Look at me! Look at me!

Parses. To some they are like the devil in disguise, to others a tool for improving ones own or indeed another person’s performance. They are used on raids so the raid leader can establish who is working and who is not, what detrimental are in effect and for timers. They are also used to show off.

I have a parse up and running almost constantly whilst playing EQ2. I use it mainly to improve my own performance but also when I am raid leading for the many beneficial things it can bring to the party. I have been known to pop the parse in group chat occasionally when a group member does particularly well, or in the case of a group in was in couple of weeks ago to prove to the tank who was adamant the assassin in the group needed his hate transfer when in reality the Troub we had was doing almost triple the assassins dps. On occasion I have used it when I have been extremely proud of a parse in a tough fight. Or sent a parse to a friend when I have been proud (or astonished) at the dps I have put out. For me. I have never been an awesome dps’er so when I do hit big numbers (usually a lucky buff cast on me or just luck meaning I do well). Usually I check the parse beforehand though to make sure there is nothing embarrassing on there before posting (like an assassin being out dps’d by the Troub – unless that is the point I am trying to make of course) as I don’t think it is particularly nice to embarrass your fellow players.

But one thing I can’t abide, in all walks of life, is a braggart. Now I don’t mind a bit of playful fun around this, but when someone is systematically and pretty much constantly letting everyone know how good they are, in my eyes it’s crass and lacks style. The reason I bring all this up? Well, on Saturday night I was grouped with a really nice bunch, just hacking out some Crypt of Agony and other RoK instances. Part of my group was a Swashy. I’m not going to post his name, because I am class and not crass ;)

He actually came across as a really nice guy, but with one major fault. Let me pop you in the picture of what I’m talking about with a few quotes from our Swashbuckling hero that came across voice chat;

“So, that 14k parse good enough for you?”

“Did anyone parse that? That fight” – at this stage we already knew he had a parse running as he mentioned it quite a bit earlier. The fight in question was where he parsed nice 23k, in a 4 second fight.

“This is my only toon. That’s why I parse so stupidly high” – the highest I saw was 35k, which is very respectable, but again this was in a fight that lasted a very short time. Seconds.

"Don't worry, the fight won't last long enough. It'll be over quickly"...

Now, I’m not saying he wasn’t good at playing his toon. He was, quite respectable in fact. And he was an otherwise really nice guy. The bragging just let him down though in my eyes. There was no need. In most groups at least one person will be running a parse, in fact I would say quite a few people run parses all the time, so in any one group I bet there at least two watching the parse. So why the need to brag? They can see your dps without the ‘bells n whistles’ attached.

I guess it takes different strokes for different folks, but I know I don’t appreciate the in your face “Look at me!” attitude. Some may like it, but in my opinion, stay classy, don’t be a braggart. That doesn’t mean don’t post your parse, or comment on how well you have done, but don’t do it constantly. Don’t get in your groups face about it and most definitely don’t let it spread in to that murky subject of, “I’m better than you”.

Be well.