Open world mob ettiquette question

Discussion in 'Gotham City (General Gameplay)' started by Mobius Twist, Nov 11, 2019.

  1. Mobius Twist Active Player

    Had an interesting 'conversation' today. I'm in Metal Gotham and doing the dailies/weeklies. I will admit to being somewhat indiscriminate in what I engage; flew over a wall, saw a mob and engaged. Another hero player was already engaged.

    [IMG]

    Now, from my viewpoint my actions caused no harm. This player does not lose out on quest completion, and my actions only help speed their work up. I do understand I may have interrupted a test parse or something like that; I actually use Metal Gotham to test some of my own ideas. However, it's just a matter of seconds and I can try again.

    Had I dropped in and 'stole a rift' or something like that I could perhaps understand the ire. Having played MMOs for decades I've removed the word 'mine' from my vocabulary. For me, there is no 'My mob, My rift, My treasure' etc. We're in a wide-open zone, with plenty of players, and this is going to happen all the time. In fact, I'm delighted when others drop in on things I am working.

    Is this honestly a norm? Should I be "looking both ways" before I engage mobs? I'm just not understanding the angst, especially when Oracle proclaims, "Heroes and villains, working together to overcome this menace" (paraphrased).
    • Like x 9
  2. Hraesvelg Always Right

    That guy can get bent. Credit is shared, so he didn't lose out.
    • Like x 10
  3. willflynne 10000 Post Club

    The mob/spawn etiquette I learned in my first MMO (Star Wars Galaxies) was pretty simple: if someone was fighting a mob or spawn, you moved on to find your own. It was considered bad form (at the very least) to jump in without an invite because if you outdamaged the other person you could steal credit for the kill and the loot that came with it.

    Even with different setup here, I still follow the etiquette I learned. Why?
    • It's the polite thing to do
    • There are plenty of spawns available
    • Jumping in on someone else's fight can be disruptive to that person's gameplay
    • Even with the setup here, kill stealing can take place
    • That person may not want or need your help
    • Even if you have the best of intentions, jumping in on someone else's spawn/mob can look like you are trying to leech off of their efforts
    • Like x 4
  4. Controller Devoted Player

    Next time you in Metal Gotham feel free to help ME out on those Metal Minotaurs - I won't mind at all.
    • Like x 5
  5. KHALONofOGUN 10000 Post Club

    I tend to operate in the opposite from what willflynne said because i've been here long enough to know that the way it works here, outside of seasonals we can share mob kills. Plus this kill 218 is tedious as can be with mobs spread out just enough so if you can help me kill them faster, let's rock. Plus with that mob spread over such a large map, if you decide to not jump in on an already occupied mob you could be flying for a while looking for a "free" mob to kill...it's already long and tedious, let's just kill together and keep it moving (especially on Thursdays and Fridays after reset).

    I also tend to have the "it's an MMO, let's do this together" mindset. Now, considering how many time's i've done it, i'm surprised that all I ever get is invited to groups to get it done faster instead of cursed out. That's just me.
    • Like x 2
  6. willflynne 10000 Post Club


    o_O

    Ok, you are now my sworn enemy!

    :D

    I can understand that point of view, but I think it's important to remember that those are other people behind those pixels and they won't necessarily have the same outlook as you. The shared credit can smooth things over a bit, but with some it will only go so far.

    Besides, it can be kinda hard to curse someone out in this game sometimes if they blitz your spawn and disappear before you can get out of combat, get a name and send a tell to curse them out. LOL
    • Like x 2
  7. Littlejaytee16 Committed Player

    Did the player react badly to you jumping in? If they did, my guess is that he / she didn't know that they still get full credit for everything. And probably thought you were just trying to "cherry pick".

    A similar thing happened to me when I first started playing (Yes, I'm a returning player now on the Switch) . I was engaged with a Metal Minotaur and during the whole fight I noticed a player close by just watching. Now, when you're just starting out, even though you're buffed for Metal Gotham, the Metal Minotaur fight can take awhile. They're right up there with the Metal Mimes. Anyway, right as the thing had only a sliver of energy left, the player close by jumps in, lays in one shot and then after the Minotaur dies, rushes to "push a" before I can. Initially, I was pretty upset, cause I thought I lost on the credit. However, a few seconds later, I noticed that I still got the credit for the kill.

    Nonetheless, in my opinion, he/she was still a cherry picker. Why? I don't have a problem with someone jumping into a fight in open world. In fact, I like to do that myself nowadays. But if you're going to do it, do it early in the fight. That way you're actually helping the other player out. Don't just stand there and wait for the villain to be down to almost zero health and then jump in and offer one punch, just so you can "push a" before the other player.

    That ...is a dick move.
    • Like x 3
  8. HurricaneErrl Dedicated Player

    I don't know. Things like treasures in Atlantis I will destroy the chests and leave the cogs for the other person who didn't get a hit in so we both get credit. Same with the Minotaurs and Transporters in Amusement mile. Even if someone sneaks in and hits the cog on those adds I don't sweat it because I know I get credit either way. The sniping rifts thing does sometimes bother me. But not enough to send a message or dwell on it any longer than a second. Random mobs though? There's no reason to get upset at all about. Like mentioned, we all share credit.
    • Like x 6
  9. WilderMidnight Steadfast Player

    imagine if you sent him a tell along the lines of "hey sorry...saw you were struggling there and thought i'd help you out. you might want to rethink your loadout".
  10. Mobius Twist Active Player


    LOL!

    Well thank you everyone for your input. From my point of view it was 'no harm, no foul'. I think they responded poorly, especially after I apologized and tried to let them know my involvement did nothing to hurt their completion. While they are a people on the other side of the screen, so is the me on this side (I can handle it - retired infantry, I've had worse than words shot at me).

    I'm just want to make sure that I am not doing something terribly inappropriate.

    Thank you for your time.
    • Like x 1
  11. WilderMidnight Steadfast Player

    once i was in a raid with someone who had named their toon "Heather" and heather began complaining about something really trivil so i typed in chat "what is your damage heather?" as a joke and she/he did not take it well.

    im sorry but if youre going to name your toon heather you have to expect someone to ask you that at some point.
    • Like x 4
  12. FoolsFire Devoted Player

    My philosophy: Help with the kill - Let them do the cogs
    • Like x 2
  13. Rabid Batman New Player

    I came from traditional mmos, where kill stealing was a thing.
    and I sometimes resent people jumping in, even though I know we share credit.

    But mostly I just try not to jump in on other people, and keep to my own quest.
    and I try to not let it bother me when other people jump in front of me to whatever activator I just uncovered.
    it's only a game, a time sink and I'm not in any rush.

    As for when someone sends a nasty whisper like that, well that is why we have ignore.
    Now only spammers and beggars irritate me, and they just go on ignore also.
    • Like x 2
  14. Brit Loyal Player

    I don't care if people want to share credit on kills or whatnot. Especially for things like Mimes and Minotaurs that seem to take forever. It's all good in the hood.

    If somebody activates a node that I was working towards, I'm annoyed for maybe 2 seconds before I've already moved on and forgot all about it. "Bah. That guy stole my rift- Oh! There's another one. Better head that way."

    The only thing that truly seems to get under my skin has to do with invites. For crying out loud, that Metal Manbat or Metalized Titan, can you invite me into the group, or accept the invites that I send out? Most of what I play is healers; do you know how bonkers it drives me to watch dozens of people dying, while my heals only work on myself because I can't get an invite to the group. I know a lot of people seem to want to do the solo tag so they'll get credit, and then just skirt the edge while other people are doing the fighting, but if we actually form up into a group, we'll be spared dozens of player deaths. Trust me, it's worth it; whatever queue you're dropped from, you'll be able to jump back in a couple of minutes later. Just join the dang group.
    • Like x 4
  15. Proxystar #Perception

    Yeah you have every right to attack open world mobs, there's no such thing as open world mob ownership, apart from people erring on the side of being excessively precious.

    If you're testing in open world as well then you have to accept an element of risk that someone else is going to get involved, otherwise test in an instance.

    You did nothing wrong.
    • Like x 6
  16. TechWarrior0329 Steadfast Player

    Just figure I'll aid my feelings on the subject..... There is not a single mission in Metal Gotham where what you did deprives anyone of any sort of reward... As a few others have already stated the fact is in a couple of cases it speeds things up.... A prefect example? Well any above LEVEL 10 can go to the zone and be stat clamped so they can run those daily and weekly missions. NOW .. at level 10 even with that "clamp" go take a Metal Minotaur.. (as several people already mentioned) and see how long it takes to solo one. NOW have a CR 270 hop in and help with battle that same Minotaur and see how much faster you get done and can move on to the next.

    Now in some other "older" zones there are missions where the same is not true.... And if we were talking about THOSE missions then yes I could see a player getting upset if some one was jumping in and getting the credit for defeating a mob instead but having 8 different alts all running those same missions day in and day out ... I think I can safely say it is not an issue with this DLC.

    Let's change the circumstances a bit shall we? So now a player is getting ready to take on the Titans bounty or the newer Man Bat bounty in the exact same zone. So our player joins a team and is battling a Metal StarFire (as example). He or she is on a full sized 8 man team but several other players have also showed up and are attacking as well... OMG THE HORROR! The extar damage they addes helped the "team" defeat StarFire and everyone got the exact same rewards. EVEN WORSE.. since heros and villains get that exact same pair of bounties. Not only did the player find 2-3 extra heroes attacking but 3 or 4 VILLAINS who may or may not have been on a team or just joined in solo to finish StarFire off. Not a problem? I know it is not one to me... Hey the more the merrier.. let's kick the Bounties butt and move on. So why would it be any different to have some one jump in and help you take out a Metal Mime or a 3 man mob of escaped convicts? Some players get way too hung up on meaningless stuff.

    Just ignore things like that.. If you'd like I'll email you a list of all the alts I have running missions in zone.. FEEL FREE TO HELP ME DEFEAT ANYTHING YOU LIKE lol
    • Like x 1
  17. Hurly-Burly Active Player

    I am intrigued what the other half of the conversation was, this sounds juicy:)

    Never heard of such codes, I thought he would benefit too.
  18. willflynne 10000 Post Club


    Just as a personal observation, it might not have gone so badly with two messages if you had just left your reply at the "sorry" part. Text doesn't always do a good job of conveying the intent behind a message. On top of that, the "you still get credit" kind of talk can easily get read as an attempt at justifying selfish behavior, even if your intent wasn't selfish in the least.
  19. Littlejaytee16 Committed Player

    I'm wondering how many players in DCUO actually get that reference?

    Someone may actually respond with, "Damage? But I'm not a DPS, I'm a Tank."
    • Like x 2
  20. 9001BPM Steadfast Player

    Personally I prefer it if people leave me to it, and I won’t intervene unless someone seriously looks like they’re going to die if I don’t (Interestingly, this scenario occurs with much more regularity in Metal Gotham than many other areas we’ve had, for a couple of reasons). That being said, no harm, no foul. I’m certainly not gonna have a go at anyone who does jump in.