Operation: Hard Mode Explosive Conflict (8-man)
Character: Level 55 Vanguard (Tank)
So, I’d had a long day at work, gotten home and played with my kids a bit. Once I put them to bed, my wife started watching a movie and half falling asleep on the couch, so I decided I would try to get a little TOR-time in. I logged onto my level 55 Vanguard tank, and noticed almost immediately upon logging onto fleet, that a group was looking for a tank for Hard Mode Explosive Conflict. I figured, since I hadn’t completed my [WEEKLY] Classic Operations missions yet, this would be a decent way to get it done. Oh how wrong I was!
I joined the group, which was
still looking for a healer and a dps. They found their last two members, and I
went to enter the instance and had a message that the group’s
progress was further along than mine. So I checked the lockouts, and noted that
one of the dps players in the group was locked on Toth and Zorn. “Not
a big deal…” I thought to myself… “That will just make this run a little
shorter.” I said something in the chat regarding this, and the response
from the Ops leader (who was the character that was locked out) says “Yes,
I did it with my guild earlier before we quit. They are the hardest boss in
this operation, so it’s really good that I already have them
downed.”
I choked a little bit on my
tongue at that moment, and responded in the chat “Actually, Toth and Zorn are the EASIEST
boss in this operation. Just sayin….”
However, at that moment I decided
it was a good time to Inspect Achievements. That led me to a terrible
realization: 3 of the dps, and both healers had NEVER cleared Story Mode
Explosive Conflict, let alone Hard Mode. I stopped in my tracks. I mention in
the chat that I see we have quite a few people who have never done the
operation. (No response)…. I then paste into the chat, the
information for my Ventrilo server and state that I have absolutely no problem
whatsoever explaining the fights and getting the new folks through the content,
but that I would absolutely require that all of the people who were doing it
for the first time be on Ventrilo. Upon posting my vent server information, I
had a total of 5 people (including myself) join my server. One dps (the
operations leader) and both of the healers did not join, and all 3 of them were
first-timers. I mentioned the Ventrilo server a few more times, until I see
typed in chat;
Healer ‘A’: “Dude, what is your hard-on for Ventrilo?
We will be fine.”
SO… I gave up on it, and started pulling
trash and giving little brief explanations as we went.
We enter the area where Firebrand
and Stormcaller are. I explained the fight over Ventrilo to the fresh DPS that
had joined the server, and the other tank, since it was his first time tanking
it, although he had healed it many times. I then typed into the ops chat, in great
detail, EXACTLY what everyone was supposed to do. Midway through explaining the
fight via typed chat;
DPS ops leader: “That sounds really difficult, why don’t
we all just kill one of them, then we kill the other one instead of trying to
do them both at the same time.”
(It was at this moment that I
realized why this player thought that Toth & Zorn were so difficult…)
Me: “You can’t do that easily, you have to fight them
together, it really is the easiest way.”
And then I continued explaining
the fight. Until a minute later;
Hard-headed dps ops leader: “Really, I say we just kill them one by
one. Sounds like it would be a lot simpler than what you’re suggesting
we do.”
I was at a loss for words, other
than to say “If you want to try to do that at some point, be my guest, but
it’s not going to be with this team, not on my repair bill dime.”
So after explaining the fight in
great detail…. Making sure that the healer I was putting on Firebrand’s
side got a detailed explanation how to Kite/Cleanse the missiles/spikes, and
that everyone else knew very clearly that were supposed to NOT stand on the
ground, NOT AoE under the shields, and how to handle the shield phase in
general.
Genius dps ops leader: “Wait a minute… What is a
cleanse? And what does that have to do with the missiles?”
Me: “That explanation was for the healer, you don’t
have a cleanse because you are a Sentinel. The healer should know what I meant.”
/rc . . . . . . EVERYONE IS
READY!
I jump up on Stormcaller. The
other tank jumps up on Firebrand. All the dps jump up on their tanks. Firebrand’s
healer stays on the ground. Stormcaller’s healer stays on the ground. I type
quickly into the chat “You
need to get up ON the tank, NOW.”
But all he was doing, was standing there, focus-healing himself from the
massive damage he was taking from the missiles/spikes dropping from the sky on
him, since there were two people on the ground, instead of one, as I had
clearly instructed. Neither me, nor the two dps on Stormcaller received a
single heal, the healer shortly died, and I decided it was a wipe, and ran back
to the door and typed /stuck.
Rage-inducing dps ops leader: “The healers really need to keep
themselves bubbled, so they don’t take so much damage, and the tank on
Stormcaller needs to hold agro so the boss doesn’t attack the healer.”
Me: “Actually, the healer on Stormcaller needed to be standing ON the tank on that side. That was the
problem. He was taking damage he never should/would have taken if he was on the
tank.”
Patience-draining dps ops leader: “Why would he get closer to the boss? He’s
going to take more damage.”
Me: “Really? Are you asking me that? I just explained all of this,
in great detail just mere moments ago. If you guys want me to continue, I need
to have everyone on Ventrilo. Now.”
Stormcaller’s
Healer: “I don’t need to be on vent. You guys handle
the mechanics, and I will just heal.”
Me: “Gang, this fight is actually pretty easy. The next boss is
more complicated, and the last boss is even more so. I need the new folks on
Ventrilo if we are going to continue.”
Brain-damaged dps ops leader: “How hard can it really be? Let’s
just do this.”
Me: “I’m really sorry guys. I don’t
have the patience or the desire to rack up a 200k repair bill. I wish you all
the best, but I am bowing out of this one.”
I logged out of the game, turned
my computer off, and went downstairs to watch the rest of Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire with my wife.
Operation: Story Mode Scum & Villainy (8-man)
Character: Level 55 Mercenary (DPS)
Later that night, I logged on
again but this time on my level 55 Mercenary. I immediately saw on Fleet that
someone was looking for DPS for Story Mode Scum & Villainy, so I answered
the call. I joined, we started a fresh run. One-shotted every boss and we were
done in around 90 minutes.
Proof that PuG’ing is gambling.
Proof that PuG’ing is gambling.
Maybe you just suck at explaining fights (.)(.)
ReplyDeleteYeah... That is probably the issue.
ReplyDeleteI blame you for quitting the game, Trobbit.
Reading your stories and having many similar experiences... I just can't bring myself to pug much anymore unless I'm with at least 3 or 4 other people I know are legit.
ReplyDeleteI've had so many of the same issues, explained fights, and still been called stupid/bad for things like "not tanking the droid" in Cademimu and he freezes the heals and dps.
Every once in awhile you get that nice, clean pug where people know what they're doing but usually at best it's a mixed bag capable of only clearing a few bosses.
- bro (Jedi Covenant)