By: Martuk

For some people, grouping up with others is easy. They can join a fellowship, get along with the members, and have an all around good time because they have a good etiquette. Very often you can meet great people and make a few new friends in pick-up groups, but that is not always the case and for some people etiquette is a lost concept and requires a little work.

When you join a fellowship there are a few things you should always try and practice that will help make others more receptive to you and maybe even want to group with you again sometime. These are very basic things and easy to follow. They will go a long way towards making you a valued member of any fellowship. I call them the Ten Commandments of Grouping. Let’s examine these.

Commandment One: Thou Shalt Not Be Greedy

1. If an item drops and you don’t need it, but someone else does. Don’t roll need on it just to get it. There are plenty of items in the world and showing a little generosity isn’t going to kill you. If you scoop up an item that someone else might need, offer it to them. People come to respect generosity a lot more than some loot monger.

Commandment Two: Thou Shalt Not Be a Ninja Looter:

2. Some groups prefer to put free for all as the loot option. If this is the case don’t go clicking to scoop up the loot the time it hits the ground. Share it a bit. There are other members there with you killing stuff and they deserve to get at least some of the spoils of war.

Commandment Three: Thou Shalt Not Make Assumptions:

3. If you recruit a Captain class and expect him to be your healer, make that clear on recruitment. Captain's are a damage/tank class and often expect that as their role in a group. Most don’t mind healing a bit, but its good practice to inform them if they are going to be responsible for main healing in the absence of a Minstrel. If you expect them to heal make that clear when you recruit them.

Similar rules apply to a Minstrel. If a group recruits you they will be doing so as a healer. If you don’t plan on healing you should make that clear. Some people are wondering if this actually happens. Yes it does.

Commandment Four: Patience is a Virtue:

4. Not everyone is an expert in an MMO. Some people are still learning even at the later levels. If someone makes a mistake that you notice, offer some advice. Maybe you know a better way to do something. Don’t scream at them in fellowship chat “LOL You newb.” That won’t earn you any new friends and will probably not convince the other members of your fellowship to invite you back again.

Commandment Five: Be Considerate:

5. Fellowships can be made up of many kinds of people. Some might be role-players, leet speakers, or from another country and English may not be their first language. Don’t berate them for any of those reasons. If someone is role-playing, let them. Maybe even try it yourself. You might end up liking it. If someone’s English is a little off, be patient and work with them a bit. I have met many people from Europe and even Asia in my MMO days and some turned out to be a lot of fun and even joined my guild. Don’t let the small language barrier get in the way of that. Last, if the leet speaker is going on about how leet and ubber he is let him… Ok maybe just this once you can kick them out /ignore.

Commandment Six: Thou Shalt Not Be a Leech:

6. Pull your load in a group. There are a few who will go afk while auto following a group member to leech experience. This is not only lazy, but bad practice. Groups might tolerate this for a while, but eventually you will probably get kicked and unless you had a good reason for being gone that long, you might not get invited back to that group or any others that those members might make in the future.

Commandment Seven: Thou Shalt Let the Puller Do Their Job:

7. In most groups there is usually one person that will pull the enemies for the group. One thing you can do that a group will appreciate greatly is to let that person do their job. There are times when some people take it into their own hands to pull ahead of the group puller. This often times ends in disaster. Two people pulling can often times create problems the group may or may not be able to handle, but things go a lot smoother if just one is allowed to carry out the task without more jumping in. This is not only appreciated, but it shows competence.

Commandment Eight: Assist Thy Allies:

8. With each group there is a main assist. This is the person you should be assisting during combat. The tank will hold agro on the enemy, but in the event you get more than one it is important to focus your attacks on the main assist target. This will prevent everyone from attacking different targets and causing the agro to go all over the place. A tanks worst nightmare is a group that can’t or won’t assist properly. Always assist the Main assist. By doing this you will show you know your stuff when it comes to combat and the tank and the group will remember that.

Commandment Nine: Thou Shalt Not Vanish:

9. If you join a fellowship and the one quest you needed to get done is finished. Don’t just up and leave. See if the group is going to keep hunting and at the very least offer to aid them in what they were doing. It is a bit rude to join up and once you have what you need run off leaving the group to fend for themselves. If they helped you, have the decency to return the favor. Who knows, you just might end up liking the fact that there is more to this MMO than just finishing a quest.

Commandment Ten: Honor Thy Allies:

10. If your group had a great night hunting, offer to buy the first round at the local inn. Even if you aren’t into the role-playing aspect this can provide, the ale can give some really amusing effects and should be offered at the end of every good group. If you choose not to hit the inn at least tell the group they did a good job. Let your allies know it was a good run and a lot of fun.

All of these tips can be summed up briefly with just a few things. Show courtesy to your group, don’t be greedy, and know the basics of grouping. These few things can go a long way towards earning you a reputation as a valued member of any fellowship. If you log on and people you just met a day earlier are inviting you to come join their fellowship, then you probably followed the Ten Commandments of Grouping.

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