So I was in the World of Warcraft last night, on a quest to assassinate the leader of an enemy faction (I'm not proud of it, but it's what I do best... ok, I'm proud of it.. but anyway...)  I fly along on my gryphon, spot the cave entrance along the ridge line from which this rebel group operate, and swoop down and to the left, smoothly lining myself up directly with the entry point. 

This is the way I intended to play this mission.  Fly at full speed into the entrance, passing the guards before they realise what the feathered blur that just barged through actually was.  As soon as I'm inside, I dismount, and drop a trap down in my path before I've even hit the ground (I might throw in a summersault here too... depends how showy off I feel).  This trap will slow the front guards when they give chase through the tunnel, and I begin running deeper into the base until I encounter more of their minions.  Taking the small dagger and hand axe from my belt clip, I'll use precision attacks to slow and immobilise the hostiles I encounter without needing to stop and engage them properly, and on run until I'm good way into the base, at which time - I disappear into the shadows, and take a moment to gather my health and pace.  Once the guards have gven up their search for me, I run through the rest of the passage ways and I'm there - the leaders sanctuary, deep within the bowls of the cults hideout.  Then... well... I have some strong words with him, and some strong arrows... probably a few axe blows, and slip out.

That's how it's meant to go, but this job was not to follow such a smooth pattern, oh no. 

I line up for my drop insertion when I see a Night Elf Priest is struggling with the guards at the front.  She's keeping herself alive with her healing magic, but there are 4 guards attacking and her magic is running out.  She is of the Alliance, as am I, and I feel therefore compelled to help her.  Indeed as a hunter, a fighter class, I am perfectly skilled for these very situations, and dropping from the back of my air born mount, I draw my blades and fall smoothly into the combat below.  My faithful lynx, Pador, leaps with claws outstretched at one of the axe wielding orcs, while I disable another and leave him frozen while getting to range and aiming my crossbow.  With the attention of the enemy now drawn to the savagely swiping lynx, the Priest and I easy pick them off one by one.

I strike a heroic pose, and ask, 'Are you on a quest?'.  There is no response.  She simply sits and drinks to regain her mana.  Soon she stands, and runs on into the caves.  I follow, and assist her in passing the cultists, asking now, 'Are you here for the leader?'.  There is no response, and given that she is seeking out the lower ranks to kill, I figure she's on a quest to gather scraps of uniform to make a disguise for a spy mission.  I take point and make my way to the boss, and the priest follows, supporting my combat and taking what she needs from their fallen bodies.  We near the chamber, and I offer a group invite and ask once more, 'If you need this kill, we can get it together.'
She is silent.  And turns away from the door, making her way back up the passage towards the lower rank areas.  I kick through into the dark temple like room, and immediately the two body guards set upon me while the evil Dragonkin watches from his throne.  As I'm dispatching his honour guard, the Priest runs through the door, hands charging with holy light and casts a smite spell on the leader.  As I battle the guards, she takes the kill, and severs his head as proof of her deeds before casting a shield around herself and breaking for the entrance through the path we cleared.  As she was leaving the room, she passed me and whispered, 'Yes - I need the boss.'

Returning to the Druids who'd commissioned each of us on this quest, she took sole credit, and was given her rewards and honored in reputation.

Git.

You might think I was a fool to be so nice.  In truth, had I been faster witted I could have still beaten her to the kill when she ran in, or, had I been more spiteful, I could have followed her all morning, stealing every kill she'd subsequently try to get.  Having faster combat moves would let me do that, but you have to let these things go.  It would have been no loss to either of us to group for the quest though - we both would still receive full rewards from the Druids.  This player was simply a twisted little prick, and you try not to assume people are like that until you've been given evidence.  Like I say - you have to let go.  You have to have some way to resolve the frustration within yourself, and feel you have somehow responded to their petty actions.  This is where the ignore list comes in.  You simply right click on their name, and click, 'Add to Ignore'.  The player will never be able to communicate with me again.  If she were standing in front of me screaming for aid as Berserker Trolls ripped her limbs from their sockets... I wouldn't hear a thing.  If she needed cash and asked me as a random passer by, I simply wouldn't hear her request.  And if she's in a group I one day come to quest with, I will notice she cannot speak, and therefore has wronged me before, and can kindly request she is put out from that group, or just choose to leave them myself. 

With that simple click, you've can let it be.

It got me thinking - what would it be like if we had this ability in real life?  To silence peoples voices to only our ears, so we no longer register them in our presence?  Might not work well logistically but I think there could be some definite pro's. 

*Click*
-- Ignored --

This is one of the many reasons why those of us who do, prefer to live in WoW :-P  RL needs a new patch imo.
__
Phil

¹ In the beginning, the User connected the monitor, and the base unit. 

² Now the base unit was quiet and still, darkness filled the the LED's of the front panel, and the finger of the User hovered over the power button.

³ And the User said, "Let there be power," and there was power.  ⁴ The User saw that the power was good, and He separated the the power from the still.  ⁵ The User called the power "On", and the stillness, "Off."  And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And the User said, "Let there be an Allocation Table to separate the files from the files." ⁷ So the User made the File Allocation Table and separated the the HDD Sectors from each other.  And it was so.   ⁸ The User called the expanse, a "partition."  And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And the User said, "Let the sectors in the partition be gathered to one place, and let grouped file space appear." And it was so. ¹⁰ The User called first the grouped file space "C," and the others he called "D." And the User saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then the User said, "Let C produce the System Files: an OS and utilities on the C that will boot up with basic functions, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹² The C produced System Files: Settings for basic functions, according to their kinds and Programs bearing more advanced features with starter files according to their kinds. And the User saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And the User said, "Let there be lights to help me tell On from Off, and let them serve as signs to mark power saving modes and standby status, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the power buttons of the monitor and in the main screen, which will give light over the keyboard." And it was so. ¹⁶ the User made two great lights—the greater light to govern On and the lesser light to govern Off. He also made lights on USB peripherals. ¹⁷ The User set the monitors on top of the desk to give light on the keyboard, ¹⁸ to govern the On and the Off, and to separate a fully lit screen from that little dim yellowy light that's on when the computer's  actually off, or in some cases flash when in standby. And the User saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And the User said, "Let D teem with personal content, and let games be installed and create way too many shortcuts across the expanse of the desktop." ²¹ So the User installed the great programs on the D and every game and media thing with which the D drive teems, according to their kinds, and every mp3 according to its kind. And the User saw that it was good. ²² The User blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the folders in D, and let the media increase on the system." ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And the User said, "Let the C produce Windows Applications according to their kinds: Office App's, App's that access the web, and Annoying little assistant animations, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵ The User made the Annoying little assistant animations according to their kinds, the Office App's according to their kinds, and all the App's that access the web according to their kinds. And the User saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then the User said, "Let us make Profiles in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the files of the C and the Windows of the desktop, over the Applications, over all the system, and over all the App's that interact with the web."

²⁷ So the User created 'Adam' in his own image, though labeling it with the image of the rocket launching instead of the chess piece, but other than that, and a few access rights, in the image of the User he created him; Adam and Eve (who got the pink flower picture) he created them.

²⁸ The User blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the system and control it. Rule over the files of the C and the windows of the desktop and over every app that interacts with the web."

²⁹ Then the User said, "I give you every system file on the face of the whole C Drive and application that have basic features and advanced system settings. They will be yours for tools. ³⁰ And to all the media and stuff on the D and all the games and cool programs shortcutted on the desktop and all the apps that interact with the web—everything that has Microsoft certified registry entry—I give a little green firewall shield for protection." And it was so.

³¹ The User saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.