Fugly PUG 2 star ITF

[lemming]

8 hours ago, catsi563 said:

immediately after that i see a question in league chat asking who summoned him. thinking nothing of it and for the sake of honesty i answer in the affirmative and the person in about the smuggest tone one can get on a written format asks me to block them so they never have to team with me again

Wait?  They needed you to block them?  Am I wrong in thinking that if you block someone, you don't see their posts, so why did they need you to bother with it when they could have?

[BjorJlen]

3 minutes ago, lemming said:

Wait?  They needed you to block them?  Am I wrong in thinking that if you block someone, you don't see their posts, so why did they need you to bother with it when they could have?

   And I think that sum's up some of the theme of Snarky's post... communication, or lack there in, and "maybe" the brains of the person who is forgetting to do it... 😉

[Ukase]

As mentioned by Snarky, I team with him on Saturdays. We get on discord, and I do my best to tell the worst jokes I can find, just to torture Snarky. And also because some of my audience actually like them. One of every 10 might be okay. The rest..well, not so good. 

I have long considered myself a better than mediocre player. I make Snarky look pretty good on some days, and make him look like trash on other days. He has his methods, and he learns quickly. One thing I do that many leaders don't do - and that's communicate. In fact, I over-communicate. Instead of telling you to spam clarion when fighting the Avatar in UGT, I will tell you all about the discordant spheres and how they will literally confuse you have the time if you don't have some stacked tactics, a large break free, or some clarion. I will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the Will-o'-the-Earth and how it regens the AV for every league member caught in the swirl. Yes, I will tell you more than anyone would ever need to know. Poor @Solaris once had me lead one of her leagues, and she got so bored, she condensed my 7 paragraphs of instructions down to "Kill mobs, then crystals"

 

So, if I ever have a problem with Snarky doing something foolish or inept, it's my fault for not communicating effectively. Mind you, Snarky is someone who sees mobs where most miss them. If the team is going to the right, Snarky might get distracted by some npc's neck pulsing extra heavy with that GOOD blood he likes over to the left, unlike these other schmuck NPCs on the right who don't offer him the same flavors. That's the only reason that has made sense to me. In the end, it's always fairly amusing. At least, it is to me. I mean, if it weren't, I'd just black-list him. That is what we do now, right? 

I also saw the recruiting for a **ITF and with the way this player was saying "Know what you're doing so we're not wasting our time!", I almost joined just to tell him I hadn't done any version of the ITF since I did a 4* back when @STiTcH was still running speed runs ad nauseum. 

But, I didn't join because the guy gave me the impression he was a jerk and would likely kick me right before the reward table if I told him what I thought. Just a guess, I really have no idea. But I am glad I didn't join. Mainly because ITF gives me a headache with those stupid guys screaming over and over. So, I tend to avoid ITFs if I can, unless they're speedy runs. At least that way, I only suffer with the screaming for a few minutes. 

[Zect]

I wasn't there, so I have no comment on good or bad play in this specific circumstance. However, a few things about the recruitment message you saw strike me as, if not red flags, signs that you're not going to get what's advertised.

 

To start off, it's a pug 2*. For those not in the know, pug 1* and 2* tend to attract players who are inexperienced or for whatever reason not confident enough to do 4*. Now, there's nothing wrong with that - people have to start somewhere - but I find it odd that they also advertise 1h completion time and 100m in loot, since it likely won't be a very smooth or efficient run.

 

Then, they say "know what you're doing". I never ask people to know what they're doing, and no serious leader I know of does, either. One may filter out a couple of the unconfident and anxiety-ridden (which conversely might turn out to be gems in the rough if given proper support and knowledge), but real problem players are never deterred by such messages - the whole reason they are bad is they think they know what they're doing when they don't.

 

Then of course there are things like the lackluster comp and lack of communication. Good players can make suboptimal comps/builds work, and they all have ESP and can read each others' minds, but if you're running with pubbies, and especially if you know your team will attract the inexperienced, it pays to spend some time looking at these aspects.

 

I am a huge advocate of frank and forthright criticism. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with telling someone that their performance is poor or that what they're doing is wrong. However, saying nothing the whole TF only to go "X you're blocked" at the end sounds like hilarious cowardice to me. Not only is this not criticism, at the very least, one should be able to get as well as one gives.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, lemming said:

Wait?  They needed you to block them?  Am I wrong in thinking that if you block someone, you don't see their posts, so why did they need you to bother with it when they could have?

call me over analytical.  or a dam nut.  But maybe somebody like this, their block list is full.  So now they are outsourcing their stupidity.

[Gerswin Jr]

Bad PUGs are just about my favorite thing in this game, especially if someone is trying to RP.  The hundred death mission 1 failure of an accidental +4 KHTF while some guy was RPing some sort of mecha robot and the leader was playing on a 2001 laptop or something that froze up for minutes at a time might be my most enjoyed CoH experience.

[Edgyness]

sorry u had to go through that, did u have them on global ignore?

[victusfate]

You stuck it out, and completed a s$&t show of a 2*. You're a hero in my book.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Edgyness said:

sorry u had to go through that, did u have them on global ignore?

I do not even know what their global is.  Here is something about me.  I only check globals of people (and only 1/3 time) who send me private messages.  Might be an old comrade!   Another thing… I never , ever, put anyone on ignore.  That would mean you have said something that truly offended me.   I am a very old evil creature.  Try your best.  Good luck with that. I have reported truly foul individuals to GM in this game, and a lot more in WoW.  Here for putting ads in General chat for real world stuff.  In WoW too often for people predators targeting minors.  But ignore someone?   Why?   I prefer to know what is happening around me.

 

And lastly I will always ASK to be put on ignore.  Seriously.  If someone even brings up putting someone on ignore in a global channel I will almost always say “me too, put me on ignore!”  1) it is damn funny. 2) if you are the type of buttercup to be easily offended then just block me now.  I will not need to listen to you cry and whine later. 

[Lunchmoney]

I'm just now learning about **ITF and seen the badges in the wiki page..... Now I need to do it and am worried (not really worried) about getting on a sensible team to do it.

[Snarky]

24 minutes ago, Lunchmoney said:

I'm just now learning about **ITF and seen the badges in the wiki page..... Now I need to do it and am worried (not really worried) about getting on a sensible team to do it.

Well… good luck lol.   Knowing the fights is the key.  Read the wiki careful.  Hostless Nictus, boss fight changes, and final battle are really big. But it is less changes than a starred LGTF 

[Sovera]

16 hours ago, Snarky said:

ah, yes...

 

I will be your friend, Snarky. I'll make my new Stone/Fire Tanker there since I was going to level one again for funsies.

 

But I will wear a necklace of garlic. My blood stays inside and no need to bat those eyelashes at me because it's a hard rule.

[Jack Power]

Sorry to see this happen to you Snarky (again). Personally I wouldn't run higher level stuff with a random PUG as several others have noted. Now I don't run any high level stuff since I don't want to risk having something that big get ruined by some moron.

 

That said, I almost always PUG since I don't have a steady group to play with. I really enjoy PuGging since I like the randomness of it all. Usually pick up teams work just fine, but sometimes you get a group that doesn't work stellar. I find it kinda charming.

 

//Jack

Edited April 19 by Jack Power
Forgot a point

[Shin Magmus]

Sounds like standard Excelsior conduct to me.  You couldn't pay me to play with randos like the leader on OP's team.

[lemming]

12 hours ago, Snarky said:

call me over analytical.  or a dam nut.  But maybe somebody like this, their block list is full.  So now they are outsourcing their stupidity.

I hate that this makes sense. 😄

 

I don't tend to ignore people.  I'll add notes sometimes.

[catsi563]

15 hours ago, lemming said:

Wait?  They needed you to block them?  Am I wrong in thinking that if you block someone, you don't see their posts, so why did they need you to bother with it when they could have?

I Have no honest Idea.  its like i said it came out of the clear blue left field and left me for the rest of the night really wondering what id done to earn their ire. the person had blocked me actually i should mention as i did try to contact them to find out what was wrong 

 

still in the end people gonna people

[BjorJlen]

7 minutes ago, catsi563 said:

I Have no honest Idea.  its like i said it came out of the clear blue left field and left me for the rest of the night really wondering what id done to earn their ire. the person had blocked me actually i should mention as i did try to contact them to find out what was wrong 

 

still in the end people gonna people

 

   Been there, done that, got the shirt, returned it, had it given back to me, the store closed down, etc... In the end, life and these things happen sadly. Just gotta "try" and shrug it off, and keep moving forward in a positive way is all... 🙂

   And for the record, I too never, ever, put anyone on ignore (even though sometimes it's very tempting). Rather see the bullets coming, know what I mean? 😉

Edited April 19 by BjorJlen
Damn typo's...

[Luminara]

14 hours ago, Snarky said:

a dam nut.

 

What kind of dam?  Compression?  Gravity?  Beaver?  What puts the starch in your shorts?

[Frostbiter]

3 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

What kind of dam?  Compression?  Gravity?  Beaver?  What puts the starch in your shorts?

 

Coffer of course.

[Troo]

1 minute ago, Luminara said:

What puts the starch in your shorts?

 

what does this even mean? is it gross? do I even want to know?

 

[Frostbiter]

1 minute ago, Troo said:

 

what does this even mean? is it gross? do I even want to know?

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_starch

[Troo]

2 minutes ago, Frostbiter said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_starch

 

whew!

[Snarky]

29 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

What kind of dam?  Compression?  Gravity?  Beaver?  What puts the starch in your shorts?

Beaver...

[Nerio72]

17 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Beaver...

Damn.

[Snokle]

19 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Beaver...

 

Should of had a Canadian with you, they know how to handle beavers.