Pick-up group

A pick-up group is any party composed of players, which organized briefly to complete a specific goal, e.g a mission or quest, where most of members are unfamiliar with each other. Often abbreviated as PUG or PuG, groups are almost always formed through an advertisement in the Party Search panel or using LFG, LFP or GLF announcements in the common chat channel. These groups are sometimes called Randomway since the combination of professions and builds can be unexpected.

Some players also use PuG to refer to an unplanned assortment of guild members that get together through alliance- or guild-chat. In contrast, others use PUG to mean non-guild members, i.e. Players Unassociated with the Guild.

Suggestions

Following these suggestions can improve the chances of successful completing the party goal and prevent the ragequit:

• A party leader should be familiar with the mission or area, know the most dangerous places and foes, minimal requirements (like the skills necessary for the final boss);
• Leader should attempt to create a balanced party, at least the amount of healers should be reasonable. When the party is almost full, last members should be invited directly by profession or role using GLF ... in chat;
• Because the players tend to expect the role behaviour and tactics of others basing only on their professions, any member with uncommon build and role, like a smiting monk or barrage assassin, should explain this before start (and change the build if such role is not welcomed);
• The party should have enough (at least two) players with resurrect skills;
• Before start, players should agree about pulling: whether it will be a party leader, a selected ranger, a tank, or someone else.

Disadvantages

• PuGs are often derided because of uneven player skill amongst the party members and a single weak player can cause the party to fail. In contrast, in a seven-hero party, the player has complete control over the builds and the AI offers a predictable and consistent level of skill for the party.
• Some groups will try to narrow the field of recruits by looking using arguably elitist tools to assess player skill, e.g. a character's rank, titles, or reward trophies.
• Another inherent weakness of a PuG stems from players being unfamiliar with each other, especially the variety of styles and tactics. Players comfortable with heroes and henchmen might under- or over-compensate when teaming up with other players.

Trivia

• Pickup group is a group of musicians that are hired to play for a limited time period.

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