I dont see whats wrong with pugs.

The one Casey Squid

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Northeast

Knights Of Thulcandra [KoT]

W/E

Ive played through both campaigns and quested in the UW and FOW with nothing but random people I meet in the area. I dont see what thinks is so bad about questing with random people.

I just go into a area with whatever im playing and wait. "group looking for two more. self invite" "joins* *gets through mission*

I mean every now and then you get a ass but if you just whisper the group and tell everyone just to ignore and continue the mission everything seems to go well.

I just never had a issue with PUG groups. Maybe some of you have had terrible experiances but I havnt yet.

Dont diss pugs. You can meet some great people.

lg5000

lg5000

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

Australia

And you meet some amazing people... ever come across what you thought was a monk, only to find out it's a monk for self-heals only who's playing illusion?

But in reality, I use pugs for most of what I do, which occasionally is a bet in how fast we can fail the mission/quest

Rabid China Girl

Rabid China Girl

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2006

California

Simply Tasteful Delicacies [STD]

I have a very close guild where we are all friends. Unfortunately, our guild consists of about 4 people.. hehe. So needless to say, I often PUG, as our Alliance is not too talkative and open with each other.

You are correct. You will get an ass every now and then, or just a noob, but more often than not, the group as a whole works. I don't really understand the logic behind those who diss pugs and avoid them like plagues.. I mean, if it's not your preference, fine... but hey, I'm often one of those pugs, and I'm neither an ass nor a noob.

Clord

Clord

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2006

Finland

Victory Via Valour

Diffirent servers got diffirent players. Very likely discrussion here is mostly from USA server viewpoint.

King Kong

King Kong

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

W/R

Im on the euro servers and done every mission with PUG's. You get the odd knob but apart from that, ive never had any trouble

Celeborn

Celeborn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

England

Gameamp Guides [AMP]

Mo/Me

I love PUG's. ^^

Jalinka_Vail

Jalinka_Vail

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

Kansas

Legend of Five

R/Mo

A month ago i was trying to ascend.
PUG list of torture.
Pug 1: Ranger's (2) left after caping
Pug 2: Monk left after 1 min
pug 3: Two brother kept screaming at each other the whole time. Half way threw mission they went off and died. Even if you rez them they run off and die again and laugh about it.
Pug 4. Two members leave after capping
pug 5. All die cause monk was smiter and didn't tell us.
Pug 6. 2 of 6 member are afk for 5 min, then leave the game.
pug 7. More member yelling at each other so others leave the game.
A few more pugs very simular close to the ones above.

This is all in about 3 hours.

I took a break and tried again as leader. I went threw the last two missions with no deaths of any members. I had to be very boss and promise not to heal anyone that doesn't follow orders. (Orders like don't run off, stay tight, warrior leads and calls targets.) Everyone was just so happy to be threw the missions.

My new rules are the following for pug's.
1. No PUG's on weekends
2. lead all pug's after i learn the mission
3. Missions and quests that need people, I wait and group with guildy's.

Caged Fury

Caged Fury

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hearts Of Fury [HoF]

I don't recall being in any pug parties that left me pulling my hair out and swearing left, right and centre. A few times, there's been a jerk in the party but not too much of a jerk to cause too much grief or any exchange of insults. Most pug missions I've done were completed first time, those that failed well the same party stayed and went through it again.

Granted that I don't pug it very often, so I think I've been pretty lucky with pugs so far.

I'm on European servers btw.

Zubey

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Wildly Unsuccessful Pacifists

They are great dogs. They shed quite a bit, but are very affectionate.

QuixotesGhost

QuixotesGhost

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

I agree with the OP.

American Server.

EternalTempest

EternalTempest

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

United States

Dark Side Ofthe Moon [DSM]

E/

I also agree with the OP, Im located on the American Server as well.

I've had bad / very bad pugs before, but the majority that I get are decent to awesome.

Big_Iron

Big_Iron

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

The Edge

Tormented Weapons [emo]

I've done PuG's from the start. I'm in a very small guild, so doing guild only groups was never an option for me. With a few exceptions, the PuGs I've been in have been great. And as mentioned about, I've met some awesome people.

fgarvin

fgarvin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2005

PUGs are fine for some things, but when you're used to communicating over Vent with Guildies you've played with before, going with a PUG kinda blows...

But meeting new players is always a plus.

yeah_hi

yeah_hi

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

UK

After doing pretty much everything guild-less and solo in Prophecies & Factions, I fancied a change, and am a recent newcomer to PUGs (American server).

After reading some of the horror stories on here (mostly from this thread), I went in expecting the absolute worst, and have been pleasantly surprised. In fact I would go so far as to say that most of the PUGs I've joined have been more enjoyable than henching it.

YMMV.

Kakumei

Kakumei

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2005

Grind is subjective

learn this please

What's wrong with PUGs? Lack of reliability.

Red

Red

Rawr!

Join Date: Mar 2006

Kentucky, USA

Team Love [kiSu]

Mo/

I like the social aspect of PUGGin... but I generally insist on leading my own PUGs. As you invite people, you can get a sense by talking with them on whether or not they fail at English and thus life. I'm sorry, but if you can't type back to me and hold a dialogue, I'm not going to trust you will killing the enemies while I heal you on my monk.

XD What's real fun is taking even 1-3 guildies with you. In groups like that, you can almost carry the PUGs through. I feel so charitable when doing such things. ^_^

Coridan

Coridan

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2006

US

Old Married Gamers {OMG}

W/

I have completed the whole Prophecies game and got the title Procter of Tyria or whatever with ONLY pugs. Yeah there are those that quit out etc...or are just a55e5 . But I honestly think its the best way to go. If no one is taking "control" do it yourself and learn how to lead etc...Usually that is why Pugs fall apart or what have you cause NO ONE is willing to take charge. Just my opinion...but I would rather PUG than play with peeps I know cuz if "they" make a mistake i get pissed or what have you where as with a pug i can just say oh well :P

Leorhall

Leorhall

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Aug 2006

Northern Ontario

W/Mo

Sounds like PUGs are some sort of last minute / random group selection... What exactly does PUG stand for? (New to game.)

Gli

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

I love PuGs. My good experiences outweigh the bad ones by far. Very far.

For the record, I play on Europe, and often I play from after 10pm until way past midnight. In my experience, the time bracket makes a lot of difference when it comes to pugging. When I play early evenings, I wouldn't even dream of gathering a PuG, based upon what's going on in the general chat.

blood4blood

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2005

PUG = Pick Up Group

Personal experience with PUG's has been mixed - I've had enough bad experiences that I generally prefer henchies.

Chuba

Chuba

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Finland

New Dragons [NDR]

PUG = Pick Up Group, namely a group that usually consists of people you have never played with before and with whom you just grouped with to do a mission or a quest.

I haven't had any problems with PUGs either, could it just be a US server problem? (not likely, I must just be lucky) Most of the time we've completed the mission/quest we've started, with only 1-2 droppers now and then, and we have completed the missions even after some dropouts most of the time. Sure, the action isn't as smooth as with a well balanced guild team etc. (one might even say a cookie-cutter team) but that's just what keeps my interest in the game, each person has their own style of finishing some missions and it's always refreshing to do missions in other ways than how one has grown accustomed to.

It's all about observing the team chat before entering a mission/explorable area, discussing how people are used to do play the mission/quest at hand and of course kicking those who join groups just to open a trade during a mission to sell you something

Sometimes PUGs do lose missions, but it's not something to be afraid of. It's one of the ways to spot the ragequitters and those without any kind of patience whatsoever, you can always try again without those rotten apples spoiling the fun

Oh yeah, I'm on European servers too...

Omega X

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

I don't know if PUGs are a problem in other servers but it sure the hell is in America.

No one is willing to cooperate and everyone has the answer...when they really don't. And it always takes one goon to mess up the entire mission.

That is why I love henches. No back talk, no idiocy, they always attack the target and is never AFK for half the mission.

Thank You Anet, Henches are a revolution to MMOs everywhere. Without Henches, I would probably rely on 100% guild groups.

cosyfiep

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

ah, the pug......this can either mean everyone wants you, or you are the plague incarnate............try playing mesmer sometime, then pugs are usually the bane of your existance (or an assassin for that matter), play a monk and you are picked even before you have completely gotten into the city!

Pugs can go either way....sometimes you complete the mission/quest othertimes....welll, lets just say a babysitter is in order.

I think most people who complain about pugs are from (larger?) guilds----they dont really need to worry about finding a group, just which guildees are online to play with....but if they MUST do something without their guild, then we get the 'I hate pugs' syndrom since in a pug most people dont know each other nor do they know what skills the others are using....nor have many of them worked together before. This is hard on the guild player who is used to playing with Ed, Jim, Jose, TJ, Bob, Austin and Lisa everyday.....

well thats what I think anyway.....for those of us who have puged the whole 2 chapters, we are used to playing with new people everyday and shrug off the occasional bad player as some bad luck, and then go and find another pug to complete the mission/quest with.

Mo Joe Joe Joe

Mo Joe Joe Joe

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Where the sun don't shine

Mo/E

PUGs do contain some great people; this is how I found my 2 favorite guilds that I have joined (CTU and KoK). However, people have also amazed me at their apparent joy in pissing off others. I have found peoples tolerance of PUGs is very tied to 2 things

1) your personality. Some people are very good natured and arrogant jerks / morons do not bother them (typically). I can occasionally laugh off stupid pugs, but occassionally they cross my limits and really piss me off (racial slurs, yelling noob for any mis-step of the group, stealing others loot, runnining off to solo farm or explore). Props to those that never get soo torqued.

2) your experience level. If I do not know an area, I am willing to be told what to do and when to do it. If i know an area well, then I am not real fond of being told to do it "this way", unless it is by the party leader. I always respect the party leaders right to direct his troops.

There are other factors for sure.

bamm bamm bamm

bamm bamm bamm

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

I've never had a problem with pugs, I've completed both protector titles on my primary with nothing but. My mesmer hasn't had a problem completing both campaigns with pugs either.

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

By and large I've had good experiences wit PUGs. Most have been really good, a few have not been very skilled, but I mean, that's OK.
Only really bad experience were two sequential PUGgings at Thirsty River - first one half the team was AFK and the other half ragequit, second time half the team were aggroing in all directions at once like headless chicken, and shouting "noob" at eachother, THEN ragequitting.

Surreal.

Then there was the time when there were two people in the team who both considered themselves to be leader, and neither knew the mission or where to go. That was a horribly bad PUG, but it wasn't an _unpleasant_ one. I've never laughed so much in a game in my entire life, at times I was laughing so hard I couldn't fight (which of course only added to the hilarity).

No, all in all I've had good PUGging. I like PUGs.

Death by Ooga Booga

Death by Ooga Booga

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2005

TBMF

Well imo most pugs are crap. I was playing my Ele and doing Hell's Precipice. Very easy mission if you ask me. (Winter ftw) I tried 9 times with pugs. We only got about 1/4 of the way each time then the group just fell apart. So I asked me ol guildies for some help. We had 8 guildies and finished without 1 death. I could have slept most of the way. So ya, most pugs suck indeed!

Eviance

Eviance

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

Eh I forget... o_O

Biscuit of Dewm [MEEP]

R/

example of why I hate PUGGING:
MM leaves with 10 minions up after he caps without so much as a g2g
Pug trying to lead group the wrong way even though you have done the mission 3 times before and know what you are doing and thusly he gets mad and leaves.

Patience can be key with PUGs but you have some that think they are Dwaynas gift to GW and know everything and in the end they call you stupid because they refuse to follow the rest of the group.
Not all PUGs suck, but I've had more than my share of bad ones and generally as a rule I try not to PUG too often because of it.

neocloud

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: May 2005

Depends on the mission really, crystal desert, THK, and ones like it in factions, I avoid PUGs at all cost, most of the people there are stuck there because they don't understand the concept of working as a team, and no matter how hard one can try to teach them, they always find a way to end the mission early.
On the other hand, in between missions, quests and even optional missions, I have had good experiences with pugs.
(Best way to pug the crystal desert is to form a party of level 18s and 19s, and avoid the really low and stay away from the 20s, I have found the most experienced people in this missions to be under the normal level for the area)

Alias_X

Alias_X

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2005

I have gone through most of the game with PUG's, and they have been decent.

You really notice a difference when you go with a guild group after a PUG group fails. When you are in a group that knows what it is doing, obviously everything is quicker and goes smoother, but you can also count on good healing, etc.

PUG's are fair, but I would always pick a guild group over PUG.

Rabid China Girl

Rabid China Girl

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2006

California

Simply Tasteful Delicacies [STD]

I respect people's aversion to pugs but I don't like how some people actually seem to think we're all vapid morons or assholes. Not every decent person in the game is in a guild or big guild. Plenty of people around without tags or in tiny, unknown close-knit guilds who make good, enjoyable pugs.

Granted, there are jerks, but that's life in an online game. Some people will be assholes given the opportunity.

I agree a previous poster about the attitude towards pugs. Those who have the benefit of a large, active guild have an irrational dislike toward pugging because they're too used to working with people they are familiar with. The rest of us pug everyday and are thus used to working with strangers. We get a jerk? Okay, post about him on guru and try, try again. We may fail certain missions many times before succeeding, but that becomes a part of our Guild Wars experience. What do we do? Log off, take a break, then come back to try, try again.

It IS nice to play with people you are familiar with, but we don't all have that luxury. Many people have invited me to their guilds after I saved multiple asses on my monk, but I decline because I like chatting with the few, good people who still make up my guild (which I have been with since I first started GW when it came out).

AJM

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2006

Order of the Soulflame

W/Rt

Quote:
Originally Posted by neocloud
Depends on the mission really, crystal desert, THK, and ones like it in factions, I avoid PUGs at all cost, most of the people there are stuck there because they don't understand the concept of working as a team, and no matter how hard one can try to teach them, they always find a way to end the mission early.
On the other hand, in between missions, quests and even optional missions, I have had good experiences with pugs.
Agreed. People who can work as a team hardly even have to try THK, once they get together and form a group. I did it with a PuG the first time through, and though we failed the first two times, it was simply from a lack of knowledge about the mission. The third time, we nailed it.

I have always said "Anything is easy with a good group". By good, what I really mean is a group of team players. I often tell people that the difficulty of a mission or quest depends, more than anything, on your party.

Occasionally, yes, I get in a PuG with one or more complete ass-hats, but usually, if you set a good example and keep cool, it is entirely possible to make it through, and it can be more fun clawing your way through a mission than dominating it with your guildies. It can make an old mission seem new, almost.

I don't know that it's only on American servers, I've gotten bad PuGs in int. districts too, but it wouldn't surprise me. It's a cultural thing. The majority of players on the American servers are from the US, and the US has a very different culture from Europe, not to mention Korea and Japan, even if there are superficial similarities. I guess US culture is not conducive to teamwork in an online game!

Omega X

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rabid China Girl
I respect people's aversion to pugs but I don't like how some people actually seem to think we're all vapid morons or assholes. Not every decent person in the game is in a guild or big guild. Plenty of people around without tags or in tiny, unknown close-knit guilds who make good, enjoyable pugs.

Granted, there are jerks, but that's life in an online game. Some people will be assholes given the opportunity.

I agree a previous poster about the attitude towards pugs. Those who have the benefit of a large, active guild have an irrational dislike toward pugging because they're too used to working with people they are familiar with. The rest of us pug everyday and are thus used to working with strangers. We get a jerk? Okay, post about him on guru and try, try again. We may fail certain missions many times before succeeding, but that becomes a part of our Guild Wars experience. What do we do? Log off, take a break, then come back to try, try again.

It IS nice to play with people you are familiar with, but we don't all have that luxury. Many people have invited me to their guilds after I saved multiple asses on my monk, but I decline because I like chatting with the few, good people who still make up my guild (which I have been with since I first started GW when it came out).
Well, you would be in the minority. Because there are tons of dumbasses in game. AND I rather they not waste my time.

Quaker

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

Like some others here, my experience with PUGs is very hit & miss. I've had great times with PUGs and I've had really bad times with PUGs. I've even had PUGs that were so bad, I had to leave, which is something I really don't like doing.
I find that the worst PUGs are the ones where you get 1 or 2 people in the group - usually not the "leader" - who think that they know the one and only way that a particular mission/quest MUST be done, and start pinging madly and drawing all over the compass. Note to PUGers - There is always more than one way to "skin a cat" - your way may be a good way, but it's not the ONLY way!

It seems to me that the time of day makes a difference. If you're playing at an "off" time of the day when there are fewer people around, there are usually fewer assholes too.

Sofonisba

Sofonisba

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Tucson, AZ

The Black Hand Gang [BHG] and The Black Helm Gang [BHeG]

I admit, I've become a sort of PUG snob. We don't have absolutely huge guilds in the alliance, but we usually get one or two people willing to come over, fill the rest with henches (usually).

The thing is, I've been in great PUGs in my entire play-time on GW, and also have met some super guildies through them. But for some reason lately, whenever we break down and say "How bad can it get?" and take on a couple randoms? Well, it can get bad. Very bad.

Unfortunately, PUGging does become a last resort. Sorry, y'all.

majoho

majoho

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Denmark

I usually pick up henchies, they are awesome

Malice Black

Site Legend

Join Date: Oct 2005

one of the best players i ever met was random PuG we ended up owning FoW/UW dozens of times

agreed with majoho (which is new) henchies FTW most of the time

pve-er

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2006

there are nothing wrong of PUG, I got most of mission done with them. if there are something wrong, it is your luck. you happend to get into the less experienced or immature group.

PUG is the place you interact with new people, making friends who in the future might continue to help you explore the game, in fact many good player has a guild, they usually stick with it. friend is the best way to keep them with you. even guildie can be noobish sometime.

so don't be afraid of PUG. sometime they are even better then guildies

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalinka_Vail
A month ago i was trying to ascend.
PUG list of torture.
Pug 1: Ranger's (2) left after caping
Pug 2: Monk left after 1 min
pug 3: Two brother kept screaming at each other the whole time. Half way threw mission they went off and died. Even if you rez them they run off and die again and laugh about it.
Pug 4. Two members leave after capping
pug 5. All die cause monk was smiter and didn't tell us.
Pug 6. 2 of 6 member are afk for 5 min, then leave the game.
pug 7. More member yelling at each other so others leave the game.
A few more pugs very simular close to the ones above.

This is all in about 3 hours.

I took a break and tried again as leader. I went threw the last two missions with no deaths of any members. I had to be very boss and promise not to heal anyone that doesn't follow orders. (Orders like don't run off, stay tight, warrior leads and calls targets.) Everyone was just so happy to be threw the missions.

My new rules are the following for pug's.
1. No PUG's on weekends
2. lead all pug's after i learn the mission
3. Missions and quests that need people, I wait and group with guildy's.
Don't you just love being a Monk one that can delegate orders to others.I agree American server I am on it 16 and under give or take.I have been in some nice pugs though and we were very friendly to each other in mission and after those ascention missions can be a little intense and THK.

eternal pho

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

The Licious Fame Farmers {TLG}

W/E

Henchies can sometimes work so much better than pugs.
I've gotten through Prophecies with 100% pugs for missions, but 10% of the time with henchies with Factions, due to the lack of balanced of classes =(. Nothin's worst than the pug tank that thinks he can take out a mob alone without the party's assistance.