Fun (& grouping) in W101

Other than in the handful of Instances in each zone, W101 doesn't really let you group up, which is why it's amusing (to me) that this weekend I did more grouping in W101 than I have during the entire game. Don't get me wrong, I've ran a couple of Instances with other players, I even PUGd The Sunken City, but this weekend was something different.
For once I saw quite a few folks running around Moo Shu & Hametsu Village, I even befriended a couple of them, and because they were able to hold a decent conversation during combat (thus proving their maturity level), I even let them stay on my Friends List. I make it a habit to prune out people on my (& JE's) Friends' List who look like slackers. They'd be the ones who are very low level and so probably want a free ride to Marleybone or Moo Shu, or whose extra information cannot be access from the Friends List (highlight a Friend in your List, then click that little left-pointing arrow in the bottom left corner of their Friend Frame), which I assume implies they're on a Trial Account. I don't know if that's true or not, but they get deleted anyway.

Late last week I'd quested briefly with one player, Joseph, then offered to beat a minor Boss with him but he'd had to log off; him I let stay on my Friends List. On Saturday I ran into another new Friend, Jacob, and by coincidence, we were up to the same Questing stage in that area. We chatted and discovered we needed to kill the same Mobs, farm the same Quest Drops, beat the same minor Boss, etc. So Jacob and I ran around together for a couple of hours double-teaming all our quests, which not only made things a little more pleasant than solo killing, but also sped up the process, too. If you need to kill 12 Mobs for a Quest, on your own you'll be fighting 2 Mobs, but with a partner you face 3 Mobs. That's 4 fights with a partner compared to 6 on your own, and with a partner the Odds are tipped a little more in your favor, too. 3 vs 2 is still not a fair fight, but it's more fair than 2 on 1.

So Jacob and I ran around questing together and during the course of conversation it came out that he's married like me, and also has a son who plays W101. Like most MMOs, W101 is a lot more fun when you have a mature (not necessarily older, just mature) player to hang out with.

Later Jacob logged out to go to a Superbowl Party, but I stayed on, quested a bit more, and got a bit ahead of him. Liz and I had the game on ourselves but I wasn't too attached to either the Steelers or the Cardinals, so, meh. Interesting commercial? Sure, I'll watch for a few seconds. Interception? 100-yard TD Return? Show me the replay! But the entire game? Meh.

The kids came home and JE jumped into the game but he's discovered the new PvP Arena, so I indulged him and joined him for a Duel. For some reason we signed up for 3v3, even though it was just the two of us, meaning we needed a PUG for a 3rd...and we got your stereotypical MMO PUG player.

While a player on the other team apologized to her team mates for bringing her PvE Deck, our PUG guy was talking Trash. Another one of their players was decked out similar to Saylah in her new Kitty Cat Cap, so I complimented her on her outfit. Our PUG guy thought that was hilarious.

With our opponents being in Oni gear they all had well over 2,000HP, and two of them were even close to 3,000. By contrast I was the only Wizard on our team with over 2,000HP, and I wasn't over by a lot. I didn't like our chances of winning, but I figured we were here to have fun (well I was) so let's give it our best!

After several rounds of buffing & debuffing, and various attacks, both JE and our opponents' lowest HP Wizard were knocked out and reeling. (Players reduced to zero HP can still be revived if they don't Flee and another Player can Heal them.) Our PUG guy threw a HOT onto JE bringing him back into the game, for about 2 seconds until one of their Wizards hit us with Meteor, an AOE, which took JE straight back out again.

"We're going to lose," our PUG guy whined.

Then he Fled.

Leaving me to face two Wizards, both with close to 3,000HP. And then they brought their third player back.

Meanwhile our PUG guy ran around the Arena as a spectator, jeering at us, and cheering for our (& his former) opponents. I took the high ground and made the observation that Fleeing disrespects both your team mates and your opponents. That won me brownie points with my opponents, although it didn't stop them trying to defeat me :P

And of course with it now being a Three on One I didn't last long, but I did last a while, and they were attacking too; they weren't sitting back trying to Buff up and one-shot me with a 2K+ attack. In fact I survived long enough to make me wonder if we might have had a chance of winning, if our PUG guy hadn't Fled on us.

When the inevitable happened and I got hit with a DOT that was going to knock me out before I could take my turn, I congratulated our opponents.

Then I left JE in the Arena and resumed Questing. The little guy kept me appraised of his progress, and damned if he didn't go and win several matches on his own :)

I'd been questing for a bit when a third one of my new Friends messaged me, asking what I was doing. I didn't know if she wanted to Teleport to my location, or needed help with something. It was the latter so I ported to her and found her fighting the War Oni at the end of the Crimson Fields Instance. I called out to John and he teleported to me and between the three of us we took the War Oni down.

Later that night I'd find myself fighting the War Oni again, when Jacob returned from his Superbowl Game and we tackled the Crimson Fields together. The big surprise of Crimson Fields was raising 4 Banners, which seemed to do nothing until later in the Instance, when a 5,000HP Fire Boss spawned from out of nowhere. JE was in bed by this time so I quickly logged on his account and 'ported his Wizard to us, and it still wasn't a cakewalk. That Boss was tough, a lot tougher than the War Oni.

And speaking of the War Oni, as we approached his lair Joseph messaged me asking for help. I told him I was about to fight the War Oni, so if he wanted to port to me and help Jacob and I then I'd help with his Boss when we were done. Between the three of us we made short work of the War Oni, then I helped Joseph with his Boss, which moved him in to the area that Jacob and I were just finishing up. Previously I'd had a very long chat with Joseph, and apparently W101 is his first MMO. Which is odd but I can only assume means he has a young child who plays as well (or he's a very mature, younger player himself). He even claimed not to know what AFK meant, which blew my mind.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon/evening. I just wish W101 had something like WoW's Guilds, so players like Jacob and Joseph could more easily meet up with Saylah, Ronan, and the other mature W101 players I know.