Project Lore

When good PUGs go bad.

Up until recently, my participation in pick-up group (PUG) raids has been non-existent. However, I recently changed my death knight's spec to Blood to take advantage of the vast amounts of armor penetration (ArP) found on the gear in Ulduar. I was an Unholy death knight previously and cared little for ArP, but as Blood some of the items I passed up when we did Naxxramas and Malygos are suddenly huge upgrades.

My guild exclusively raids heroic Ulduar at this point, so if I want to get my hands on items like Grim Toll or Melancholy Sabatons, I need to join PUGs. So over the past few weeks I've joined probably around a half dozen PUGs. While none of the PUGs I joined were disastrous, they certainly left much to be desired. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the top five people to /boggle at that I met through my recent pugging endeavors.

#5 The Undergeared Complainer

During one of my heroic Naxxramas PUGs, one of the women in the raid kept keying into vent to talk about all of the loot upgrades she needed. Every time we downed a boss, she would be very vocal about what item she wanted and would swear over vent when she lost the rolls.

After losing her second roll she spoke over vent and complained that she couldn't believe people were rolling on these items when they already had purples equipped. That's when I inspected her. She was mostly in greens and a few blues. Her gear was so bad that the 24 other people in the raid were literally carrying her through the instance. She still had the gall to complain about other people rolling on gear. I believe I watched her lose every item she rolled on that night. Karmarific!

#4 The Worst Ninja

You knew there had to be a ninja story in here somewhere right? Well this one still has me baffled. A priest in our Naxxramas pug rolled need on an epic trash drop. It was bind on pick-up and it was a leather item, which of course a priest cannot equip. We asked him if he rolled need on accident and without a reply, he dropped offline and logged out of vent. He never returned.

So this was either an accident or he is the world's worst ninja. If he meant to do it, what did he gain? He can't equip it and he can't give it to another player. At best he was an enchanter and could get a shard out of the gear. Otherwise, he can sell it to a vendor? What a score that was!

More than likely, it was an honest mistake, which is fine. He should have, however, admitted it and then he could have put in a ticket to have the item transferred to someone who could use it.

#3 The Backseat Raid Leader

This is the guy who isn't leading the raid, but wants to be. It started off innocently enough. He was a hunter and used vent to coordinate misdirects with the other hunters. Fine. Slowly he started telling people where to stand and how his guild usually does this boss. The raid leader didn't stop him and by the end of the raid he was talking almost non-stop on vent, giving people advice about bosses we've all been killing for over half of a year. The part that really got on my nerves was he used the term "skaters" and "skating" when I believe most of the MMO population calls it "kiters" and "kiting".

#2 The DPS Diva

I was in a PUG in the Vault and we were about to face Emalon. Right before the pull, one of the warlocks interrupts the raid leader on vent and states that he needs someone assigned to help him mitigate his threat. He then goes on to explain that his DPS and threat are so high that even after he soul shatters he needs a paladin to cast salvation on him. He asks the raid leader which paladin will be assigned to him. Everyone was in shock. I couldn't believe someone would make 24 other people wait for this self-serving ego stroking session. So I sat up straight, moved my drink and snacks away from my playing area and put all of my focus on the encounter. I beat the diva in damage done and DPS for the fight. "IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!"

#1 The Lying Leader

So as I mentioned earlier, one of the items I'm trying to procure in these PUGs is the Grim Toll trinket, which drops off of four different bosses in heroic Naxxramas. That's the only item I need in the entire instance and the sole reason for me to raid there. I joined a PUG with one of my guildmates and away we went.

The loot rules were laid out to us in advance and they seemed very standard. Then my heart skipped a beat as the raid leader said something about wanting the Grim Toll. I got nervous and before getting saved to the instance I sent him a whisper. I asked him if the Grim Toll was reserved for someone or would we all be allowed to roll on it equally. He replied that everyone who could use it would be allowed to roll. Satisfied I zoned in and we began killing bosses.

We got to Maexxna and sure enough, she dropped the Grim Toll. The raid leader asked everyone to roll and after losing says over vent that he's wanted that trinket for a long time and was going to take it for himself. Now I had lost the roll to someone else anyway, so that softened the blow a bit, but he downright lied to me. I was really angry.

I told some of my guild members what had just happened and they all told me I should drop the raid. The issue was, I was already saved to his instance now and the trinket did have a chance of dropping off three other bosses. So it was either drop and have no chance at the trinket or stay and pray. So I stayed.

Well a few bosses later, the raid leader cheated my guildmate out of a piece of loot that she had won fair and square. He altered the loot rules that he posted in chat at the beginning of the raid. Shortly after, I left the raid.

I shouldn't be shocked. I know that kind of stuff happens all of the time. I guess I'm just used to raiding in the safety of a mature guild where everyone is happy when anyone in the guild receives a piece of loot. I can't stand liars and cheaters and that raid leader was both. Well in any case, I'm still searching for my Grim Toll and Melancholy Sabatons.

Do you have any horror stories to share from your PUGs? Have you met any strange or amusing players that you would like to add to my list?