> Now the ugly question. What should I look for to help me identify a bad
> group. Not having gate, its helpful to make pretty quick judments on a
> group since its hard to get out sometimes (in dungeons).
In my experience, 95% of all bad groups are due to one or two individuals.
Bad apples can slowly rot the entire barrel, and cause the group to fall apart
rapidly. If your group has one of these individuals, it's probably a good
idea to bail:
THE LOOT HOUND -- "Whoops! I didn't mean to loot that. Only 5sp, anyway
hehe." Once is acceptable (I've accidentally looted more times than I can
count trying to whip around with mouselook). If it's a pattern, watch out!
THE NINJA LOOTER -- Loot hound's deadly older brother. Hard to spot who is
doing it, but if corpses are disappearing during battle, get out quick. Not
only is this person stealing loot from the group, they are doing it instead of
helping fight.
AFK -- Person goes afk and sits off in a corner for long periods of time,
gaining free xp while they get a snack. Close cousin: BRB, who runs off to
sell and takes a enormous amount of time, but doesn't realise their spot in
the group, insisting they'll "come right back!"
SHOWOFF -- "I'll just solo this mob, you all take the rest!" 5 seconds later:
"Ack! Help!"
THE MANABURNER -- If your party has just killed a lone low blue and somebody
gives the "OOM" message, hit that disband button. Second cousin: the nuking
cleric.
JOHNNY CAN'T READ -- If you have to keep telling somebody something ("Don't
attack mezzed mobs," "Don't try to pull a 'single' from that train," etc),
they are never going to listen.
DANCING CASTER -- They yell "On me" and start shuffling around the room,
making it impossible to get the mob off.
THE SECOND PULLER -- If you hear more than one "INC" head immediately to the
zone, disband, and find another group. Better than dying horribly.
THE JIG JUNKIE -- Asks you to play Jig of Vigor to increase mana. If they are
this stupid, they are going to be doing a lot of other stupid things.
The other 5% of bad groups consist of all competant people, but the mix is
just wrong for the mob and/or area. Nobody is doing anything wrong, and it's
hard to put your finger on where the foulup is. Best way to spot a group like
this is if one person keeps dying with everybody else at full health. That
should NEVER happen, even to a bard, in a good group.