Is Faking It Okay and If So How Do You Do It?

I read a few posts recently with people talking about the outrageous requirements that people are looking at for flex runs be it server bound ones, OQ ones or open raid ones.  People are asking for 14/14 normal at least, people are looking for 540+ item level for wing one and my favorite, that I saw personally, was someone asking for 570+ for wing 4.

There are a variety of reasons that someone would ask for outrageous requirements but the number one reason is that they are looking for a smooth run and the higher they set their standards the better their chances are at getting a decent run.  Doesn't mean they will, but it does increase their chances.  Like the person asking for 570+ for flex 4.  You would be left to believe that anyone with a 570 item level needs to have at least a couple of pieces of heroic which means they have done garrosh on normal which means flex would be easy.  In theory anyway.  But that is why they set their sights so high.

There are also the people that say you must have done those things on the character you want invited.  So the fact I downed garrsoh means nothing on my new hunter because he is not my main hunter.  As if there is a skill issue where I am better at my main hunter than I am on my alt hunter.  But again, people make the rules, you just need to see which one you fit in with.

There were a lot of people in all the forum posts offering suggestions on how someone could get their item level up, get some experience, and basically make their pugging life easier but the one that stood out the most was when people would just say to lie.  Not just outright lie but to download addons that will assist you in your lying.

Is faking it out right like that acceptable?

I have absolutely no issues with lying in this case because sometimes you need to be a little cunning and tell a fib or two to get your foot in the door but I do have some rules to what makes for an acceptable lie.   Using some addon to "fake" an achievement is wrong.  You can lie effectively without actually downloading an addon to do so.

So I do believe it is okay to lie under certain circumstances and as long as you are willing to meet some personal requirements, as I will mention, but do you think lying to get into a pug is okay?

Rules to Lying Believably to Get Into a Pug:

1) Know the Fights:

You are on the short end of the stick to begin with, you are lying, you are faking your way into something you should not be in because you do not meet the requirements asked for.  So the absolute least you can do is be prepared.  Knowing the fights is part one to that.  Before you even think of lying your way into a pug do the fights in the LFR, or watch the videos, or read a strategy, or better yet, do all three.

As long as you have at least the most basic minimal understanding of the fight you can most likely fake it enough to get by.  That is the key to knowing the fights.  Nothing will point out you have no clue what to do then screwing up a simple mechanic like running away with a debuff you are supposed to stack with.

To ease your transition into faking it I'll give you one little hint that can really help you, should you happen to screw up.  You are lying already so just like a little more won't make it worse.

If you are ranged and trying to get in, say I've only DPSed this as melee.  If you are melee, say I've only DPSed this as ranged.  The vast majority of the time the mechanics that melee deal with range never even notice, the mechanics that ranged deal with melee never notice.  If you do screw up and make a mistake you can always use the "it took me by surprise I never noticed that in melee" and 99 out of 100 times people will just shrug it off because melee and ranged often do have different things to deal with and it is understandable if you never did it in that role that you could make that type of mistake.

Knowing the fights however limits your need for lies however.  Actually knowing the fights removes the need for lying completely, and every bit of lie you can remove from telling is a good thing.  They might be asking for experience, so tell them "know all fights".  Let them assume you meant you knew the normal they are asking for.  You did not say you knew normal, you only said you knew the fights.

Most people will not follow up and ask you if you mean LFR, flex or normal, saying know all fights is usually more than enough to appease most.  So know the fights and step one for lying is not actually lying.  It is just leaving out facts, like you never actually did them at this level, but you do know the fights.

2) Role Switching:

As I mentioned in the previous bullet it is a good idea to say you have not done it in the role you are currently applying to join on.  It helps cover a lot of mistakes up.  Most casual raiders honestly have no idea what anyone else in the raid has to do, they only know their job and how to do it.  This is an accepted thing.  So use it to your advantage.  The fact you said you "know the fights" is half the battle, so you are just doing it in a different role.

This is actually the easiest to pull off as a tank of course because you can say you have not tanked it yet but know how to tank.  So they will just say something like "taunt at 3" and you are ready to go.  So from a faking it standpoint faking it as a tank is the easiest way to fake it.

Faking it as a healer is second easiest.  If you say you have never healed it but know the fights you know how people will describe your job to you?  "Heal the injured people"  It is really that easy too.

Faking it as a damage dealer is a little more iffy, you can use the melee / range thing I mentioned and that will cover a lot, but low numbers will stand out no matter what and when it comes time to replace someone you will be the first replaced with low numbers, even if you were telling the truth about experience.

In a way you would not be lying here either if you do it as I said.  If you say "I've never done it in this role" you are telling the truth.  Right?

3) Know Your Role:

Speaking of those low damage dealer numbers that will stand out, low other numbers will as well.  Tanks that do not use cooldowns, a holy priest that is predominantly using shield or a disc priest that is predominantly using renew.  Bad is bad and bad stands out even to the most inexperienced raid leader.

You might not have done the content before and are faking your way into it but there is never any excuse for not knowing how to play your role.  All that work trying to fake your way into it will be lost instantly if you get kicked because you obviously have no clue how to play your class.

As long as you know how to play your class you should be able to do okay, and that is kind of key.

4) Be Humble, Be Realistic:

Now we are really stepping into the lying territory.  You have not lied yet saying "I know the fights" and "I've never done it in this role" as those are both true statements that you only lead them to believe you have done it before in another role.  Now you are really stepping into the area where you have to tell a fib or two if asked outright.

First, be realistic.  If someone asks what your experience is tell them some form of normal experience.  Do not say you are 10/14 heroic.  If you have "heroic skills" you will be noticed as a liar even on an alt in a matter of seconds.  Saying you have some degree of normal experience is fine for getting into a flex group, even better than fine.

The ideal progression number to say at this point in time is 13/14.  50% of raiding guilds are at 13/14.  That means you are the average raider, and the average raider is actually pretty darn good.  Do not let the 13/14 fool you, do not let the word average fool you.  The average raider is probably in the top 2-5% of the player base in terms of skill, maybe even higher.  So saying you are 13/14 sounds pretty damn awesome for a pug, amazing even, and it does not make you sound as if you are expecting too much or offering too much at the same time.

When asked about your progression how you say it is important also, be humble.  "I am only 13/14 on my main, but I know all the fights" means a lot.  It means you have some attempts on garrosh, it means you have seen all the fights on normal, and the word "only" means you know there is room for you to be better so you will try to be better.

Also, if you say you are 10/14 heroic or something you might spur someone to ask for the name of your main which then could catch you in a lie.  It might also come up in conversation asking you what you think of "so and so mechanic" and being you do not know it, because you are not a heroic raider, you will get caught in your lie.  No one is going to ask a 13/14 player for advice, so no worries about being caught in that lie.

If you say you are 13/14 when half the raiding guilds in the world are 13/14 there is no real reason for anyone to go check up on that because while that is very good for the content you are planning to pug, it is not exactly exceptional and that is what makes it extremely believable.

Using words like "only" make you seem down to earth, and if they question your ability to do it on a role you have never filled before saying "I will try my best" comes off a lot better than anything else you can say.  You now seem like a person with skill, experience, and a reasonable personality that would be easy to work with and will try their hardest.

5) Do Them and Yourself a Favor:

This only works for healers and tanks, but if you have a class that can heal or tank and know how to do so, this is the ultimate selling point in joining a pug being tanks and healers are always needed.

A few weeks ago I went on open raid and posted this line "518 shaman healer, have not raid healed since cata but know my class, looking for any flex, know fights from main" and I got whispers from over a dozen people instantly.  For wing 1, wing 2, wing 3 and even wing 4.  Some of the whispers were from people looking for a 530 healer or a 540 healer.  In the end they were just looking for a healer.  The fact I said I know the class (step 3) and I know the fights (step 1) along with being an in a high demand role sold me even with a low 518 item level.

If you want invites, play a tank or a healer.  It really is that simple.  Even if a group is looking for a higher item level they will accept a lower geared tank or healer.  It is actually amazing how low they will go.  You could even say you have no experience, you can even say you do not know the fights.  Most of the time just to get a tank or a healer people will over look the things that would make them balcklist a damage dealer for eternity.

You would be doing yourself a favor by having a tank or a healing offspec because it will make it easier for you to get groups, and you would be doing them a favor by allow them to get attempts in instead of continuing to spam trade.  Even the most diehard "we need 540 or better" person will sooner or later take that 518 healer just to get a boss down.

End Note:

If I say can get the basics like know your class, know your role, know the fights, and tell a few small fibs like you are 13/14 on your main, finding a group is a lot easier than you think it is.  People asking for high numbers just want an easy run.  Saying you know all fights, even at a lower item level, still jives with the desire, a quick and easy run, so they might take you.

I am not saying finding pugs is easy.  I hate pugging.  But I am saying it can be done with a few white lies here and there.

Do you think faking it is okay?