A puller's statementFollow

I originally posted this on the Sylph server forum, and with some edits and additions, I'm moving it here.

I am a puller. While I am by no means high level, I have pulled with warrior, thief, ninja, and ranger. In 90% of my parties, I am the puller. I have pulled in Tahrongi Canyon, Buburimu Peninsula, Valkurm Dunes, Qufim Island, the Korroloka (KannotFrigginSpellitoka) Tunnel, Sauromugue Champaign, Battallia Downs, the Altepa Desert, the Maze of Shakrami, Yuhtunga and Yhoator Jungle, and likely in places I've forgotten. This is my role, and I take it seriously.

I am a puller, and I do not need to be told what to pull or when. When I join a party and am given this role, we should discuss targets. If I come across a good target we have not discussed, I will ask you before I pull. Please trust me otherwise; this is my job, which you have given to me, and unless I am doing a bad job, please hold your prompts. I am not a zookeeper; I do not have the mobs in my pocket. I will pull as quickly as I can and still keep the party safe. Please understand that in crowded areas, maintaining an experience chain is difficult at best, and at times impossible. This is the drawback to camping in a crowded zone. There is nothing I can do about it. I will forge further afield than my competition, and I will not give up, but there is only so much I can do against a flood of other parties.

I am a puller, and I am used to being alone and unprotected. It is my job to forge ahead while everyone else stays behind. I am used to missing protect and shell. If the situation calls for it, my hit points will dip into the yellow; sometimes it is necessary for me to take these risks to avoid adds. Give me the occasional regen or cure, but please do not drain the party's resources to worry about me. This is my job, and I am used to it. I will occasionally die. It happens. The world doesn't end.

I am a puller, and I need to be a higher level in the party, not the lowest. If I'm two levels below everyone else, please don't complain when I bring back creatures that con as IT to me, but are only tough to you. That's how the system works, and we all knew this when I was chosen as the puller. I probably mentioned it and was told to pull anyway. I will do what I can, as I can, and if you still want me to pull, I will do my best to chain... but it is more difficult when I am the lowest level in the party.

I am a puller, and I am not perfect. I will occasionally pick up an add, from a link or a pop. If I notice it in time, and know the party cannot handle it, I will gladly sacrifice myself to protect the party. I am a puller, and this is my job. If I make a mistake, only I should pay for it. Sometimes I will not notice until I am back at camp. If we cannot put the extra mob to sleep, I will try to hold it myself. As a ranger, or a ninja, I can do things others cannot; this is part of the job, and it is part of why these jobs are so expensive. If I cannot hold it off, and we cannot sleep it, I will try to take it away from the party. I will not put you at risk unless I have no other choice. Please understand that I always bring all of my efforts and skills to bear in a party. I will do everything I can do to ensure we are safe and are leveling quickly.

I am a puller, and my goal is always the maximum experience any given party can obtain. I will go slow in the beginning. I will gauge what any party can and cannot handle. After a few fights, however, I will be aiming for chains. I know you are not used to seeing whether the mob is tough or incredibly tough with most pulling macros. Do not use the fact that I inform you of how a mob cons to insult me; if I'm pulling a tough, I have a reason. I am going for a chain, or perhaps it is the only thing available. Either way, I include the con as a service to you. Do not scream over and over for ITs. Some parties can chain ITs endlessly. Most cannot. I understand this, and believe me, I will work to get us as many experience points as we can safely get. I want to level, too - and a chain to three or four from tough to incredibly tough is better than fighting nothing but ITs with two minutes of downtime afterward.

I am a puller, and I know it is a thankless job. I do not expect to be praised if I do well. I only expect my parties to take their jobs as seriously as I take mine. I expect suitable gear for your job. I expect those in the party with MP to begin healing that MP as soon as possible. You don't have to tell me when you're ready. I can see your MP bars as well as you can. If I am doing a poor job, by all means - correct me. But if we are not at risk, please - just let me do my job.

I am a puller, and just because I have left the camp does not mean that I am pulling. I will often leave immediately to hunt, or, in some parties, before the last fight is even finished. I will give you fair warning before I bring in a mob. I will wait for MP. But often, I have to hunt for the appropriate creature. This takes time. Please understand that I have to be out in the field to do my job.

I am a puller. My job is to bring in experience points. I understand my job... and I hope you do, as well.

Edited, Thu Oct 7 13:10:53 2004 by MissLMonkey

I also, am a puller. Very nice Thread!

I love good pullers.

I feel sorry for people who have had such bad pullers they feel the need to yell and scream at the good ones, annoying them, telling them to "PULL OMG WTF LOLZ UR MOM" and screaming "WAIT FOR MP NOOB!"

's for all the Rangers, Thieves and Misc pullers out there!

Go Monkey ^^

I've even had that problem - as a Samurai and Paladin, no less.

Pulling is one of the hardest, most taken for granted tasks in the game. Love your puller ^^

Ya know, a lot of people also don't realize that some mobs like RAPTORS run faster than you. Don't yell at me for taking a hit on my way back to camp. I'm not a n00b, I just can't afford the 6 million for striders yet.

EDIT: Is anyone else entertained by the people that always inform you that they're rating you up... when they don't have rate ability?

Edited, Thu Oct 7 13:26:42 2004 by Alienone

No kidding. Or sometimes you have to stop and change your course to avoid a link. I can take a pounding. I'm a big girl. It's not going to kill me, and if I do it right, it ain't gonna kill you, either.

As for the other... ah, yes, but that's one of the joys of Alla!

I always try to pop a regen on the puller before they run off to grab something.

All this talk of pulling makes me want to level!

Well spoken. Maya Angelou would be jealous.

This is the greatest post I've ever read... I think I'm going to make a new account just to rate you up twice. It's so sad, though... I think you're preaching to the choir. The people that really need to read this... well, they probably can't read to begin with. Their knowledge of the English language is limited to...

(Suckfest) pull IT only
(Suckfest) pull IT only

Why is it that the biggest idiots insist on spamming their requests? Seriously...

I also like it when people that don't know how chains work get on my case to pull immediately after Chain #0. We just hit chain #4, we missed chain #5... any good puller stops pulling and lets the group rest.

(Suckfest) keep it going IT only
(Suckfest) keep it going IT only

I leave those PTs... i can't take it anymore. I'd rather be seeking for two hours than putting up with people like that.

Edited, Thu Oct 7 13:56:38 2004 by adz

*showers all the good pullers with tons of gil and cheesecake*

Excellent post.

Very well put!

To bad, I can't make my parties read that before I go pulling ; ;

Edited, Thu Oct 7 13:59:54 2004 by MillenniumMan

As a fellow puller, this is exactly how I operate, however I don't post what the Mob cons... Just because of the n00bs that want IT only. Ahh well, such is the life of a puller... :)

amen