Priests. Why we are so ..umm.. difficult.

[MongoJerry]

This is more than a mere question auf game mechanics. When I look at my friendslist, I notice that most of them are either priests themselves or other primary caster classes such as mages and warlocks. Indeed the players of other classes that made it to my friendslist, are not so much there, because I enjoy their company, but rather because I have rated them as "reliable" players.
Now judging from the reactions of e.g. warriors or rogues to priests, I have come to thinking, that not much love is lost on the other side either, for us priests, as well as for mages or warlocks for that matter.

First of all, welcome!

That's an interesting comment regarding your friends list, because I've had the opposite experience. It took a long time for another priest to appear on my friends list, because I so rarely got a chance to party with one. Then, when I did get in 10-15 player raid parties, they were mostly zergs of dungeons designed for 5-player parties, so there was little chance to really see if anyone was any good. Plus, the other priest would likely be placed in a different sub-party anyway, so again I rarely got to see if the other person was any good or not. The only times I really added priests to my friends list were during those rare times that I got to 5-man an instance with another priest and if the experience was enjoyable (it often was). Or, of course, a priest might get added if the person seemed like a nice person.

In contrast, my friends list has always had *lots* of warriors on them. I've always had a good attachment to my warriors and have built up a network of warriors I know are good. It makes so much difference in the life of a priest if a warrior knows how to do the little things like keep aggro on multiple mobs at once, equip themselves and use their skills to minimize the damage they take, and know how to pull mobs off a priest when necessary. A big bonus comes if the warrior understands how to pull a mob that has broken Mind Control off a priest. It also helps if the warrior knows to watch for a priest's mana and can work with the group's crowd controlers (who that is depends on the mobs and party makeup) to minimize the damage that he or she receives in a battle. The one player in a party I am most intensely focused on is the warrior, and reciprocally, the one player the warrior is most dependent on is the priest.

As far as the other classes go, mostly I notice how well the different members contribute to their party by working together, using crowd control, buffing each other, etc. I tend to have the best relationships with warlocks, because they are also in many ways a support class. Or at least, they seem to appreciate the roll of the priest more. I hardly notice rogues other than during the initial sap, because they tend to be self-sufficient. I notice hunters a little more if they're skillful in teaching parties how to use their traps and other special abilities, but again, I hardly notice them, because they tend to be self-sufficient. I notice secondary healers if they help keep me alive (because I often suffer the common priest affliction of not noticing my own health until it's too late).

On the other hand, I tend to loathe mages, who tend to be very self centered and egocentric. (Present company excepted, of course). They're the most likely to break any crowd control cast by anyone but themselves with poorly timed and unnecesary aoe spells (Frost Nova should especially be banned in group situations). Plus, they tend to like to soak up my mana by aggroing everything in the room and spamming aoe's before the warrior gets a chance to build up a little aggro on the mobs even when half the mobs are elites and then all they can do is yell, "Shield!" when their paper mache bodies crumple to the floor and the rest of the party has to pick up the pieces of their abject stupidity.

Woah, where'd that come from?