What do you call "Bads"?

Personally I do not like using the word "bads".  That is something in WoW that is commonly used to refer to anyone that does not perform up to optimum ability.  I think the word is overused in the LFD system entirely because of the blanket use of it.  Anyone that does not do perfect is a "bad".

I've been a "bad" and I have no doubt you have been a "bad" as well.  It usually happens when we make a mistake like healing yourself because some mob targeted you and changed your target from the tank to it and you did not notice.  That does not mean you are a "bad", that means you made a mistake.

Another time I have seen people be called "bads" does not even have anything to do with a mistake.  It is game mechanics.  A mob fears, you run into some other mobs thus getting their attention and bringing more mobs to the battle.  You get called a "bad" when it had nothing to do with you.  It was not your fault.  I see this often on the top tier before the last boss in DTK. Someone gets feared into the other packs and brings them into the battle.  It is part of the game.  Can't blame the person and can't blame the tank.  No matter how far back the tank drags the mobs someone can easily be feared into the other ones.

There are countless situations where someone is called a "bad" where it really has nothing to do with skill, knowledge of their class, ability to play or even crap luck.  I usually chalk it up to people that use the term "bads" are people that are themselves quite bad and love to point out anything anyone else does, their fault or not, just to make themselves feel better.

In my humble, be it grumpy, opinion I believe there are three types of bad players.  Those that don't grasp, those that don't know and those that don't care.

All three of those type often get thrown together into the term "bads" where only one of those types are actually bad players.  I'll give some examples based on my own experience.

Those that don't grasp:
Overall I consider myself a decent player.  I research the class I am playing, the tree I am in, the abilities I have, the rotation(or priority) I should use and the stats, gemming and enchants that are best for that class.  On my Rogue I just suck.  Flat out.  I am trying to get better at it but it seems to escape me no matter what I do.  I feel I am making small steps forward but I just suck at being a Rogue.  I play one bad but that does not mean I am a "bad" on it.  Not grasping something does not mean you are a bad player it just means you are bad at doing something.  Because playing a Rogue is easy for you does not mean it is easy for everyone.

Those that don't know:
When I started playing my first character, my beloved Hunter, I knew nothing.  I was a new player and it wasn't until I got to be around level 40 before I even looked to the forums to find more information on the character.  Up until that point I was cruising along nicely and never had any questions really.  It was when my pet started having problems holding aggro and I went in search of information that might help.  I had points in my talent tree in all three specs.  I wore whatever dropped that looked good (even if I did figure out on my own that agility was my main stat).  I was just bad because I did not know any better.  I was good enough to get things done, sure, but when compared to others that knew the class beforehand I was a bad player.  I was not however a "bad" player.

Those that don't care:
If there were ever a case where someone deserves to be called a "bad" this is the case.  You know the type I am talking about right?  The type in the LFD that come out all balls to the wall when they know they have a new tank.  They are bad players. 

The ones that look at the gear score of someone and start bitching because apparently a 5K gear score is required to do a heroic.  The ones who think that doing 1.5K DPS means you suck and are quite vocal about you sucking so badly even if when everyone was first doing heroics 1.5K meant you where the superstar of the run.  The ones that start AoEing mobs before the tank gets to it.  Those are bad players.  The ones the pull for the tank.  Those are bad players.

They are the people where you look at their gear and spec and gems and enchants and everything is textbook perfect.  They are the ones with gear scores so high they make my geared characters look like I just started playing.  Those are the people who are truly "bads"  Healers that heal in Shadow gear at 80, tanks that tank in Ret gear.  Bad players, nothing to argue there.  Just because you can do something does not mean you should, it means you are a bad player.

I have no issues running with people that do know grasp or people that do not know but I hate people that do not care.  If you do not care why are you even playing.  People that do no care pull aggro, people that do no care pull adds, people that do not care walk around doing sub par DPS while they are complaining about everyone else's DPS.  People that do not care ignore mechanics that can still kill a 6K gear score player.  Spellflingers anyone?  They are bad players because they do not care.

I would much rather be in a heroic run with a group all doing 2K DPS that are doing what they are supposed to be doing than in a group where everyone is capable of doing 5K DPS but they just don't care.  People that don't care make more mistakes.  I can forgive mistakes if they are in fact a mistake.  People that don't care make mistakes because they don't care, not because it is an actual mistake.

Someone was on the forums complaining about people only doing 3K DPS in a heroic.  They said that there is no reason at this stage in the game that anyone should be doing less then 5K in a heroic.  They said it is a sign of all the "bads" out there.  Lets not even talk about the term this stage in the game, just because you hit 80 nearly 2 years ago does not mean the person you are running with did.  They might have just hit 80, this might be their first ever character.  What is this this stage you are talking about Mr. "bad"?

Reading their post it came to me that the only "bads" I noticed in their story was themselves.  If they think everyone should be doing 5K in heroics then they are a bad player.  I am a DPS machine.  I've pulled 19K in a heroic once on a 9 pack pull before I had any ICC gear.  I routinely pull 8K-11K single targets, even average 10K DPS on the brew boss lately.  I know DPS and with that I can say this with 100% conviction.  Sometimes with a well balanced group it is impossible to pull 5K DPS in a heroic unless you are a "bad" player. 

If everyone is doing their job well and is good at it and is geared then everything will die so damn fast that no one will ever get a chance to ramp up their DPS.  You will end a run with all good players like that hovering around 4K and the tank around 3K.  That is not because they are bad, that is because the mobs die so fast.

Also a blanket statement like that shows they are a "bad" because apparently they do not know anything about classes.  Lets say we are fighting something and it goes down before I can lay off my second Chimera or even a kill shot, which happens often in dungeons because as soon as I am able to use it, the mob is dead, then my DPS is going to be considerably less then if I were able to get my full rotation out with a kill shot.  The difference can be from doing 5K DPS and 10K DPS.  How about a lock?  If given the time to ramp things up they can do obscene damage. Where is there ever a chance for them to get that going in a heroic?

Some classes are made for heroics.  Hunters and Rogues with MD and tricks can go balls to the wall to start out so they will most likely have better DPS in a run, even with a bad tank.  Other classes will have to hold back and even more so with a bad tank. In some heroics I have seen horrible tanks end up tanking the instance like a pro because all the DPS was so damn high all they ever needed to do was hold threat for 5 seconds and things where dead.  My MD takes care of that for them.  All they need to be there for is to take the hits.  No skill needed on their part at all.

Does it mean that locks or mages or any class that has huge burst that needs to ramp up is a "bad" because they do not do super DPS in a heroic?

You know what I think the issue is here?  DPS.  Why do people judge others by their DPS?

Do you know how I would judge a bad player?  Is it a Hunter that does not Misdirect even when it is not needed?  Bad player.  Is it a Rogue that does not vanish when moving up on aggro?  Bad player.  Is it a Mage that waits until the mob gets to him before he iceblocks?  Bad Player. 

If you do not fit into the don't grasp or don't know category and do bad then that means you are a bad player.

I can deal with people that don't know.  I can deal with people that don't grasp.  I can deal with them even better if they are honest about it and want to learn.  But if either of them are part don't know or don't grasp and part don't care, then I have no patience for them.

Anyone that fits into the don't care category is a "bad".

I've run just as many heroics as everyone else out there that likes to blurt out, I don't care it is just a heroic, but it doesn't change the fact that I play a class and that class has a job and I do my job.  I know it is just a heroic and one I have run 100 times at that but there is no excuse ever for doing a bad job when you know better. 

Just because you have done it 100 times does not give you the right to be a "bad" player.  Step up or step out.  Stop calling the other people bad players because they are only doing 2K DPS.  At least they are trying, at least they are learning, at least they are gearing up.  Hate to break it to you Mr. Potatohead but you are the only one that is a bad player in this equation.  You are the idiot paying more attention to the recount then the run.  That is a sign of a bad player, any raid leader will tell you that.

So in summation, I see "bads" as people that just don't care.

People that don't grasp, can get better.  People that don't know, can learn.  People that don't care, are bad.