I know this is a topic that’s been covered (and covered, and covered some more) by those more prolific then me…I figured I’d still try and exp and upon my thoughts on the LFG system, now that I’ve been using it near constantly for the last month while I try to collect Primordial Saronite. I know that I still owe readers (are there any of you really left?) that promised “gearing to raid tank” guide, but it’s still in progress.

I’ve read various different opinions on how to deal with strangers in these LFG groups, and while most groups do their thing with nary a word (besides the hellos and goodbyes, and sometimes not even that), the thing that most often seems to stir conversation is “underperformance.” There seems to be several trains of thought on how to deal with these situations. The Greedy Goblin advocates a “tell me if I suck” approach, while WoW.com’s Drama Mama’s prefers a kinder, gentler “don’t hurt their feelings” stance. Me? I’ve come to the conclusion that I fall somewhere in between.

As perhaps noted in my tweets, I’ve become a big fan of the addon, REMOVED, that, amongst its features, pops up a box at the start of groups, letting you see how “geared” your group is. Do they have gear appropriate for their spec? Is it gemmed, enchanted? Or are you looking at a hunter in spell power gear with a tanking necklace? REMOVED answers all that before a pull is even initiated, which can give you a good idea of what to expect from those you’re with. But what if someone still performs worse then their gear suggests they would? Then what? I’ll never boot someone (or encourage the booting of someone) for low performance, but I am of the mindset that it should be addressed.

As such, the tactic I’ve been using is to ask them if they’d mind a suggestion (typically in say rather than party chat, since whispers weren’t working in these new cross-server groups for awhile). I’ve yet to have someone say no, and often times, the person is a fresh 80 or someone playing a class they weren’t familiar with. I suggest other blogs I think might be helpful (like Pike’s or Rilgon’s for the struggling hunter). The last time this happened, when I was on my fledgling paladin (in a group with 3 other paladins and a hunter), the other party members also jumped in with friendly thoughts for our hunter group-mate. I believe the bulk of that group even continued to run several more dungeons after I had to leave (due to time constraints) – and I’m hopeful that the player behind the hunter benefited from being able to pick the brains of several “veteran” hunters.

Overall, I’m generally happy with the LFG system. It’s not without it’s bad quirks (like some loot abuse loopholes I’ve seen a few times now), but I really can’t complain. Without this system, I wouldn’t have been able to quickly turn around Grim into a raid-ready member of his guild, nor my hunter as a viable raid alternative.

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Be prepared…this is an all-in-one for DPS and it’s a doozy. It reflects the changes through patch 3.3, including the 4 new dungeons added since I last made gear lists. There’ll be another post for the tanky types, and it’ll be laid out similiar to this one. Due to the extreme length of these posts, I will be using cuts, so I apologize to anyone trying to read this on a feeder – you’ll have to get the whole thing on the site.

So sit back, grab some popcorn, and stay awhile.
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Those who follow me on Twitter or ever take a peek at the armory info on the sidebar have noticed an interesting development in recent days. Grim, the stalwart cow has become…a space goat? Yes…it’s true. I made the move of Grim (along with several other toons) and picked Draenei for the racial JC and the self-heal (and because I can’t stand the way humans look!).

Since I’ve moved him, I’ve run enough dungeons to replace his 4 pieces of T8 with 4 pieces of T9 as well as a new ring, and upgraded his bracers as well. The new guild (with raids led by my former raid leader – a big draw for me) had a ToC25 run on Sunday, which I participated in and got a new BS recipe from. Just barely missed out on a Trophy…but really, I was just stoked to be there. And yes, despite the fact that at the time I was only in 2T9, I was second in damage and eighth on DPS. Really can’t complain about any of that.

I’ve had a ton of experiences with the new LFG tool (on a variety of characters, including my healer), and while I generally like it, last night I had an experience that really turned my stomach. I was on my feral (kittah) druid, and ended up in a H Gundrak run with 2 people from my server (and they were in the same guild, what I thought was an RP guild), and 2 people from a guild on another server. If you saw my tweet last night with the link to WoW Jackass, you got the full monty of information, but the TL:DR version is I had a huntard in group who rolled need on inappropriate gear, including the Hemorraghing Circle. Maybe I shouldn’t be upset or surprised given that player has +int and +stam enchants (hello, n00b), but I would have at least thought her guildmate would have apologized for her behavior. Maybe I’m just expecting too much…

Beyond that frustration…I’ve been pretty happy on Alliance side, and Grim is scheduled to raid several times this next week, at least tentatively. It feels good to get back raiding again, and feels good to be under a raid leader who runs his raid like a well-oiled machine.

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