Anyone else notice a slowly increasing number of people joining groups just to solo?

[Snarky]

I started a Dark Dark Controller over the weekend.  My first Controller.  I used my alt acct Farmer to PL for 20 minutes to 28.  Then I levelled him up and slapped SOs all over and a few Globals like Panacea and Perf Shifter.  Then I did what I love to do, run the Freedom Phalanx TFs in order to learn a build.  Well, I did Posi 1, 2, and Synapse.  I do not lead, so I wait for them to post in LFG.  And i am badging on my main watching server chatter.

 

The nice thing about a Controller....is everything.  Except damage.  We'll talk lol.  Since I kmow the game pretty well I did not feel useless.  I know exactly what my debuffs, immobs, and disorients are doing.  I play this squishy as close to the middle of large spawns as I can crowd.  THose who know me know I only play squishy at range.  I have no problem on this thing walking up to a very large spawn and start dropping control, with teammates still finishing last spawn.  At least through level 20 content.  We shall see.  

 

But I do have to stay extremely tight with team.  They are the ones actually killing.  If I see a team split I make a decision who needs my support.  Then commit to making sure that teammate(s) has a much easier time.  No ATT?  No issues, I pop two medium purps and fly through every hallway to get to the teammates who are working while people sit at the door.  Then I drop the controls and ATT.

 

It is a fun fun way to work though content.  Not sure I am helping speed.  My teams are making decent times.  A little over 30 for each Posi and 1:30 for Synapse.  But we all know those can go a lot faster.  But they were smooth.  Definitely working with the team on this character.

[arcane]

19 hours ago, BengalBilly said:

This is literally the difference between soloing and playing with a team. It seems odd that I would have to explicitly tell you to play as a team, with the team, when you join a TEAM - and that going off SOLO is not playing as a team.
 

And I agree - I think this type of attitude is what is turning people away from what was once a very cooperative and friendly game.

Have you never seen a movie/show/book/comic/game/etc where a team divided and conquered? Nothing unusual about it.

[Marshman]

On 10/5/2021 at 11:19 AM, TJBC said:

I have a thought that is maybe not on point but feels related.

 

Why does it seem like every team leader insists on maxing out every mission with 8 players?

 

Could we limit the redundancy of corpse killing and increase the likelihood of teams sticking together if we as a community were more often running smaller teams where everyone felt more relevant?

Because they can.  Again, its a game.  You can tailor it to play like you want.  YOU can be the team leader and invite less than 8 and be completely happy every single time if you wish.  That's the beauty in this game and most multiplayer games.  You can play how you want and there's often an audience of your ilk that will join you.  No need to criticize how other's like to play because it doesn't fit your agenda.  Live long and prosper ✌️

[TJBC]

41 minutes ago, Marshman said:

Because they can.  Again, its a game.  You can tailor it to play like you want.  YOU can be the team leader and invite less than 8 and be completely happy every single time if you wish.  That's the beauty in this game and most multiplayer games.  You can play how you want and there's often an audience of your ilk that will join you.  No need to criticize how other's like to play because it doesn't fit your agenda.  Live long and prosper ✌️

I don’t see any criticism in my post. Just curiosity. I was wondering what the motive was and I still don’t know.

Edited October 28, 2021 by TJBC

[cranebump]

On 10/11/2021 at 3:28 PM, arcane said:

Have you never seen a movie/show/book/comic/game/etc where a team divided and conquered? Nothing unusual about it.

True, though some coordination and acknowledgement of such when you're ostensibly a team is always helpful. Even if it's something like the leader of the last Synapse team I was on offered when they said, "Solo, if you can handle it." We had several missions featuring various pods - duos, trios, a group of 5 - and maybe a soloist running here or there (taking out Long Tom, while the rest fought some mobs). It was a small thing, but it set the expectation, and everyone followed it without complaint or comment.

Edited October 28, 2021 by cranebump

[InvaderStych]

On 10/10/2021 at 5:03 PM, BengalBilly said:

This is literally the difference between soloing and playing with a team. It seems odd that I would have to explicitly tell you to play as a team, with the team, when you join a TEAM - and that going off SOLO is not playing as a team.

 

Circling back to this because if this thread isn't going to die then I'm going to repeat something I've already said in response to sentiments similar to the one expressed in the highlighted text above:

 

No one is responsible for meeting the unspoken expectations of any other person.  Full Stop.  If one is leading a team, then it is incumbent upon them to speak as to the their plans for leading said team.

 

I've been running the Shard TFs this month, and I always explain we will speed where we can, we will use Port tools between missions, and if one cannot survive on their own to rally on my toon as the main pod for the team.  Works a treat.

 

As @Ukase deftly pointed out, if someone was on my Dr. Q. and complained about the group not "sticking together" or not "waiting to herd" I would politely ask them to find another team because there's just no time for a 4 hour task force in my life.

 

The bottom line is this:

 

Communication is Key.

 

If a team leader does not speak their expectations, then no one is to blame for having not met them.  If someone "With The Star" approaches leadership with silence and insta-kicks, then they are no leader at all.

[Without_Pause]

Ran a SF, we went our ways as need be, and nobody said boo. The diff setting was at +0. I know at one point I and another cleared a floor by ourselves. I see no reason for high level characters to stay bunched together on a task which is set at that diff setting. +4? Sure, we can talk, but I was on a PuG last night were half the team dropped after mission complete and the rest of us went around cleaning up mobs since it was the BM map. In other words, we were just fine as 4 people doing +2/x8 content, and we were level 41.

 

If a team has multiple ways to nuke, then yeah, you are legitimately slowly yourself down by not splitting up. No one needs three nukes on a single mob.

[kelika2]

Its like people AFKing but not actually Away in large cities or quest hubs in other MMOs.  They dont wanna interact with anyone but they dont wanna be alone either.  So people join groups to go off and solo to be noticed but also be around other people.  Doing so alone is basically a firefarm and that isolation over time gets to those attention starved lone wolves gets them to flex in teams

 

That or they dont realize you can start  task forces by yourself

Or your warm enough body is cheaper/easier to get than temp pets

Or they dont have the nerve to form their own groups due to decades of party/group finders doing it for them.

 

Either way a large portion of the games casual base has boiled off over time.  Only ones that are left are the grizzled gattagofast gattadoitnow icantfeelanythinganymorebutdoingitanywaysbecausenothingelsetodo kinds of people.  either spend time looking a little anal in LFG saying "kill thru" or "staying together", "steamroll", etc or start becoming one of those "i mumbah back in MY day we fought evil together" people

 

Also please note that the gattagofast types are generally the squatters who wait for the group to be almost full so they dont have to wait long to get started

[Sovera]

So much projecting.... Must be fun to run these scenarios while under the shower.

[Without_Pause]

On 10/11/2021 at 7:30 AM, Snarky said:

I started a Dark Dark Controller over the weekend.  My first Controller.  I used my alt acct Farmer to PL for 20 minutes to 28.  Then I levelled him up and slapped SOs all over and a few Globals like Panacea and Perf Shifter.  Then I did what I love to do, run the Freedom Phalanx TFs in order to learn a build.  Well, I did Posi 1, 2, and Synapse.  I do not lead, so I wait for them to post in LFG.  And i am badging on my main watching server chatter.

 

The nice thing about a Controller....is everything.  Except damage.  We'll talk lol.  Since I kmow the game pretty well I did not feel useless.  I know exactly what my debuffs, immobs, and disorients are doing.  I play this squishy as close to the middle of large spawns as I can crowd.  THose who know me know I only play squishy at range.  I have no problem on this thing walking up to a very large spawn and start dropping control, with teammates still finishing last spawn.  At least through level 20 content.  We shall see.  

 

But I do have to stay extremely tight with team.  They are the ones actually killing.  If I see a team split I make a decision who needs my support.  Then commit to making sure that teammate(s) has a much easier time.  No ATT?  No issues, I pop two medium purps and fly through every hallway to get to the teammates who are working while people sit at the door.  Then I drop the controls and ATT.

 

It is a fun fun way to work though content.  Not sure I am helping speed.  My teams are making decent times.  A little over 30 for each Posi and 1:30 for Synapse.  But we all know those can go a lot faster.  But they were smooth.  Definitely working with the team on this character.

I need to go back to my level 50 Dark/dark controller. I hit 50 and parked it. I have a minor bit of a rant about how control is in the current end game meta, but I don't think it is there to be really stellar damage even for a controller. It is no Ill or Fire. More so it inspired me to roll a Dark/dark defender since on fast enough teams, I would simply rather be blasting away. I do think the build is quite good though, and I can't really blame it for the current meta. The -tohit, control, and heal pretty much makes for safe teaming.

[kelika2]

3 hours ago, Sovera said:

So much projecting...

Its only projection if its true, otherwise it would be just a lie.

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

I need to go back to my level 50 Dark/dark controller. I hit 50 and parked it. I have a minor bit of a rant about how control is in the current end game meta, but I don't think it is there to be really stellar damage even for a controller. It is no Ill or Fire. More so it inspired me to roll a Dark/dark defender since on fast enough teams, I would simply rather be blasting away. I do think the build is quite good though, and I can't really blame it for the current meta. The -tohit, control, and heal pretty much makes for safe teaming.

I have heard rumors of control being more useful in end game soon...

[Sovera]

52 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

Its only projection if its true, otherwise it would be just a lie.

 

Well, unless you and others have developed telepathy it would be better to stop coaching in terms of 'poor game' and 'poor team mates' when it boils down to 'I don't like it, so you should stop' (how american btw).

 

Frankly, that long diatribe trying to sound insulting is insulting by itself.

 

 

But hey, I can project too. Like, lets see... Just because your builds are shit and you can't solo a +0x8 spawn you think everyone else is the same and that they must all huddle together to be safe.

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 hour ago, Sovera said:

But hey, I can project too. Like, lets see... Just because your builds are shit and you can't solo a +0x8 spawn you think everyone else is the same and that they must all huddle together to be safe.

 

Nonono. You're doing it wrong. To project it would be "I can solo everything at max diff therefore everyone else can, too. If people aren't, it's because they're CHOOSING to suck."

[kelika2]

1 hour ago, Sovera said:

But hey, I can project too. Like, lets see... Just because your builds are shit

thats a lie tho

[Sovera]

7 hours ago, kelika2 said:

thats a lie tho

 

Ah ah, I see.

 

What I said was a lie, but what you've said was the unvarnished truth.

 

 

🙂

[ZacKing]

On 10/11/2021 at 7:25 AM, Ukase said:

It's a question of semantics here. If I am "on a team", there are different ways to contribute to the team without actively working side by side. 
I see this routinely in this week's weekly Dr. Q. That damn tf has what...16 door missions. Some are kill all, some are just kill the boss & his men, and some are kill the boss & his men and some glowies. 

In that tf, it would be just about a kickable offense if all 7 players followed me around a map instead of splitting off in different directions in pursuit of the mission objectives. That's a part of the reason that damn task force used to take 3-4 hours back then! 

Going off to pursue one of the mission's objectives while another teammate pursues another is very much working together as a team. But, again, it's semantics. Look up the word teamwork. There's nothing that requires a player to be in the room with you to be working for the greater good of the team. 

Of course, opinions will vary - and you're quite entitled to yours, and to feel the way you do about it. You're not wrong, you're just coming from a different perspective. That also means the rest of us aren't wrong either. Just understand that the playstyle you seek others to engage in is not the only way to satisfy "team" requirements. 

There's nothing unfriendly about this type of play, either. But - try to realize that most of us that played before, we're likely to be between 35-50 years old. We've got family distractions, work, who knows what else that would occupy our time at a moment's notice. The days of us being able to give something our complete attention for hours is over for most of us - until we retire, if we even get that option. If I did a cooperative effort for each mission I had, I'd be hard pressed to get certain task forces done in an hour's game session. 

There are times when your preferred style is perfectly fine with me. But there are other times when it is woefully slow, and not feasible due to time constraints. But that's just me. Clearly there are a handful (at least!) of folks who like this playstyle you like. Look for each other in game and enjoy. 

 

If I could upvote this a million times, I would.  very well said.  thank you!

[ZacKing]

13 hours ago, Snarky said:

I have heard rumors of control being more useful in end game soon...

 

Control is useful in endgame.  Always has been.  Is it necessary?  no.  Is any AT necessary?  no. 

[kelika2]

5 hours ago, Sovera said:

 

Ah ah, I see.

 

What I said was a lie, but what you've said was the unvarnished truth.

 

 

🙂

Try saying "weekly lf1m" and see how fast it fills up and watch how many of them are calm and collected

[kelika2]

1 hour ago, ZacKing said:

 

IF I CANT WIN THIS ARGUMENT, NOBODY CAN!

Look, we all know this game is easy and with a little screening 8 stalkers can kill Hami

Go check the Excelsior forums.

because i dont know how to interforum link thats shorthand

[Rishidian]

On 10/11/2021 at 12:28 PM, arcane said:

Have you never seen a movie/show/book/comic/game/etc where a team divided and conquered? Nothing unusual about it.

This is a poor argument that has no application here.  Movies, shows, and comics (I left out games because we are talking about a game) are all SCRIPTED!!  All characters (actors) are under the control of 1 person controlling what they do and say, along with the environment.  It would be nothing to write a story where a 6 month old baby would take out a whole clan of ninja pirates.  Add a little CGI and you have a movie.  Nothing unusual here either.  Just not applicable.  

 

We are not talking about written stories - these are live people with their own thoughts and behaviors.

[ZacKing]

1 hour ago, kelika2 said:

Look, we all know this game is easy and with a little screening 8 stalkers can kill Hami

Go check the Excelsior forums.

because i dont know how to interforum link thats shorthand

 

Can you please fix your post here?  You're attributing something to me that I didn't post.  Thanks

[ZacKing]

24 minutes ago, Rishidian said:

We are not talking about written stories - these are live people with their own thoughts and behaviors.

 

True, but why should they conform to what you want and how you want to play?  

[kelika2]

19 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

 

Can you please fix your post here?  You're attributing something to me that I didn't post.  Thanks

Sure!

 

3 hours ago, ZacKing said:

 

Control is useful in endgame.  Always has been.  Is it necessary?  no.  Is any AT necessary?  no. 

The whole "games easy stop fighting" bit is really played out, its been two years of hearing it.  We know the game is easy.  Forum fighting is more fun.

[Voltak]

On 9/25/2021 at 5:32 PM, Dona Eis Requiem said:

IMO, it's things like that that are chasing away new/recently returned players.

The worse the elitism/snubbing gets, the smaller shard populations get. 

Kinda disappointed in a lot of the attitudes now pervasive in this once very inclusive, fun loving game community.

 

EVen if I am not team leader and I see some team member doing this stuff like going on their own to solo groups of mobs , split away from the team, I tell them straight up that whatever they think they can do solo, they will do it faster if they do it with the team.  Taking on a mob will be faster with the team, not solo.  
It's also screaming for the question -- why did you join the team?  

Also, if the game is too easy for you, come talk to me:  I got stuff in game that if I put you through it, it will  adjust your attitude a bit. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Voltak