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Raid Mechanics: Pugs

by - 9 years ago

Lately I have found myself doing various pugs in order to gear out my monk for Hellfire Citadel. I will be playing him as my main from now on but as my guild is progressing through the last few bosses of Blackrock Foundry I can’t take an under geared toon for that. Pugs in general have built up a bad reputation for having insane requirements, ninja looting and an overall tendency to fail. With the implementation of the group finder pugs have been more accessible than ever so now I will look at both the good and bad aspects of how pugs are currently in the game.

group finder

(The group finder is an integral tool for pug groups)

 

The Bad

I found that a good portion of the players trying to run pugs are mostly looking to be carried through content they could never do. This leads them to ask for some insane requirements in order to join their groups like really high item levels or the achievements that you have cleared the raid. This is sometimes understandable when it is an organized group running farm content but in most cases it’s a random guy who wants gear.

I really hate reserved items and they seem to be very prevalent in this tier of raiding. Most people that are doing pugs are trying to gear out some alt or gear their main up to join a guild. I don’t see why any one person deserves an item drop more than another who did the same boss. There is also the problem with BOEs where guild groups tend to keep them for their guild bank but I find that problematic when people in the raid need them for upgrades.

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(Sometimes the easiest bosses take a few tries while in a pug)

The Good

Pugs do give players the opportunity to kill bosses in their own time. Sometimes you can’t attend your raid night or need some slots from lower difficulties and the group finder gives you an easy way to find what you need. Pugs also help people go from LFR into higher difficulties. Having a user friendly interface that lets you find a normal group once you have all the LFR gear you need is perfect to get people doing harder content.

One of the best aspects of doing pugs is how good the system is to find a guild. I know for my guild almost all of our recruiting comes from the times we did some pugs with people. They showed interest in our guild because it fit their schedule and now we have been raiding with them for over a year. People can write whatever they want on an application but if you play with them it is easier to see if they fit in your group.

Conclusion

I think that for all the bad reputation that pugs get, they are overall a good thing for the game and the raiding community. Raiding needs accessibility to stay alive and the group finder does a good job at keeping people doing raid content. I think that the most important aspect you can bring to a pug is a positive mentality and understand that you are not here to be carried. Try to communicate clearly with everyone and if you ever run into a problem don’t just automatically leave but see what can be done.

Have you been on any pug groups this tier? If so, how was you experience? I would love to read your thoughts on the comments bellow.


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


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