Zlatto’s Bazaar: Gathering Etiquette – Answering Two Common Questions

Zlatto’s Bazaar is the one-third Wall Street, one-third criminal empire and one-half gossip rag. You need to keep up on the Bazaar if for no other reason than to keep an eye on your competitors. Don’t be a Ho-tah and visit often – I’ve got stuff I gotta sell.  Your comments are encouraged, especially if they make me credits…

I wanted to clearly state that fairness is an important character trait in Toydarians. Can you believe there is an image stating that we are thieves on wikipedia? You just can’t trust anything you read on the Internet). Who decides what is fair? Well that is the question that separates a guerful and his credits.

While playing Star Wars: The Old Republic this last week, I had a few incidents I wanted to talk about here with the readers of AAJ. I was clearing a strong mob on Alderaan that was standing right on top of a lovely barrel of Phobium. Out of the corner of my eye, a Sith Warrior swoops in and grabs it and then laughs via emote and flies off. I know I am on the Empire side, where Dark Side mentality abounds, but I mean really? I had hoped a good percentage of the umrons had stayed put in PandaWorld!

"I got this!"

The next incident was in a PUG, running a quick 4 player heroic. When I asked about who got to scavenge the strong droids that we were killing, the group lead stated he needed all of the materials and his guild mate agreed. Adding to the lack of support was his companion, which did not seem to come to my aid in the discussion. I left the jackwagons to find another player.

So I decided to ask a few players out in the community two questions. I’d love continued input on these topics, so keep your responses coming, but here are the responses I’ve received so far.

What is your opinion on a node next to a player fighting a mob? Does faction matter?

Andy from Republic Trooper:

My personal take on it is this…if you see a node right next to a player killing some mobs more than likely he is fighting them, so he can pick it up. In that scenario I will generally skip it and move on. If it’s someone of the opposite faction and they are flagged…well, kill them, then mine. Every time, all day long [a player after my own 2 hearts – Z].

Ventu from the guild Lorem Ipsum:

Personally I wait till they are done fighting if they don’t take the node right away then I grab it.

Momus:

To me, there are many variables, such as time of day, guild, my general mood and how I am feeling. If it’s someone of the same faction and they are going after a node, I let them have it. I’m not one to start something bad with people of my own faction. However, the opposite is always true of the other faction, especially if they’re from a certain few guilds that are generally known as the gankers and griefers. I have no compunction in taking their nodes.

Zlatto:

For me its all about context and immersion. If the player is my faction I will wait till they are done fighting and see if they leave it. If the player is of the opposite faction I take the node. Glory to the EMPIRE! If the player is of the opposite faction I wait till they are deep in their fight I then gank them and take the node. Glory to the EMPIRE!

Is there some assumed etiquette for who gets to scavenge nodes when in groups, Flashpoints and Operations?

Andy from Republic Trooper:

As far as Flashpoints and Operations go, that’s a completely different story. Especially in Ops since usually it is a rare node drop etc. In most cases there the Raid Leader or Guild will assign designated people to mine / scavenge etc.

Ventu from Guild Lorem Ipsum:

I always defer to those that can skill up if it is grey to me.

Momus:

As the raid leader of one my guild’s raid teams, I can answer this specifically from that perspective. In a raid, I do expect us to be using the resources we gain in the most efficient manner so as to power us to doing better. This includes general loot as well as crafting items such as the Self-Perpetuating Power Cell. I do expect my instructions to be followed on these; however, if we had to grab members not from the guild, I would necessarily alter my expectations. A pick-up player cannot be expected to further our guild’s aims, and should have an equal chance at the loot.

In the past, when situations like this came up, I would actually have him roll out of 100. For instance, in an 8 man, a pick-up player would (all things being equal) be equivalent to 12.5% of the team’s total output, and therefore, I’d give him a 13% (rounded up) shot at loot. If he rolled 1-13 (or 88-100) then he would get the crafting item in question; otherwise, it goes to the guild.

In a flashpoint, I honestly just go by who can get it faster. I’ll tend to back off if there’s another scavenger and I feel like I’ve grabbed too many recently.

Zlatto:

This one is where I could sure use some insight from the community. Heroics and Flashpoints are of course different from Operations in scale and the types of resources to be had. But having a discussion before the first resource is gathered seems to be the best way to avoid issues.

I remember my times in Vanilla Warcraft in my guild’s attempts to gather Sulfuron Ingots.  We were a small guild and in many cases we had to bring in non-guild players to run Molten Core. Having a clear discussion about what is and is not available to roll on helped set reasonable expectations. The guild leaders would compensate for the restrictiveness of certain drops by making sure those non-guild people were well compensated with materials or alt spec loot. When I finally get a character up to 50 I sure hope I can find a guild that allows players to roll on the more valuable items in the Operations once they have them on farm mode.

I always appreciate hearing other player’s opinions on topics I am working on. Please post your thoughts, rants or stories about gathering.