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MMO games
attract a wide variety of players of different ages,
genders, backgrounds and personalities who all come
together to interact in the same online world. As such,
just like in the real world, some players don't know how
to behave themselves. MMO etiquette, also much like in
the real world, is a set of common-sense mores for
preserving a safe, inoffensive and nonthreatening
environment for fun social gaming to occur.
The following, in no particular order, are some of the
basic precepts of MMO etiquette:
• Wait Your Turn - In online gaming, impatient players
are sometimes prone to practice what's known as "Ninja-ing"
or, in short, stealing. To "Ninja" is to act before your
turn and take valuables not belonging to you from your
fellow players, then vanishing before they have the
chance to do anything about it.
• Reign in the Rampages - Just because a player is a
badass, it does not give them the right to rampage on
every mob at the risk of letting all the other players
in their group get slaughtered. Sometimes this behavior
will even result in a mass wipe and kill off the entire
group in one fell swoop. As with the former advice about
patiently waiting your turn to claim rewards, playing in
a group means playing with the group, not doing whatever
you want in any moment with no regard for anyone else.
• Hold Your Tongue - Just because you're playing on a
computer alone in your room, it doesn't mean the
player-characters you see on the screen aren't real
living, breathing people with feelings like you. How
long would a live group of players let you mouth off at
them rudely in person before they'd kick you off their
team? What makes you think you have to watch your mouth
any less when you're typing the words instead of
speaking them? Putting people down with insults, abusive
talk and foul language is as unacceptable in an MMO as
in life, and most often will simply not be tolerated by
the other players.
• Don't
Desert - Some players abandon ship every time a serious
battle arises, leaving the rest of their party to fend
for themselves. Sure, sometimes you really do have to
leave the game suddenly, and it won't always be the best
timing. In these cases just be sure to announce your
departure so that your fellow players know and can
prepare accordingly. But this isn't the same as
deserting the scene on purpose when things start to look
scary. Surviving long in an MMO because you let your
friends fight your battles for you is no honorable
accomplishment. Saving yourself when the going gets
tough at the expense of your fellow players in nothing
to be proud of; on the contrary it's a cowardly act
that'll only earn you lots of enemies fast. In a
team-oriented setting, which MMO's most certainly are,
there's little benefit in being a lone wolf. But just
like with rampaging, desertion will only find a player
standing solo before they know it, which especially
comes to hurt when they need backup the most.
• Teach & Learn - Newbies, if you don't know what you're
doing, ask your other players for help. Don't try and
fake it because you're too proud or embarrassed to ask.
But don't beg either. If, on the occasional off-chance,
someone refuses your request for information or
assistance, don't harass them about it and don't get
pissy. They probably have a perfectly good reason, and
even if they don't you're not going to get anywhere
useful by pitching a fit. Veterans, don't throw the
newbies to the wolves. Have patient with the poor saps,
lest you be reminded that you were once a newbie too.
When it won't harm you to do so, answer innocent
questions asked of you about playing the game; don't get
impatient and don't be condescending. You never know if
sometime down the line, the way you treat a player in
need may come back to haunt or help you.
Copyright Dave Guest and Pete Boscott 2010 |
