There are plenty of things I pine for since I cancelled my World of Warcraft accounts; guild camaraderie; the rare perfect PvP kill; the warm feeling of making huge quantities of gold, and watching the RPers desperately try to immerse themselves while a level one Gnome named ‘Xxqgbmxx’ jumps up and down next to them and spams his gold selling macro.One thing from World of Warcraft that I don't miss however is loot drama. Almost every player has been involved or borne witness to the ire and hatred that can be caused by the antics of that WoW pariah: the ‘Ninja Looter’.
Possibly named for the cat-like swiftness of their larceny, the Ninja is someone who takes an item without adhering to the rules of ‘fair play’. In a game as vast as WoW there are thousands of different circumstances in which the Ninja can ply his nefarious trade, but they all have one thing in common: the angry response. Without doubt, the act of stealing items is universally despised and as such can often generate very public consequences. Naming and shaming threads have sprung up on guild and server forums and it is not uncommon to see running arguments breaking out over general chat channels.
Despite the thousands of players that reside on a server, the human brain has a capacious talent to remember players’ names and their behaviour, so Ninjas are often quickly ostracized by other players and, more devastatingly, blacklisted by guilds. This can have a dramatic, negative effect for the Ninja’s account.
In spite of these game-changing ramifications there has always been, and probably will always be Ninjas. Below, I identify the five different types of Ninja (concentrating on the instance-based breed), how to spot early-warning signs and ways to minimise the risks.
1) The Noob.
He's stacking strength points on his Mage, doesn’t wait for the tank to build aggro on each pull and never follows the correct boss tactics. The corpse run is this guy’s closest friend. In short, he knows nothing about his class. Nada. Often very young in real life, the true Noob really has no idea about itemization, class mechanics or how aggro works and thus every item that drops is a potential upgrade for his character. No matter how you try to show him the correct playing-style, he probably just won’t understand and he’ll keep ‘Needing’ on everything that drops. This is exacerbated on the European servers by the fact that many players don’t have English as their first language.
Noob however, is something of an umbrella term. You may be an exceptional, experienced player with a great reputation, but the second you take your eye off the ball and roll ‘Greed’ when everyone else passes for the disenchanter who was nominated at the beginning (while you were alt + tabbing to check 4chan), or jokingly type ‘Need’ when your Warlock clearly cannot wield a [Two-Handed Axe of Death], you too may enter the Ninja Hall of Fame.
2) The Career Criminal.
Possibly the most evil of all our Ninja identity parade is the Career Criminal. Premeditated robbery is his pleasure, Hearthstoning his grinning farewell. Perhaps he began his craft by mistakenly taking inappropriate loot while still new to the game, perhaps he just enjoys the thrill of watching the ensuing ‘QQ’, maybe his mother dropped him on his head (repeatedly) while still a baby, whatever the origin of his immoral activities he is a dedicated (to the point of using the Name-Change function), maybe even obsessed proponent of the dark arts. Watching his accusers’ anger is almost as fun as the shiny, new axe that graces a bag slot.
But there is a sub-class to this type, one which can fulfil every facet of the description ‘Ninja’. Like his deadly name-sake, this breed of Ninja can operate so intelligently and subtly that you might not even notice that you’ve been tricked. Under the guise of a normal group/raid member he will politely roll on items that appear to outsiders to be legitimate upgrades, even though he knows that he already has them (or better) stashed away in his bank. This form of larceny is almost the perfect crime and is often accompanied by the Enchanting profession. Nobody can see the contents of another player’s bank and thus cannot prove theft has occurred.
3) The Opportunist.
Here we meet the Career Criminal’s cousin. The Opportunist is not really such a bad egg, but temptation to have an item has motivated him to make that split-second decision to select ‘Need’ for that much-wanted article. It could be that he has been after that piece for a long time and never been lucky enough to win the roll, or maybe the group has been such a bad experience he wants to cut his losses with a nice item. Whatever the motivation, the Opportunist is more than likely a normal player, stirred to the edge of lunacy by frustration, temptation and probably instantly regrets the pilfering.
I have found that random epic drops always make even honest player’s trigger fingers twitchy.
4) The Greedy Hybrid.
WoW’s classes often overlap when it comes to itemization and the gear they need for their chosen talent specialisation. A Druid who prefers healing might find it easier to get group spots (and thus collect better healing gear) if he tanks instances. Hunters and all melee classes can benefit from Agility in some way or another. If your class can use an item that drops then you have a legitimate claim to it and most players will be happy to allow you to roll, especially if you’ve explained beforehand that, despite your current role, you need alternative gear. But there are players who sully this fragile contract, who think their class gives them a right to roll on everything, even if they have no intention of assuming the other roles that their class offers, thus preventing a group member of gear that could be used to great effect.
5) The Master Looter.
As the distribution of precious loot can be a slow and painful task (especially in raids), Blizzard implemented the Master Looter option, where a single player has complete control over who receives the items that drop. Trust is naturally a great factor in choosing who is nominated to be the Master Looter but speed can also force a group or raid to accept anyone who seems willing to don the mantle of authority. In the most unfortunate of occasions this hasty selection can lead to vast amounts of items being stolen in the blink of an eye.
The Master Looter has many varied weapons at his disposal. He can illegitimately give loot to any favourite players in the raid, he can make the odd ‘miss-click’ and give himself or, again a favourite, something by accident, or he can just collect all the Bind On Equip bits and pieces as the raid progresses (insisting that dealing them out at the end will be quicker) and then furnish himself with all the items from whichever boss he prefers (usually the end boss), citing internet problems or just Hearthstoning. It is ironic that the best prevention against Ninjas also offers the chance for a Ninja to make a really big scoop.
Of course, even the most experienced Master Looters can make honest mistakes.
Protect Yourself.
Preventing item loss is a very difficult thing, but sometimes you can spot early warning signs and take action. Does a group member refuse to follow instructions? Do they linger in a Battleground while everyone waits in the instance, or go AFK without warning? Do they roll Need on green-level items that they clearly do not have a use for? If so, they might have similar disregard to loot distribution rules.
Often by the time a group or raid has cleared the first boss, the danger signs have already presented themselves. The hybrid that refused to tank at the start when you couldn’t find a meat shield for love nor money, and yet rolls on the defence gear dropped by the first boss will probably Need on everything he can get away with. Similarly, players also may Ninja items for their professions, which until recently was a very difficult thing to confirm. The advent of the Armoury helps a great deal with this, if in doubt, Alt + tab to desktop and check out if your group’s Rogue really is an Engineer.
A good rule of thumb is to avoid PUGs. Avoid them like the plague. Apart from the fact that people have less respect for fellow PUG members and treat them accordingly, there is also the problem that everyone brings different loot rules to the table. What might be acceptable in your e-social circles might incense someone else. Also, always roll last. This will let you see if someone has Need rolled when they shouldn’t have and at least give you a shot at beating them.
When it doubt about claiming a particular item, simply ask before you roll. If your doubt has not been assuaged, then remember that there will probably be other opportunities to upgrade and Pass.
The best advice I can give is to find a nice guild that has players who play for fun first, loot second and get into their regular instance runs. You will learn their personalities, classes and play-styles and such intimate circumstances breed mutual respect and co-operation. This is the single most effective boon to enjoying your play time. If you really, really have to venture out into the Looking For Group quagmire then be sure to establish firm rules at the beginning, say which kinds of gear you are hoping to obtain and note other player’s responses.
May your rolls always be high.
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