This anecdote was from many years ago (mid 1980s). I was a Player, not the DM.

We came to the strong gate of the tall, iron fence surrounding the evil castle’s grounds. As we open the gate, we hear the baying of probably large wolves coming from the forest around us (on the outer side of the fence). We stop. After a minute, we see the large forms of many dire wolves moving through the trees, slowly getting closer. We go into combat mode and ask for initiative.

The DM stops us and asks, “Why don’t you just go through the gate and close it?”

We Players, “. . .”

The DM, exasperated, “The wolves are just atmosphere to get you through the gate. Geez, guys.”

The adventure was the original Ravenloft, and the sounds of the approaching wolves were supposed to drive us on, into the adventure with a heart-pounding beginning. But we were not rushed by the sounds of the wolves in the distance. We were not frightened by the sounds of them getting closer. We were not moved by seeing them coming into sight. We were going to fight. The DM could have added more wolves; to really show that we shouldn’t stand our ground, but that could easily have just turned a atmospheric scene into a killer encounter. We had a way out of the encounter, right there, but we chose to take on a dangerous challenge for no reason.

I’ve seen similar scenarios, with all kinds of DMs (myself included) and all kinds of Players (myself included), through many, many, many years. Unless the Players have several minutes to think about how they are going to approach a living challenge, they almost always chose to fight – even when they have an obvious way out. And I’ve seen total party kills result from such behavior.

It’s a frustrating phenomenon for a DM. Heroes in books and movies often run from, hide from, and avoid unnecessary or dangerous fights. Why do RPG heroes always choose to fight? I don’t have an answer, myself. I just have enough evidence through more than a couple decades experience that this is apparently nothing new, and not rare. I’d love to know the psychology behind this.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Hurrah! I have a mount. I’m a level late (now 41), but I had to make some gold to afford it. I’ve mentioned my bad luck with the Auction House, and how my leatherworking skill really isn’t making me any money. I ended up running through Wailing Caverns three times for good loot to sell. Eventually made the 100 gold to afford the mount training and the wolf mount.

I’m all styling now with my big, bad dire wolf. And it really does make travel faster. I think the orcs’ wolf mount is the coolest in the game. Although, the warlock’s felsteed, with the flaming hooves, is a pimped up ride, too.

But I still have the Scout rank on my name. Sounds silly on a 40+ level character. Have I mentioned how much I dislike the military title I got for entering a battleground one time?

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I sailed to Booty Bay (BB) last night and explored the town. BB is a mixed town — Horde and Alliance folks mingling. I went looking for the flight path master and ran into a little trouble.

I found the sign for the flight master, went into the building, up to the flight level, and tried walking through the doors onto the platform. But I couldn’t get through the door. An invisible barrier kept me out. I saw others passing in and out of that doorway, but I couldn’t. I saw the flight master next to the door, and the griffons on the platform.

For the record, this was my first time looking for a flight path in a mixed town. Every other town I had been to with a flight path just had one flight master.

I figured there was some glitch. Oh well, I wondered if I could click and activate the flight master from inside the building (I was very close to him, just he was out and I was in). Putting my mouse over him, I saw his name, his title “Flight Master”, and ?? Level. I clicked on him.

Uh oh. Very bad idea. This spot was the Alliance flight platform/path. Clicking on him constituted an attack. He and two of his griffons jumped on me immediately. I died in about one second, give or take a couple nanoseconds.

And my PvP flag was turned on for that act. I ran my ghost back and resurrected myself. Then I found a little corner to sit down in and recover my health. I was more conscious of the Scout rank on my name now more than ever.

I was afraid my PvP status would bring every PvP Alliance character to attack me, but fortunately no one bothered me. The PvP tag only lasts a few minutes, so soon I was back to normal.

I did eventually find the Horde Flight Master.

I blame all this on my friend, because he suggested I get the flight path in BB, but failed to mention there was two — one being for the enemy Alliance. And then he suggested I hunt in Stranglethorn Vale — level 30-45. I’m only 32 right now. Do you think he’s trying to get my character killed? (Like I can’t manage that result on my own?)

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I’ve been visiting the World of Warcraft message forums a bit lately. I’ve seen this “FTW” comment many times, there. I have seen it occasionally at other message boards and sometimes in online game chats, but I never knew what it meant. Well, actually, I had an idea what it meant, but my definition didn’t make sense in the context of the messages I was seeing.

Way back in my teenage life, I knew a guy who had “FTW” tattooed on his arm. It mean “F— the World.” I heard or saw that phrase once or twice more through the years.

So you can imagine my confusion over message posts such as:

“4 paladins in the same party, FTW!”
“Carrot on a stick, FTW!”

This term seems to be all the rage at the WoW forums. I don’t think you can read 10 posts without seeing it at least once.

But I have now learned what it means in computer gaming contexts: “For the Win.”

The more you know, the more you grow!

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com