MMORPG.com Lord of the Rings Online Correspondent Jim Braner writes this guide to etiquette within a fellowship in Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.
Forming fellowships and rising up against a mighty foe is what LotR is all about. So with all the time spent interacting with others it is no wonder nerves are stretched thin at times. After all, the game is played by a large variety of people coming from different backgrounds; what is fine in one may not be in another. When grouping, try to keep a couple niceties in mind that can be broken into three categories: social, profession, and class. To some of you this may seem painfully obvious. But I keep seeing it done, so perhaps its not so obvious to others.
No matter what you do in Middle Earth or how you do it you can follow these notes. Leadership is a huge part of a fellowship. So much, in fact, that the Mines of Moria expansion gives fellowship leaders a different colored dot on the map and minimap. The leader finds players for a specific quest, gathers them together, and leads them through it. This does not mean they know the EXACT path to something or that their way is best. It simply means follow them and if you see something wrong or have a suggestion let them know; don't just start running the other way. Think of the guy that always pulls when no ones ready and eventually wipes out the fellowship...leadership is there to prevent that. It can be distracting trying to type and keep good communication while running. For that there is the autorun feature. It is by default the "numlock" key. For anyone using a laptop, this usually means half your keyboard will become unusable when you hit it. Make your life easy and reassign it to another key. I have mine assigned to the "p" key, which overwrites no other features or hotkeys. So now you're running along and playing follow the leader, great. But now the dog wants out, or the baby is crying, or dinner is boiling over! Real life happens to everyone at some point during their playing. Quickly let your group know that you need a minute and ask for permission to autofollow someone. Autofollow will have your character mindlessly run after them; it is activated by selecting who you want to follow and typing /follow. It is advisable to autofollow someone who is a ranged combatant, to try keep you out of any combat, and understands how they will have to change moving habits. On autofollow you don't go exactly where your target does, you have some wiggle room. This means that while autofollowing someone running on the edge of the cliff you may fall off, or while they are slaloming around pillars you might run face first into one and fall behind. Though its not a guarantee you will live, at least you group can keep moving while you tend to your needs. Without leadership and communication you couldn't take out the big mobs.
I cannot lie, this is one of my biggest issues in fellowships. Maybe you're waiting for the rest of the party to arrive or maybe you are running to the right spot, and then it happens... Someone stops moving next to an ore node or wood pile and starts hacking away. Lets overlook the incredible waste of time by everyone is waiting for that one person; someone in the fellowship might not have long to play. Instead lets look at how many professions seek wood and/or ore; about half. That means there is a 50% chance that someone who needs that resource too is standing there watching someone else loot every one they come across. To a lesser
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