iTrial forming groups etiquette?

[Mayaedits]

So I've recently started leading different iTrials. It's been great! Have had lots of fun, met new people, learned some new things, helped people get badges and other rewards, and has generally been going well. 

However, one issue came up last night when I was forming an MoM group. About halfway through filling, a baf group started forming in Ouro along with me. Now I haven't seen any issues with two iTrial groups going and filling in Ouro in the past (especially forming two different ones). I try to avoid it when I can but it happens. 

I didn't have an issue with it, but someone from my MoM group quit, then went on about how "shame on us for both for forming in the same area." (paraphrasing) and other such negativity towards the two groups. Both groups did fill and after MoM, I moved the other runs I did that night (Keyes and Magi) to Echo Plaza like the induvial who complained said one of us should have done.

 

But I am curious, is not forming groups in the same area more or less proper iTrial etiquette? If so, is there any other unspoken iTrial etiquette you think someone leading/forming should know?

Thank you all ❤️

[StrikerFox]

I personally don't think it matters much. Ouro can hold 50 players? I guess it could be a nuissance. BAF with 24; MoM with 16. That's 40 players in zone already.

 

Everyone has their own ways to enjoy the game. Playing the stories, badge collecting, farming, power leveling, alting, costume creating, story telling, base building, events, complaining to make other players gaming experience miserable, pvp, TFs, trials, raids, RPing etc. Don't let what other people say bother you. Majority of us appreciate you for taking the initiative to form and entertain 16-24 players with the itrials. Thanks, dude!

[Snarky]

Two groups filling in same area is common.  It is generally considered (errr rude stupid green bumpkin asshat take your pick ) to start forming the exact same type of ITrial in the same zone.  Or even in LFG for that matter.   Common exceptions: forming an ITF.  Forming a weekly TF forming a Holiday w/e.   But you just generally do not walk on another leader by trying to “poach” players.   A different TF SF Event or i Trial?  Sure.  Same thing, especially while standing next to the person?  When I have to say you got no class you have really fallen below societal norms….

Edited November 10, 2022 by Snarky

[Lost Cosmonaut]

I was in the BAF that was forming while your iTrial was forming and it never even crossed my mind that there was a problem with it.  I see it happen all the time and never heard of it being an issue.

[Ironblade]

8 hours ago, Mayaedits said:

But I am curious, is not forming groups in the same area more or less proper iTrial etiquette? If so, is there any other unspoken iTrial etiquette you think someone leading/forming should know?

That whiny person needed to piss off.  Multiple events recruiting in the same place happens and people deal with it.  The only person who should have been ashamed was the person chastising you and the other leader for recruiting in the same place.  But, in my experience, idiots like that have no shame.

 

The big point of etiquette is that some of the shards have specific iTrials (or other events) scheduled each evening.  Don't step on their scheduled events.

If anyone ignored etiquette at all in your situation, it was the person who started recruiting WHILE YOU WERE ALREADY RECRUITING.  They were rude and should have waited.

[Mayaedits]

2 hours ago, Ironblade said:

If anyone ignored etiquette at all in your situation, it was the person who started recruiting WHILE YOU WERE ALREADY RECRUITING.  They were rude and should have waited.

It's entirely possible they had just gotten back from their previous baf run. I know people will sometimes run them back to back to back to back. I generally try to wait for a bit to see if anyone else is running before I start forming and I think did then too but idk. I've slept since then.

 

I don't see an issue but I understand how it could like jerk move to start forming in the middle someone else. I just think there is enough room on the server to have two groups forming at once, especially two completely iTrials.

[Zect]

The forumites do not seem to have given you a straight answer yet, so here it is: The etiquette is that there is no etiquette.

 

You form what you want, when you want, where you want. If it "steps on" someone's scheduled timeslot and they are unhappy, they can deal with it. Nobody owns an exclusive right to run X content at Y time, however established or customary their presence is.

 

The right that other people do have is to not join your team, or to prevent you from joining theirs. So, for example, if you chose to organize a baf in the ass end of the storm palace for some reason and people decide not to hike there, and nobody joins, that's just the logical consequence of your decision. If you form something while someone else is forming the same thing, and chose not to do the sensible thing and merge, and people decide to go with the more established leader's league over yours, that is also their right and you can deal with it.

[Mayaedits]

6 hours ago, Zect said:

The right that other people do have is to not join your team, or to prevent you from joining theirs. So, for example, if you chose to organize a baf in the ass end of the storm palace for some reason and people decide not to hike there, and nobody joins, that's just the logical consequence of your decision. If you form something while someone else is forming the same thing, and chose not to do the sensible thing and merge, and people decide to go with the more established leader's league over yours, that is also their right and you can deal with it.

You are right of course. No one owns any iTrial or any group content for that matter. 

 

The induvial who sparked this post, however, didn't leave and join the other group. He just.... left my group and started calling both of us rude and other negative comments for a couple of minutes because we were forming in the same area. Then he just dipped. It sounds like from what I am understanding that isn't a commonly held view about forming in the same area and he just may have some outdated/strange ideas about this sort of thing. Or was just having a bad day.🤷‍♀️

 

Mostly, this incident just had me curious if there were other things as a leader that I might not know so I can continue to lead groups better. Always want to learn and get better. 

[golstat2003]

You can just block someone like that. Ain't nobody got time for folks like that. 😛 

 

You can form whatever you want where the F ever you want. Up to folks if they want to join or not.

[Shred Monkey]

Just a theory, but maybe they intended to join the BAF and ended up on the MoM, and had to blame someone else.

[Mayaedits]

11 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

Just a theory, but maybe they intended to join the BAF and ended up on the MoM, and had to blame someone else.

Could be but if I recall correctly, they specifically said MoM and joined before the baf group started forming. So idk. It's possible though don't know why they just couldn't leave and join the baf. 

 

Might be another reason to use Echo more though. I used it for runs last night and outside of needing to help a few people get there, filled quick and worked fine.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Mayaedits

[JasperStone]

I thought the BAF was forming first.

At least I saw that first in the chat and joined.

Saw MoM second.

 

Either way. doesnt matter.

Multiple iTrials have formed there before.

Once I commit to a trial, I stay even if another pops that I'd rather be in.

 

[Mayaedits]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to give me input into this. Always appreciate and love this community's willingness to help each other 💖

[Oklahoman]

Right now, we have no tools to see what else is running already. I've put ideas into the suggestions forum, but I'm not sure much ever gets pulled from there for actual development.

 

There is a player led event calendar under this forum, and it is probably a good idea to check it and just be familiar with large, scheduled events. I agree with @Zect that you should be able to run whatever you want, whenever you want - and I would even go further to say that what *IS* running trumps what *IS PLANNED* to run. Having said that, I find it's better for my blood pressure just to give everyone a wide berth. I once tried to run a Hami an hour before a scheduled one and got burned for that, which is one of the main reasons I just don't run Hami's anymore. I had an MSR finish 6 minutes after the start time of a scheduled MSR and got raked over the coals in game and on Discord. You just have to decide if you want to deal with the heartburn associated with that ideology.

 

As for iTrials, when I log on I usually try to wait 15 minutes before I start recruiting for anything. If a BAF is out, it will likely be back for a refill in that time and I can plan accordingly. If I don't want to wait 15 minutes, I will wait at least 2 minutes to see if anything is actively recruiting - at which time it is usually safe for me to run an MoDD. That one (tragically, I think) doesn't get run very often, so it's pretty low risk that I would be stepping on anyone else's toes, especially if I've allowed 2 minutes to see if anything is showing up in LFG.

 

There's no problem with running multiple iTrials out of the same zone, except for the bozos who zone in and say "I'll join" or "Invite me". Sometimes the league leaders communicate with each other and see which one wants to send an invite. It's much better if you are not vague and state what iTrial you want to join. Sometimes, I have a BAF badge run going while someone else is forming a normal BAF, and it helps to be ultra specific there.

 

When other league leaders are recruiting or refilling, I usually ask via tell how many more they need and decide when to advertise based on that. I don't mind holding up for a few minutes so someone else can get their league filled, avoiding some confusion for us all. If it starts taking too long, though, I figure there must be some reason their BAF isn't filling and I go ahead and advertise, especially if I am running something other than a BAF. There have been many times I've filled a Magisterium after a BAF has been advertising for a while and just not filling, just because sometimes people want to do something different.

 

The only other etiquette I would propose, and I know many will disagree with, is not to hog LFG by posting there too often. I always allow at least 1 and usually 2 minutes between my LFG posts, and I almost always fill. There's a thought that you have to advertise again as soon as your previous add scrolls off, or that you need to let everyone know each time you add someone so they can see it is filling fast. It may take a few minutes longer to fill, but in the grand scheme of things - so what? There's a Task Force Junkies Channel you can join and advertise on, too, so sometimes I alternate between LFG and TFJ to fill up a little more quickly without having to spam either channel.

 

Lastly, THANK YOU for running stuff! We need all the people we can to lead things so the community remains engaged with stuff to do.

[Mayaedits]

11 minutes ago, Oklahoman said:

Lastly, THANK YOU for running stuff! We need all the people we can to lead things so the community remains engaged with stuff to do.

 

Aww thank you 💖 You are one of the people that inspired me to start leading after being in your groups several times. Always had fun 🙂

[biostem]

Llamas are gonna drama.... 'tis the nature of online gaming.