I dont see whats wrong with pugs.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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)

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.

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).

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!

Well, you would be in the minority. Because there are tons of dumbasses in game. AND I rather they not waste my time.

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.

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.

I usually pick up henchies, they are awesome

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

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

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.

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.