Written by Top 100 Arena on 2012-05-08

Don’t Beg

Remember Favors

We Don’t Want to Join

Guild Invites

Like Mama Taught You

Backstabbing is Unacceptable

Don’t Steal the Node

Juvenile Names

Not Just for Your Gramma

Welcome to your MMO! Now it’s time to learn to interact socially with other MMO players in a world where nobody cares that you’re a person, and view you only as a collection of pixels on the screen that happens to be somewhat intelligent. That’s where this guide to basic MMO manners comes in. There are a few things many players do that annoy other, particularly veterans. Read on for behaviors to avoid when playing an MMO.This is perhaps the most annoying thing a player can do. It is one thing to ask for your friends’ help but another thing entirely to beg random strangers to give you gold for no reason. Most games have plenty of good ways to make money, so to beg for gold is not only obnoxious, but lazy. Another common thing that gets begged for is gear. Again, most games have easy ways to get gear, either through quests, drops, or crafting, so there should never be a reason to beg for gear.When you do ask someone to help you out, remember that they’re doing you a favor they don’t have to do. Provide as much as you can in return, even if you can’t do it all at once. For example, in a crafting situation, provide as many of the materials as you can, especially ones that are hard to get or are expensive. When asking someone for levelling help or financial assistance, keep in mind that this person is donating time or gold to you and treat them accordingly.One of the most annoying things that happens to me in MMOs is being invited to a random party by some stranger who didn’t ask me first if I was interested in grouping with them. Nine times out of ten I’m not. This mainly goes for parties that happen out of the blue. When I’m involved with a group I’m not partied with, an invite is not a rude thing to do. In fact, it’s polite, if you’re participating with the group. It’s the random invites from some person I don’t know that irks me to death.The same thing goes for guild invitations. Yes, recruiting for a guild is hard but spamming guild invites to random people is a sure way to get your guild noticed in a negative way. Most people don’t care about your guild anyway, especially if it’s new. You might get a few members to join, but you will more than likely alienate the active populace of the game.Always say please and thank you when asking someone for a favor of any sort. Even if the person is a friend or guildie, saying please and thank you is an acknowledgement of the time and effort they’re taking to help you. If you’re not in combat, take the time to spell out the words “please” and “thank you” rather than using the abbreviated versions (“pls” and “ty”).Fight fair. If you see someone from an enemy faction in a PVP situation, and they are fighting PVE, don’t attack them until they’re done and have had a chance to heal up. Sure, they may be easier prey when they’re down to 2% of their health from fighting a mob, but is that really how you want to gain honorable wins? When all is said and done, people will judge you by your actions, and if your actions are not honorable, you’re stuck with that designation. ALso, it’s very annoying to the person you killed.Many games have nodes where you can collect materials for crafting. It is obnoxious and rude to run up to a node that someone else is obviously about to pick and pick it yourself. This is especially bad when the person you’re stealing the node from is fighting a monster while you run up and take the node. Odds are better than even that if someone is fighting near a node, they intend to pick it.When naming your character, one of the most disturbing things you can do is give it a juvenile name, especially a name with a sexual innuendo. Remember that there are young people who play these games and try to name yourself accordingly. Name yourself whatever you want - two of my friends are Funkenstein and Wandumgai - but be mindful that your name isn’t offensive to others.Etiquette is not just something you do to appease your parents and grandparents. Manners and politeness are things that show other people respect. Remember, because it’s multi-player, an MMO has a society to it, and social etiquette must be followed in order to fit into your gaming world. Obnoxious behavior and breaking any of these rules will just get you a bad reputation that will be well-deserved by being an asshole.