George In The Meta
Why do other players keep getting you killed in WoW Forever?
By George In The Meta · · updated
Short answer: because everyone's in the same places doing the same quests, and when someone pulls too much or loses their pet, the mobs come for whoever's next to them. PvE is also PvP at launch. I died twice on launch day like that, and survived a lot more. And even when you survive and kill the things, they're grey, so you don't get anything for them.
How did other players get me killed?
Twice on 5 November, both in my combat log.
The first one was Aggor the Young at 6:34pm Thailand time. It's the elite for Threat from Below, and I wasn't anywhere near the right spot for him, so someone must have dragged him to me. He hit me before I'd touched him, and 28 seconds later I was dead.
The second one was in Skull Rock at 8:37pm. I already had a Fanatic on me. A hunter next to me lost their pet, backed off, drank a Healing Potion and started reviving the pet. Their Burning Blade Apprentice and its Voidwalker turned round and came for me instead. I killed the Apprentice, but the Voidwalker and another Fanatic finished me 20 seconds later.
How often does it happen?
A lot more than twice. My combat log for launch day has 13 mobs that were fighting someone else and then came for me before I'd hit them. I died to one of those. The rest I survived.
It happens everywhere it's busy: the imps and Felstalkers in the Valley of Trials, the Razormane, the trolls, the naga on the coast, the scorpids for the antidote. If you're near someone, their mobs are your mobs the second they slip.
Is it still happening after launch day?
Yes. On 6 November I was in the wendigo cave in Dun Morogh on another character, Short, grouped with my brother, Gaspode. Between 6:24pm and 6:35pm Thailand time my combat log saw 37 player deaths around me, 22 different people, so some of them died two or three times. One Wendigo hit seven different players in about two minutes.
Then it was our turn. We already had three wendigos on us. Another player died with two on him, and they went to the next player along. He picked up two more, and then all four came off him and onto us. Gaspode took the first hit at 6:34pm, I was dead 21 seconds later, and Gaspode went down 31 seconds after me. He died himself about three minutes after that.
I'm not naming him. Dragging your mobs onto someone else and leaving them to it is a knob move, so he's the knob.
Why do you get nothing for them?
Because the mob is grey. Whoever hit it first owns it. You can kill it, take all the damage, nearly die doing it, and get no experience and no loot. My log has 18 mobs I hit after another player had already hit them.
So when something comes at you that's already been tagged, you're not fighting it for anything. You're fighting it to stay alive.
What can you do about it?
- Keep space. Don't pull right next to someone who's already in a fight. If their mobs come loose, they're coming to you.
- Watch hunters and warlocks. If a pet dies, whatever it was holding goes looking for someone.
- Look at the name colour before you commit. If it's grey, it's not yours. Only fight it if it's fighting you.
- Run if it's not yours. Getting away is worth more than a grey kill.
- Group up. If you're both on the same mobs anyway, grouping means you both get credit.
It's the same crowding as layering and the launch queue. There are just loads of people about.
