NEWS FLASH! Monks on strike at Thunderhead Keep

Rofl, this is funny

FOX NEWS SPECIAL REPORT: MONK STRIKE ENDS - All parties reconcile over a nice pancake breakfast!!!!

GWNN: This just in the members that started the protest want to apolize to the general pubic. This started as a joke however some people took it too seriously.

Before i say this . . i have a monk.

When i play warrior IM THE MOTHERFRIGGIN BIG BOSS!!!11elevenshift1onehundredeleven11!!!! Ill aggro wat i want WHEN I WANT. its my fault i die and i know it. But every class has a healing skill. i learn to use mine. Monks get no respect. They r like the mail guy in a big business: He gives u the bill that says if you dont pay in 30 days ur kicked and u spit on him. If he doesnt ur out of a job? Get it? Got it? Good. Im going to be an aggro monster in War Camp.

Hey, I resent that!

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Gaming is my life... A death in Guild Wars tears out a piece of my very soul...

*shifty glances*

Anyway, I have occasionally been popping into THK and jumping between districts shouting "Elementalists for life! The monks will burn under the fires of justice!"... Got some nice flame whispers out of it. Not like I care, I think the whole Monk thing is getting stupid and out of hand, even if originally it was justified. When a monk does thier job, be it smiting, healing, protecting, or a combination of such, I give them due respect. But when they just totally screw it up, they get a lashing. If you are set up to be a healer, you heal. If you are set up to be a smiter, you smite. Blah blah blah yadda yadda etcetera.

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Couldnt help but to respond to this thread. I didnt read the whole thing (sue me) but got through about the first 5 pages to basically figure the sides on this and come up with my thoughts:

To start, I have been a warrior, monk, ranger, and ele primaries (sorry mesmer people, i love you all too but i simply cant play one). Ive been on both sides of this little war, and from looking back on it, monks have the right to be upset. Even the best monks can only tolerate so much messing up before their energy gives out. Ive been the dumb warrior too that aggros things (in my earlier days, not now ^_^) and THK taught me really quick not to aggro things. The problem is that others dont learn so quickly. Now onto the rest of my mini essay:

THK is the mission that separates the newbs from those who have skill. Noone can run it for you, and if youre a poor player, its going to show. In all of the missions to that point your weaknesses are covered by others but THK finally makes you take responsibility for yourself and your group. Its one of those missions where if you have even 1 bad player, you likely arent going to make it (unless the other 7 are great at communication and careful)

This being said, people on both sides (monks and the other 5 professions) have their newbs, but no single person gets rocked harder when they screw up than the monk. The monk could be the one screwing up, or it could be the other person, but 90% of the time someone IS going to flame the monk. Also 90% of the time, its not the monk screwing up (yes ive seen a few that have poor energy mangement, but ive seen far more people of other classes totally ignore the need for regen). To me, that is a serious problem. Not being accepted/appreciated is one thing (for those rangers/mesmers out there) but to be flamed for someone elses screwup is just plain stupid.

Once people get past THK, people learn appreciation for monks (for the most part) and no problems exist past that. Thus striking at THK makes alot of sense (since this is the center of abuse).

For people saying the strike is stupid/evil/I am never going to use a PUG monk again. Think about it, monks are needed in the PvE part game. If everyone simply quit playing one (as people often do with mesmers), there would be next to no monks and things would be worse than they are. For those claiming henchies as the alternative, thats great for those who can do it, but I am pretty sure those who can henchie that mission with every primary are in the vast minority. All the monks are asking for is that people listen to them like good teammates. Most monks dont need people to say "Monks R God!!!!111", all they want is some kind of understanding from others that they have equal respect to any other people in the group.

As for those saying monks are stuck up/snobbish/being stupid for not going with just any group: Monks are just looking for (like anyone else) the group that gives them the best chance of success. In this game, the cookie cutter builds generally give the best chance of success so they want people to go with those. You cant blame them for something that all other professions look for too. Besides a cookie cutter build already gives some semblance of organization and teamwork, two things monks need from other members later in the game. People in other professions are snobbish/stuck up too, but this is not noticable since most other professions that are used in most builds can be easily picked up.

For all of the other anger toward the strike (the flooding etc): 1. How is this any different than the multiude of people that always spam sell in the all chat? 2. This is a game. If something in a game is really stressing you out that bad, then you should seriously re-evaluate your life or at least take a break.

Probably one of the most troubling posts ive seen (no offense at all to the author, as these are all valid points). Indeed, all professions (and all people that have ever played) at times are guilty of newbiness when it comes to aggro, however there is a disproportionate amount of people amount of these that are warriors. The ones that do this consistently are usually the ones that think that they can do it all (aggro, tank, kill the best) and that they are the end all of the world. Alot of them eventually learn, but usually not quickly enough to save the group. As for wanting to hack and slash and spill enemy blood everywhere, thats all fine and good when youre solo, or in a guild group where everyone knows thats what youre going to do. But when youre in a coop mission, the lives of your teammates are in your hands every bit as much as they are in the monks. It is YOUR job to protect them from inital harm. When in a group, you do YOUR job and do it well. If your job is to hack and slash, then great, but in missions, people NEED you to tank first damage deal later. Youre always free to go out later and do your hack/slash thing and be happy, but being a good teammate means sacrificing your own desires for the sake of the group, and if warriors dont learn this, then theyll soon find themselves short of support. This very lesson is forced up on all other professions earlier in the game (since most of them cant solo their way through everything to that point with as much ease as a warrior can) and it becomes very clear which warriors have and which havent learned that lesson in THK. (on a side note, i make it my first priority to do what i can to protect the monk no matter what primary i am, maybe thats just a side product of gvg).

Anyway its late, and ive made my points. Who knows how many people will actually read all of this, and im sure some of those who do read it wont pull anything, but if i help even just one non monk primary or someone getting angry over this, then my time was well spent ^_^

100% in favor of the monk strike until there is more understanding out there.

-Ex0dus

Hmm, I miss the parade.

<rant mode>
Heck, what the hell... the last time I see someone blame monk was like what? 4-6 months ago? Now days, EVERYTIME I see someone dissing the group's monk, he was yelled/dissed/flamed at by EVERYONE in the same party.

Now monk going on strike? Sigh...

and the mesemer thing... WTH!! Monk get into just about ANY party easily, also can solo I don't know how many places (more correctly, who can even solo without being half monk?). Mesemer? They had to make their own party to get a chance to play, where can they solo?! Ele? Ele are suffering the most with almost everything being more efficient than them, the only thing that still keep them alive in PvE is the momemtum of Ele's previous record! Warrior? Give me a break. Ranger? I think many had already pointed out exactly. Necro? I always welcome them into my party.

If I ever see warrior strike, I will charge into random arena and slaughter every single warrior with a super-pin-point-anti-warrior build.
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Now, if any one of the ele/mes/ranger go on strike. No one would care as much about it as monk, if anything, just a laugh. (Although this monk thing was supposely a laugh too) It won't have any where near the same impact as strike monk. Now, if all three ranger/mes/ele go on strike at the same time... heh heh, then we will see.

Does that mean Alesia, Lina and Mhelno go on strike too? :|

This has to be the most ridiculous thing i've seen in a long time.

I feel the strike is giving monks a bad rap. I joined a team yesterday in THK and 1/4 the way into the mission the other monk said "Oh by the Way, I"M ON STRIKE" and left us. What point was he trying to prove to me? He deserted, leaving me to monk alone. We went back and got a henchie, I didn't want to recruit another monk who would prove to be unreliable. Mission was a breeze by the way!

All of it just sounds really stupid to me. Maybe some people were just there for fun and it was a bit of a joke, but seriously by doing that kind of thing you're giving yourselves the same kind of reputation as the wammos and others that you feel are abusing you.

Ok, monks do have to put up with crap. But the crap they put up with is usually in PUGs. If you're 'being abused' by playing in PUGs, then find a good guild and friends so that you can do things not in PUGs. As a matter of fact, every class puts up with crap in PUGs. Every player puts up with charging wammos, REZ screams, careless aggroers, and arguments with caps lock turned on. All monks might get that others don't is complaints that they're not being healed enough. So what? Put up with it, don't cry like a baby...or actually find a good guild and friends to play with so you never have to play in a PUG again.

I'm glad I'm on Euro servers so I couldn't witness this stupid stuff going on in the American districts.

You know what? I'm glad all you idiot Monks are on strike. Why? Hopefully Anet see's this and hit's you with the nurf bat so hard that we won't need your sorry asses anymore . Then you'll see what it feels like to be an Ele...

Buff up healling and rez on all other classes please Anet! For the love of God. This oppression has gone on long enough...

LOL yeah I had fun hanging out there watching and cracking jokes - WAAAAY too many people taking it seriously - it's fun, it's a diversion.

One warrior was making such funny comments I proposed marriage to him and added him to friends

My main character is a monk and Im so monkish that my ranger and necro almost act like they are monks too (bad Spice bad) I enjoy monking and havent generally had a bad time from people .... but then I don't accept blind invites without chatting first, I apologise for any mistakes *I* make, and I compliment the other players all of which encourages people to be nice in missions.

The strike is funny more than anything else.

Sister Spice

hahaha what the hell is this and why is it fourteen pages long

This just in: President Bush has authorized the use of Dubai-based monks to take over for the striking American monks, unleashing a huge controversy in the United States. Said Bush, "Americans do not have to worry about good monking."

Meanwhile, protests over entrusting the running of our healing, protection and smiting services to an area with known ties to terrorism are forming all over the country. Clem Kadiddlehoffer from Memphis, TN commented, "It's gonna be just like the 55 Monks taking your money for the Underworld, then leaving you down there, dead, while they take all your Ectos!"

(this is too rich....)

Its the fact that they are getting treated like dirt for being bad monks.That and they're crying over the fact that they're not being "Respected".

I guess its their first day on the internet.

funny, but boy arent monks getting pretentious/pathetic/insecure lately.

you dont like warriors? well there are good and bad warriors as much as good and bad monks, live with it.

why dont warriors go on strike moaning about monks? ironic that monks call them noobs and kiddies when the childish ones are obviously the monks in this case.

but still at least it gives rangers something else to laugh about while the other classes bicker

I really blame the monks for letting the situation get out of hand. Monks have the absolute most overpowered skill in the game. It's called "Letting Idiots Die," and it doesn't even take up your elite slot. Much easier to get somebody to listen when you're preaching to their carcass so they can't go pull aggro.

So anyway, here's the PvE rules as I see them for not ticking off your monk:

1) Don't use Frenzy. Ever. It's sad when I have to tell PUGs that if I see frenzy, I stop healing them. It's sadder when the idiots try to test me on that. Here's a little math for you: 80/2 = 40. 40 < 60. There's plenty of ways to up your damage output without giving yourself less defense than the weakest classes in the game.

2) Warriors don't need to call energy. Monks call their energy for a reason. Wamoes don't need to call their energy back, we know its 2X/2X, and we don't care.

3) Don't call your life. I know all monks are evil, don't heal, and are just there to leech drops, but we do look over at the party window every now and then. We know what your life is. We know if you're dead, which brings up my next point...

4) Rezzing isn't "the monk's job." Try replacing frenzy on your skill bar with a rez sig (unless you really want me to stop healing you for 8 seconds). Everyone in the party should carry some form of resurrection. Rez taking up 1 spot out of 8 will not wreck your build. Yes, I know your build is leet, just trust me here.

This is just my opinion and, yes, I know how stupid I am.

Regrettably, not all idiots understand they're not supposed to play monks (55 farming is leetzorz and all that). I was doing DNKP with my warrior the other day (Wamo in all his radiant glory) and one of the monks died. No problem right? Me and the other wamo both called we're using restore life on dead monk, just after that the other monk called he's using rebirth, which of course he got off first due to the faster cast time. So then we've got one monk with no energy and one monk with no skills and no energy. Game, Set, Match.

Bottom line is, its hard to tell who in your group has any clue what they're doing until you leave town. Any group could be really good or righteously suck. I know some places can be frustrating, but when you get down to basics, this is still just a game, and you may as well laugh at it as cry.

What's with all the whammo bashing? Only monk skill I use is rebirth for ressing you squishies

96 (Glad's + shield vs elemental) - 40 (approximate doubling of damage) = 56. 56 < 60 by 4 AL. Against physical it's 116 - 40 = 76. Assuming there is no "Watch Yourself!" or Dolyak Signet up. Where in Frenzy's description does it say AL is halved, and what are these magical ways of buffing your attacks better than Frenzy?

Why does the Monk have to call energy unless they're at 0 for some reason? Does the Monk not have energy management?

To stop the wammo charging into the next mob?

I'm sure all the competent,mature monks are ignoring the strike,so there's no need to get all upset..

Simply by the fact that this thread is now about 14 pages long and has huuuge posts be each person shows that some people are taking this waaaaaaay too seriously.

I for one was one of the first monks out there in the protest at around 11:00 central time, but quite frankly was disgusted at those who got seriously riled up and exchanged malicious insults.

Also, as per the response last night from not one, but TWO A-net employees, I believe that us monks got what we were asking for. If two a-net employees showing up and talking with the monks along with giving exclusive information on upcoming events/changes is not respect, then I don't know what is.

*drops his protest sign and walks away peacefully and content to go back to his normal monking duties*

Funny thing is, good monks wouldnt complain, because there's nothing to complain about if you are a good monk. I've been in quite a few groups where tanks have aggro'd and taken big damage, but I've always kept them alive. Obviously the monks protesting aren't very good at their job, because if you are half decent at healing or prot, the tanks wouldn't be dying so easily.

Stereotyping is just as immature as those who did it on both sides during the strike and took it seriously, and I don't appreciate you applying it in the form of an insult to those who you do not know simply because there was a strike. From my experiece most people joined in as more of a uniting of monks and large dance party than an actual display of unease.

Oh, and no you can't heal your whole party if they are on different sides of the map. A tank using frenzy + heal sig when being attacked can be a bit hard to heal at times too, especially if they have dp.

OMG.

Why didn't this happen months ago when I was still playing GW regularly and monking madly?

Now I'm forced to log on again ... to see.

brilliant.


BTW - someone mentioned a possible mesmer strike? ... would anyone even notice? j/k.

Yeah man screw using one of the best methods to up basic DPS that's just DUMB and will not be tolerated!!!

And to do a complete one-eighty, yes, I fully agree with you there. Don't call health. I certainly don't like it, and saying 'heal plz wtf dumb monk' is simply tantamount to suicide.

now STOP THIS THREAD it is a waste of TIME

WHAT?!? You are complaining about that warrior when he is actually helping you heal himself?!

You guys are never happy are you?

I'm using Heal Other!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Dwayna's Kiss!
I'm using Word of Healing!
My Energy is 0 of 62!

That's a Thunderhead Keep monk for you

There's an enormous difference between using Healing Signet judiciously and hitting Frenzy immediately before they try to heal themselves.

alot of bs here, but still its a nice read

Monks can go on a strike, I don't care, it's funny

Contrary to my expectation, that all monks will leave THK after the strike, a lot stayed and help people doing the mission. If you are stuck in this mission, you should go there now. Maybe a once in a lifetime chance.

I haven't read the entire post, but lets be fair to the monks they do their best to keep the team alive. I have never beratted a monk when I played as an ele or a warrior. Now that, I am going through as a monk, I see so many players aggroeing everything in sight, being in the desert missions still wearing pre armor (I really hate this one, makes my job almost imposible, might as well do the mission naked), or just have a bad attitude. I'm not the best monk in the world, but I do know how to kite effectively and have good energy mangament skills. I learned to monk the hard way, by gvging in a two monk backline where any mistake is costly. My opinion is that, I don't think that monks should charge for their services, but they need to be shown respect. If they do a good job for you, let them know this, and if they make a mistake, be tactful when letting them know this. Because a true monk strike would be going into a mission with a group and then refusing to heal them.

sorry forgot to say:

/endsarcasm

Archon, you are taking this too seriously. Obviously you have had a bad experience as a monk, or you just aren't good at it. The majority of people here are putting forward their reasons for or against a strike, whereas you seem to be totally against everyone who wasn't there. I play both a monk and a tank with Frenzy and Healing Signet. Frenzy is one of the best ways to deal fast damage, and as long as you aren't taking too much damage, is safe to use. Everyone seems scared by the -40 armor from Healing Signet, but the majority of the time, it doesn't have much of an affect, unless you try to use it while being attacked by more than 2 enemies, which is stupid.

Why would your party be on different sides of the map? This is clearly either an exaggeration or poor teamwork, not anything to do with the skill level of the monk or tank in this scenario.

I love how people are either too lazy to read my posts or would rather mock my opinions than give them any serious consideration. Especially since I went out of my way not to insult, either backhandedly or directly, anyone else who shared a differing opinion from me. While normally I'd lay into you people with a vengence I'm going to be the bigger person here.

For the one person who, for whatever reason, can't be bothered to read my last post and wanted a summary here it is. " The strike was stupid, the players should have squashed it before it started. Once it did start A Net should have squashed it. Why? Because even the most innocuous stunts inevitably end up in a name calling match, which I point out this incident did, and people end up getting in more serious trouble for it when all it would have taken was someone from A Net saying "Hey knock it off."

As for me being "determined" to see the worst in people on this well in my opinion anyone that thinks this was just a harmless little incident with no repercussions is just naive. I predict more junk like this happening and I predict a continued cheapening of the game because of it, as well as other factors like cheating and second party gold sales. If I see the worst in people then it's only because that's the part people tend to display the most prominently.

I went to THK about 3 hours ago, wanted to get it finished on my Monk, hadn't bothered doing the mission in 8 months, as I had made other characters, and used my monk for PvP. Decided that everyone who was there was clearly not interested in completing the mission, so I grabbed 7 henchmen (Necro hench missed out), and entered the mission. An hour later I had the mission and bonus finished.

The point is; Everyone out there who thinks the mission is hard, and you need monks for it, grab the Henchmen. They might make mistakes sometimes, but if you go through carefully, they are often much better than some of the monks you see around. The best part is; they don't complain about anything

I find this hilarious, considering I've gotten a grand total of one flame in all my 500+ hours of monking. Which is more than made up for by the countless compliments I've received.

Desbreko, perhaps its becuase you have energy management, and don't use Firestorm