So you got Star Wars: The Old Republic for Christmas and it’s your first MMORPG! You’re having a lot of fun, your character is levelling nicely…but why do people keep yelling at you and how can they tell you’re a noob? Here’s a little guide for all of you who are playing an MMORPG for the first time and aren’t sure what you should and shouldn’t do – or rather a list of common things to avoid if you want to get on in the MMO world!

No ninjas!! Source: www.photobucket.com

Kill stealing

If someone is running towards a group of mobs and is clearly about to engage them or has already fired a first shot, please choose another target. Attacking a target that someone else has already gone for is known as ‘kill stealing’ and will make you very unpopular especially if the player ahead of you just spent ten minutes clearing the area to get to it.

If someone has crowd controlled a mob (stunned, Force lifted or otherwise taken it out of the battle) please leave it alone. That is not an invitation for you to steal it while they are killing the one next to it.  Find your own target. If you and another player are trying to pass through the same patch of enemy territory and they have already engaged the opponent directly in front of you take the next one along. They can then take the one after that and so on and you can both pass safely through the area without stepping on each other’s toes. Don’t hang back and let them clear a path though – that’s just lazy.

A good rule of thumb for running through an area of mobs is ‘if it’s grey it’s ok’. If the mob has a grey health bar it is already targeting someone else and you can safely run past it without it chasing you. It also means that hitting it would not count as a kill steal as the mob is already tagged.

Be helpful

People also appreciate being resurrected especially if they just need one more quest item in a hard-to-reach area and their medical probe is on a ten minute cool down. However don’t expect people to rez you and don’t beg for or demand a rez. Sometimes you just have to run back.

Chewie was starting to think that Han was being clumsy on purpose... Source: http://chucksusedcards.blogspot.com

Ninja – it’s not a good thing any more

If someone is killing a mob next to a quest item or gathering node then running in and taking it as they are finishing off the mobs is rather cheeky. If the player who got there first is just at the start of the fight you can try throwing them an invite and offering to help but if they would prefer to work alone hang back and wait your turn. Do not steal the quest item or resource node from under their nose while they are distracting the enemies. If the item respawns after the person who cleared it has had a chance to loot it go ahead.

If you are in a group and a good item drops please check to see whether it is of use to you before hitting ‘need’. Not every piece of loot is suitable for your character and some are ‘bind on pickup’ and you won’t be able to give it away once it enters your inventory even if it is of no use to you. Rolling on an item that someone else needs is commonly known as ‘ninja looting’ and is the bane of MMORPGs. Expect people to get angry with you if you do this. It is not uncommon for players to be ejected from guilds for taking items that by rights should go to someone else, nor is it unheard of for someone to seek out your guild leader and complain to them directly if you take something you shouldn’t while in a pick-up group (PUG). If you want it for your companion either ask if anyone else needs it before you roll or wait until the roll time is nearly over and see if anyone else hits need. If all previous rolls are greed you can go ahead and roll need on the item, but if someone has clearly just rolled on something for their class that takes priority over kitting out your companion.

If you are the one looting and something really nice drops it is a good idea to link it in chat before you loot. This gives people a chance to check the stats and see if it is an upgrade before the roll starts and reduces the chance of someone making a mistake and ‘needing’ on an item that would have been more useful to someone else.

Do your job – not someone else’s

Play your class. If you have been invited to a flashpoint or a heroic area because you said you can heal, that is what your group will expect you to do. A healer that forgets to keep group members alive because they are too busy trying to damage mobs is about as useful as a chocolate lightsaber.

Not helpful in a fight. Source: www.http://gadgetsin.com

Don’t make life difficult for the tank

If you are in a group try not to use a knockback skill when the tank is attempting to taunt – in fact save knockbacks until you are certain it is a good time to use them. You may knock one mob into the path of another causing them to agro or you may move it out of the line of sight or range of ranged DPS forcing them to break cover and move closer. Your tank will put the mob where he wants it to be. That’s where you should attack it.

Do not pull before the tank. The tank’s job is to taunt the mob and hold the agro so that it doesn’t hit you. If he has to pull it off you first you’re doing it wrong.

Do not use area-of-effect (AOE) spells in places with a high mob density or when one of your group mates has crowd controlled another enemy. This causes the enemy to wake up and start hitting people and the crowd controller may not have another skill ready to take it out of combat.

Don’t make life difficult for the healer either

Healers have a tough job – keeping you alive. Try and help them out by staying in their range and line of sight. Try to avoid backing into mobs you hadn’t noticed or pulling agro by unleashing all your heavy damage skills before the tank has a chance to get the mob locked down. The general rule of thumb is if the bad guy is hitting you when it should be hitting the tank, stop hitting it! Another well known golden rule is ‘don’t stand in the fire’ – if an enemy casts a skill that makes part of the floor dangerous to stand on move out of that spot as fast as you can. If your health is dropping for an unknown reason make sure your feet aren’t smoking.

Don’t expect healers to do all the work. Take medpacs and use them when your health is low and don’t expect to be topped up after the fight or before the next pull. Each class has a skill to restore their health – use it. Heal skills often have a cool down and the healers shouldn’t have to waste them on out of combat healing.

Don’t run away!

Nothing is more annoying than a DPS unleashing hell on the target, getting agro and then running around like a headless chicken while the rest of the group runs after them. If you accidentally paint a bulls-eye on your ass make sure you are somewhere between the tank and the healer (preferably not in the path of a patrol), stay still and don’t hit anything! This allows the tank to taunt the mob away from you and gives the healer a chance to get your health back up before you are splattered all over the nearest wall.

Don't panic! Stand still! Source: Benny Hill

Don’t be a pest

By all means ask if you get stuck – most players will be happy to help. However don’t take this to mean that you don’t have to do any work yourself – if you have many questions about your class or about a quest chain search the web for class and levelling guides – there is a lot of helpful information out there already and you should take the initiative and do some research rather than expecting fellow players to educate you. Have a look through this site for some helpful links to teach you more about the class you have chosen. If in doubt Google is your friend. Only ask if you can’t find the answer on your own.

Don’t beg for credits or items. It’s amazing how many people do this and it’s tacky. You wouldn’t ask random strangers in a store to pay for your groceries; you are not a hobo and you should pay your own way.

Remember there is a person on the other side of that screen!

Sometimes MMOs can be frustrating and everyone makes mistakes. Groups wipe sometimes. Calling the healer an idiot and telling the tank he sucks will not actually get you through the flashpoint faster. It will get you a special place on someone’s block list though. Be pleasant to your fellow players and treat people with respect.

And finally, a note to the veterans…

SWTOR has brought a lot of new players to the MMORPG genre so lets try and help them find their feet. We were all newbies once, so when someone does something stupid right in front of you don’t turn the air blue. Instead try counting to ten, being polite and handing out a little constructive criticism!