From the Urban Dictionary:

"PUG
Pickup Group; used commonly in WoW and other MMORPGs. Basically means a group that isn't formed by people you know; instead, it's formed up of random, possible noobs that will completely wreck whatever experience you are getting the group for."

Couldn't be stated any better.

In over a year of playing WoW, I have yet to have a good experience from a pug. I envy those of you do and have the patience to deal with them. I have never finished an instance that a pug group started. Its not worth the pain, agony and hassle.... I will just wait on the scheduled guild runs to get my gear.... I don't need the crap that bad.

Last night was just a painful reminder of why I try to avoid Pugs.... another was one night a long time ago when I think it was me and Ardamir in a 5 man Temple group. By the time we finally gave up, only he and I were left from the original group and there had been over 15 different players in the group...


Pugs..... just say No.

Since Linny lived on PUGs, I've probably run with more of them in total than I have with the guild, which is kind of scary when you consider that from around May to August I missed less than 5 guild raids in that stretch. With that in mind, here's "Silver's Guide to Surviving PUGs":

The key to a good PUG is a good leader. It's really easy if you can be that leader, but sometimes yes...you do get a bunch of morons running around you (identifying the chief moron and replacing them generally works). Most of the groups I've lead ended up being when the person with an (L) beside their name showed they had no idea how to run a group beyond /invite. Here's the funny thing, I've just started telling people what to do, and they do it. They key is to know how the instance runs, and most every ATF vet has been to these places enough to know how they work inside and out. It's a pretty standard formula, just state the obvious and people will follow you like you're Moses out of Egypt.

You'll run into a wide variety of people in PUGs, the key is to know how to handle them.

The SMACKTARD. These are the guys who have no idea what the hell their class should actually be doing in a group. You can identify them pretty readily by looking for priests in shadowform, warriors "tanking" with a 2h or dual-wield, mages AoEing large groups of elites, etc. Chances are, their guild leveled them to 60 with instance run-throughs and they've got no concept of what to do in a group. If you can identify someone as being a smacktard, it's best to give them the boot. There's no help for them until the move on to the next phase of development, actually wanting to learn.

The next phase is "the n00b." These are the folks who have a vague idea what they should be doing, but little idea how to apply it. That can be dangerous, but with proper guidance can be converted into a quasi-productive helper. These folks require a bit of extra typing and patience, but many times they do get the hang of what they're doing and remember you fondly for taking the time to help guide them through this phase. This can expand your friends list with good people for later raids, and I highly recommend taking the time on these folks. Sometimes it's hard to tell the n00bs from the smacktards, but the general lithmus test is that if you make a suggestion to a n00b, they'll try to follow it, even if clumsily. A smacktard will get upset that you dare question his/her playing ability and throw a hissy-fit.

The next group is the normal folks. These are people who know what they're doing, and do it well. You want to get as many of these people in your group as possible. It's hard to remember them sometimes because they don't cause problems.

Following on the heels of that are a group I call "the distracted"...the ones who are AFK every five seconds, or disconnect every other pull, or haven't learned yet that tab-targeting as a ranged class or a class with a pet = big no-no. They're generally too busy doing something else to pay attention to the raid. They might in other situations be normal people, but in the scope of the current PUG they're just screwing up left and right. Everyone has off days, so it's best to try and work through it. If they get really bad though, removing them from the group until such time as they can pay attention may be the only choice.

Then you have the group that annoys me the most. The "I'm special" group. They're the ones who think that because of what guild they're in, or what gear they have, or who their other characters are that they can walk on water. It's one thing to make a suggestion about how to approach a situation, it's entirely another to go "We should do it this way because that's the way raiding guilds do it". They're the ones who equate epics with skill, and can be easily identified by pulling as a cloth class and constantly yelling "Come on...GOGOGOGOGOGO". Hard to say what to do with these folks. Yes, they're annoying jackasses. At the same time, the gear they have let's them contribute a bit more...you have to weigh the annoyance level of their stupidity against the greater good of the group. Sometimes, it's best to grit your teeth and take a shot of whiskey than to boot them. However, make a note of these individuals, and make sure to not invite them in the future.

Generally speaking, folks will fall into one of those categories. There's a few more, but they're somewhat rare to encounter. If you can learn to manage them and know the instance, it's generally a simple matter to get things done as people actually WANT to be lead. They want to go on the group, perform their isolated role, get their loot and get out. They don't want to make waves, they don't want to be the raid leader (most of the time)...provide even base-line leadership and they'll follow you to the end of the world and back.

If you're not sure of how to work the instances, feel free to contact some of the ATF vets and they can give you a pity good overview (might wanna wait for a week or two after 1.10 to let them get a look at the new instances). Dane and myself (among others) have both run most of the "common" instances to death as leaders. Dane was actually the one who taught me in a vicarious way how to run a raid (back when he cared enough to pay attention). Somewhat scary to think about, but there ya go.

Yay Dane.

You can do it too Stoke. You HAVE the power! If you don't want to be like Dane, think of Baller...be like Baller... ;)

There is far too much talk of this "Baller" fellow lately... his ego must be growing huge. Ohh wait. It already is... *gumbles still about Baller sending him the shard disenchanted from what would have been my valor helm...*

Yeah, he was also none to happy with the LBRS PUG we pulled him into. lol. The poor guy died alot because I was pretty much the only one healing a group of 10. Which is just plain fucking silly. A feral healing... Anyway, he did have a sweet mace though that would make Chuck Norris have to do TWO roundhouse kicks.

That other druid fit squarely in the "smacktard" group. I do believe he was intentionally not healing Baller. That Galama hunter guy...he was more in the "n00b" category. Voladin? Total n00b. ;)