Principles to adhere to when gaming!

Hey guys, I'm just posting this for new players who may not understand what some basic principles are. I run across many people who join games and it's their first MMO ever to play. As such, they do not know some things and get offended by some people 'explaining' such things to them!

1. There are 4 basic types of characters. Tank, Healer, Caster, Melee Dmg Dealer.

a. Tank: The main 'meat shield' of the group. This is usually a fighter or warrior type of character who takes most of the damage for a group.

b. Healer: The toon responsible for healing the group.

c. Caster: The toon responsible to magical needs and heavy nuking.

d. Melee Dmg Dealer: Usually any fighter based toon that is NOT a tank.

2. The leader of the group is not necessarily the Tank, yet the Tank is traditionally supposed to fill this role. If you play a Tank type, then it is your duty to build up your leadership skills as you will lead the group through just about everything being the one who has to charge in first to take the agro. This is your job. Now if you are in a group where a Tank is not the leader, be sure to listen carefully to their instructions and still let the Tank lead the way into agro situations.

3. Healer priorities in healing should be: Self first, Tank second, Crowd Control third, all others last as mana permits. Keep in mind that last statement. Keeping yourself up and then the tank are your primary duties even if others are sacrificed in doing so. Doing this keeps the group alive and able to be resurrected and therefore continuing on through the task at hand. Healers should also recognize when to cut and run for the hills hoping to survive the run so they can come back and rez tank first and mana battery second with all others to follow.

4. Casters have many duties. Most of these are class definable and therefore it is up to you to know your class and what it's primary duties are. One of these duties is nuking, blasting, or simply blowing things up. Yet, as you nuke, nuke responsibly! This means that you simply do not unload on a mob but nuke while making sure the Tank's agro can keep up. If you are dying alot, like many casters do, it is probably your fault due to your overnuking of the target or simply nuking before the Tank has enough agro built up so that you can nuke without taking agro.

5. Melee Dmg Dealers are the melee side of a Caster. They do heavy dmg and many class defined skills. So, know your class skills and fight with the same principles that a Caster adheres to when nuking.

6. Groups, especially on hard/elite quests or chains, should stay together and not run off doing their own thing unless directed to do so by the group leader. Work as a unit guys. Know your role within that group and have your spells/skills prepared in advance for any given situation you may encounter within that adventure.

7. It is always the Tank that calls the retriet! ALWAYS!!! A good Tank will know when he can no longer survive or hold the agro and will hollar out to the group to RUN RUN RUN! It is also the DUTY of the tank to STAY AND DIE so that at least the Healer can get free to come back and rez! Is this tough? Yes it is especially with the costs of maintenance of a Tank's equipment and the repair costs involved. Still, it is his duty to do so and if you do not like this, it is a simple solution, DO NOT PLAY A TANK! If you cannot do your duty, then don't even play the toon!

8. The main priority of any group should be the goal of the group to finish the quest or adventure that they are on. Do whatever you can to ensure this goal is met. If it means dying through a set of traps to turn a switch and then lying there dead through the rest of the adventure until the rest of the group meets the goal, then that is what you do!

9. NEED BEFORE GREED! This should be a concept that everyone knows in any gaming atmosphere. What an item can sell for should never be a consideration to you when someone in your group can actually use said item for their toon they are currently playing. Offline toons are considered to be not applicable when Need B4 Greed rules are implied. The only exception to this rule is if someone plays a toon for the need of the group as opposed to another toon they would prefer AND have stipulated that if said item drops they would like it for their offline toon instead of any loot they would otherwise get for the character they are playing.

NOTE: Now in DDO, the loot goes to the individual and most of this is not needed. I would ask you to keep in mind that you may come across loot that you do not need and someone in the group does. If this is the case, and the person in need isn't a jerk, and the item in question isn't a bound item, then try and offer it to the person who could use it as an act of good will towards the group!

10. Lastly, BE NICE! You should treat other players in the same way you would want to be treated by them. In doing so, you might just make a friend or gaming partner. Just keep in mind that this is only a game and therefore a means to have fun or entertainment. If you are not achieving one of these goals, then I would ask you why you are playing the game.

Please feel free to comment on any or all of this post and possibly add things in that I have missed.

Maroj

I had a little bit of a goround with a "battlecleric" named Holygerbil last night. I kept trying to explain to him that a cleric who does not effectively heal or does not have the maximum amount of sp he can get is about as useful as a rogue that can't disable traps. Holygerbil left the guild, and it is because of me. Here's the story, not my self absolving version, mind you, but the story.

Myself and Skye were online, I was in the marketplace outside the bank toolin around. A frustrated Holygerbil posts on the guild chat that he has spent the last two hours unsuccesfully LFG. At this point I have no idea who this guy is, what kinda char he's rockin, nothin. Before I can finish typing that Skye and I would be glad to pick him up, he types out that he's a level 5 "battlecleric".
My response was "well there's your problem right there, people want the cleric to heal, not fight." At this point a back and forth ensued, with Holygerbil stating that he's the superstar of the Harbor, and me trying to explain to him that a fucking monk with a wand of cure light wounds can cart a party through the Harbor, it's not an achievement.
I further went on to explain that dumping precious stat points into str and con doesn't give a cleric more potent heals, or more sp to cast heals. It jsut makes them less effective healers. And I compounded that statement by pointing out that a cleric's base attack bonus progression is like +1 every 3 levels, what kind of a fighter is that?
The reason I pursued this conversation at all, and I'd like everyone to soak this in and remember it always, is simply that the healer is the BACKBONE of the party. The healer type in any game, on any platform, in any system, all the time, is the most important member of the team. Not the tank, not the caster, not the fuckin bard. It's the guy that restores your hp that keeps the party progressing through the mission. If you make a character that is the KEY, you must be a good one. Everyone is depending on you to not suck as a healer, your attack bonus is irrelevant because FIGHTING IS NOT YOUR JOB.
DDO is a team oriented game. TEAM. That means that every member must be able to effectively execute ONE function. Just one. The fighter doesn't spot traps, the fighter pulls aggro. The caster doesn't use a bow, the caster casts spells. Erego, the cleric cannot be a fighter, the cleric has to be a fucking cleric.
Holygerbil quit on us, but his refusal to learn shows an inability to improve, and as far as I see it this guild has more productive goals to achieve than carting stupid people through the game.
Remember that ignorance is an absence of knowledge, stupidity is the refusal to gain knowledge.

In the game, as it is in real life, those who specialize in a field do best in it. DDO is a team game, and no one is going to make an UBER TOON out of a 28 point toon. Furthermore, no one person should try to be everything to everyone.

Although the cleric's Base Attack Bonus is 3rd best in the game, behind the 3 warrior classes, the ranger and bard (who have the same BAB) there is the cleric. Your DPS means absolutely nothing to the party. By endgame you will be lucky to do much more than 50 damage per swing, while your fighter buddy is doing 150 a swing, and he's got a vorpal sword. There is no use in it. By level 10 as a cleric you can throw your mace out the window, it becomes another slot to equip buffing items.( By level 12 u will have the best mace in the game for a cleric anyway for free.)

Know your role, specialize, and play your character well and you will have no problems getting very far in this game.

We do not cart around noobs around. If you can't make it in this game, you wash out. Them's the breaks. There are difficult times and quests in the game and we are here to help you through them, but we cannot be walking anyone through anything. If you don't want to play the game for yourself you are an obligation to all who meet you and guild life is not for you.

Lastly, making disabled characters is garbage. Don't make a thief who fights. Guess what? You get assassinate later and kills instantly. Read ahead. Don't be a battle cleric, no one wants you. Don't be a Two Weapon Fighting Ranger tank wannabe, you're wearing light armor, son.

We will gain and lose many members with an open invite policy, so expect that. Know that when the brew is refined, it will be tasty indeed. Just give it time to ferment.

I will add more later, but for now this will have to do.
You did nothing wrong Dreagin, and thanks for expediting a washout.
Your sense of duty leaves me awestruck.

/salute

-Mehdik
(co-leader)

Range damagers also play a role. They're good for dealing massive amounts of physical damage using ranged weapons and would usually have the defense power of a caster class.

Range Rangers, or Bow Rangers, as it were are awesome in DDO.
Frequently, they are made into two weapon fighting tanks, only to find out they don't have the AC to support that kind of activity and they get killed all too often and all too easily.

A Bow ranger should only be a 6th man in my opinion, taking the slot of the bard (who is rare) or the 2nd caster.

In my opinion and experience I always do well with this combination:

Fighter
Warrior (Fighter,Barbarian,Paladin)
Cleric
Caster (Wizard,Sorc)
Rogue
Bard (or Bow Ranger, or 2nd caster)

Ranged Archer types would be considered Melee Dmg Dealers as they use a weapon instead of magic to do dmg...same sort of principles here! =)

That's why I said BOW RANGERS, Scar. I know they are rare like a unicorn in the forest, but they do exist. Not ALL rangers are Two Weapon Fighters. Some are Arcane Archers and as a matter of fact one killed me last night in the Wayward Lobster ( and Mordecay too for that matter ) with some kind of lightning storm arrow that did over 600 damage to me.

A Bow Ranger as your 6th man is not only a good choice, but it will make your life a lot easier as a party leader. It's like having a caster that never runs out of spell points.

Check out the replies i got on this same post on the DDO forums!

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=211555