The follower dungeons in World of Warcraft are well-received and provide a calm experience. However, that is not the case if you mistake real players for NPCs…
With the Patch 10.2.5, World of Warcraft introduced a new feature primarily aimed at helping solo players. The “Follower Dungeons” allow players to venture alone with NPCs to tackle an instance. This is great for those who want to quietly experience the story or simply try out a new role.
However, it can be tricky when you think you are in such an NPC dungeon and suddenly get mocked by actual players – precisely what happened to a player who sheepishly admitted it in the WoW subreddit.
What did the player do? The player _RIZZO_ wanted to try his hand at tanking and therefore signed up for a follower dungeon – this allowed him to comfortably fill the role of a tank without the pressure of relying on other players or the fear of disappointing them. After successfully completing the dungeon, he immediately signed up again – this time for a regular “random dungeon.” Unfortunately, he apparently did not quite realize it, as he explained in the WoW subreddit:
The failed readiness check should have been my first hint that I was not in the right place. The responses to my snarky remarks should have been my second red flag. I just wanted to see if Blizzard programmed anything regarding interactions. I was quite astonished when my group members reacted. No wonder I saw the social contract again upon my next login.
If you encountered a particularly nasty paladin, I’m so damn sorry, lol. I thought I was just yelling at and annoying NPCs. I then left the Algethar Academy dungeon out of sheer shame. Please accept my apology.
In the comments, he shared more experiences from the visit:
Someone got thrown off the platform by the wind and wrote “Are you kidding me?” in the chat. And I thought to myself: “Wow, what an authentic dungeon experience, I love it!”
God, I think I even /laughed at him. It was really immersive.
How the community reacted: At least in the Reddit post, everyone is having a great time with this story and is pleased that it was shared with the world. Some of the comments include:
- “This is so funny. I hope you told them that you thought it was a follower dungeon before you left. If I had been in the group, that would have definitely made my evening.” – Abalone_Prior
- “You wouldn’t be the first and you’re definitely not the last tank to treat their group as if the others were just NPCs, lol.” – SPCNars14
In general, these dungeons receive a lot of praise, as some feel that the NPCs “feel like real players,” as Mace_tothe_Face writes:
I have done some follower dungeons as a Windwalker monk, and let me tell you, this mode is simply too realistic.
For example, there is this pala-tank who always sits 50 meters behind the group in a wheelchair.
Then there is the beast mastery hunter whose pets always pull after the rest of the group has managed to bypass these mobs.
Then, when I die because I didn’t get healed enough, all the NPCs leave the group.
The mage uses time warp when the bosses are at 60% health, at which point you would normally have already used all the major cooldowns.I laughed a lot. Well done, Blizzard, it feels like I’m with real players.
What has been your experience with the follower dungeons? Do you like them, or have you also made such an embarrassing mistake?
