The Vent Tent - Poor PuGs and Other Terrible Tales

[Gegenji]

Bad things happen, it's a fact of life. People say that, but it doesn't make it any easier when it happens, does it? Sometimes you seethe quietly, sometimes you grumble to yourself, sometimes you want to shout your frustrations from the rooftops. And, at least for me, video games seem to cause some of the most interesting moments of personal rage. Second only, probably, to other motorists.

 

So welcome to the Vent Tent - a place where you can air grievances about bad things in FFXIV. Did you slog through Syrcus Tower with an alliance that seemed to have no idea what they're doing, only to low roll on that last sand you needed so you never had to come back again? Were you doing a map fight and lag decided to jump in and allowed the monster to casually curbstomp you while you banged angrily on your computer case in a desperate attempt to hurry up? Or maybe you just want to complain about those enemies 10 levels lower than you who always seem to aggro onto you when you're trying to do any of the dozens of quests that require you to channel something.

 

Now, please note, while this thread is a place for you to complain... I do want to set some ground rules.

 

1.) First and foremost, do not name names. In fact, if you think posting your grievances will start a flame war with someone else on the forum, don't do it. Or, if some otherworldly force compels you to post it anyway, make it as vague as possible. Say "the healer" did this or "the tank" did that, or that "the DPS" screwed up royally.

 

2.) Don't poke the bearbehemoth. Conversation over the events posted are fine, but if people start taking it personally or getting heated? Drop it and move on.

 

3.) This thread isn't for getting on your soapbox. Just venting. Talk about that one time the Ninja thought this was FFXI and tried to tank. Do not talk about how all Ninjas are dumb and SE made a mistake by implementing them.

 

This is probably a horrible thread idea, but I think people can bond over negative things just as much as positive things through understanding and support. So, let's give this a shot and hope it doesn't go down in flames too quickly, huh?

 

~*~

 

I'll start with two things I'd like to vent about. I'll give them goofy little titles because it seems more amusing to do so.

 

Lag Me with a Spoon!

I think my biggest issue with FFXIV is the horrid lag that seems to pop up without rhyme or reason these days. Before, you could reasonably guess that "Oh, it's around 8pm, I should probably avoid queuing for dungeons." Nowadays, it seems to pop up in just the right moments to kick you in the teeth.

 

To wit, I lost a couple Alexandrites thanks to Surprise Lag. Of course, I was being dumb by doing the maps solo... but I was a three man team all by myself! (Scholar in Cleric Stance, Fairy, DPS Chocobo) I could always breeze through all of them just fine, with only a couple that were a bit more obnoxious (Mythril Golem and the Cyclops). And, of course, these are the ones that always seem to be the ones I'm fighting when SUDDENLY LAG.

 

I'm so glad I'm done with that step on my main, you have no idea.

 

And, since I main healer on that guy, nothing upsets me more when the tank I'm trying to heal dies because the game decides to hiccup. One second everything's fine, then that heart-dropping pause, and suddenly your Warrior and Monk are dead and the boss is coming over to violently make friends with your molars. Oh, and your Quickcast-Rez didn't go off because the lag meant it didn't see you click the rez afterward... so instead you quickcast that heal you queued up afterward and your tank's still dead!

 

HATE the lag.

 

Noob Kid on the Block

This one was more recent, and folks that were on the LS with me at the time probably remember me both being amused and annoyed by it.

 

Was trying to get PLD over that hump to 50, random dungeon roulette, hit Darkhold. Love Darkhold. You can pull everything in the first section to the room before the boss and watch the numbers fly as you're only being hit for... 50 damage tops?

 

So! I say that I want to pull all the mobs to the last room and wait for any questions or dissent. Nothing. Waddle my way down towards the first group of mobs, they follow. Okay, they must be cool with it, right?

 

Healer stops at the second crystal and demands to know what I'm doing (in cell phone quicktalk, i.e. "wat u doin!?") after I already have everything in the last room. I die, DPS dies. We respawn and healer says I'm a noob tank that doesn't know what I'm doing. I try to explain that I've done it plenty of times before and that the crystal's light reduces damage to almost nothing. In return, I just get continually insulted and the DPS jumps in on it too.

 

I get frustrated, I start snapping back a few insults myself. Oh, I'm sorry, the guy who's leveled PLD to 50 TWICE and has run this place more times than he can count to get the Harlequin set (I didn't know you could just buy it off the AH, shutup. :cry: ) doesn't know what can and can't be done in the place? Sure thing, kid. Healer gets defensive, saying "People running Coil don't take this kind of talk!" I ask if that means he's run Coil, no reply.

 

Finally I get tired of standing around and try to start the instance again, one pull at a time this time. I'm still a bit salty, though, so when I'm tanking the enemies in the glow of the first crystal, I offhandedly remark that I haven't been hit for more than 50 damage, and that was on a crit. Healer immediately calls BS and starts trying to chew me out again, so I just start listing the numbers popping up on my screen. Calmly ask how the view was from so deep up his own behind, since I've moved beyond caring at that point and just want to finish the dungeon.

 

We get to the last room before the first boss, the one I had pulled everything to before. I grab the whole room there because... that's what you do, right? Get to the crystal, eat my first hit, and then removed from the dungeon. Vote-kicked, surprised it didn't happen sooner with how much they were ragging on me.

 

Re-queue, get the same instance with a new group. Ask if I can pull everything to the last room, healer says go for it. I do so and we decimate everything (even if the WHM was on fumes at the end). We then proceed to steamroll through the rest of the dungeon. Happy ending~

[Warren Castille]

Long live the Vent Tent. Like the Flameboard and Gimp/Confused/WTF?! before it, I approve of this concept.

 

Keep it on point, keep it anonymous. If you think someone's posting something you did, take it to PMs. This is for us to stand around and shout "YEAH, EFF THAT" with one another.

[Kage]

There's a summoner I've run into several times in trials who thinks it is the best thing ever to macro stupid ass "fancy??" lines with -every- -single- -dot- used. How cute, you thought it was witty huh?

 

Don't crowd my party chat with crap every time you used Miasma. Yay Miasma. Boo hoo. OMG YOU USED BIO TOO? AND BIO II? ZOMG.

 

Stop that BS. I accept that shit for the one offs like Swift Raises or Benediction, Hallowed, Berserk... things people need to know. Stop using it on moves that you use multiple times because it's in your rotations.

 

It's obnoxious.

 

... and I've seen ninjas do it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop this stupid macro+witty line behavior with abilities you use often D:!!!!!!

[Warren Castille]

There's a summoner I've run into several times in trials who thinks it is the best thing ever to macro stupid ass "fancy??" lines with -every- -single- -dot- used. How cute, you thought it was witty huh?

 

Don't crowd my party chat with crap every time you used Miasma. Yay Miasma. Boo hoo. OMG YOU USED BIO TOO? AND BIO II? ZOMG.

 

Stop that BS. I accept that shit for the one offs like Swift Raises or Benediction, Hallowed, Berserk... things people need to know. Stop using it on moves that you use multiple times because it's in your rotations.

 

It's obnoxious.

 

... and I've seen ninjas do it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop this stupid macro+witty line behavior with abilities you use often D:!!!!!!

 

Boost macro

 

alt+1

 

/p I call forth, the divine powers of Alanta

/wait 1

/em begins to lift the rock from the ground with his power.

/wait 1

/p YESSSSSSSSSSS I FEEL THE BOOOST OF POWAR!

/wait 1

 

alt+2

/shout CAN YOU FEEL IT VANADEIL? THIS IS TRUE POWER!

/wait 1

/p GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

/wait 1

/p Current power stats:

/wait 1

 

alt+3

/em power bar [|||||| ] 30%

/wait 1

/em power bar [||||||||||||||||| ] 65%

/wait 1

/em power bar [||||||||||||||||||||||| ] 100%

/wait 1

 

alt+4

/p NOW GATHER AROUND MY BROTHERANS

/wait1

/p HERE I GO

/wait

/p BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

/wait 1

/ja "Boost"

 

Alt+5

/p MY NEXT ATTACK WILL NOW DO MORE DMG

/wait 1

/em power begins to fade

/wait 1

/em power bar [|||||||||||||||||| ] 75%

/wait 1

/em power bar [|||||||||]40%

/wait 1

/em power bar []0%

 

alt+6

/p I tried my best, tell me..

/wait 1

/p will i dream

/wait 10

/p BOOST MACRO READY

/wait 1

/echo BOOST MACRO READY

 

 

 

Boost has a 15 second recast.

[Oli!]

There's a summoner I've run into several times in trials who thinks it is the best thing ever to macro stupid ass "fancy??" lines with -every- -single- -dot- used. How cute, you thought it was witty huh?

 

Don't crowd my party chat with crap every time you used Miasma. Yay Miasma. Boo hoo. OMG YOU USED BIO TOO? AND BIO II? ZOMG.

 

Stop that BS. I accept that shit for the one offs like Swift Raises or Benediction, Hallowed, Berserk... things people need to know. Stop using it on moves that you use multiple times because it's in your rotations.

 

It's obnoxious.

 

... and I've seen ninjas do it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop this stupid macro+witty line behavior with abilities you use often D:!!!!!!

 

 

I'm going to make a macro that makes a witty thing happen every time I post on the boards.

 

Just for you.

 

Come at me broooooo

[Dogberry]

I am absolutely sick of people railing against PUGS. Yeah, OK, you might get a crappy PUG every now and then, but people are so focused on the negative they forget the good PUGS.

 

Even if you get a bad one, just let it slide. They're dogs! The fact that they can even play video games is AMAZING!

[Kage]

I hate you all. /whimper

[Gegenji]

I am absolutely sick of people railing against PUGS. Yeah, OK, you might get a crappy PUG every now and then, but people are so focused on the negative they forget the good PUGS.

 

Even if you get a bad one, just let it slide. They're dogs! The fact that they can even play video games is AMAZING!

 

 

It's funny, though. I've actually had very little problems with PuGs. Fairly decent groups all around. I think it's that fact that makes the ones like I posted stand out all the more.

 

As for the little frills put onto their calls? I can definitely see doing it for those big spells as mentioned. Or abilities people need other people to be aware of - rezzes going out, provokes, un-overlappable buffs and debuffs like Eye for an Eye or Virus. If you're going to draw attention to it, might as well make it interesting (saw someone using FFT's incantation for Flare as a BLM, which was interesting... though a bit less so over time since he used it so much). But for mundane things? I haven't come across that yet, but I bet it'd be annoying.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I ~firmly dislike~ it when DPS run past me and start chaining mobs I'm not ready to either heal through or  tank. Usually seen via Duty Finder.

 

--

 

What I -really- hate though, is when I'm the tank and I let the party down because I lose focused or accidentally point the boss in a bad place. Totally caused a couple wipes in a place last night because I was half-awake and gaming.

 

RUNNING THROUGH QARN HM TAKES SO LONG. WHY IS THE SORTCUT SO FAR BACK??!

[Melkire]

Folks who rail against players with subpar machines/connections who then proceed to die to Landslide are my pet peeve. Dear sirs and madams, not everyone has a tower with top-of-the-line processors and cards, nor do they necessarily have god-like internet service providers. And let's not forget all the faulty nodes between them and the data centers. Oh, and the aggravating fact that this game features server-side positioning which requires you to pop CDs to force the servers to update your position from where you where ~1.5 seconds ago

 

I think my ultimate gripe at this point though is still HOLY SHIT THE MAT DROP RATES IN THE HARD ROULETTE DUNGEONS ARE STILL REALLY HIGH JESUS F#&% SQUARE GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIX THIS THE ONLY REASON FOR ANYONE TO USE THOSE GEAR PIECES FOR MORE THAN A DAY IS GLAMOUR, YOU STUPID SH*TS!

[Warren Castille]

Healers with 5k HP who don't DPS i70 dungeons. Dragoons who don't use heavy thrust. Ninja that don't use DoTs. Monks that don't AoE. Bards that don't use songs where appropriate. Melee who use limit break under 5% of a boss. Mages who don't use limit break if there's no melee. People who die to landslide. People who immediately call lag after dying to landslide. Dying to landslide as a result of lag and no one believing me when I call it out.

 

Healers who complain if I mass-pull low-gear content. DPS who don't know how to kill packs of enemies (doomspike, do you speak it?). Healers who complain I go Sword Oath to Ifrit while having more health than BiS-i90 tanks did when the content was new. Tanks who don't realize they overgear trial fights and still use Shield Oath/Defiance. Anyone who doesn't use cooldowns. Obnoxious chat macros.

 

Paladins who complain about everyone else.

[Gegenji]

What I -really- hate though, is when I'm the tank and I let the party down because I lose focused or accidentally point the boss in a bad place. Totally caused a couple wipes in a place last night because I was half-awake and gaming.

 

I get the same feeling when I screw up a heal or miss an add running off to punch somebody. Going for that clutch Lustrate and failing is... depressing, to say the least. Especially on that last couple groups of mobs in HM Natasha. All I can do if the tank pulls both packs is spam heals while crying "WHY DO THEY HIT SO HARD?"

 

And I totally feel you on those drop rates, Melkire. I was originally gunning for the Divine Harvest set for my Scholar before going for the military tactician/SCIENCE! look. Nothing more annoying than trudging through the bosses just to get a Potash and maybe the earring or something.

[Melkire]

Monks that don't AoE.

 

You get one instance of PB'd Rockbreaker x5 to go with my Howling Fist. Arm of the Destroyer is absolutely awful potency for its TP cost (and honestly should be reserved solely for silencing and for pushing away the bombs in Brayflox HM), so if I'm going to be going through the standard Raptor -> Coeurl -> Opo-opo rotation to reach Rockbreaker anyway, it's usually far more efficient for me to be Demo'ing and ToD'ing each mob before returning to Rockbreaker spam.

 

People who expect Monks to AoE more than that need to be beaten over the head with a two-by-four. We're not BLMs, BRDs, or even DRGs. Technically speaking, even NINs have better AoE than we do.

[111]

I don't like people who don't say hi back when I say it during a pug.

 

You know who you are.

 

Watch your back.

[Warren Castille]

Monks that don't AoE.

 

You get one instance of PB'd Rockbreaker x5 to go with my Howling Fist. Arm of the Destroyer is absolutely awful potency for its TP cost (and honestly should be reserved solely for silencing and for pushing away the bombs in Brayflox HM), so if I'm going to be going through the standard Raptor -> Coeurl -> Opo-opo rotation to reach Rockbreaker anyway, it's usually far more efficient for me to be Demo'ing and ToD'ing each mob before returning to Rockbreaker spam.

 

People who expect Monks to AoE more than that need to be beaten over the head with a two-by-four. We're not BLMs, BRDs, or even DRGs. Technically speaking, even NINs have better AoE than we do.

 

This is specifically what I was thinking about. YOU GET PERFECT BALANCE AND ROCKBREAKER IS AWESOME, USE IT.

 

Also, against big pulls (talking 4+) I think Rockbreaker outperforms. You need something ridiculous like 9+ before AotD becomes "worth" using, and even then, you should be PB/RBing that part.

 

OH, THAT REMINDS ME. NINS WHO DROP THE AOE ON SINGLE TARGET ENEMIES.

[111]

Healers in cleric stance who let me die.

 

Go to hell!

[Warren Castille]

Paladins who over-pull and die during the HG animation. HEALERS WHO CAN'T HEAL GOOD AGAINST 3500DAMAGE/S

 

Not that I'd know anything about that at all...

[Gegenji]

Healers in cleric stance who let me die.

 

Go to hell!

 

I often get mad at myself when I THINK I click out of Cleric Stance to heal and either I missed the click or I was already out of it or SOMETHING... and then it takes me a bit to notice "ohey, my heals are really weak, what's up?" Then I PROPERLY take it off, heal the tank or whoever back up to full, and then stalwartly keep an eye on my Stance buff for the next few pulls or so. :blush:

[111]

Healers in cleric stance who let me die.

 

Go to hell!

 

I often get mad at myself when I THINK I click out of Cleric Stance to heal and either I missed the click or I was already out of it or SOMETHING... and then it takes me a bit to notice "ohey, my heals are really weak, what's up?" Then I PROPERLY take it off, heal the tank or whoever back up to full, and then stalwartly keep an on on my Stance buff for the next few pulls or so. :blush:

 

I do the same thing honestly, but it ends with them dying.

 

Guys, super secret technique. If you only mess up once in pug you can always go "My connection, we're having a storm here."

 

Works every time.

 

*may not work in statics

[ProvaDiServo]

 

I hate it when you get in a game and there is that one guy that wants to tell you how to do your job.

 

When he dies, it's your fault.

 

When he fails to stun in time it's your fault,

 

When the deeps aint enough it's your fault.

 

But when it is all said and done you are doing your job while he wipes over and over in his ass is sitting pretty in max tier gear.

 

Fuck the player that can't keep the feels in check. If you are gonna talk to me like I'm obligated to treat ff14 like work, at least have the decency to be professional about it. You don't have to insult my mother because I decided to demolish over snap punch on one rotation.

 

 

Rawr. This aint my main squeeze see me in smash/SF/MvC/TTT2/ IRL

[Gegenji]

Healers in cleric stance who let me die.

 

Go to hell!

 

I often get mad at myself when I THINK I click out of Cleric Stance to heal and either I missed the click or I was already out of it or SOMETHING... and then it takes me a bit to notice "ohey, my heals are really weak, what's up?" Then I PROPERLY take it off, heal the tank or whoever back up to full, and then stalwartly keep an on on my Stance buff for the next few pulls or so. :blush:

 

I do the same thing honestly, but it ends with them dying.

 

I have this unbreakable habit of always wanting the tank to be at 90% or higher at all times. I think I heal more than my fairy does, and I'm only slowly starting to let her get in a heal or two so I can finish putting up all my dots. :blush:

 

I bet Selene would be posting in here about "that stupid lala scholar that won't let me heal!" And then I'd get all flustered and we'd take it to PMs, make up, and then go out for ice cream. I'm sorry, Fairy.

[Warren Castille]

Oh, I remembered an actual instance of frustration.

 

Did Haukke NM the other night in roulette and my complimentary DPS was a black mage. A black mage who only cast blizzard. No bliz 2. No fire of any variety. Would cast thunder on bosses once and then bliz bliz bliz bliz bliz.

 

I don't think it was RMTbot because the name wasn't gibberish, but that wasn't even what bugged me. I tried to explain (reasonably! I know that's hard to believe) that fire spells do more damage and black mages can switch back and forth between elements to-

 

Nope. Blizzard 1. And they didn't help on any adds during the boss, or touch any lamps. Bliz bliz bliz bliz bliz.

 

Preemptive edit/disclaimer: Character was under level sync, there was no new person message (don't remember if NMs get them) and they had pinks from higher dungeons. I don't consider expecting someone to know how to play elitism, and I even understand they might have been a console player without a keyboard. Outright ignoring advice will forever make me angry.

[Melkire]

Agreed on rotational Rockbreaker on 4+ targets. 4 is the iffy point. 5 and up, I'm like, "nah, not taking the time to DoT that".

 

I don't consider expecting someone to know how to play elitism, and I even understand they might have been a console player without a keyboard. Outright ignoring advice will forever make me angry.

 

It gets even worse when they tell you to shut up and do your own job, they'll "play how they want".

 

*brings up Party Menu, right-clicks individual, and selects "Vote Dismiss" because I don't have time to wait around an additional 15 minutes worth of duty time because some asshole won't Flare like he's supposed to*

[Stormwind]

The relic grind. All my seething hatred. I feel the bile in the pit of my stomach boiling up just writing this out. Uncontrollable, blinding hate.

[Aaron]

NIN in strength gear.