It’s extremely rare for me to encounter a ninja. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of ninjas I’ve personally encountered in the five years I’ve been playing WoW. I know some people have dealt with them fairly regularly, but despite the amount of PuGing I do, I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard. This morning, I encountered my first ninja using the new LFG. Heck, (s)he was the first ninja I’ve encountered in years.
Before I jump right into my delightful little anecdote, I’d like to make something perfectly clear in an attempt to curtail potential drama before it starts. I don’t want anyone harassing this individual. This is more of a public service announcement than anything else. When someone does something wrong, it’s my belief that they should be held accountable for it and if possible, I should do my part to make sure they don’t get the opportunity to repeat their mistake. Additionally, this is by no means about the item they took. The item itself is basically worthless (which, in reality, makes this situation more comical than anything else).
So, don’t go harassing them. Just avoid them if you see them.
Now, on to the dramaz! (It’s not really drama.)
I was running BRD on my Druid this morning with a Warrior from my home server that I’d met in a previous PuG and three other random people. (The group consisted of my Druid as the healer, a Paladin tank, and a Warrior, Mage and Warlock as DPS.) After we finished the designated section of the instance (Lower City), 4 of us decided to continue on with the dungeon for additional experience. (I also had the quest to pick up the Shadowforge Key, so I was hoping to clear past the Ring of Law.)
The run was going reasonably well. No deaths, no major “oopsies”. The tank was setting a bit faster pace than I might have liked (I barely had time to loot before they’d already pulled another two groups), but it was nothing I couldn’t grudgingly deal with without mishap.
So, we’re cruising along, clearing the hallways around the Ring of Law, etc, and then make our way into the Ring itself. The event starts, and I’m just tossing HoTs, yawning, and thinking I’ll be glad when we get past this part so we can move on to the next and I can finish my key quest. The event ends, the boss dies, and this is what I see on screen:
Shayn, our Human Paladin tank from the Bleeding Hollow (US) server, apparently really wanted the Savage Gladiator Chain. Enough so that (s)he decided to Need roll on it after everyone else had already Greed rolled on it, then drop group without so much as a word about it.
Now, I can understand the allure of purple pixels. Especially if you’ve never seen an epic drop before. But honestly, if Shayn had really wanted the item, they could have asked and the group would probably have gladly let them have it since no one else in the group was interested in it. And then I wouldn’t be writing this post right now, Shayn wouldn’t be yet another entry on WoW Jackass and they wouldn’t go down in ninja history.
And if that weren’t enough to make the whole thing ridiculous, assuming Shayn doesn’t actually intend to use the item for DPS set, the only thing it’s good for is vendoring. The item is Bind-on-Pick-up. It can’t be sold on the Auction House. It vendors for a whopping 3 gold–an amount you can easily get in one run of BRD.
So this person felt that 3 gold was worth making a public ass of themselves, when they could easily have just asked for the item and gotten it with the group’s blessing. Well played, Shayn. Well played.
As an additional moral to this lovely story: you never know who you’re in a group with. The person you’re stealing from or pissing off today could have a web site with thousands of subscribers and visitors who will all be laughing at you tomorrow.
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I’ve only ever encountered one Ninja; ironically it was in a run where I was accidentally almost a ninja myself. Allow me to explain.
I had been doing random Heroics for an hour or so one night last week, and my third our fourth ended up being Gundrak. I enter the Instance, and it ends up being two people from the same Guild (A Shammy healer and a Rogue), and the other three of us were from three different servers.
The tank was geared fairly well. Not cutting-edge stuff, but well enough for a Heroic to not be a problem. As the run goes on, we’re moving at a perfect pace for me. But it isn’t good enough for the Rogue and the Shaman. They spend nearly the entire run insulting the tank and telling him that he isn’t pulling fast enough. Eventually the Rogue starts pulling groups (and bosses, no less), while the tank tries to keep up.
By the time we get to the final boss, I’m getting tired of those two, and I just want it to be over with. We kill the boss with minimal effort, and the “Dungeon Complete” box pops up just as the loot does.
I mouse over “Greed” for the Frozen Orb, as I always do, but the “Dungeon Complete” box goes away as I do, making the Need/Greed windows for the loot drop just enough for me to accidentally hit “Need” by mistake. I curse under my breath, but before I have a chance to apologize and explain to the group, the Rogue and the Shaman call me a “Dumbass” and a “Douche Hunter”.
But then I take a closer look at the chat log. The Rogue won the Orb. He had rolled Need BEFORE I accidentally hit it myself. And they dropped group before I had a chance to say anything. And by then I was angry enough to really want to to say something.
Needless to say, I’ve now taken advantage of cross-realm Ignore.
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Yeah, there are plenty of jerks out there, that’s for sure. WoW.com has had several articles up recently addressing precisely that problem, advocating that players demonstrate patience and courtesy while using the new LFG system.
Mistakes are precisely that: mistakes. As long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to and you’re not being intentionally malicious, that’s all anyone can ask. Seems to me like those two were the douches in this case.
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I read with interest the articles that WoW.com posts regarding this. But reading about such behavior and experiencing it are two completely different things. I’ve only run a single Heroic since; the proverbial taste in my mouth was that bad.
I’ve been hearing conflicting information regarding whether or not cross-server Trading while inside the Instance is functional, but if they had simmered down and let me explain, I would have gladly attempted to trade the Orb to the highest Greed roller. As it is, people left the group so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to explain to the other two.
Of course, the fact that one of them rolled “Need” before I did; and most likely intentionally, leads me to believe that their name-calling was based solely upon worry that they wouldn’t be the ones to get the item.
The sad part is, on my realm, at least, Frozen Orbs are going for only a couple more gold than completing a random Heroic gives you.
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A week ago I had my first (personal) ninja. We were running Uldaman (oh joy!), and the group wasn’t doing too well. Right when we ported in 2 people went AFK. A few minutes later we started, but the druid tank was doing really badly (I always seem to get bad druid tanks, dunno why). Eventually she dropped group because we wiped on a boss. One wipe.
We had a pally DPS, I think, who went on to tank while we were queued for another tank. Eventually a gnome warrior comes in. It actually goes a little better, until we get to Grimlok. It was a BIG pull, but we downed everything. Grimlok’s Charge drops, which was a GREAT upgrade for me as a hunter. I need on it, then the tank asks if he could need on it for his off-spec (fury).
The funny thing is, he wasn’t even level 40! He was level 39, so not only was the polearm unusable, he couldn’t even get dual-spec yet! He then proceeds to Need on it without waiting for a response. And of course, he gets it. Needless to say, I was mad, but y’know, I wanted to finish the run so I kept going. But after we wiped again I got out of there.
Granted, I didn’t have polearms trained yet, but I could have easily ported out to SW, trained it, then ported back in.
The sad thing is that I didn’t even know about the polearm before, and I was so excited to have a great upgrade like that. I’m going to run Uldaman a few more times as I have unfinished quests there, but I have a feeling I won’t be seeing it again…
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The above users must be on very friendly servers cause the problem of ninjas is very real/annoying on Jubei’thos (oceanic server). Some of the guild leaders even went to the trouble of setting up a site to list the ninjas and their guilds (http://www.warcraftninjas.com/site/ – not my site).
In fact, if a rare mount drops and its not stolen, my jaw basically drops to the floor.
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I’m actually familiar with that site. I’m not sure how I came across it (it was quite some time ago), but I have seen it before. I was surprised to see so many listed from the same server. Is Jubei’thos a relatively new(ish) server? (Has it been around since release?)
All the servers I’ve played on have all been original-release servers, so I suspect the fact that a lot of the “old timers” on the server keep in touch helps prevent a lot of the ninja’ing you’d normally see. In short, the server community as a whole knows it only takes one time for you to get black-balled across the entire server, so people tend to be a bit more hesitant about stealing loot, lest they be forced to transfer off if they ever want to join another guild.
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Okay… I think when I get into game next I’m going to have to go digging for this cross-realm ignore list. I didn’t know it existed until now. I’ve been playing with-in the new system since it came up, and have had a few bad experiences.
Only a few mind you,usually in BRD bar room and ST at Eranikus… too many tanks kill Eran and then leave (after NOT killing all the dragonlings) so the rest of the group wipes severely and is pissed leaving the instance. Bar room is pretty similar… somehow pulling half the room and porting out – after getting what they wanted. I hate people that do that. Is there a specific term for them other than something unprintable?
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“Dicks” is the term I believe you’re looking for.
I always report such incidents to WoW Jackass. At least that way perhaps it will save future groups the headaches.
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Let me tell my story!
We’re running ICC, working on Garfrost, when a nice tanking trinket drops. My nephew and our tank need it. My nephew wins. The tank (who was AWFUL, btw) complains. I pst my nephew and ask him to give it to the tank. It’s off spec for him, and main spec for the tank. So far so good.
The LAST item to drop is a healer upgrade for me. The tank NEEDS it, wins the roll, and is gone! This after 90 minutes, numerous wipes, and many people dropping from the group due to his incompetence!
/ignore Treebeård-Aerie Peak
That’s my Ninja tale- another NEED on all the items from the last boss and a quick “leave the party”
Kortash- Sentinels
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Did you report the incident via a GM ticket? In some cases (not all, but some) if you petition a GM about it, they’ll award the item as it should have been awarded. By my reckoning, ICC loot would be well worth the time spent in the GM queue to get your loot.
Additionally, I hope you reported the ninja to WoW Jackass!
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