I think GC said it once, he was worried that the players are too obsessed with efficiency:
"But I do wish there was some way to turn around this virtual phobia of inefficiency -- this terror of being WRONG -- that we have managed to instill in our player base. I honestly think it's one of the greatest challenges facing the game." - Ghostcrawler
I am making a plea to everyone out there who has fallen victim to the efficiency virus, GET OFF YOUR FREAKIN' MOUNT. The walkways around Stormwind used to be quite narrow. Since Deathwing's appearance they have been widened somewhat, but still are far narrower than the sands of Tanaris. Limited space requires some thoughtfulness, I believe, by the playerbase. For example, let's assume you are a Jewelcrafter and desire to complete the JC Daily. You are on the other side of the canal, can see the new JC store, and you think to yourself, "Wow, I've got to get this done asap, lemme mount up and head on over."
So off you jump onto your Undead, Hardened, Ultimate Awesome I'm-A-Hard-Core-Raider Mount" in order to fly about 40 yards accross a tiny little canal of water. Upon reaching your destination you proceed to land directly on top of the JC Daily quest giver, who also happens to sell JC gem cut recipies. Oh, there are already 4 other people there, and for some reason you can't target the questgiver, not even the little ! on top of their head because these other 4 players have not yet dismounted.
"Aaaaarrrrrggggghhh"!!!!!!! You yell at your monitor, as you, mounted yourself, begin ranting at those idiots who won't dismount and stand right on top of the quest givers. Oh, this isn't the first time it's happened, no. Remember that time in Hyjal? Or all those moments in Deepholm? Or what about that one jerk in the Twilight Highlands, who not only wouldn't get off his mount, but jumped on his mammoth, stood over the quest giver, then let out a long, annoying laugh. No, this has happened before, and you're fed up with it. And yet you won't get off your mount, no, because to do so would mean that you would have to get back on in order to go to the place that dropped those things that let you finish your quest.
Therapy
I'm no doctor, but I saw one on TV, and many say that denial is often the first step to recovery. Denial? Wait, maybe that was about grief. Whatever, in any case the first step I take when frustrated about something is ask myself if I'm in denial? Am I doing committing those same offences that I complain of or do I, when I p/u or turn in a quest dismounting out of courtesy sake?
I get it, people want to be efficient, and if you can get or drop or turn in a quest from your mount then more power to you. You'll save, what, 3 seconds? That 3 seconds could really change your life, make or break your attendance at the next raid. Yeah, I totally get how 3 seconds and a little bit of courtesy is a real pitfall to efficiency.
Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I need therapy, big time.
Doctor: Gronthe, you seem to struggle with your emotions regarding people not dismounting and standing on top of quest givers, don't you?
Me: What gave it away?
Doctor: You know, you can't control what others do, only yourself and what you think and feel. Would you like some coping mechanisms to help deal with your frustrations?
Me: Gee wiz, doc, you sure are smart.
Doctor: Next time you encounter this problem, I want you to spit on the person. If they send you a tell asking what your problem is, I want you to curse at them and tell them off for being a giant @$%@#$%. You simply need to release these feelings of yours; bottling them up will only make it worse.
Me: No, doc, you're wrong. What makes it worse is people not getting off their mounts. They did it before, remember? In Dalaran. There was always that one loser Tauren on his super-big mount that stood on the flight master. Remember? But somehow it's all worse now, I just can't take it anymore.
Doctor: Perhaps we need another method, then. Let's just kill them all.
Me: You may be on to something, yes. But not yet, no, we need to plan this...together.
Therapy Session Over
I've made progress since that therapy session, and have my plans already set in motion. Honestly, I have no idea whether people will ever stop being so obsessed with convenience and efficiency that they'll decide to think about other people when they stand on the questgiver and get off their mounts. But a little hope, some planning, and a lot of therapy just may bring the answers we all are looking for.
Have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget: "Make your dismount count!" "Join in the fun and remember to run!" and lastly, "If I catch you mounted, duck or get pounded!"
21 comments:
rofl. Spot on - I remember the first night of Cata I went to Mount Hyjal and I couldn't click on any of the quest givers (or turn in any quests) becaue of the army of players standing, mounted, on top of them all. I *did* dismount but... of course that doesn't actually help.
Happily it doesn't happen to that extent any more but that's only because we don't have that number of players in any place at once, not because people have somehow activated their thoughtfulness gene :D
@ Rebecca: No, it doesn't happen as much anymore. The weeds are still in the garden, and I'm sure there will be more opportunities to yell at people to dismount.
Thanks for your visit!
Haha! I have to confess I'm a mounted idiot. I get on my biggest protodrake and I bung up the narrow Org canals, not deliberately but *because I have earned that right* and I feel I damn well have to take advantage of it :P
@ Tam: You go right ahead. Just don't be surprised if I give you a little kick in the pants if you're in my way. :)
I'll admit to not dismounting from my skeletal dragon of icy doom in Org when doing dailies either. But I do take care to position myself to not be on top of the NPCs. Hate it when folks do that.
Two words: Baby Spice.
I think they should have people auto-dismount when they talk to quest-givers, same as they do for flight masters.
You should go into keybindings and switch interact with object or npc as a button so you may hit the button instead of clicking as long as you are in range of the target you will be able to interact with it.
Shift + V is your friend.
Ctrl-Tab til you hit the vendor you want, then mash on your "interact with target" keybind that I'm sure you must have bound if you played at all within the first week of Cata.
Other people being mounted and standing on the flight master an hour after release didn't bother me one bit.
I know exactly what you feel, I always hate it when people stand on the quest givers with their huge mounts. Personally, I don't dismount either but I always make sure I'm at max distance from the NPC so as to not bother others trying to click on the damn thing.
Needs collision avoidance imo. And less flying mounts in cities.
Or maybe just fatigue for flying mounts who just sit idle or are forced to hover in mid air.
So true. I always make sure to dismount at a quest giver or vendor for exactly this reason. Most people, however, are not so considerate in game (let's hope they are more considerate IRL).
I have found that keeping a supply of Baby Spice (from the Dalaran cooking daily) can help with this issue. That big-ass Tauren might learn if he spends enough time miniaturized.
Two words....baby spice! And I don't mean the "singer", I mean the stuff you used to get occasionally from doing the Dalaran cooking dailies. I have at least 20 of them on my toons at all times, just for this purpose. Throw one at that rude idiot parked on top of the quest giver!
I totally agree! Its not so much an issue around quest givers, although I expect that to change once the valentines day holiday starts. The biggest issues I see are those HUGE drakes all over stormwind (and orgrimmar). They hover at the auction house door, they block the bank door, they crowd the walkways.. and even worse than that - the mailboxes! OMG the mailboxes! There are at least a dozen mailboxes throughout stormwind, yet there are always 5 drakes parked on/around the two between the auction house and the bank. For my main though, SW is the easiest home to set my hearth to. As a night elf druid, with swift flying form, that I am so proud of because it took me till just after launch of cata to be able to afford it (and its pretty blue/purple), I *still* drop out of form to turn in dailies or hit the mail/bank/ah. I do fly off, above the city, to get to places though.
My tauren pally has it MUCH easier, I can avoid orgrimmar at all costs unless a quest sends me there. She "lives" in thunderbluff which is very much less crowded. When she gets the ability to fly - I promise to not be *that* jerk tauren that has to be massive on top of a questgiver or mailbox. :)
@ "Baby Spice" suggestions: True, I could use it, and it would help, but why should I be responsible to take action for someone else's discourtesy?
@ Katherine & Anonymous: I'm not that savy with my settings, so I didn't know about keybinding an "interact with NPC". I simply didn't know about it, so thanks for the tip. :)
Admittedly I still remain mounted sometimes, as long as nobody else is around. But even now, two months after release, I still feel the need to dismount. I know, it's just me and how I feel about it, but I just usually don't do things I don't want others doing. Personal pet peeve is all.
Wow, I'm amazed at the comments on this, thanks for all your visits and comments!
Baby spice! I've totally forgotten that bit. It would be nice just to have a spell, though, for all classes and races that could make someone into a chicken or squirrel.....
I never had any problem with this. What's so hard about pressing shift+v? The nameplates are right-clickable through players, you know?
(If they aren't for you, go install tidyplates. It's much better anyway.)
@ Cluisanna: Actually, as I've responded in some comments, I don't know all the tricks, like Shift+V or that nameplates are right clickable. I, like others, don't know all the little things like many others do. I just don't know everything.
That said, for me there are other issues, not just my being an idiot. I see it as some people unwilling to be thougtful of other, less insightful people. I can't assume that everyone knows everything that I do, that's a bit unreasonable. So I prefer to assume that it's polite to think of others, and therefore dismount and not stand all over NPC's.
I do appreciate yours and other people's tips, I just don't see why it's my job, why can't others be polite/thougtful?
It's not "your job", but the fact remains that there will always be someone who hasn't read this or who doesn't care about other people, so if we would all just not dismount and press shift-v (which is a loading screen tip) then everyone would be happy, not like now where some people are oblivious and happy, some people are mean and happy, some people are frustrated by other people's lack of politeness and unhappy and some people are frustrated by other people's whining about other people's lack of politeness and (kind of) unhappy too.
PS: I don't mean to sound rude, sorry. I just don't understand all the fuss.
PPS: Sorry for answering so late, I know this is kind of old. I just found it in my favorites today.
@ Cluisanna: You're right, there are all kinds of people. Both you and I have the right to be happy or unhappy, frustrated or obliviously mello. I look at it this way, I felt like talking about something that bothered me so I did it. My right, my blog, and it allowed me to get that off my chest.
I'm glad I annoyed you a little, it means that you read my stuff. Whether a person is thoughtful I am certain has nothing to do with reading my blog, it's more about their upbringing and unique personality. I can't change them, I don't expect to, but I sure as heck can say mean things about them on my blog. I can also make fun of less intelligent people like myself who are semi-technologically stupid. It's a great world we live in. I really do enjoy your visits.
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