Do you wish that you were higher ranked in your guild and feel that no matter how great you are you don’t get the recognition you deserve?

Do you feel like other players try to take advantage of you or don’t appreciate the things you do?

Have you ever gotten kicked out of a group or gotten into a fight in a group over something as simple as farming a node?

Have you ever been blocked or told to shut up about something when you were just trying to help or ask someone else for help?

Do you realize that it’s easy to turn this all around and establish yourself as an expert and well loved player in your guild and even on your whole server?

Mr Popular is now available for free today or you can still download it by clicking the image below.

Just like in school, no one wants to be the kid that no one talks to or hangs out with.  No one wants to be beat up or picked on.  Now that games have gone viral and are online, that same social atmosphere is created online.  People will laugh at you for not being good, they’ll yell at you and beat you up for making mistakes, they’ll block you, ignore you, and bad mouth just because they have problems with themselves.

There are no differences between the bullies in real life and the ones that exist across the Internet.  On the Internet you get to create who you are and your own image.  You can be as good as you want to be, as popular as you want to be, and make yourself as awesome as you want to be.  

You can make up your name, your job, your income, you can tell people you’re a professional gamer or you can tell them you play in the NBA.  They have no way of knowing who you are or what you look like.  You can even give them fake pictures of yourself.  There are no limits to who you can be on the Internet.

So why then might you ask do you get picked on?  
Why doesn’t anyone like you?
Why do you get kicked out of groups or guilds?
Why do people block you or ignore you?
Why do they report you to the game masters and get you suspended?
Why do they call you names or make fun of you?

How can any of this be possible when I just got done telling you that you can be who you want to be?

The Answer…

The answer is simple.  You are an asshole, a dickhead ,a jerk, you ARE annoying, you do suck at the game, and people can see this just as they see you walking through the halls in high school with your thick glasses on carrying all of your books and heading to a chess club meeting.

You have FAILED to create yourself as a superior being in a virtual game.  Maybe you don’t care?  If you don’t care what others think about you, good for you, close this guide out and go back to playing chess…check!  It’s your move now.

But if you’re like 99% of the people in this world who want to be accepted and want to be liked, loved, cherished, and popular.  Keep reading.  We will start by identifying things that you shouldn’t do and then I’ll tell you exactly what to do.

You’re a loser and I can prove it…

Listen…I’ve been playing online video games since Warcraft 2 on magleague.  Most of you don’t even know what magleague is, don’t worry about it.  Basically, I’ve been playing online video games since 1995.  I’ve played Warcraft 2 where I was #1 on Battle.net for a long time, I’ve played Everquest and almost every MMO, I’ve played Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Diablo series, and more.  

I can tell you that I was hated in a lot of these games because I was so cocky and I can tell you at the same time I’ve led guilds of over 500 members where I was loved and cherished.  Who you are and how people perceive you is up to you.  If you’re not liked, it’s your fault, but keep in mind, some people won’t like you anyways regardless of what you do.

Some people are jealous, are angry and depressed with life, or feel the need to control others to feel superior because they are little nerds who get beat up in real life or they have low self-esteem or they think they know everything.  These people you want to avoid or just go ahead and put on ignore.  So if you do any of these things you’re most likely hated by someone even if you’re not you’re still a big loser.

1. Don’t ask for help from your friends, random people, or your guild… Not once, not twice but repetitively until people want to reach through their monitor and slap the shit out of you

Listen, don’t ever ask people for help more than once and if you need help don’t ask the same people over and over again.  And when you don’t get help, don’t complain and cry, all you’re going to end up doing is getting kicked out of the guild or put on block and most people will really just avoid you.  You’ll ruin your reputation on an entire server or in the entire game, I’ve seen people run websites dedicated solely to putting people on block lists, you might want to go and search for these on google and see if your name, handle, or character name is on one and then think about changing it.  Then after you do that do your best to stop being a dick to people.

People in online video games are not your friends, they can be, but they are there to enjoy the game and have fun.  I’ve never seen anyone playing a video game who is doing community service so stop treating people like they are there to serve you and help you out, because they aren’t.  Asking someone in guild chat or in a general chat is like asking your neighbor to come over and do your dishes, unless you’re offering him something in return, he’s going to kick you out of his house, lock the door, and not answer next time.  In fact, go outside your house right now, go to the closer park or mall with a lot of people, stand in the center of it and yell as loud as you can “Who wants to come over and help me do my dishes?” See how many people you get to do that.  No one right?  They probably told you to shut up didn’t they?  Do you see the reference?  This is the same thing you’re doing in a video game when you go into guild chat, you’re essentially in a crowded public place with people you do not know and you’re yelling at the top of your lungs for someone to help you do your dishes (help you in game).

Now go back to that same location and yell at the top of your lungs “Free Ice Cream, and I bet you’ll interest a few people.  Do you see the lesson?  People are only interested if you have something to offer them.  Of the people who come over and ask you about the free ice cream tell them you want them to do your dishes?  Again, no one is interested right?

This is your second lesson.  The help you are asking them for has to be equal or less than what you are offering in terms of value.  Not many people value free ice cream enough to go to your house and do your dishes.  If you offer them say, $100 you might get a few, if you offer them $1000 you’ll get even more.  And if you can find anyone who won’t do it for a million dollars I’d be surprised.

So don’t go into a public place in game and ask people to help you with a quest, help you kill something, or give you any information unless you think it’s a benefit to them.  For example, “please come help me kill this rare boss, I will split the loot with someone” or “please help me with this quest, it’s the last one I need, I will pay you 100 gold (or whatever you can offer others in game for currency)”  These type of exchanges are acceptable, but if you don’t get anyone to help you after the first or second time, shut the the hell up again or raise your offer.

Never send anyone direct messages asking for help unless you are willing to help them or have helped them.  You will get blocked really quickly.

2. Don’t beg…it’s never okay, and I mean never

Don’t say please.  Don’t cry, don’t tell a sad story.  Don’t ask people for gold, items, or currency. Just stop.  When’s the last time you helped a homeless person asking for help?  If you’re like most people you just drive by the guy with the sign instead of helping him, and if you do help him, what do you give him?  A dollar?  A beer?  That’s right, most people who do even help the homeless guy barely help him.

Most of these homeless people are in really bad shape.  They are starving, sick, illiterate, have no one to turn to, and more.  Some people fake homeless and make a living off it, but that’s another story.  The simple fact is, you don’t help homeless people in real life, what on earth makes you think people are going to help you in a virtual game where you are poor, broke, and suck simply because you choose to be?  You’re not going to die from hunger, you’re not going to get sick, if you have a computer, internet, and you’re playing a video game, chances are you’re doing better than most people in the world.

Let’s transition this now to the virtual world.  Here we have you, asking for help from someone in game, that you don’t even know!  You’re holding up a sign, people don’t even have to look at you, they can ignore and block you.  Last time I checked I can’t set my eyes on block to ignore homeless people I have to see them.  Now, you can simply read any number of guides available on the internet and get pretty much anything you want out of a game.  But here you are, begging people for help or money instead of earning it yourself?  Why don’t you go to the in-game welfare office?  Oh that’s right there isn’t one.  Don’t beg, no one is going to help you, and if you do get someone to help you, you’re a big time loser.  Imagine how bad someone has to actually feel or how generous they have to be for them to take the time to help you in a video game?

Don’t beg someone or ask for help unless you have something to offer or are willing to do something for them.  That’s the moral of life, you must create value for both parties in order to have an exchange.  People don’t feel sorry for you in real life, they aren’t going to feel sorry for you in a game.  Am I making myself clear?  You have the computer and the internet, google whatever it is you’re looking for or looking to do.  Even youtube.comprobably has instruction videos on it.

Begging gets you a first class ticket to the ignore list, a free kick out of a guild, and if you’re bad enough it can be considered harassment and you will get banned from the game.  So just don’t.

3. Don’t brag…

This one should be obvious but some of you won’t get it either because you’re life is poor and pathetic and you just have the burning desire to tell people how awesome you think you are in a game to boost yourself up or you’re just stupid.  But on a serious note, no one wants to hear how good you think you are at the game.  No one wants to hear about how you have 3 level 85s in World of Warcraft, or how high ranked you are in PvP, or how good you are at anything.  So stop talking yourself up.

Let your actions speak for you, but whatever you do, just shut up.  In World of Warcraft myself, I had 7 level 85s within the first 2 months of Cataclsym release.  How many people know about it?  None except my closest real life friends that play with me and you who are reading this guide.  The only time I would ever state that I have those characters is for credentials to someone so they think I know what I’m talking about in game.

Let me be the first to say, that I don’t care if you have 100 level 85s, if you’re a dumbass, then you’re a dumbass.  It doesn’t mean you know anything about any class in a game like World of Warcraft, it doesn’t mean you know the game mechanics, it doesn’t make you good at PvP, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean you have some special knowledge or privilege over everyone else talking and that you’re word is the final word.  

When you do try to talk yourself up and tell others about how good you are, it makes you look like a dumbass that people want to punch in the face and/or block.  So don’t talk about yourself unless someone specifically asks you.  I rarely see anyone in guild chat say “Hey billy, how many level 85’s do you have” so don’t type it in guild chat.  If someone asks you in a message, then answer them if you’d like but no one cares, you’re not special just because you can talk.  

Just because you were high ranked in PvP doesn’t mean you know how to PvP, it also doesn’t mean you know how to PvP in every class, it also doesn’t mean you’re going to be high ranked moving forward, so stop telling people how to PvP or sharing your opinion unless they ask.

This can be applied for everything in the game.  Just because you beat a boss in Cataclysm doesn’t mean you know how you beat the boss or that you know the boss fight or that you know other boss fights because of it or that you know what other classes you don’t play should be doing.  So just shut up.

Are we getting this?  It works for every game, not just World of Warcraft.  I don’t care if you got both warp whistles on the first level in Super Mario Brothers 3 for the regular nintendo and warped to World 8, there’s no reason to tell anyone ever unless they ask or you’re talking about it.

Your actions speak for you, you do not need to speak.  When someone sees you getting achievements for beating bosses or sees you leveling characters to 85 or sees you doing any special feature in any game, they’ll know then what you’re about.  Talking does nothing for you except make you annoying and get you on the block list.  

4. Don’t act disrespectful to people because you’re an officer or a guild leader or think you have some other special attribute or property…

Another simple one.  Being a guild leader has responsibilities yes, but it does not entitle you to act like a dictator and order people around.  It doesn’t make you special, it simply makes you a leader, so act like one.  People who are officers and guild leaders are supposed to people with high integrity that you respect, you can’t invoke fear in a game so stop trying to intimidate people and boss them around.

If you want to end up in a guild where no one likes you even though you’re leader than don’t listen to me.  If you want your guild to possibly fall apart because you’re an asshole then don’t listen to me.  But seriously, you’re not better than anyone else, these are real people playing virtual characters, you are playing a virtual character in a virtual world with a virtual title, you are not better than the real life people behind them because of that.  Always remember this, treat people how you want to be treated.

The same goes for people that tout achievements on you. “I was the first person to level to 85”  Your response should be, “Great! Do you want a cookie or something?”  Listen folks, no one cares about YOUR achievements, that’s why they are YOUR achievements.  If other people were supposed to care about YOUR achievements in a game, they would be EVERYONES achievements.  People who care about them will ask you but don’t assume you’re super awesome, privileged, or have some type of artificial authority because of what you’ve done in a video game. If you’re really that good and special, people will follow you and listen to you and worship you without the achievements, but the achievements are meaningless by themselves.  Besides, what if you’re playing on an ebayed character you bought?  How does anyone know they are your achievements?  Again, let your leadership and example do the talking now what you did in the past.  

5. Don’t screw people over…

Instead of repeating myself and saying this is simple and obvious, I”ll just say very briefly, you know exactly what you’re doing to people and why it’s wrong.  If you walk into an area and see a guy sitting there waiting for a quest mob or boss to spawn, don’t walk in there kill it and leave, at least invite him to the group so you both get credit.  This goes for all other quests, work with people when it doesn’t hurt you but don’t screw people over.

You want to become hated?  Go ahead and kill something for a quest and make another human being wait another 10 minutes for it to respawn.  You’ll get sworn at, reported to GMs, and more.  

More things that can make people mad, if you’re playing a game like World of Warcraft and you’re doing gathering professions like mining or herbalism.  Don’t run up to a node that you see someone at, take it, and run off.  Don’t run up to a node that someone is standing by but fighting an enemy that attacked them.

I know, I get it, first come first serve right?  Sure, but unless you’re an asian farmer and really don’t care about your reputation or your account, don’t do stuff to people that you wouldn’t want them to do to you.  Don’t steal their mining nodes, their herbs, skin stuff etc.

This goes for groups in instances too where there are 5 players.  Just because you’re a miner doesn’t mean you walk up and take every mine you see, ask in group if there are other miners.  If you’re an herbalist or a skinner, ask in group, you might find it better to take turns with people instead of just going ahead and helping yourself.

This goes for loot too.  Don’t roll on items that you don’t really need, don’t click need on things just because you can, etc.  This gets bad in pick up raids, don’t go in there and roll need on everything, eventually you’ll get kicked from a raid and people won’t like you anymore, they have all kinds of addons to rate people in games like World of Warcraft.

What’s the best way to handle idiots who do the things above?

The easiest way to handle idiots is to block and ignore them, but if you’re like me then you’ll have fun with them.  Besides…you’re block and ignore lists get long and it’s not worth the time.  So here is what I do.

If someone asks me for help, I say “oh you know what, I need help doing this, can you help me first” If they say yeah and they actually come help, then I might help them back, but most of the times they won’t help you or ignore you.  I get this request a lot when I’m on a high level character “Can you run me through deadmines?”  I just ask them the same question back, “I will but can you run me through deadmines first on my alt?”  Sometimes if they are just complete jerks, I won’t even help them after they help me or I’ll keep asking them to help me with stuff till they get the point.

If someone begs me for gold or in-game currency, they’ll usually say “Can I have 5 gold?”.  I”ll say to them, “Oh you know what…I was going to just ask you for 5 gold, can I have 5 gold pleaaasseeeee?”  This gets interested and fun, afterall, we do play games for fun right?  I like to mess with people, be as annoying back as they are.

If someone brags to me, I brag back.  IF they have 3 level 85s, then guess what, I have 4 level 85s.  If they say I am in a raiding guild and have the best tank, I say, I am in a better raiding guild and my tank is better.  They’ll say oh yeah who’s your tank, then what I do is go to wowarmory.com, find the best guild and best tank and say that’s me.  If they have 200,000 gold, guess what?  I have 400,000 gold now.  Everything they tell me in the form of bragging, I just say I have better, even though I’m completely lying and making it up, you’ll have fun and it shuts them up fast.

Sometimes when you’re better than someone in World of Warcraft or in a game they’ll go to real life and start making excuses, “Oh well I can’t play as much as you because I’m going to school and finishing my bachelors degree” to which I say, I’m a doctor and go to school longer to you and do all this stuff in game with less time than you.  You get the picture?  Just keep one upping them, be better than them, and they’ll usually shut up.

So if someone screws you over, there’s not a whole lot you can do.  You can kick them from the group, kick them from the raid, block them, ignore them, or in some cases I”ll even report them to the Game Masters in hopes they get banned.  But you have to learn to recognize jackoffs from the start.  Prevention is your best strategy here.  If you see someone join your group and is rolling need on everything and asking for all the loot, just kick him out.  Don’t think he’s not going to roll on an item he doesn’t need that you do when you get to a boss, it’s not even worth the time.  

If someone disrespects me I don’t care who they are or who they think they are, at some point you’re just too mature for this type of behavior both in a virtual world and in real life, but extra tired of it in the virtual world.  I’ll leave a guild, leave a group, ignore, and block whoever I have to.  I’ll tell that guild leader where to stick it, I don’t care.  There are plenty of guilds out there and plenty of people to play with that you don’t need them or those types.  Never let someone down talk you or disrespect you, you never deserve it, not in real life, and especially not in a video game you pay for to have fun, no way and no thank you.

So now that you know what not to do, let’s start on things you should or could do to be popular…

You will find that the things you need to do to become popular in video games is exactly the type of things you need to do to become popular in real life.  But just like in real life there’s a fine line of where people are using you and you’ll become burned out.  Being popular will come with both good friends and fake friends, and sometimes just like in real life it’s hard to figure out which is which.

Good and real friends will not only be there when you are on your high and kicking ass they will also be there to return all the favors and help you gave them when you fall from grace.  They will lift you up and help you pick up the pieces when you’re feeling down or get down.  

On the other hand, all the users and fake friends will tell you they are too busy, they’ll stop talking to you, or even make funny of you when you fall from grace.  Some will even commit mutiny, especially if you’re in a guild, and try to step into your role and take the reigns as the leader or Mr Popular of your virtual social world.

This is a dog eat dog world at the end of the day, your supporters, your generals, your officers, your companions, are the ones you want to protect you in a moment of weakness.  They are your loyal true supporters and they will do anything to prop you up.  Some will take a bullet for you, in World of Warcraft, they’ll take a PvP death for you, same difference.  They will go down with you and the ship, you are their captain.  Once you’ve created that type of following among some type of mass, you will understand what it’s like to be Mr Popular.

From my own experience, I was in a guild once upon a time who had a certain leader, let’s call him Frank.  Frank was such a good leader that in this guild we were competing for the #1 guild on a server.  We were that good and it was due to his leadership.  Frank developed such a following that when he switched servers, his entire guild would switch with him.  Once he even quit for about 6 months while he went through some hard times in his life, when he finally reactivated his account, he again switched servers.  He then sent out the message to his old officers who then passed the message down to some of the old members who were dedicated to him that he was back.  Within a week, he had his old guild back again, they switched servers, left their current guilds, and some even started playing the game again because they had quit.  One person with the right attitude and leadership skills can have that type of impact, and so can you, and if you continue reading, I’m going to explain how it’s done.

6. Know what you are doing…

Sometimes thinks are so blatantly obvious that when I log into game and see people making these mistakes I just want to throw up.  This stuff is easy folks and this of all things is the most important out there.  Listen, confidence can only get you so far, if you don’t know what you’re doing it doesn’t matter how good of a game you talk, people are going to find out your fake.  Look at some of our presidents in the United States?  They talk up a mad game and then don’t deliver or have any idea how to deliver what they promised.

Now I’m all for the “fake it, till you make it” attitude, but at some point you’re going to have to actually make it.  You want to lead a big raiding guild or a big PvP guild?  Then get your ass out of the game and study the fights.  There is information overload on the Internet, there are hundreds of youtube videos that explain boss fights.  Not only as a leader do you have to know what you’re going to do but you need to be able to direct 10 to 25 other people as to what to do.  

You might say, “This isn’t true, I do looking for raid and we just beat the bosses without trying” If that’s what’s going on in your head right now, then you mine as well close this guide out.  The looking for raid tool is used for idiots who have no chance at ever being in a guild that’s good or for people who aren’t popular, the fact that the tool exists, the fact that the looking for dungeon tool exists, is proof that Blizzard knows there are a lot of idiots out there who will never be accepted even in the online virtual world.  To some of your defense, sure, when your guild is busy or you don’t have time, you use these tools,that’s fine, I’m talking about people who continuously rely on these tools to progress in the game.  

If it isn’t a big enough hint already that the Looking for Raid tool only provides lesser item level and in return lesser powered gear that you can achieve in the game for doing the same raids, then you’re missing something here.  These raids are dumbed down for dummies and the gear is downgaded, if you rely on Looking for Raid tools to advance you’ll never go anywhere or be somebody.

I’ll even admit, I used the looking for raid tools when I returned to the game just to gearup to find a better guild, and I will tell you first hand…you can tell when someone shows up in these raids who knows what’s going on because they can identify the crappy players and idiots, they’re usually trying to kick them out the whole raid.  Don’t be the person who gets kicked out of a raid that you joined by using the looking for raid tool, this puts you at possibly the worst and least accepted players in all of World of Warcraft.

So know what you’re doing first and foremost.  If you’re going to lead a guild, then learn how to first lead people but also learn the fights.  

You can learn the fights by searching for the boss nameson places like wowhead.comfor World of Warcraft.  If you’re playing another MMO, there are sites just like it for about every game from wikis to more.

If you’re going to level, learn how to level, there are so many free guides that explain routes, areas, types of leveling, and even paid guides that tell you how to get to level 85 in just a few days.  These exist for every game folks not just World of Warcraft, there are even leveling videos at youtube and many other places.

If you’re going to make gold, learn how to make gold, don’t just sit and do daily quests and think you’re the shit, most likely you’re an idiot.  There’s always a better way to do everything and if you’re not looking for it, then you have limited your own potential.

If you’re going to PvP, learn how to pvp.  There are PvP specific sites that talk about the gear to get and how to play your class.  Once you understand or learn about something, then actually go do it, don’t just talk about it.  Get your ass in the Arena, get your ass in a raid, get your ass out making gold, do it, pefect it, and see what it’s potential is, if it doesn’t work throw the strategy out and move on to the next one, don’t think just because someone told you to do something that it means it’s the right thing to do, you have to learn this stuff for yourself.

I’m going to share with you a bit of information I learned awhile back and it has been key to any successes I’ve had.  “The worst advice is free advice”  Free advice is everywhere, but it mainly comes from people who have tried and failed or who haven’t really achieved anything worthwhile in life or in a game.  

People who have good advice can and will charge a premium or they’ll be a famous author of some type with a following and respect.  Look at people who have a lot of followers and generate a lot of respect and follow them.  Find someone you want to be like and mimic them.  It’s not hard to find someone who’s high rated in PvP on your server, find them, and figure out what they do and what makesthem successful.  Model yourself and your play style and your life and what you do in it after people who have what you want, not after people, who want what you want as well.  You get what you pay for in almost every circumstance and the same holds true in World of Warcraft and video games.

The most important thing in World of Warcraft and other MMOs is to know what you’re doing first.  And this  leads us into how to play your character.  There exists a forum called elitistjerks.com, this site is simply a compilation of players who crunch numbers and come up with the best theoretical and actual builds, specs, rotations, gems, enchants and you name it for your class.  This is a site you will want to read once you get at raid level for sure but it can help you understand the dynamics of your class.

Beyond raiding though, you will want to know the best way to handle your characer in PvP and in leveling.  You will want to know how to use each skill, in what circumstance and environment, against who, and when to use it.  You must master yourself.  You cannot be a raid leader as say a Hunter and be on the bottom of the charts in Damage, and you can’t be a tank in the guild who can’t even tank or hold threat.  You also don’t have to be the best player in your guild, but you need to hold your own and show people you know what you’re talking about.

Only after you have masterd all the things in this section called know what to do is it even worth continuing to the next section, although, if you don’t lead a guild, pvp hardcore, or want to do any of those things to any extreme and you just want to be liked by people regardless and not be a leader, the following sections are more for you.

7. Be nice, helpful, learn when to speak, and learn when to shut up…

Be nice.  This doesn’t mean tolerate disrespect.  It means don’t start stupid arguments with people in guild chat or public forums for everyone to see.  No one thinks you’re special and have special knowledge, and even if you get someone to agree with you in these chats, I can guarantee you, that everyone else just thinks you, the person who agrees with you, and the person you’re arguing with is stupid.  They may even tell you to take it to a private chat and that’s exactly what you should do.

If you feel the need to say something to someone, do it privately, but don’t be surprised if they just swear at you or tell you to go to hell.  No one wants to hear your opinion when it’s not asked for.

If someone sends you a private chat either be nice to them or ignore them.  Being rude to people gets you nowhere, not in virtual world, and not in life.  Even ifyou don’t agree with what they are saying, try to change topics, or brush it off.  It becomes apparent in most arguments that the two of you obviously have irreconciable differences and way different backgrounds that you’re speaking from.  Unless you’re going to rent a conference room and do a history lesson each other to figure out the discrepancies, do your best to be nice, if they start to insult you just block them or ignore them or report them.  Otherwise, you’ll look like the bad guy by defending yourself in a public channel.  You’ll go to join a guild later and someone will say, hey aren’t you that idiot that was arguing with so and so in trade chat the other day.  Don’t do it folks.  Be nice.

Be helpful.  But don’t go out of your way to help people, ensure if you ever do that, that there is some benefit in it for you.  See some of the above sections for examples.

Don’t spend all day running people through instances that don’t serve you or grouping with people in places that do you no good and expect to earn real friends.

Don’t give someone gold and expect to become popular.  Don’t answer someones question and think that they hold a special place in their heart for you and that you’re awesome.

Sure, give the generic answer in trade chat, “google it, or go to wowhead.com” or very simple easy answers but don’t take the time to discuss things publicly, if you really want to tell someone how to do something, then take it to a private chat again.  

Here are some examples of things you can do that are both nice and  helpful and don’t effect you at all.

If you are already going to be running a friend or one of your alternate characters through some dungeons or instances, then ask in public or guild chat if anyone wants to do a run through with you, tell them you’re doing it.  If you do this make sure they know the rules, a lot of people do run throughs so they get all the loot, so make clear that your friend or your character gets what they want.  I’ve formed pacts while doing run throughs where the other person loots and sends stuff to my auction character for me and I let them keep a few things, this is beneficial because I can’t loot and do a run through because it slows me down.

If you’re going to be doing a quest, a dungeon, a PvP group, or putting together a group or a raid, ask people in your guild or in chat if they’d like to join you.  Just make sure they are good enough or that what you’re doing is easy enough that they won’t slow you down.  This will allow you to build up brownie points with any guild.

Just because you’re not a guild leader doesn’t mean you can’t help people learn their class, kill a raid boss, PvP, or any numerable amount of other things, especially those who ask.  Occasionally, someone will ask in chat, does anyone have a level 85 Hunter, or does anyone know how to do a certain thing in Mining or Jewelcrafting.  Guess what?  If you followed any of the advice above and read up and educated yourself, you will be able to chime in and help people, and they will appreciate it.  Knowing a lot of stuff, fights, classes, and everything about the game you’re playing will quickly identify you as an expert in that area.  In addition to guild leaders, there are also usually Class Officers in the guild, these people know everything about their class.  You can be one of these, the guild leader will love you for it and even give you special loot privileges sometimes.  

You’ll fnd you can get whatever you want out of a game and in life if you are just willing to give enough others what they want.  Being educated has it’s distinct advantages.  Being nice, helping others, and being educated makes a winning combo for sure.

8. Learn when to speak, learn when to shut up

Run these calculations through your head, think before you speak, think before you act, and learn when to shut up.  Everything has a risk associated with it.  The advantage of arguing on the internet is you’re behind a keyboard and a mouse, no one is screaming in your face threatening to beat you up, so take a deep breath little nerdy, and think before you respond.  Walk away if you have to.

Do what I do, when someone aggravates you, type up what you were going to say, but don’t send it.  Instead go for a 15 minute walk or cool down, come back and look at what you were going to say, I guarantee you that you’ll end up deleting most of it or not responding at all.  You’ll find very few people are worth your time.

Let’s be honest.  When in direct confrontation, regardless of circumstance or form, virtual world or in real life.  Your intelligence level drops once you become emotional about it.  Ever say something to someone or not say something to someone and then 30 minutes later all of a sudden you’re like I should have said this or I shouldn’t have said that, after your emotions run through you?  That’s right, the adrenaline response makes you literally stupid.   So think before you respond and act.

Learning when to speak and when not to speak is one of the keys to success in life.  Especially if you’re not the boss, but even if you are the boss, you’ll find the people you’re in charge of will be more likely to quit on you, talk bad about you being your back, slack off, or not do what they are told just out of resentment for you.

So when should you speak?  You should speak when someone asks you a question and you should avoid attacking anyone else as best as you can.  Attack the idea or what was said, not the person.  Don’t say you must be stupid or you’re an idiot, simply acknowledge to yourself and say you don’t agree you think this.  Or if you’re curious about what they said, ask them where they heard that from.  You’ll find out really quick who’s the idiot and who isn’t, there’s no need for name calling.  A civil discussion allows for everyone to see who the dumbass really is.  

You’ll find it’s best to shut up when you’ve reached confirmation that the person you are arguing with or talking to is indeed an idiot.  You don’t need to say anything to them, not even, “Hey you’re an idiot and I’m going to stop talkng to you now” just stop talking period.  Remember, when you argue with an idiot you’re at a disadvantage, first they bring you down to their level and then beat you at what they are good at.

You also need to know when to pick your fights.  Some things are worth speaking and arguing over, most are not.  Pick your fights.  Is something as simple as where the best mining location for a resource worth making yourself look like a dumbass in the guild and possibly getting kicked out?  Probably not.  Is it worth saying something if your guild leader treats you like shit on raids and doesn’t give you any loot?  Probably not, you should just join another guild or quit, they aren’t worth your time.  Is it worth your time to confront a racist in game chat?  Probably not, report them to a game master?  So when is it appropriate to speak up in side of a game?

The answer depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.  If you are trying to start an argument or look like an idiot or feel better about yourself then go ahead and talk all you want.  If you’re trying to convince someone why they shouldn’t be racist, or why Obama is a better president choice, or why someones religion is wrong; you’re wasting your time.  Remember, people change when they see a need to change and an internet discussion rarely makes them see a need to change and even if they do see a need to change from what you said, it rarely actually leads into action to change.  Video games are for fun an entertainment, not for serious discussion.

There are very few times when you should speak.  You have to weigh the risk against the reward.  You didn’t login to World of Warcraft to spend an hour arguing with an idiot about politics, religion, taxes, or money, if you did, I’m sorry, you’re still an idiot there are better forums for that.  But even if you win an hour long discussion on those topics you still lose, you gave up an hour you could have been playing and advancing yourself.  Even if you’re talking about the best class for PvP or something else related to the game, unless it was your goal to login and talk about it, you lose, no matter the outcome of the conversation.

Here is a time when it might be worth speaking.  Say you’re in a raid or a group and someone keeps making a mistake or you need to explain how you’ve done a boss fight.  You explain this information so that you can achieve your goal which is to beat the dungeon or the raid.  You can also talk in PvP.  It’s okay to speak to save yourself time if you think you can convince a group or raid to listen to you, but most times, it’s just as easy to leave and find a new group or raid.  If you’re in a guild I understand this might not be possible.  When you have to speak, and you may find yourself in this position, heed the advice in this section.  Be nice, be helpful, and learn when to speak and when not to speak, and you’ll be on your way to success not just in game, but in life as well.

So enjoy the game, don’t take it too seriously, recognize the fact there are a lot of idiots out there, and try not to be one of them.

Thanks for reading!