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World of Warcraft: I’ve Seen the Problem Player

*** I originally posted this on the official World of Warcraft forums. ***

I’ve been playing for months (levels 1-80 [not this character]) with one or both of my sons (ages 11 and 15). We’ve quested a bit, and we’ve run dungeons, just the three of us. My 15 year old stopped playing WoW about 10 levels ago, so since then, it’s been just me and my 11 year old.

Since there’s only two of us now, we’ve been joining LFDs for our dungeon runs. It’s not nearly as fun — we can’t enjoy the dungeons at our own pace, we have to follow the rush :-(

During these runs with PUGs, I’ve seen my son be the “problem player”. On multiple occasions, he has aggroed something by getting too close to it — just wanting to look at it. He has seemed AFK because he wanted to look at the scenery of the dungeon. He has pulled a side mob because he wanted to test himself one-on-one (or battles have seemed so easy, and so he thinks he can just kill one more on his own). He has switched between specs while forgetting to change his gear accordingly. He has annoyed people by emoting constantly. *sigh*

He never does any of this to intentionally be a problem. He’s just being a kid. If you have kids, you know how they just do completely ridiculous stuff to entertain themselves. When we were playing as a threesome, I could overlook some of his silliness because I know he’s a child, or I could control potential problematic actions because we play in the same physical room together.

Now, he’s not all bad in LFDs. Just last night, when the tank died, my son (as an enhancement shaman) stepped up and managed to hold the enemy’s attention off the clothy casters. He also throws out heals on himself or others when the group healer is pressured. He knows how the group tank/healer/DPS dynamic works, and he tries to be helpful. I trust him completely when we’re under pressure. And when we’re not under pressure, usually a simple, one time warning (verbal from me, or in chat from a party member) straightens him up.

Basically, when there is real trouble/danger, he plays well. But when the run is easier, he tends to be silly and sloppy, and probably annoying to strangers. So, I’m sorry for that.

Bullgrit

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