So, as I mentioned, I recently returned to playing WoW and, as I may not have noted, things have changed a lot in 7 months. Unfortunately, some of the less enjoyable things have not changed.

You probably didn't read my Final Fantasy XI review, but in it, I slammed several players for being elitists due to the fact that they felt that, because FFXI was full of fail, people who played better-designed games were not as good as them.

Fast forward to yesterday. A friend asked me if I would tank 25-man Vault of Archavon. Now, I am an experienced Burning Crusade raider, but I have only been drug (kicking and screaming) into one or two Naxxramas raids (10- and 25-man) and one 10-man Vault of Archavon since the release of Wrath of the Lich King. This was all back in December or January, so it's not like I'm a raider by any stretch of the imagination. Also, taking a look at some of the gear my fellow tanks are wearing, I am in no condition to be considered a main tank since I lack the strategy knowledge and the gear.

Anyways, so he reminds me that I have over 30k health (unbuffed) and that Vault of Archavon is quick, so let's go. I agreed, and here we are all gathered outside the instance.

-Begin Conversation-

A death knight (who will remain unnamed to prevent the unnecessary stroking of his large ego in comparison to his anatomical inadequacies): "I'm tanking right?"

The raid leader (my friend): "Oh I thought you were DPS?"

Death knight: "I could DPS but I'm a better tank than any tank on this server."

Now, this perks my ears. Most amazing tanks are not found in PUG raids. I looked and he had a large amount of health, so I could tell he was pretty geared up. Fine, I can off-tank. I wasn't thrilled to be there in the first place. I couldn't help commenting, though.

Me: "And modest as well."

Death knight: "Yup!"

Raid leader (to me): "Are you ok with him tanking?"

Death knight: "Why? Who's going to tank? The pally with the Red Sword of Courage and 63 (or however many it was) points in prot?!" (He is referring to my gear and spec.)

Another raid member (to death knight): "Way to be the biggest d bag on the server!"

Crappy healer who couldn't help but chime in: "And spell power enchant too! LOLOLOL"

-End Conversation-

So, what will I grant them? Yes, my spec was jacked up. Things have changed and I knew when I had to redo my spec that I had messed it up, but also didn't care. It's not like I was raiding (at least I thought I wouldn't be) and it is easy enough to change the spec when the time came (though it costs money which my toons are a little short on atm). Also, it turns out that talents changed and pallies no longer need spell power. Fine, I've been gone for over half a year. I fixed it all less than an hour later and found tanking to be MUCH easier -- not that I'd had much trouble during my couple weeks back to tanking anyway.

That d bag being correct isn't what bothered me. When you LOL at somebody in front of over 20 other people in raid chat, that's kind of a low blow -- especially if you're right. How should it be handled? Well, for example, I tanked an instance the other day with a mage who did about 5% of the group damage. 5%!! Did I LOL at him in party chat? No. Did I emote at him and make him feel like a jackass? No. I sent him a tell at the end of the run and politely suggested that he check out maxdps.com where he can get help with increasing his DPS output. He thanked me for the information and also said he was happy I didn't just make fun of him or kick him from group like normally happens when he goes into an instance.

What can we take away from these two examples?

1.) There are lots of d bags wandering around WoW (and lots of other games, as well). They are probably highly unsuccessful irl, so they make up for it by being (arguably) good at WoW. Egging them on (as that healer did -- who I had played with earlier in the week when he tried to ninja some loot) only fuels the fire and probably ruins the raid for everyone.

2.) If somebody sucks, it's not necessarily because they are incapable of playing well. Before you thrash a stranger for being the crappiest player you've encountered all year, why not send them a tell to see what's going on?

3.) People who genuinely do suck or have incorrect gear, spec, etc. need help, not ridicule. (Maybe they've been away for months?) Talk to them, let them know what's going on, and be ready to provide a resource for them to use since they likely aren't posting on forums all day long.

How did this all end, you ask? Well, having not really wanted to raid in the first place, and seeing that they had the "best tank on the server" with them, I chose to drop group and do some research on what my spec and enchants should be. The raid went on using a feral druid as an off-tank. They were unsuccessful in defeating a single boss in (the incredibly small and fast) Vault of Archavon.

I blame the "best tank on the server" and his healing companion.