Thread: Proper Ettiquet, Kindness, and Helpfulness. Opinions and Suggestions.

So, I was doing some questing around Gladden today when someone did something that annoyed me, and I started thinking of things that had bugged me at one point or another. Some were minor, some were common courtesy that wasn't adhered to. I felt I'd make a list of things that I felt could contribute to good etiquette and respect towards other players.

Resource Gathering

• More often than not, an enemy is very near to a resource. On several occasions, I have attacked an enemy, only to have someone else come in and gather the wood/ore while I fought. This is downright rude, in my opinion. I know you do not know if they want/need said resource, but at the very least, wait until the person finishes their fight. If they ignore it, you're free to take it.
• There have been many instances where I've spotted a high leveled person for the area (A lvl 40 in the Staddle area, for example) gathering resources that are likely unneeded (presumably for an alt), and use the fact that enemies not attacking leave them free to gather said resources while people in the area have to fight enemies to get to it. I believe that actively using a high level to farm resources while others are around is rather rude. If no one is around, I don't really have a problem with it, but chances are that the average leveled person in that area needs the resources in that area more than you.

Combat

• I tend to check other players out if I see them fleeing from an enemy. A few times, I have saved a player from death by killing an enemy chasing them down. This isn't something I want to strictly enforce, but I would like to encourage others to just check on fellow players in the immediate area once in a while to make sure they're alright. A good example is Garth Argawen where it's easy to have a second enemy attack you from another direction that you weren't expecting. If you see someone in danger of being "flanked", spawned on top of, or incapacitated, help them out if it looks like they'll need assistance (like less than 10% health when the enemy has over 50%). the worst that can happen is they get upset because you made them get slightly less XP. The best is you save them from 10 minutes of Dread, and/or a one to two hour revive cool-down, along with a thanks.
• Ask if someone needs help on protection quests (quests where you must guide an NPC to safety). These can be overwhelming for someone who is at the same or below level. If you see someone hanging out near one of these NPCs (denoted by a colored emblem beneath), just ask if they need help clearing enemies. Many of us, myself included, are not inclined to ask for help, because we do not want to interfere with your game time. I find it best just to deal with one or two enemies per enemy wave (or just ones that are a direct threat to the NPC or player), and not just doing everything for them.

Fellowship, Kinship, Friendship and Other Types Of Requests

• If you want someone to fellowship with you, ask for help and say what with. We can't read your mind. Don't just constantly spam the request button or you will be set to ignore.
• Please do not send requests while a player is in combat, or shopping. Having these popup while we're busy is not only annoying and deadly, but many times leads to accidental acceptance of your requests.
• Nothing bugs me more than getting constant requests to Fellowship, Kinship, or what-not. If I've declined your request once or twice, I'm not interested. Spamming requests to the same person is just rude.

Traveling

• As a hunter, I tend to announce that I'm heading for a certain area, and that if anyone needs a lift, I'll be happy to take them with me. This isn't something I want to strictly enforce, but hey, if you're heading there anyways, it won't hurt to let others know they can get a ride there if they need it. Whether you charge for it or not is up to you, though I personally wouldn't.
• To go with the above, occasionally I see people requesting travel to a certain destination. If you have the ability to take others somewhere, and you're not busy, spend thirty seconds to get them there and travel back. This is a time when I think it's alright to charge, as you weren't planning to go to that location, and would like reimbursement for travel rations.

Selling & Buying

• This may just be a Gladden specific problem, but the auction house is pretty sparse on items such as Recipe Scroll Cases or Recipes in general. Don't be so quick to NPC these items as they are highly useful and hard to come by. If you've got a good sized stack of something that's not exactly common after a long bout of questing, post it in the auction house or head to town and announce in Trade Chat you have said items.

I'm sure some folks will disagree with my opinion on one or more of the above matters, but I just wanted to put it out there, and hopefully, more people will add other things that they'd like to see.

Hrmm... could a mod fix my spelling? I mispelled Etiquette.

These should pop up as a notification on loading screen (instead of the "Guardian Spotlight" or something that doesn't serve any informative purpose).. It is hard to get some people to grow up and take notice, but 'dos and donts' like these should be reminded to players so at least they cant claim ignorance

Without a doubt the most annoying of these is the resource gathering.. time and time again I am battling next to ore node only to have some player ride up on their pony, scab the ore and ride off..

Another thing is when you are trying to kill 'x' mobs for a quest, or you have to kill a named mob.. if you want to have your level capped buddy come through and help you then fine, but if you can clearly see someone is trying to do it themselves maybe ask them if they would either like help, or whether they want to join your fellowship so you all get the kill..

I think most "rude" people are kids that want something, but lack the etiquette skills to get it. It's a matter of social development (that some adults lack too). It's wasted energy to let it bother you because it will always be there.

In MMO's, everyone is on "equal footing" and there are no "real" consequences to our actions if those actions are not enough to break the Code of Conduct. People will troll, steal nodes, pull npc's on other groups, blame others for there mistakes, etc. because they can. Policing etiquette is only wishful thinking. It's like trying to enforce "swimming pool rules" with out life-gaurds. You can try but expect disappointment. The ignore option is about the only way to go for most cases, unfortunately.

PS> When it comes to helping people in trouble (sometimes) I let it play out. People learn more by there mistakes. Maybe getting 10 minutes of dread will teach them how to approach their goal differently, which is progress. Also, getting out of tight spots is a good way to learn the class you're playing, I think. Is it rude of me? Maybe. But it's for a good cause.

I'm not saying it gets to me that badly, just that it's a few things I've seen or haven't seen that I would personally like to see changed. I know the world of online gaming, particularly MMOs, usually doesn't bother with etiquette or kindness to your fellow player (ganking, TKing, KSing, etc.). More often than not, it's an every-man-for-himself mentality.

I just felt better putting it out there. If it makes anyone think about it and even change the way they do some things, I think it helped a little.

Really annoying when I am trying to finish my "pathetic" level 45ish quest and some idiot who is a horse (level 75) spawns level 75 creatures, kills one or two then runs off leaving me to die within one or two blows, especially when I am a good distance away from a regen point.

[*]There have been many instances where I've spotted a high leveled person for the area (A lvl 40 in the Staddle area, for example) gathering resources that are likely unneeded (presumably for an alt), and use the fact that enemies not attacking leave them free to gather said resources while people in the area have to fight enemies to get to it. I believe that actively using a high level to farm resources while others are around is rather rude. If no one is around, I don't really have a problem with it, but chances are that the average leveled person in that area needs the resources in that area more than you.[/LIST]
I just had to address this as I'm not sure if I'm one of those said "high leveled person" spotted gathering resources. My level 40-ish main is an Explorer--she can gather wood, ore, and plants. I usually hang around Bree, so the closest place to gather quick "lower level" resources is Midgewater Marshes. Most of the time I am there, I don't see anybody even questing in that area, let alone harvesting nodes. Copper is also the only source for copper salts, one of the ingredients of my favorite dyes, Rivendell Green (which is a Master level scholar recipe). All ingredients get passed on to friends who need them (I keep copper salts and flax fibres); none of it gets vendored. Besides, it regens pretty quickly, and if I see anybody harvesting (which is extremely rare these days, as it seems some folks I run into don't see the point of crafting or taking time to gather resources), I move along, far enough that I don't interfere with their harvesting.

I gather resources in lower level areas, partly because I needed them for my main, alts and my friends and family who play and wish to further their crafting skills. It's annoying when someone beats you to it, but it doesn't take too long to find more resources on horse/goatback. I sort of enjoy the race to the next resource between another person and myself, it can be a fun thing.

Originally Posted by Katerica

[*]There have been many instances where I've spotted a high leveled person for the area (A lvl 40 in the Staddle area, for example) gathering resources that are likely unneeded (presumably for an alt), and use the fact that enemies not attacking leave them free to gather said resources while people in the area have to fight enemies to get to it. I believe that actively using a high level to farm resources while others are around is rather rude. If no one is around, I don't really have a problem with it, but chances are that the average leveled person in that area needs the resources in that area more than you.[/LIST]

I just had to address this as I'm not sure if I'm one of those said "high leveled person" spotted gathering resources. My level 40-ish main is an Explorer--she can gather wood, ore, and plants. I usually hang around Bree, so the closest place to gather quick "lower level" resources is Midgewater Marshes. Most of the time I am there, I don't see anybody even questing in that area, let alone harvesting nodes. Copper is also the only source for copper salts, one of the ingredients of my favorite dyes, Rivendell Green (which is a Master level scholar recipe). All ingredients get passed on to friends who need them (I keep copper salts and flax fibres); none of it gets vendored. Besides, it regens pretty quickly, and if I see anybody harvesting (which is extremely rare these days, as it seems some folks I run into don't see the point of crafting or taking time to gather resources), I move along, far enough that I don't interfere with their harvesting.

As I said, if no one is around it doesn't bother me, as who's around to care? Even I farm areas for stuff the character doesn't need. Rep items, resources, etc. are all things I do, at times, go into low level areas for. It's when there are quite a few folks in the area questing and what-not, and fighting to reach these resource deposits, and you have a level 40 who doesn't have to worry about being attacked just running from ore to branch to ore in that area as they respawn that I was speaking out against.

If people do come in the area when I'm farming rep items or something, I'll ask them if they need me to hang back so that they can complete a quest they're working on, and I have no problem doing it. If people are already there, I usually tend to go off and do something else productive, and check back later.

It's like when I was gathering Reputation items in Haudh Iarchith for a giveaway the other day. I got a good hour and a half of non-stop farming in before some at-level folks came in. I just left cuz I figured I spent enough time there, and that I didn't need to hinder their progress.

But I've also been on the receiving end of a high level guy coming into an area to deed run while I was attempting to finish a quest or three in the same area, and just one shotting everything, leaving a couple enemies for me to whittle away at the kill count needed, or items gathered.