Shattering a Tradition

[Nanotrev]

I think most people agree it's a pretty low move to kill another hunter during their tame or while they're camping the same rare, just so you can have a better chance at it than they're going to be able to have. This is especially true when they're a level below the level cap, and they're weaker than you are. It was an amusing story so I decided to share.

I was on my 84 Horde hunter, eating Dole's version of Apple Crisp while I took a break from my circut for Madexx. Suddenly, my eye caught movement on my screen. I had serpent sting on me, and my health was falling far too rapidly for it to be just that. Gaining more altitude, I noticed an Alliance hunter had been trying to gun me down from below. I emoted to them to stop with several /no commands. Instead, they followed me around, on my circut, trying to shoot me down every time I got close to the ground for almost an hour. I knew it wasn't going to stop any time soon unless I did something...

Moments later my friend who was 83 at the time came to my aid. At the expense of running back to his corpse we'd gotten the other hunter. After that, we learned a system between the druid and I. Balance seemed to work better for the situation and we proceeded to camp the intruder for almost thirty minutes as they tried to flee, both of us liking PvP quite a bit.

"Hey, I think I just saw her shadowmeld in these trees."
"Really? How can you be sure?"
"Watch me typhoon her out."

The druid's knockback revealed the same hunter. The camping resumed yet again. Eventually she left the area entirely, the druid giving chase until she lost him.

Thinking we'd gotten the point across, we let her go whenever we saw her after that.

She didn't seem to hold any grudges towards me on my main at the time, which happened to be Alliance and there was no more ganking after that. Oddly enough however, I saw the same hunter tame a red Madexx knowing she'd already had one as I passed over, and more than likely knowing I was in the area looking for one.

I didn't hold it against her, for maybe she still had some harsh feelings over the ordeal. Later on we'd become friends, myself learning she too had exotic animals. She even went as far as to help myself and my significant other fend off Horde when they ganked my lover on her alt. It goes to show not all people are full of malice and hatred. We all have our motives and some simply see things differenty.

I see it the way it's been discussed on the forum before. Is it not a universal opinion among hunters that you don't try and ruin a potiential tame or chase people away from spawns? I don't see her as a bad person. She's actually been quite nice to me despite knowing I was the one behind the counter-attacks.

I'm simply inquiring about what everyone's opinion is about cutoms between fellow hunters.

[Sasrei]

My rule is first come first serve. If its color I already have Ill tag it and find someone to tame it, if while tagged a hunter of a different faction came and asked through emotes to tame it, I would let him tame it. I would NOT kill a tame out from under some person, nor would I kill a rare to get a timer or what not, I would just try to find someone to tame it. Us hunters know the pain of losing a rare to some person who just killed the silver dragon thingy so thats why I wouldnt do it.

[Kirrandria]

I don't know, I don't like the thought of someone taming a pet they already have just to deny other hunters it. The same goes with killing it. Regardless of how much you want your sparkly pet to be unique, there's always another person otu there, on your server, no another server, whatever, that -will- get it, or already has it. If it's rare, people will want it, and eprhaps you should jsut let them have it for the amonut of work put into it.

Another hunter policy I have is 'first tag, first tame'. Or even first kill. If I come into the area and see you taming a rare, I'm not going to drop down, distracting shot, and try and get it for myself. I'm going to sit there, cheer you on, and then come back when it's due to spawn again. I also believe if a person is camping one spot, they shoudl have that spot, and it's downright rude for another hunter to park themselves there. However, if it has multiple points and you can't pick one, then the first to tag it is, of course, first to tame it. If I know another hunter is looking for a pet I am, I'll gladly give them a spawn time ( providing they weren't horribly rude to me ), and I expect the same in return.

I admit, I can be a bit nasty when it comes to rares, especially when a friend wants to tame it, and I have done some things I shouldn't have in acts of revenge. I've no doubt some of you might hate me for this, don't read if you'll get too angry :3 <hugs>, but if I or a friend are taming something, and someone comes down and tries to distract and tame it, I'll outright kill the rare. By coming down and trying to take it from us, you gave off a very clear sign that you wanted to compete with us for the rare. So be it, I'll comepte. I'll be here at the next spawn time, will you? Yes, I might just be making more comeptition for myself, but the guy clearly wants to compete, so let's compete. Perhaps a bad story, on my end, but a friend of mine was camping Terrorpene and not having much luck. Finally, it spawned for him ( and a dwarf was there as well ). He and the dwarf passed tries back and forth, die many times, before finally my friend got a few healers and tried again. The healers kept drawing aggro, but finally he was able to get its attention, it being at very low health by this point, and had almost completed the tame when an undead hunter dropped out of the sky and killed it, /loled, and flew off. Needless to say, my friend, I, and many guildies all sent the guy nasty whispers, but the response we ended up getting was just along the lines of 'QQ more, I want to tame it and no one can have it until I do'. So of course, my friend continues to camp it, and I sit with him the next night ( and the dwarf ), and after a while the same undead comes back. Ticked that he dared to camp it while my friend was, and right on top of him to boot, I quickly logged over to my hunter ( I was on my druid at the time ), got my own Terrorpene out of the stables, and went to set the guy's scan off. I watched the guy frantically search around, look at me with my turtle, and then just hearth and log. I went back to apologize to the dwarf ( He was okay with it, because he watched the undead kill Terrorpene the previous day as well ), and he said he was planning on logging soon anyways. Not an hour later, Terrorpene spawns and my friend is the only one there, so he gets the tame off sucessfully this time. I beleive the nice dwarf got it the next day, and I've yet to see the undead hunter with it ( then again, I have yet to see the undead hunter at all... perhaps he transfered or changed names... ). I got what I deserved, though... four nights spent searching for Skoll, only to miss him by minutes, if not seconds each time before I finally got him. Two times guildies got him after I logged, one time a fellow camper got him in a different spot... and the final time I log on to see him right in front of me, a draenei just finishing the tame.

So, extremely long story short, I try to be nice when it comes to rares but I can pull some nasty moves out of revenge if you mess with my tame, or -especially- a friends tame, even though I know two wrongs don't make a right. Sorry if this was extremely off topic, or anything, I think I got the jist of what you were asking O_o

[Mozag]

If a person tells me that they are after a rare that I've been after for a short(ish) time only, I will leave the playing field to them out of common courtesy. If I've been looking for a long time, I wish them the best of luck and cheer them on, should I bump into them taming the animal. There is no way in hell I'm going to get rude and forget my manners because of a game.

If someone started to kill me while on the hunt, I'd be saddened, but I realise that this is the way things work on a PvP server, and I'm game for those people. I will let them kill me, and quietly continue on my way, hoping that they give up before I do. If I expect people to comply by the rules on an RP server, then I should accept the ganking and griefing on a PvP server. If you're not prepared for that behaviour from others, don't roll on a PvP server, right?

If someone gets vicious about it, I admit that I'd up the hunt and hope that I get the rare first. If I do, I would also take great pleasure in it. But I wouldn't stoop to parading around with the animal or anything. I play this game to please myself, not to make others unhappy, and so there's no need to rub my win in others' faces.

Perhaps the only occasion I could imagine losing it, and luckily it has never yet happened, is if someone comes over when I am actually in the process of taming, either attempting to steal the tame or kill it. I think I would probably get immensely angry. I seriously hope I never come across anyone who would do this to another hunter (or player, if the killer is a non-hunter). This would just show such lack of manners, that I'd be pissed off. It's probably the only thing that gets me ticked off in dungeons as well. I wonder why people's parents don't/didn't teach them manners, and I worry that some day my kids will sit behind the safety of an "alter-ego" and hurl abuse at others. It kills me to think that someone has been SO badly raised.

[Vephriel]

My rule is first come first serve. If its color I already have Ill tag it and find someone to tame it, if while tagged a hunter of a different faction came and asked through emotes to tame it, I would let him tame it. I would NOT kill a tame out from under some person, nor would I kill a rare to get a timer or what not, I would just try to find someone to tame it. Us hunters know the pain of losing a rare to some person who just killed the silver dragon thingy so thats why I wouldnt do it.

These are my own views on the subject as well.

I could never bring myself to kill another hunter taming a rare, nor the rare itself to prevent them from getting it, even if they had been rude or a jerk. If you're after the same rare, then stopping the other person from taming it just prolongs the hunt and the feud. Better to let them take their pet and leave, then you can continue the next hunt in peace. I've come to realize that either way you're going to be camping for it again, so you might as well ensure that one of the competitor's gone, no matter how little they may deserve it.

[Novikova]

I am a fickle creature. Much as I hate to see someone who is a jerk or someone I despise get a rare, and tempting it might be to listen to the red horned devil on my shoulder - I probably wouldn't kill it under them. I might fight after! But not until then. Granted, if the rare kills them and I want it, I might give it a go.

That said, if someone tries to steal my tame, I'll fight back tooth and nail. Like hell someone's gonna get a tame before me just because you mashed distracting shot. I usually tag and hold a rare if someone I know wants it. I would for some of my friendly horde peeps, too. I can always feign and drop it after all. Just wave or something.

[Nubhorns]

Depends on the rare, the faction and what interaction, if any, I've had with them. If you've been a jerk to me, I'm going to be a jerk right back. If you're Alliance, you're fighting a losing battle already. I don't play on a PvP server(lolMoonGuard) but I would much rather have the pet in the hands of an ally than a potential foe so to speak. I don't want you maiming me with your giant red Arcturis ten minutes after I let you tame him. That said, if you start the tame, it's yours. No ifs, ands or buts. If I get to it first and you aren't two seconds behind me and clearly headed in the same direction, though...

I am "guilty" of hunting the Northrend rares for sh*ts and giggles. I'm sure that makes me a horrible person, but I'm very picky about what I kill and when. If there are other hunters in the area actively looking for them, I'll let them know, but otherwise it's a free blue and a cool campfire story. While I'm sure everyone here knows the feeling of 'hunting' for a rare to tame, it's the same for me - the only difference is I hunt to kill rather than tame. I still get the same rush of adrenaline and the same giddy excitement. It's part of the fun of the game for me. I've had pets sniped from me and rares discovered a second too late, and it's devastating, but it comes with the package. If you hunt Loque or Terrorpene or the Time-Lost Proto, odds are you will find him dead eventually. It's what hunting for rares is about.

Cataclysm rares are off-limits for me now. I know those are the prime focus of a lot of hunters(myself included) right now. Towards the end of the expansion, yeah, I'd like a Tear eventually. Just to keep, for the same reason I collect stuff like Pocket Lint, Kaja'Cola Bottles and Loque's Pelt and Gondria's Claw. It's a hobby.

Loque is a bit of a sore spot for me because while I've killed him four times now, every single time I've been screeched at long after I notify the people in General that I'm giving them 5 to whisper me or I'll grab him. I would love to give someone their 'dream' emaciated, snarly spirit cat, but no one seems interested until I've killed him and moved on with my life, and then all they want to do is tell me how much of a jerk I am and how they hope I don't have pets IRL(seriously, someone has said that.).

There was a point in time where I had a pretty fierce hate for BM hunters in general, and while back then I'm sure I'd have killed any of the rare exotics without a second thought, at least I take the time to look around and ask first now. It still rises up occasionally, like the idiot with Loque who shot Aotona out from under me and the person with Karoma who killed her again just to disrupt my tame, but I know better than to judge an entire spec on two or three people, especially when I now play said spec.

[Ebonrook]

Yeah... I can't ever justify someone killing a currently being tamed mob or griefing spawn point campers to leave the area.

I know when the Shattering patch dropped and everyone was going nuts over Ashtail, I went out there to see if I could try my luck. I didn't want her, honestly, but I just like the thrill of the hunt, you know? For about a hour I had another hunter, a Human female, come up to me and do almost every annoying thing she could muster to chase me away – emote spamming, dual spamming, laughing, spitting, /chicken-ing, parking her mount on me, and so on. I just shrugged at her and kept waiting.

I eventually started chatting up a Blood Elf hunter who dropped by, explaining that I'm wasn't there to tame him, and said she could grab him if he popped up – provided the other annoying hunter didn't get it first. Which, of course, she did and went back to gloating and spamming both of us with the same arsenal as before.

It just makes me wonder why people feel the need to be such chodes to others, despite the "internet having no repercussions for your actions" excuse I see thrown around way too often.

But, to the OP, I'd say it's good to try to be kind to fellow hunters, and other players, even though there are many who wouldn't offer the same kindness. If they try to steal your tame or disrupt it, and you can fight back, I'd say go for it since they cast the first stone. If you tag it first, you should fight to keep your claim. If they managed to nab it before you could tag it? It sucks, but they got it. I'd probably just /sigh, but offer them a /clap or a /congratulations nonetheless.

[Kikanu]

Here's how I do my etiquette;

1. Am I the only one here at the npc? Y/N
2. Do I already have it? Y/N
3. Do I want it badly, or expect to keep it instead of tame and abandon later? Y/N
4. Is there anyone in the zone who wants it that I can easily contact? Y/N
5. Does a friend want it? Y/N
6. Do I know anyone from memory or friends who wants it? Y/N
7. Do any of my guildies want it? Y/N
8. Should I spam general to raise awareness? Y/N
9. Should I kill it? Y/N
10. Should I wait and goof around to see if anyone comes, and tame it if nobody does by the time it's been about 2 minutes or so? Y/N

Answer to 10 is always Y, because a rare pet's a rare pet. What's above is my exact order of importance. Even if a friend wants it badly, someone could easily swoop in between the time I type and the time he arrives. I usually skip 8 because there's bound to be some idiot or griefer who'll come kill it while the person who properly deserves it is taming it. I see any other method as greedy or rude

[Dalthok]

Lol, my sever is PvP so this is how all cross faction encounters pan out most of the time. My fellow horde members on the other hand have been nothing but helpful

[Nightsights]

i was on several pvp servers the past 4 years, the general rule is "red is dead" doesnt matter what you're doing. moved to a pve server since im not into ganking and world pvp.

[Vasken]

It's a fickle subject and varies from situation to situation! I think the general rule is that the mob belongs to whoever tags it first, though it may vary. "Be polite and don't be an arse!" sums up what hunters (and folk in general) should act like. Sadly, it's not always true! And... To add a story to the pot:

My worst blow was after I finally, finally managed to find Skoll! Was over the moon and frantically tagged and trapped the elusive beastie. About four seconds into the tame- a paladin from the opposite faction appeared out of nowhere and immediately taunted him off me... And didn't attack Skoll. Bewildered, I distracting shott'd Skoll and begun taming again. Taunt! I spammed several /emotes in an attempt to work out what was happening! The paladin never responded and continued pulling purposely pulling aggro during every attempt I made. This process went on for several minutes before an alliance hunter from the same guild flew into the scene. Poor Skoll only had a silver of health left and, well, my next distracting shot finished him off. Felt like a bum for killing the wolf afterwards, but it was certainly better than flinging myself onto the floor and acting as their doormat. Looted and left in silence.

Funnily enough, after writing that, Skoll spawned on top of me and was tamed successfully! Finally!

[Novikova]

Owch. What is it with paladins and DKs and killing rares? What an awful experience. I'm glad you got him though!

I always feel a bit weird when I realize it took me a year and a half to get my Skoll. I think my BIG HUNT for rares is done. I'll stick to flybys for Sambas.

[Buffalobob]

Nice story glad things worked out i nthe end. My own actions however depend o n the situation. I tamed my skoll and spitflayer after killing the allaince hunter while they were taming. I've also in turn held loque down and beconed over an allaince hunter so they could tame. So I've been both the good and bad guy, jsut my playstyle.

[Acherontia]

I killed a fellow hunter today. He turned up flagged (on a PvE server) and sat in the TLPD camp spot I'd been sitting in for ~20 hours straight.

I emoted /shoo and so forth but he stayed, and I knew full well there were 3 spawnpoints empty of players. I'd learned fast that if I left every time someone else turned up next to me, I'd never have a spot for more than a few minutes, so I've grown some stubborn.

I strongly considered just ignoring him, but then I realized this: Had the TLPD spawned, and HE got the first tag after ignoring me, I'd have been absolutely infuriated, and it was better just to kill him and move him away, in the long run. And I still felt bad about doing it. If I found TLPD first, I'd have gone over to my little Ally alt and informed him of the spawn timer, etc.

Would I kill another hunter who turned up flagged at a pet spawn site I was at, on a PvE realm, and didn't move to other available ones? Maybe. Would I kill him if I found him taming, or kill the pet, or tame his pet away from him? HELL no. I wouldn't kill someone camping the same camp spot as me if there's only one available, nor stop their tame if they got theirs started first, but other than that it's fair game & situational at best.

If I turned up, flagged, and sat on someone who was camping something with the clear intention of also getting it, I certainly would expect to be attacked

[Rhyela]

I killed a fellow hunter today. He turned up flagged (on a PvE server) and sat in the TLPD camp spot I'd been sitting in for ~20 hours straight.

I emoted /shoo and so forth but he stayed, and I knew full well there were 3 spawnpoints empty of players. I'd learned fast that if I left every time someone else turned up next to me, I'd never have a spot for more than a few minutes, so I've grown some stubborn.

I strongly considered just ignoring him, but then I realized this: Had the TLPD spawned, and HE got the first tag after ignoring me, I'd have been absolutely infuriated, and it was better just to kill him and move him away, in the long run. And I still felt bad about doing it. If I found TLPD first, I'd have gone over to my little Ally alt and informed him of the spawn timer, etc.

Would I kill another hunter who turned up flagged at a pet spawn site I was at, on a PvE realm, and didn't move to other available ones? Maybe. Would I kill him if I found him taming, or kill the pet, or tame his pet away from him? HELL no. I wouldn't kill someone camping the same camp spot as me if there's only one available, nor stop their tame if they got theirs started first, but other than that it's fair game & situational at best.

If I turned up, flagged, and sat on someone who was camping something with the clear intention of also getting it, I certainly would expect to be attacked

In my mind Acherontia, that was his fault for being a dbag. I probably would have done the same thing. Did he finally leave?

[Novikova]

On pve servers, there really aren't many quests that flag you (Although getting confused and going to the wrong flightmaster...) so there's no real reason to be flagged beyond popping out of a BG and I usually try to do that somewhere safe or dart to cover. Not ... camp a desireable rare. >_>

[Acherontia]

I have entered bgs a few times after a Vyragosa spawn and come out & sat at the TLPD spawnpoint, but I'm pretty confident in PvP. Then again, I've seen people res someone, buff, heal etc without thinking & get flagged, so I will NORMALLY just leave people alone.

And yeah Rhyela, he hearthstoned out after that, lol >.< All I wanted him to do was change spots but oh well.

[vanquished14]

I'm horrible at PvP and try to avoid it whenever I can so if I saw a flagged horde at a rare pet spawn I'd probably ignore him. Luckily, being on a PvE server, random people coming down and attacking me is quite rare.

As for, who "deserves" to get the rare spawn more, the person who was there first or the person that came afterwards and also began to camp, I have to say neither really deserve anything. Who knows, perhaps the person who was there longest was AFK most of the time and the person who got there later had been at keyboard for quite some time, or the person who got there "second" had been there for hours earlier and had just logged to go eat or something. Or perhaps some people don't have the time to sit around and wait for rares on a 12 hour camp. Should rare pets be exclusive to those with the most free time? I think whoever gets the pet, gets it. In the end, excluding Spirit Beasts, there are other common pets with the exact same qualities as the rares so rares are all just vanity anyway.

On the point of killing someone or the beast in mid-tame to try to steal the pet or loot, I'd have to say that is on the rude side. I suppose if you're PvP flagged or are on a PvP server you have to expect someone to come up and PvP you but on PvE, I say it is just better to write down the time you saw the tame and come back periodically 6-24 hours later to try to get the respawn.