but now I'll just keep my mouth shut unless explicitly asked to help due to bad experiences. It's funny and sad when obvious noobs call you an annoying noob for giving advice.

[randysquirrel]

Indeed. It takes one jerk to put off many newbie players from joining dungeons. It also only take one jerk to put off many veterans from ever trying to help again.

I used to help actively but now I'll just keep my mouth shut unless explicitly asked to help due to bad experiences. It's funny and sad when obvious noobs call you an annoying noob for giving advice.

+1
Standard response when trying to help is "I play the game my own way", then they continue to do something that makes your soul weep

[Gilraen]

I've had a few people who brushed off advice like I hadn't leveled their class before, but it's been far and few between compared to the amount of people I've ran with who were inglorious arseholes. I mean, when things go sideways I'll make jests like, "Play that funky music!" or, "Now we just need another turntable and a microphone." when a boss that shouldn't be spun around is... spun around. But that's all to be funny, too many take little missteps like that as affronts to their very beings... It's especially bad in content where you can't just smash face to wall and expect a win. Like Turn 1... yes, Turn 1. People just want to power through ADS, ignoring the mass paralysis and making life so much harder for healers. And then they pitch conniptions when Caduceus reforms and starts stomping face...

Though, my favorite bit of rejected advice is when I tell people that if they are pulling aggro they should put more time between their actions, and stop using actions every so often if it's getting bad. "I know what I'm doing."

[Skivvy]

I'm always willing to help new players in dungeons that are open for advice, have zero tolerance for those who take any advice as a personal insult.

If advice is provided in a truly helpful manner, cool, but plenty of people have a rather unique way of sharing their knowledge. For people who have been on the receiving end of a tongue lashing, it can be pretty easy to be defensive right off the bat when someone tries to help.


But yeah, patience goes a long way in this game. It's impossible not to get frustrated at times, but that is no reason to turn into a rabid banshee screeching at people for not playing to your standards.

[Arkenne]

If you got a healer/tank friend, hug them, and never let go :|

If that friend happens to be a DPS... well, just hug them the same.
Doing duns with at least one friend reduces the pressure a lot...