Taruofdeath - Literally.
So, I've worked BLM up to 12 solo, and I have a big wad of cash on me, so I figure that I'll stock up on supplies, go out to Valkurm, and get to 17 all in one run (for teleport Warping, of course).
So, I get out there, and after about half an hour of aborted parties (not trying to be offensive - I mean parties that ended up shutting down 10 minutes after I joined), I joined a party with Baiboi. We went through members like tissue paper for some reason (despite the decent XP and relative lack of death), and eventually, along comes Taruofdeath. BLM12, no sub. Newbie, obviously, but I'm not gonna hold it against him. At this time, I'm also a BLM12/SMN06 popping Melon Pies. I had juice-making supplies too, but I had yet to find a party that really made me want to use them, so I just kept one on tap for emergencies.
As soon as Taruofdeath joins the party, he starts lotting on the loot pile. >.> There were three Fire Crystals there, and he immediately lotted on them all. Baiboi told him not to lot any further, and he sheepishly agrees.
Anyway, we get going, and right from the get-go, Taruofdeath is overnuking. Badly. He's generally getting hit once per battle, but the real bad part of it is that he loses 50% or more of his HP whenever he gets hit. After a few rounds of this, I look over his armor. Two Eremite's Rings, and a bunch of Lv. 8 BLM gear, except for Lv. 1 pants. So, he dumped a load of money into INT-boosting gear but couldn't drop 400G on a decent pair of pants?
Anyway, throughout the party, Baiboi is telling Taruofdeath to lay off the nuking. Taruofdeath acknowledges him, but doesn't change his playing at all. We kill a Goblin Butcher, and it drops Mail. Taruofdeath lots, and winds up with a high roll. I /slap him, and he says "But I really want it!". Thankfully, I outrolled him, but still, he gets another lot warning.
At this point, he's apparently out of Apple Pies, so he starts asking me for some. I tell him that I need mine (which is true - I planned to be out of town for a while). He responds begging, saying he'll trade me crystals for them (crystals which he dubiously acquired, of course), and I respond by telling him that I don't care about crystals and that I want my pies. He gives up and says something in poorly-typed babble along the lines of "Okay, but it's your fault that I'm not doing awesome damage." Never mind the fact that he's already doing too much damage too quickly, and has been repeatedly party-chatting about how much he's drooling over his precious Fire scroll. Each time he does, Baiboi tells him to cool his heels and that he needs to slow down with the nuking.
So, lacking in pies, in the middle of a battle, Taruofdeath decides to go run off to a neighboring party and ask them for some pies. >.> This doesn't cause us any particular hardships, though, since Taruofdeath has now made it a habit to go AFK without notice and to not participate in a battle until halfway through, at which point he melts his MP like butter.
Then a new trend develops. We're fighting more gobs, and Taruofdeath somehow manages to get the timing down on three battles in a row such that he draws the hate as soon as the gob is about to throw a bomb. Since I'm standing next to him (and so is the WHM), that means we're getting hit too. Amazingly, he still hasn't died yet from his overnuking, though he has now leveled and is pouring on the Fire. And at one point, one of the goblins drops some Lightning Crystals. Taruofdeath lots. The party leader chastises him again, but he says "I really want to get a stack!". Baiboi threatens to turn on Quartermaster if he does it again.
At this point, Baiboi decides we should move on to Snippers, so we run through the tunnel, Taruofdeath /shouting along the way for people to /tell him if they have pies to sell. Along the way, someone aggros a Tinkerer and we kill it. It drops a Helm. Taruofdeath lots. >.> We scream. He ignores.
We start fighting Snippers, and I'm not expecting there to be a Dia/Bio problem, because up until this point, I've been the only one casting debuffs (other than the WHM), since Taruofdeath is just obsessed with massive damage. So, we fight a Snipper, and no Dia gets cast. No big deal, I ask Baiboi why he didn't cast it, and he said that he thought he saw Bio go off. I didn't recall seeing it, but no biggie, he says he'll do it from now on. And then Taruofdeath chimes in "Okay, and I'll cast Bio." NO...that's what we were just saying you SHOULDN'T do. So we give him a quick Bio/Dia lesson, and explain that he should not use Bio on crabs.
I think you can figure out what happens next.
Finally, toward the end of the party, he managed to overnuke himself into a death. I hate to admit it, but I was ecstatic to see it happen, because he wouldn't listen to us despite our many, MANY attempts to educate him, and I thought that experiencing it firsthand would help drive the point home.
A nearby PL comes and resurrects him, and during his Weakened time, Baiboi gives him a thorough lesson in how hate works in a battle, and essentially explains to Taruofdeath why he just found himself eating sand. Taruofdeath claims that he's trying, but he can't help that he's doing so much damage with his casts. This catches my eye, and so from here on out, I start watching the logs (I have long since stopped wasting my pies on this party, so I'm not getting any artificial buffs). Throughout the next series of battles, I (an Elvaan) am outdamaging him (a Taru) in nuking. And yes, I periodically get hate, but *far* less often than this guy, and I'm putting in deliberate pauses in my casting.
Anyway, I guess this turned into more of a rant than anything. Sure, he's a newbie, but you can't just cram knowledge up someone's as[i][/i]s and expect him to become a better player - he has to be attentive and willing to listen and learn, and I suspect that this particular individual will have a *very* hard time with that.