World of Warcraft/Etiquette

Looting
Looting is one of the most contentious issues in the game and the one around which most arguments occur. People are often very quick to throw the accusation of "ninja looting" around. Here are some of the common rules relating to looting.

Chests
It is rude to enter an area and loot a chest when another player or group is fighting the monsters who were guarding the chest.

When in a group it is common to roll (using the emote action /roll) to see who will open the chest and take first-pick of the contents. The highest roll opens the chest. Even if you have the right to first pick you should still consider the needs of the group before you're own benefit. Leave items that benefit other classes in the chest for the others to collect. For example if a chest contains Cloth Armour, mana potions or drinks a Warrior should not loot them despite winning the roll. They should instead be offered to the magic-using classes if present.

However you should completely empty the chest before leaving, this is so it will respawn with a new set of items and money.

Locked boxes
Locked boxes tend to cause a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. In general if a Locked box comes up in a Need or Greed roll the convention is always to click Greed, even if you are a Rogue. However equally true is that having won a Locked Box you should always offer the box to the party rogue for a Lockpicking attempt so they can attempt to raise their Lockpicking ability. The rogue in this case should not ask for money or rewards for doing the Lockpicking.

Buffs
A buff is a temporary enhancement. When in a group it is polite to give any buffs you can to other players. make sure you don't use all your mana to buff others if you are in an area where you will have to fight or heal.

Following is a list of the more common buffs used on other players:
 * Power Word Fortitude
 * Fear Ward
 * Mark of the Wild
 * Thorns
 * Arcane Intellect
 * Dampen Magic
 * Blessing of Might
 * Blessing of Freedom
 * Blessing of Wisdom
 * Unending Breath

Random buffs
A random buff is when a player buffs another player not in his group without being asked. When you receive a random buff the polite thing to do is to say thank you and / or buff the player back.

A good time to random buff other players is when you are headed into town and will not have an immediate need for your mana, and the other player is headed out of town and going to battle. In most cases you do not need to stop walking to do this.

Guild Crafting
Should a Guild crafter charge for creating an item for another Guild member? If the Crafter had to obtain all the materials themselves then the answer is probably yes. If the Guild member or the Guild itself provided the items then no. If the Crafter had to buy trade items to complete the item then a nominal fee might be charged to cover that but it may well seem mean given the low cost of most trade goods.

In the end the principal of mutual cooperation should rule all Guild transactions. Mutual benefit, mutual inconvenience.

Guild Tabards
Guild members should pay for a tabard out of their own pockets. Some guilds choose to buy their members tabards but these are exceptions to the rule. In most guilds the purchase of a tabard is a sign the member is committed to stay with the guild for a reasonable period.

Guildmaster Disagreements
Guilds are not democracies (although a few are run along those lines), the Guildmaster and the leadership "council" have the right to run the Guild as they see fit. If you find a Guildmaster or the other lieutenants of a guild to be unreasonable then you should quit the guild and find one more suited to your tastes. Guild membership is rather like free markets in this respect, you have a lot of choice but there is no regulation of the relationship between the Guildmaster and the Guild Member.