Things to think about before you call someone "Bad"

[Gemina]

Again, a lot of people aren’t talking about content like dungeons. We’re talking about high-end content where knowing your rotation is absolutely necessary (and, honestly, people should know their rotations in dungeons as well).

Neither am I. When discussing matters such as this one, I factor in all content because I operate under the notion that everyone should bring their A game no matter the content. My expectations of our playerbase does not decrease with dungeons, nor does it increase with high-end content. If you are level 70, I expect you to know your job, period. If someone has to explain to you that you don't AoE on single target at level 70, you don't belong in anything other than solo content. I think we agree here.

It is far more toxic for a SAM to join in on an Extreme farm party and proceed to use their AOE combos or spam Enpi on a boss as opposed to single-target because “lol this is how I want to play these animations look cooler” compared to the person who would say “Hey, please use your single-target rotation on a boss because it’s more effective and deals more damage”.

But that's a clear case of trolling. Of course this is more toxic. That wasn't the example I provided though. What I spoke of is a player deliberately bringing a run down because a player is not performing according to their own expectations. Whether these expectations were set by the meta, personal fflogs, unrealistic, or even just the general playstyle of a certain job what's going on is the player feels like they are being attacked, and that is why they go on the defensive and lash out.

There seems to be fine lines we walk when it comes to this topic. I say this because, I am going to see that a player trying to help has good intentions, and I am also going to know when an underperforming player is still trying. I carry another expectation, and that is experienced players should be able to tell the difference between this and toxic players who do not deserve their help, and toxic players trying to cram playstyles down another person's throat. Neither are welcome in any of my parties.

I'll give some examples:

"Hey Gem... did you know if you open with DA+Dark Passenger, you don't really need to be in Grit? You have Blackest Knight now, you can toss the safety net."

"Hey DRK... WTF is up with you being in Grit full time? Any tank worth their salt knows you don't stay in tank stance."

While I am not saying that any of you in particular use the latter, I will say that the latter I usually this "constructive criticism" that I see being tossed around. If anyone wants to tell me to grow thicker skin, I will respond with my thin skin makes it easier for me to smell BS.