DO ppl still PUG?

Hahahaha!!
I had a Mo/A using daggers in a run one time.
O M G
But, he seemed to be enjoying himself..and I was far enough in the back line laughing my ass off to pop flesh of my flesh off on him.
(about 12 times before he gave in to the Derv that was laughing with me)
No one /raged....we all had a good laugh..took bathroom breaks..then finished the mission.
I was grateful the 'NOOB' werd wasn't tossed around to much..found out the kid was only 10 using his dad's account!
LOL!!!!!!
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PvE Helpful Hint #421: Malice Black loves bacon wrapped steaks. nuff said.

Yes, but it is much, much harder to do so nowadays.

Then if what you say is true, I set forth a challenge to all players:
Out of 1 mission a day (make time if you can)
Offer to start a PUG.
Help the newer players at least once a day.
(You don't have to stick around for the usual 'just one more mission after this one." speech.)
It is fun, and you never stop learning yourself..

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PvE Helpful Hint #267: Paragons rule.

I join groups all the time, but only AFTER I've successfuly completed the mission/dungeon/quest that we're going to do with my heroes and henchmen first.

Not when i want to accomplish anything for myself... I do often go to easy master missions like nahpui quarter or kodonur etc. to help pugs with a guaranteed masters, but thats just for fun

This is exactly what I do on a regular basis!

It's still amazing how hard it is to get together a PuG in many areas of the game even when you organize it. 95% of the problems I have in organizing a PuG is keeping players patient enough to wait for other people to join the group (i.e. "this is taking too long, I'm just going to H/H it").

Sorry but this sounds like the rant of someone who lacked the ability to come up with synergetic builds as opposed to any sort of elitism on anyone's part. I hate it for you but if you have a curse necro build that uses Depravity or or lingering curse as an elite then yeah I'm kicking you out of my group because you won't add damage or wide range party support which is what PvE is all about. The only factors for successful PvE is having enough damage to kill fast and enough support to keep enemy damage low. If you meet those two requirements then you win. It is as simple as that. If you want to try zany builds either play solo or play RA.

At this point the community as a whole has matured enough that if you do PUG then odds are you have at least one knowledgeable player in your group and any knowledgeable player can look at a build and tell if it is crap or not. that being said I do PUG but I'm not about to waste the limited time I have each day to play on a group full of incompetence. I play to win and at this point in the game I don't think it is too much to ask for people to come up with builds that actually work.

Not all successful builds have to be cookie cutter builds but there are a few skills that are just generally accepted as being more useful either for support or damage. This does not constitute elitism. What it does constitute is people having the rather common ability to read a skill description and do math. If the damage or healing numbers are bigger and the penalties do not offset the gain from the skill then they tend to make the smart choice and use that skill. This game has a large but limited skillset. That means that inevitably people will find the skills that do the most damage with the least penalty and they will make builds around those skills. There are simply some skills in game that complement these skills and thus are cookie cutter builds born. These builds work. That is simple fact. People like to win. That is also simple fact.

Your question/rant is baseless since the very nature of the game system encourages the players to discriminate between certain skills for PvE and PvP play. If you want to run some poorly conceived build then go for it but you have to realize no one wants to waste time on your experiment when they have their own characters to deal with. The way you make it sound it is impossible to get a group these days. That's not true. I PUG'd most of GWEN. The problem is you are unwilling to compromise to make a team dynamic work and instead seem to want everyone to adapt to you. You can't tell me that in WoW you don't have some goober before the raid telling everyone what to bring along. I've seen the video, heard the audio from Vent and Teamspeak. It happens there too and if you can't bring the right buffs, DOTs, or damage spells then you get kicked out of the raid group.

two words: Pug = fail. Everywhere. Anyone ever looked at team arena pugs? Yea, i saw 130hp dervish there with no monk or any healer in team and when i joined, their leader pressed start without saying anything. I HAD to /ragequit from that team.

wow I just got reminded yet again why I positively despise pugs. One person is ALWAYS afk, people have crap builds, people bring poorly skilled/insig'ed/runed heroes, noone targets, one person ALWAYS draws a penis on the radar

Fortunately I'm in a pretty kick ass alliance, and I only pug when I forget how miserable it is, then quickly remember and ask the alliance for help

More often than you think.

Woah, I didn't know World of Warcraft invented Hard Mode. ArenaNet just steal ideas off everybody. Just like how Warhammer is a ripoff of WoW.

They added heroic mode after GW.

You say all man...

Good pug = easy mode
henchman + heroes = Normal mode
henchman + heroes = Hard mode
Bad pug = super hard mode

Chance to find a good pug in a normal area 1/10... but in normal areas you dont need to pug...

Chance to find a good pug in a elite area 1/3...

And... yes i still pug but only in hardcore areas...

*Waits for people to accuse GW of ripping off Diablo 2 with Assassins."

A pug is a group that usually has bad players who run either cookie cutter builds or horrible builds, do not know how to play good, tend to leave when things get rough, and act like immature idiots who like to draw penis' on the compass. Most of the time, they fail.

While h/hing, you decide the builds you want to take, you can control the h/h to fit your playing style, they never leave, and they cannot be immature. If you know what you're doing, you have a high chance of winning.

Most people choose the latter. There are still pugs, but there are definitely less pugs then there was pre-nightfall.

!!! Blizzard ripping off Arenanet, wtf!

GW ripped off Pong. It has graphics, that had graphic. Not the mention the complete steal of PvP play. Total theft. End of the theft wars discussion.


Anyway, back to the topic.

I PUG all the time now, and do it for the social factor. PUGs have their problems, but they aren't that bad. The most common problem I see is the presence of one or more Wa/Mo's. To get a group going, you have to let them in at times, and they are usually bad in the play skill department. They tend to be the worst in the human dynamic arena as well, though this is not always the case.

But even with them, PUGs are enjoyable. You just have to know where and for what you are setting your expectations.

Lastly, I would like to note that I rarely see afk members and the builds, when people will show them, are usually not that bad. And this is in addition to most PUGs I join lacking an experienced player - unless you count me, which I do not.

I had to address this, but can't put it any better than Penny Arcade did a while ago.

Probably once a week I'll always end up giving PUGs one more chance, it always ends in absolute failure, and I'll vow to my Guildies to never PUG again. Then, about 6-8 days will roll by, and I'll repeat the process.

WoW ripped off of Wolfenstein 3D. Like fer seriously. It's not so much ripping people off but following standards, and WoW is starting to create quite a lot of standards these days.

But no, I don't PUG anymore. I only play with friends unless someone honestly and nicely asks for help with it.

I hate pugs so much I feel I must comment on every thread about pugs, however redundant. The world must know!