----- Original Message -----
From: "Webber, Jessica" <webber@...>
To: <eqbards@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 7:56 AM
Subject: RE: [eqbards] How did you play when you were 15th?

> > From: Michel Lagace [mailto:e-wolf@...]
>
> > try to pick locations where the group can get started on easy
> > creatures and
> > get a feel for things before taking on tougher fights and
> > risking death.
>
> Getting a group to do this has been one of the most difficult things for
me
> to do. I must be presenting myself in a way that makes me sound cowardly.
> But I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea.

Hehe. It might seem cowardly to some. To a bard, it's common sense since
you're the first one to die when things go bad. ;P

This is how I try to start a group. First, I don't suggest taking on easy
things to get started. Even though it makes good sense, it's not very
inspiring if your leader is a coward. ;P I just set things up so it ends up
that way for the first fight. :)

Before the first battle, I make sure that everyone is full mana and full
life. I suggest roles for each person in the group and get people's
consensus about who will do what (eg person to /assist in multi-mob fights,
primary damage absorption tank, puller, healer, nuker, who will keep up
which buffs on whom, etc.) I also usually briefly explain basic
communication and mechanics (eg. INC, MR?, how to set up an /assist hotkey,
etc.) since most of the time, I've grouped with newbies or people who don't
have much experience grouping and it always helps communication when
everyone understands a common vocabulary of abbreviations. ;)

For the first battle, I try to set things up so that the group is taking on
one yellow or maybe a few blues and I try to make sure there is very little
risk of anything else joining in. (eg if pulling from a camp, fight far away
from the camp but not in the path of any wandering creatures.) Taking on a
few blues or a yellow usually doesn't seem easy to most individuals -- when
solo, multiple blues or a yellow con is tough for most classes even though
it should be easy for a fully working group. ;)

After the battle is over, I check on everyone's mana and health. If
everyone played well, everyone's health and mana should recover around the
same time and there will be little downtime. Usually, that doesn't happen
unless I'm grouped with good players. Normally, the group ends up waiting
for one person's health to recover while everyone else is uninjured or the
group ends up waiting for a caster to recover their mana while everyone else
is ready. It's natural. Casters often don't know how much damage a good
tank can absorb so they overburn to finish a fight quickly, like when they
solo. Also, some tanks don't know to back off and spread around the damage
figuring that they are a tank and should be taking all the damage, like when
they solo.

Analysing the first battle, I diplomatically suggest a different strategy
for anyone who is taking too much damage or burning too much mana and set up
the first battle scenario again (easy fight that still gives XP) until
everyone is fairly well balanced. This has the added advantage that I, as
the bard, don't die if the group sucks because we keep on taking easy fights
over and over that still give some XP. ;) Usually, within one or two
battles, the group is working well as a team and we start to take on tougher
fights. That's normally when I try to develop an escape plan for the group
if things go bad but I often forget since we are normally having a lot of
fun by then. =)

[snip]

> > Aanluil <Imperturbable Fellowship>
>
> You were looking for a last name, right? How do you pronounce the first?
>
> Peace
> Evulia, bard of 11 missed notes, Tunare

I don't know how to pronounce it - it's an autogenerated name for a male
wood elf. I'm terrible with names. :) I guess it would be pronounced
an-loo-il. I was thinking of Lumiaria for a last name since it kinda flows
with the first name and sounds elvish.

Aanluil <Imperturbable Fellowship>
Bard of 20 mystical tunes
Erollisi Marr