The unwritten (until now) rules of Warcraft.Follow

Just something I wrote while bored one day. Input is cool, flames will be prosecuted to the full extent of my sabatons of might.

For the newbies

When getting started, as a favour to the public as well as yourself, read the manual! It's not just for looking at the pretty night elf pictures.

What's in a name? A lot. Make a variation of a popular character's name if you want to, just be warned it doesn't do much to help you stand out from the crowd and it's very likely to be associated with bad experiences with similarly named characters.

What race should you play? What class should you play? The answer is simple: whichever one fits your style and taste. "Because they get invites" is a VERY bad reason to select a particular class.

High level help is a priviledge, not a right. High levels do not owe you anything. Surprisingly enough, they do have their own finances and affairs to take care of just as you do. Should they see fit to help you, make sure it is appreciated.

On the other hand, being high level does not make you better, it does not make your opinions more valid, it does not mean anything past the fact that you have put more time into your character. If newbie questions annoy you, simply leave them be and let someone else respond to them. Everyone had to start somewhere, even you.

Despite what some may tell you, netspeak does not make you look cool, never did. It makes you look like an uneducated moron. Your parents didn't put you through school so you could make your english teacher cry himself to sleep at night.

Choice of server, be it PvP, PvE, RP or combinations thereof is a matter of personal taste alone. You are not more skilled, more informed, more experienced, more mature or more morally pure based upon your server choice.

on that note, race or class does not dictate player quality either. There are priests who couldn't heal properly if their life depended on it, and not just yours, and there are hunters who can slip ice traps under would be adds like it was all part of the plan. Let people's actions speak for themselves.

For the questers

As someone who has quested quite thouroughly, I can assure you that 99% of quest descriptions tell you everything you need to know about it. So it is a very good idea to read it.

Don't be afraid to look for help. More people can only make a quest go faster, smoother and make it more enjoyable. This game IS online for a reason you know.

For the dungeon crawlers

Pickup groups are not the work of satan. The mind works far better when it's open don'cha know?

If you are leading an instance run, try and know the instance, tailor your party to suit the needs of it and make sure to give directions in plain english.

If you are not leading an instance run, offer advice if, and only if, you are qualified to give it. If you have never seen a particular instance before, best be silent. Opinions and information are not the same thing.

Melees, always remember, low blue bars mean it's a bad idea to pull the next group. Simple enough right?

Be considerate of other people's time. Doing an instance is a time investment. If you don't have the time, leave the spot for someone who does.

When it comes time to loot, this game has a very effective need/greed system in place to handle it, don't make your own system then look surprised when not everybody thinks it's as great an idea as you do. Always make sure to discuss rules ahead of time and do NOT ever whip out new rules just as the loot drops. Any reasonable person is going to draw the likely conclusion that you're just trying to keep things in your favour and rip them off.

On the matter of need/greed, "I can equip it" is not a valid reason to roll need. Warriors can wear robes. Need I say more?

"I 'Need' the money" is even less of an excuse. Everybody needs money, hence the greed icon.

For the wallet

The auction house and the economy in general is not broken. It's a free market and those who make money are those who use it. Someone undercutting? Buy them out and markup. Something getting overpriced? Cash in on it yourself. Popular farming spot overcamped? Think of one that's not so tapped. Economy exists in a balance. If it tips away from you, get on the other side.

Don't fool yourself, buying gold online is paying a company to play their game only to turn around and pay someone else to play said game for you. In other words: it's just a stupid thing to do. "Not enough time to farm gold" is no excuse. Many WoW players have families and/or work full time jobs. If putting in a little time here or there is that much of an issue for you, consider a less time demanding hobby.

For the PvP'er

PvP is all about the fun and thrill of competition. It is not intended to be personal, don't make it personal. It's not intended to be a license to be a jerkoff, don't be a jerkoff.

Now yes, on PvP servers there are those who don't follow the preceding rule. If someone corpse camps you, go step outside and catch a breath, let him stare at your body like a dumbass. The cruelest thing you can do to gankers is deprive them of a target. Don't walk out into the rain and then complain about getting wet if you follow me.

Class balance has not, does not, and will not ever exist simply because of the inevitable fact that all classes are different. You're just going to have to bear with. If your class is truly so inept, unplayable and not-fun, ask yourself why in the name of all that is holy are you playing it?

"We always lose because our player base are noobs" is an excuse, not a reason.

Fishing in BG is not making any statements about your disdain for your faction known. It just makes you part of the problem and thus a hypocrite. If you hate your faction that much, nobody's got a gun to your head making you play it.

And you know what? You don't have to always win to have fun at BG any more than you need a royal flush to enjoy a game of cards. You'll have much fonder memories of that great fight you had with that skilled warlock than seeing "Alliance has won" flash across your chat bar.

For the guildies

Different guilds have different rules, make sure you read them and are able and willing to comply with them. If you don't agree, leave or take it up with those in charge. Do not just break rules because you don't like them. That's not your right.

If you feel loot was distributed unjustly or you have any problem with how a raid is being handled, address the issue AFTER the raid is over. During a raid, people are busy focusing and you need to be too.

Don't suffer unjust, elitist, incompetant or self absorbed guilds. Whether or not they're successful, if they make the game not fun, they are depriving you of the sole reason to play it. It's not a good tradeoff.

A guild is a team so act like a team. If someone wins something you wanted, congratulate them and consider it one less person to compete with next time. Give any help to your guildies you can and they will be sure to do the same for you if their guild is worth it's salt.

For the role players

Yes, many role players are terrible at their trade, yes many backstories are obvious rip offs, yes many role players take it all too seriously. This does not mean that you're free to enter their servers and harrass them. It makes the rest of us look bad.

If you do choose to play RP, make the effort. Nobody's expecting prize winning material but do make the effort. It doesn't take much.

For the rest

"I'm higher level than you" or "my gear is purpler than yours" is not a valid reason why your opinion wins or to dismiss other ideas. There are many people who have hit lv.60 and beyond and still learned nothing from it. Chances are you've met many of them yourself. Just because you've seen it all doesn't mean you understand it.

Play your class to the best of your ability for the better good of whatever you are attempting to do. Do not just pick one aspect of your class and refuse to play the others because you don't like them. To do so is to play your class half assed. Hybrid classes are so named because they can fit multiple roles as the situation demands.

Never forget, no matter how much time you've put into MMORPG's, it will never make you a qualified game designer any more than watching movies makes you Spielburg. Despite what many would like to think, the idea that you're more savy about how a game should be run than an entire company that created World of Warcraft and many others is naive and absurd.

Blizzard is not out to get your class. Blizzard is still made up of human beings who do ere. But let he who has not sinned cast the first stone there shall we? And being as they made this game, there is no mistake they can make that cannot be fixed.

As far as gear goes, never forget that gear is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Would you be happy with an ashbringer you could look at but not wield? Of course not.

And gear alone will never make you a good player. Skill will always be the deciding factor and attitude will always trump all else. A skilled, well equipped player with a bad attitude is still a player nobody wants to deal with.

Always remember this rule if no other: No matter what, it's still just a game so in the end, it is he who has the most fun who wins. So don't ever forget to have fun.

Edited, Dec 23rd 2006 4:23am by Shamibell

Hah, I wish most people in WoW would read this post (as many I have encountered seemed to be unable to think and follow such simple "social" guidelines).


me not know how pointy thing works ! *shrug*

This thread has my official seal of approval.

i love it. i hope many people read it.

i think for me the most important part is remembering you're doing this for FUN

Rate up. Very good post that had me loling IRL.

This deserves a sticky.

Wow, great post!

Best. WoW. Post. Ever.

I am not surprised that it was denied. Unfortunately, not every excellent post can be stickied, or we would have 20+. I recommend that this information be incorporated in some fashion, or linked to, in the forum FAQ.

I'll post a link to it in the FAQ.

p.s. Azuarc's SS contest thread has been removed... does that leave room for another sticky? hehe

Awesome.

Very well done, rate up.