Guide to Running a Team!

[Diantane]

Shortly after I started playing in Homecoming (Everlasting server @Diantane) I put my over 40 years of computer gaming experience to use by running teams. Run them all day long (8-12 hours straight) and every day.  I'll start a new character every few days (never the same power combination twice) and look for new arcs. No, I'm not into grinding level 50 AE or Radio Missions. I like the adventure of exploring all of the storylines and earning lots of merits in the process. Love them missions. If you read the storylines, they are really quite entertaining.

 

The reason you want to be in a team isn't just of the enjoyment you feel spending time with others, you will also level much quicker. When I start a new character and build a team, then run that team for 9 hours or more, I end the team in my upper 20's to mid 30's.  Of course you could level much faster in an AE farm, but you want be able to experience the pleasure of running the interesting missions. If you make a character to 50 in a farm, you won't want to play them and won't know how to either. I let myself be power-leveled once. I hated it and deleted the character. Building a character yourself is so much more fun. You will experience all the ways you can improve your character as you go.

 

When you start a team you have to identify your level, your alignment, what arc or type of storyline and who you are looking for and sent a message in "Looking for group" and "Broadcast" if mission is in that zone. An message example: L24 (blue) Midnighter Arc Mission Team LF3M (looking for 3 more). If the missions are set harder than normal (like +2x8), you would change the message to L24 (blue) +2x8 Midnighter Arc Mission Team LF3M. If the team fills and more players are still calling in, I tell them that the team is full, but I've be happy to put them on a list and tell then what number in line they are (Sorry, but team is full. However I can add you as #1 to the list).

 

When a mission ends, you want to keep the action going as fast as possible. Get ahold of the contact and grab the next missions. Then you have to click on the mission with the cursor and click on select so the rest of the team can see it (shows up in red). Sometimes this can't be helped. If you are starting a new contact these can sometimes be very demanding of you. Sending around to see other contacts in different zones. Let your team know what you are doing. If you don't, team members will start leaving. If they do, send out a recruitment message right away. When they see more players joining the team, it gives them confidence that the team is still strong. If you haven't spoke with your team more than a half dozen times, your recruitment message may still be in the queue. You can check by pressing enter, then pressing the cursor keys up or down to show the last several messages you sent. If your recruitment message is still there, edit  it with any new level, mission arc, number of players you're looking for, etc..

 

You can tell which players are very resilient with the game. They are very experienced or possibly a veteran (over 50). You will get to know them and want to team with them again. Add them as friends. They will stay with your team a very long time. Maybe for hours. The rest of the players will join the team. Do 1-3 missions and leave. One or more players almost always leave at the end of a mission. Expect it. Prepare for it. The funny thing is, they all want to level fast, but only play a couple missions and then go watch TV or something for an hour before returning. The one type of mission that you will lose your "temporary teammates" is the landscape kills. Like Kill 30 Council. When this mission comes up, you may lose half to all of your team. But the veterans and other experienced players will always stay and help out the team. It doesn't matter if we have to kill 200 landscape NPC's, they will find them all and get their badge (you get a badge for killing 200 of one type of critter).

 

Switching to the First or Night Ward arcs is a downer for many players. They will quit as soon as you do. But the players that stay will experience several fascinating storylines. Doing these missions will allow you to bypass the endurance draining freakshow and clockwork. Also the machine gun and artillery wielding council. I usually start them between 22 and 26 and complete all of the arcs (well over a hundred amazing missions) and come out at the other end in my low 40's. I'll send out word that we are still here. L24 (blue) Night Ward Team LF4M. We usually have full teams throughout. The missions can be quite hard at time, but when the teamwork is there, the reward of your enjoyment will be fulfilled.

 

Always listen to your team. If they ask you to turn up the difficulty, do it. Now don't set the difficulty to +2 when you have a new character in Atlas. Your powers haven't been enhanced to handle that yet. I have had teams that told me to raise it up to +4x8 and they handled it quite well. Some others may join and die quickly and complain, but the others are usually pretty fair about making changes and will work with the team.

 

It can be either rewarding or frustrating running a team. I have experienced both many times and I will keep experiencing them. I promise you this, if you join and stay on one of my teams, you will see more fun and excitement then you've ever seen playing this game. You will also level up quite nicely and earn lots of badges and merits. See you in-game!

[Agorazium]

+1, Diantane's teams are fun! I loved doing the FW/NW arcs having never done most of those missions before.

[SuperPlyx]

Nice write up, and I think that keeping team informed any time you aren't actively doing something is important. 

 I try to always let team know any time there is a stoppage. Team mate switching, new contact, etc... hell sometimes I just need a drink!

But no one wants to stand around wondering why they are standing around.

[Glacier Peak]

There's a lot of nuisances that aren't explicitly stated anywhere when playing games like this. OP does a good job at highlighting them. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Glacier Peak
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