I helped a group kill an elite, got an invite in the middle, and turned it down.
“imirak you don’t need this?”
I buffed everyone, healed up someone who needed it and replied
“nope just passing by”
The auto-invite did not bother me at all even though I did not need it. It was appreciated because I understood the good intentions behind it.
If we’re talking stuff like named quest mobs and escorts, I don’t expect chat first. As others have said, the intent is generally implied.
For other quests, especially quests that involve gathering, yeah, I get annoyed. Part of it is because I’m usually doing quests that are green, and the invite usually comes from someone several levels below me for whom the quest is probably orange. They’ll actually usually slow me down by body pulling extra mobs and messing up my rhythm.
On the other hand, if someone asks first if I can help them out, I’m usually perfectly happy to do so if I’ve got the time. But yes, if you’re 5-6 levels below me, that random invite for a “collect” quest isn’t doing me any favors.
I find it interesting the amount of people that think you’re an alien for not wanting to group. I get the polite tag join but the gathering? Yeah no bud, I’m good. 85% of this game is soloable with a pet class, I’d say a solid 60-65 for anybody else with exception to the odd horrible solo class.
The only thing I’m out is time which I know is another shocker but I don’t care. I’m in no hurry to grind 60 and have nothing to do but raid or pvp. I look forward to pvp but not raiding so the journey can last as long as it takes. Leveling 4 people at once really slows it down too.
Tl/dr:Not everyone wants to group and stop assuming they do. No right or wrong way to play just different levels of efficiency and motivations can be different.
Tend to agree with you OP, just a simple " wanna group " is acceptable. Now if its a named mob I don’t mind, I realize there isn’t much time, then again I’m probably already grouped for it so tough luck.
Generally speaking I don’t really want to group unless its just a plain kill quest, named mob, etc. Something thats a drop, I’d just assume do on my own.
This I can deal with. What REALLY pisses em off is the people spamming you for guild sigs without asking at the bank or the auction house.
That guarantees I will not sign it.
That guy you didnt want to waste time on? He had a tank. Guess who wont be getting a group invite to the dungeon he is tanking?
If I see you killing a quest mob and I’m about to pull all the remaining quest mobs and AoE them down I’ll throw you an invite.
You can accept it or not but I’m not about to engage you in a conversation.
I guess the “Decline” button is greyed out for him. Who knows?
Glad your on the Horde, I will never be able to send you one.
If I’m killing a quest mob that spawns like once every 10 minutes, and I see you run up, I’m going to invite you so that you don’t have to wait. Neither of us needs to or wants to have a conversation about it, it’s just a courtesy.
I still help people, even when I’m soloing. I’ll help people down tagged mobs and I still very much group when it’s a named mob, elite quest, escort, or singular drop where you need to kill 80 of a low population mob to get the one item because not doing so hinders other people too. But if it’s a regular “kill 10 of X” or “gather 20 of Y” and there’s a ton of mobs that drop it fairly regularly so it’s easy to farm then I’m not going to group because I want to go at my own pace and earn my XP.
I’m not in it “because it’s a soloable game”. You’re right, if I wanted a truly solo player game I’d be better off in retail. But I hate what they did Lore and World-wise in Cata and beyond and retail doesn’t feel rewarding when you level or complete a difficult quest. The game world also feels very empty in retail. Even if I don’t want to group all the time, I still enjoy seeing other people working their way through the game too and participating in WPvP. And when I do run dungeons I do enjoy the camaraderie and journey that goes with finding a group, traveling to the instance, and then clearing it as opposed to retail’s find you a group without ever talking to someone, teleport you across the game world, and then clear an instance in a perfectly constructed meta without the need to say a word to anyone the entire time. That’s boring.
But I like the chatting while flying somewhere and the small talk waiting for people to make their way and even the in between chatter when clearing. It’s great. And it’s entirely absent in retail.
If you don’t want to group, there’s a decline button. A simple ‘no thank you’ in chat also goes a long way.
So, I won’t be getting an invite to a group from someone who can’t be bothered to ask if I want to group up for a collect quest before sending the invite. (Which again, if you ask first, I’ll almost always say yes, because shock I’d love to make friends while leveling. Someone who can’t be bothered to chat first probably isn’t someone who’s looking to make friends.)
I can live with that.
Edit: I should also add: A tank that only invites people willing to carry his alts through crap? Not a tank I want on my friends list.
Agree that it is both polite and reasonable to say something before throwing out invites. Often times I’ll be spotted killing a random mob from a few quests ago and get an invite, which I decline because I’m done that quest I’m just killing a mob because it’s on my way to somewhere. If you just want a hand, ask or something. Depending on what I’m doing I’m probably available to help mow some stuff down for awhile.
None if that was happening, unless they left the area entirely and then happened to show back up to do it.
This morning it happened in thunder axe fortress, demon box quest. It is a non-elite mob spawned with a quest item. Nobody saying anything about it in general or lfg.
And even so, I work, so I get time in when I can. If I see something I need for a quest, I’m going to kill it. If others are nearby, I usually invite them, but I’m definitely not waiting around to see if anyone else shows up.
I agree only because there are edge scenarios where it can be annoying. For example I was killing mobs in STV a couple weeks ago for a quest that required a drop and we all know how annoying those can be. They don’t drop off of every mob so you have to grind a lot and being in a group makes it worse.
I was a bit underleveled for the mobs so dps was slow, it’s heavily packed with both mob packs and players so the area quickly goes from empty with all mobs taken to packed and trying to avoid dying or getting adds.
Next thing I know I get a group invite mid-kill and just instinctively accept, thinking it’s nice people offering to help kill stuff. Well next thing I know one of the two is looting the quest item I need off my mob and to really make it worse, types in chat how that was the last drop and they’re excited to be done the quest.
I was pissed to say the least. Later they did apologize and say they did just want to help kill stuff, but nevertheless, this is why you don’t randomly invite people to groups. Nobody wants some random player stealing their precious quest item.
You can turn off invites.
That said, i agree it’s impolite to invite someone who is in the middle of killing a mob and interfering with his play by making a dialog box pop up on his screen. Either wait for him to kill the mob or ask him to invite you.
Why the hell would ANYONE decline a group invite when a bunch of people are taking on quest targets? You can run through those mobs, and those quests, much MUCH more quickly with a group than trying to compete solo.
This is why people send group invites. Because they are smart enough to realize it’s importance.
Fine by me, have fun watching me aoe down every single mob you need for a certain quest. Be sure not to send me PM’s complaining and crying. Remember you did this to yourself.
Drop quests outnumber kill quests, generally, and the more people in the group, the longer it takes.
If I’ve been in an area trying to get drops and someone shows up randomly asking for an invite, I’m probably going to turn it down.
It’s not really any help to either of us.
Also, I’m usually in a duo with my wife (mage/priest or war/sham) so it’s not like we really need much help.