There's such a thing as style

Originally posted in my other blog 22 April 2008.


Last night, whilst in a party in Quifm Island partying I was dropped from the group for the most heinous of crimes.

Disagreeing with the party leader over tactics.

Under the circumstances, I think he was already wound up. One person had dropped out because the group was running round and round the lake chasing monsters instead of setting up camp and pulling mobs back to the group.

I'd already made the point that this was annoying as I wasn't able to heal up in between fights as quickly. Apparently this was acceptable, as with our PL (Power Level) it didn't really matter that the remaining team members could barely do any damage.

That's right, the one who left in disgust was the other damage dealer (and, incidentally, was a member of Chocobo Kingdom - you know who you are!).

Anyway, time went on, and I started to get annoyed that between the two players with Warrior sub jobs, neither one was provoking the mob to keep's it attention. And so it would come after me eventually.

Now, with a PL this isn't really a critical problem. I take a hit, I get Cured. I'm unlikely to die (unless the PL really isn't paying attention) as the mobs here don't do that much damage in one hit.

However, there is such a thing as style.

Sure, we could all just stand there and beat the crap out of the mob. Hell, I could join in as well if I wanted to. The PL will keep us alive.

But there are two reasons why doing this is bad.

First, what happens if the PL disconnects? It happens to us all. One moment we are happily spamming Cure, the next we have the Red Disk of Death spinning next to our name, and have to watch the gradual decrease in network speed until the connection times out. Worse, I've had my PC lose full screen mode, instantly dropping me from the game with no warning.

The group would instantly be in a very hard place to survive in. One mob pulled, no main healer and in this case, the back-up healer was me (i.e. weak).

Second, it's good to get into the habit of fighting so that every can continue to learn how to play. Skill chains are (I'm told) starting to come into play around level 22-25, and the newer players need time and patience to learn how to use these effectively. Sure, by level 20 most people have worked out how the party elements work, and what to do (or not do) during the fight.

I still consider myself a new player, and have not seen all the jobs being played in parties I have joined. I'm still learning about some of the new abilities that I have picked up in the last few levels, not to mention everyone else's.

So why stop doing all that just because you don't *need* to do it?

Anyway, I made a comment to that effect, and was told not to worry as we had a PL. I said that wasn't a good idea.

Actually, what I said was "That's no excuse for sloppy tactics”.

Okay, perhaps it was my phrasing that got me the boot.