What Does "Good" Mean in Azeroth?

What makes a WoW player “good”? This is the current shared topic over at Blog Azeroth, sugguested by Jaramon of Deathcoil.org.

I highly value the opinions of my guild, and so I decided to ask them what they thought makes a “good” player. Their answers all made sense to me, and so I present the four attributes of a good player: respect, skill, character, and knowledge. (Oh, and number five—gold.)

Respect

At the forefront of the discussion on the guild forums was respect for other players. A good player is not someone who has an attitude of “it’s my $15 a month, I can play however I want!” which may be true, but good players know that everyone else is paying their $15 a month, and that it will be more fun for everyone if respect is given to other players.

One way to show respect to other players is by grouping up to take out a named mob instead of waiting for respawns, or worse, ganking it when another player has done all the work to clear the trash out of the way. To be a good player, you realize that the toons with names over their heads have real people behind them, and you care about their enjoyment of WoW, not just your own.

As Veritas member Gundersson explains, there are rewards for behaving in such a manner: “This being a social game, your personality is as important as your skill at playing. What good are your leet skillz if you’re a jerk and no one wants to group with you?”

Skill

Secondary to respect, skill is an important aspect of being a good player, particularly knowing how to play your class and taking on the appropriate roll in a group, be it tank, dps, or healer. As Ma’as says, “a good player is someone who knows their role in the group and can remain flexible within that role.”

A good player constantly seeks to learn more about their class and better their playing style instead of the stereotypical “facerolling on the keyboard.”

Character

RP realms add an additional aspect to what makes a good player. While knowing how to play your class, it’s also important to know how to play your character, and RPing as someone who is interesting but doesn’t completely go against lore and common sense.

Knowledge

Specifically, a good player knows when to quit. As Myrthe said, a good player is “a person who is willing to admit that they aren't up to a challenge, and can point out the same for other people in a constructive manner.” If you can figure out that the instance or raid you’re in is failing because you’re not properly geared, and then agree to leave the space for someone else, that takes maturity.

Co-GM Shinorah often deals with conflicts between guild members. (Not a lot, but they do come up as they would with any group of people spending time together.) For her, a sign of a good player is someone who can walk away from a conflict to keep it from escalating to a point where people might get hurt. Her wise words: “Keeping your grace and class under those situations is often far more important in the long run than winning the argument or proving you're right in the short run.”

A good player also knows when it’s time to quit WoW: to get some sleep, do something social in the real world, or take a vacation from the game.

Gold

Finally, Myrthe has found the true secret to being a good player: “People who pay large sums of gold to any of my characters.”