Guild Wars 2

Please bear with my English.

I’ve been doing level 80 exp dungeons, AC in particular and I’ve come to like more people who are somewhat inexperienced than the no-nonsense speed runners.

My experience with the somewhat inexperienced were rather enjoyable, despite a few repeated and unneccessary deaths here and there. Yesterday I was in such a group, I explained some of the encounters and the stuff I learned from running the dungeons many times before. We talked, joked and the inexperienced 80s (and some lower levels) died a lot, but the process of explaining stuff to them, all the talking and watching them listen and learn were pretty heart-warming for me. It took longer to finish some encounters, but we were lol-ing all the way to the end. When we finished and they go “thanks for everything”, I felt it was all worth it.

Today I joined a no-nonsense level 80 speed run group. The group filled up fast, but my “hello” was ignored, twice. The group just kept moving forward with a dead silence hanging over us. I felt like if I said anything I’m just going to be ignored again. Through the entire dungeon the only time someone said anything was at Kholer. One guy was running off so another one just uttered “Kholer”. Then it was dead silence all through to the end, and everyone just left without saying thanks or goodbye. I was in a sort of a daze really.

I guess I’m done with speed run, 80 exotics only, must-know-what-you’re-doing type of groups for me.

I love playing in pugs with low levels, i purposely ask for sub 80 players. Pugging with level 80 snobs is just dull, every time i get lower level players its a new experience, i find new ways for an event to get haywire, leaving me with more experience on how to deal with those situations in the future.

I love playing with those “level 80 snobs” those “elitist no-nonsense speed run groups”

Not only does the run go faster but I find most of the players are friendly and we’ll have interesting conversations. In fact it’s more likely since there’s less frustration from dying, wiping, and taking forever.

I am with OP, I love pugs where folks get along, and would rather run fractals like that and die 100 times, than be stuck with elites or a goup that plays like the game is a job. I have a job. TWO of them, I come into the game to have a good time.

Im the same way this is also why i like running with my guild most of the time. We are all good and can often just smash through the content but none of us are really that focused on it and if we end up pugging it in a group of new players (or helping out new guildys) its all about talking and jokeing and haveing a good time.

( that said new dungeons and such we get together with our favored guildys and its seruis business :P)

I purposely avoid ‘speed run’ groups because of this. While I do like to finish dungeons in a manageable and quick amount of time, I’d rather have a group that is friendly than one that accepts no failure.
TBH, there’s no real way to tell the difference between the two in a LFG post. A good bet is going with a guild, because they’ll be friendly with each other, and kind of just accept your skill level no matter what.
Story time: I just did a couple of SE runs with a pug, two guildies and three randoms. Path 3 we did alright, one of the guildies died a couple times on the bridge of fire and spiders, but we eventually finished it in a good time. Path 1 was horrible, we died at least enough times to fully repair, but we all stuck with it for maybe an hour. While I could tell we all were experienced, the the team mix wasn’t prime for the dungeon, so we struggled. THere wasn’t any blaming or animosity (except for the endless spawns, that part was a little frustrating), and in the end, we made it with the same group we started with.
I wish there was an easier way to decipher the friendly groups from the one strike you’re out, but it’s just a gamble :/

There are nice people, there are jerks. Only you get to decide if you’re having more fun playing faster with jerks, or slower with nice people.

For me, the friends I’ve made online have lasted through many, many different games.

Speed runs are awful, It’s like a 5 person one night stand, everyone looks at each other with judgmental eyes and cannot wait to get it over and done with. Majority of the time the people who I’ve seen do speed runs, when I do them, want speed run people to carry them because they’re bad themselves.

Cloud.7613:

Speed runs are awful, It’s like a 5 person one night stand, everyone looks at each other with judgmental eyes and cannot wait to get it over and done with. Majority of the time the people who I’ve seen do speed runs, when I do them, want speed run people to carry them because they’re bad themselves.

That’s a completely wrong generalization.

That’s like if I said people who don’t do speed runs are bumbling idiots that spend 2 hours and 1 gold in repairs to do one path of AC explore.

I still prefer speed runs and people who knew what they are doing – chatty or no-chatty.

I don’t mind having newbies on-board, I don’t mind teaching them, hell, I talk a lot on party (even died while having a kitten chat), but as one PUG member expressed: Time is money.

When you see a “lfg <dungeon> fast run <blah blah elitist requirement>” – those players are NOT PURPOSELY looking for friends/chatmates/one night standers. Those are looking to make money/collect dungeon tokens. And once again, “Time is money”.

So either live with it, or create your own group.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

Cloud.7613:

Speed runs are awful, It’s like a 5 person one night stand, everyone looks at each other with judgmental eyes and cannot wait to get it over and done with. Majority of the time the people who I’ve seen do speed runs, when I do them, want speed run people to carry them because they’re bad themselves.

That’s a completely wrong generalization.

That’s like if I said people who don’t do speed runs are bumbling idiots that spend 2 hours and 1 gold in repairs to do one path of AC explore.

My opinion is my opinion, thank you.

The one that annoys me most if the ‘run past everything’ groups. All mobs inside drop yellows and most drop items that make coin.

People seem to forget why they are trying to kill stuff in the first place

Raptaur.2146:

The one that annoys me most if the ‘run past everything’ groups. All mobs inside drop yellows and most drop items that make coin.

People seem to forget why they are trying to kill stuff in the first place

Nope. If they actually guarantee yellow+ drops, people will kill them and ANET will soon nerf them. People skip when it’s not efficient. The extra 30 minutes spent killing things could very well be used to do another run.

Mouhappai.5406:

Today I joined a no-nonsense level 80 speed run group. The group filled up fast, but my “hello” was ignored, twice. The group just kept moving forward with a dead silence hanging over us. I felt like if I said anything I’m just going to be ignored again. Through the entire dungeon the only time someone said anything was at Kholer. One guy was running off so another one just uttered “Kholer”. Then it was dead silence all through to the end, and everyone just left without saying thanks or goodbye. I was in a sort of a daze really.

That is the expectation and convenience of a speed-run group.

If you are looking for meaningful interaction with a dungeon group, then these are the wrong types of groups for you to join in the first place. People join speed-runs expect to be able to run on auto-pilot and do other stuff while running dungeon without having to interact with PuGs. The goal of a speed-run group is to get through the dungeon as quickly as possible, completely different from that of a learning group.

Speed clears were one of my least favourite things about GW1, especially when it got to be the norm for some places and it was virtually impossible to find a party to do it any other way.

It was especially frustrating for me with things like UWSC where each person only does one specific part and then just collects the quest rewards for everything else. I could never seem to get people to understand that I wanted to actually play through the content, not just be rewarded ASAP for stuff other people had done.

In the end I did both FoW and UW with heroes instead. Which isn’t what I would have chosen but seemed to be the only way to do it.

Danikat.8537:

I could never seem to get people to understand that I wanted to actually play through the content, not just be rewarded ASAP for stuff other people had done.

The problem with this is that you are asking 4 other people with different goal in mind to make a sacrifice for 1 person. It’s bound to turn out ugly. People do understand when you want to take the scenic route and see the content. They are just as selfish as you are.

DancingPenguins.9875:

Danikat.8537:

I could never seem to get people to understand that I wanted to actually play through the content, not just be rewarded ASAP for stuff other people had done.

The problem with this is that you are asking 4 other people with different goal in mind to make a sacrifice for 1 person. It’s bound to turn out ugly. People do understand when you want to take the scenic route and see the content. They are just as selfish as you are.

Thing is I wasn’t trying to join a speed clear group and then asking them to change their entire game-plan for me. I was standing there trying to find like-minded people to form a group of our own to do it. And instead I kept getting whispers from people insisting I should want to do it their way because, in their mind, the only reason to do it was to get the reward at the end so the only valid way to do it was as quickly as possible.

I never asked them to join my group, if they weren’t interested that’s fine by me. But since they asked I tried to explain my perspective but none of them ever seemed to accept that there could be any appeal in actually playing the game. Only in being rewarded at the end of it.

Danikat.8537:

DancingPenguins.9875:

Danikat.8537:

I could never seem to get people to understand that I wanted to actually play through the content, not just be rewarded ASAP for stuff other people had done.

The problem with this is that you are asking 4 other people with different goal in mind to make a sacrifice for 1 person. It’s bound to turn out ugly. People do understand when you want to take the scenic route and see the content. They are just as selfish as you are.

none of them ever seemed to accept that there could be any appeal in actually playing the game. Only in being rewarded at the end of it.

That is pretty much the gist of MMO. Reward for the sake of reward to get more reward.

DancingPenguins.9875:

Raptaur.2146:

The one that annoys me most if the ‘run past everything’ groups. All mobs inside drop yellows and most drop items that make coin.

People seem to forget why they are trying to kill stuff in the first place

Nope. If they actually guarantee yellow+ drops, people will kill them and ANET will soon nerf them. People skip when it’s not efficient. The extra 30 minutes spent killing things could very well be used to do another run.

In most speed runs I’ve gotten blues and greens, while in normal runs I managed to earn 2G due to lodestone drops. The enemies in dungeons and fractals do have a high chance of dropping yellows and valuable items, by skipping them you’re exchanging what could have been your loot for time. I suppose it’s a preference. I prefer expensive loot.

To OP – yeah I know what you mean. On LFG sites and on the map chat I tend to purposively state that I’m searching for friendly people and no speed runners

I’ve found that almost everytime I do a speed run its usually using a terrain exploit to glitch mobs so I’m sure this type of content exploit happens far more than not so thats why I’ve ceased to do them along with the type of person that usually do speed runs are generally the type of people I detest.

i’m with the OP on this… lvl 80 with my main but if i am in the area and someone is looking for people to head into a dungeon (story, exploration, couldn’t care less) and i have the time, i jump in… and usually i’m the one making the wiseass comments while sniping enemies and letting my pet aid the melee folks (or even when locked in melee/reviving myself)

i have been to a few speed runs and it felt awkward

Mirta.5029:

DancingPenguins.9875:

Raptaur.2146:

The one that annoys me most if the ‘run past everything’ groups. All mobs inside drop yellows and most drop items that make coin.

People seem to forget why they are trying to kill stuff in the first place

Nope. If they actually guarantee yellow+ drops, people will kill them and ANET will soon nerf them. People skip when it’s not efficient. The extra 30 minutes spent killing things could very well be used to do another run.

In most speed runs I’ve gotten blues and greens, while in normal runs I managed to earn 2G due to lodestone drops. The enemies in dungeons and fractals do have a high chance of dropping yellows and valuable items, by skipping them you’re exchanging what could have been your loot for time. I suppose it’s a preference. I prefer expensive loot.

That one time you got a lodestone drop doesn’t justify killing every mob every time.

The simple fact of the matter is, if killing mobs was worth it, people would do it. Plain and simple. If killing mobs was worth the time spent, people would kill mobs.

Chuo.4238:

There are nice people, there are jerks. Only you get to decide if you’re having more fun playing faster with jerks, or slower with nice people.

Why do you call someone who doesn’t want to prolong a speed run with some meaningless kitten-chatting, a jerk?

#

I don’t agree with the OP. You criticize a group of players but don’t really try to understand them. There are different, perhaps better ways of socializing with other people than chatting while doing a dungeon speed run. When these players play a game, they actually want to play it – read, while in a dungeon, a fractal or WvW borderlands, they want to do a dungeon, a fractal or fight. If they want a chat, they join a guild TS, hang in LA, use fb or meet someone IRL. They may have a more serious, professional, effort-and-reward approach to this game, but is this a reason to call them elitist snobs or jerks?

tl;dr - group up with people who share your playstyle.

Konrad.9587:

Chuo.4238:

There are nice people, there are jerks. Only you get to decide if you’re having more fun playing faster with jerks, or slower with nice people.

Why do you call someone who doesn’t want to prolong a speed run with some meaningless kitten-chatting, a jerk?

#

I don’t agree with the OP. You criticize a group of players but don’t really try to understand them. There are different, perhaps better ways of socializing with other people than chatting while doing a dungeon speed run. When these players play a game, they actually want to play it – read, while in a dungeon, a fractal or WvW borderlands, they want to do a dungeon, a fractal or fight. If they want a chat, they join a guild TS, hang in LA, use fb or meet someone IRL. They may have a more serious, professional, effort-and-reward approach to this game, but is this a reason to call them elitist snobs or jerks?

tl;dr - group up with people who share your playstyle.

Honestly there’s a HUGE amount of disdain here for everyone who wants to take and efficient and methodical approach to stuff.

Personally I think it’s jealousy. People get jealous of others because they do runs faster, and therefore get gear faster and have more spending money.

Really there’s a stereotype here that if you ever skip a mob or ask for people to have appropriate gear or want to run with people who are experienced, then you’re obviously a stuck-up elitist kitten. It’s a disturbing trend that shows that a vocal portion of the player base feels like anyone who doesn’t play the game they feel it should be played is a terrible person.

Why can’t you have both? There are plenty of groups that intend on speeding through dungeon content but are also very friendly.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

Mirta.5029:

DancingPenguins.9875:

Raptaur.2146:

The one that annoys me most if the ‘run past everything’ groups. All mobs inside drop yellows and most drop items that make coin.

People seem to forget why they are trying to kill stuff in the first place

Nope. If they actually guarantee yellow+ drops, people will kill them and ANET will soon nerf them. People skip when it’s not efficient. The extra 30 minutes spent killing things could very well be used to do another run.

In most speed runs I’ve gotten blues and greens, while in normal runs I managed to earn 2G due to lodestone drops. The enemies in dungeons and fractals do have a high chance of dropping yellows and valuable items, by skipping them you’re exchanging what could have been your loot for time. I suppose it’s a preference. I prefer expensive loot.

That one time you got a lodestone drop doesn’t justify killing every mob every time.

The simple fact of the matter is, if killing mobs was worth it, people would do it. Plain and simple. If killing mobs was worth the time spent, people would kill mobs.

it’s not once, it’s literally every time I do a normal run. A few yellows or a lodestone. Your chance for getting yellows in a dungeon is something like 5 to 10%. You’re missing out on a lot of loot.
Also a lot of people do do that. There’s reasons to speedrun (you just want the ticket gear) and there’s reasons to do a normal run (you want karma, loot and money).

I perfer my dungeon runs to be fun dont need to blast thru everyting .

My wish is this game would get an in game voice chat.

Thing is, a real no nonsense speed runners should have proper communication. I greatly dislike pugs who join and don’t say anything even though they’re being directly spoken to. Communication is so important for a successful pug. I for one used (haven’t lately because busy) to run these kind of speed gold runs but I try to be perfectly friendly as possible. Usually, when someone joins I say hey, hello or sup. This is like my first test, usually if I get a response from the majority of the group, then it’s usually a good indication that this group is heading in the right direction. Bad players are not the ones who are inexperienced. It is the ones who don’t listen and worst of all, ignore communication completely.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

I love playing with those “level 80 snobs” those “elitist no-nonsense speed run groups”

Not only does the run go faster but I find most of the players are friendly and we’ll have interesting conversations. In fact it’s more likely since there’s less frustration from dying, wiping, and taking forever.

That doesnt make one bit of sense. He was refering to quiet, unfriendly speedruns pretty much and you describe something completely different. Thus your runs are not “level 80 snobs” or “elitist no-nonsense speed run group”. They might be speedrun groups, but they are not no-nonsense if you find friendly people to converse with during the run.

Chatting = nonsense to those people.

Personally I hate the skipping groups, maybe not so much in regular dungeons, but in fractals they are a pain in the kitten Why skip to shave off 2 minutes on the run, when those two extra minutes can net you an extra 5g or more. Thats not efficient one bit, its counter productive.