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TL:DR version:
Install TeamSpeak and set it up. Use MWO name as nickname.
Join na1.mech-connect.net (PW: WordofBlake) in TeamSpeak.
Linger in the Looking For Group room and wait to be invited to a dropship or find a dropship that isn't full and ask if they're looking for a player. People are nice and polite, and you don't need to know them in advance.
Once you find one, add the group leader as a friend and accept the group request in MWO.
Communicate with your group during matches. Focus fire onto one target at a time and call LRM targets when they're available.
Read this.
Since people reading this may be new:
"PUG" is an acronym with a few definitions (Pick up game/group, public user game, etc) that by-and-large means "random/unorganised players". It doesn't necessarily mean bad players, but they are often new and not playing as a coordinated team - which in a team oriented game is very important.
"Premade" refers to a group of people who have formed a group and joined a game in that group. They will be communicating, usually via voice chat using TeamSpeak, and working as a team. It does not refer to people piloting trial mechs.
MWO currently (27/3/13) supports groups of either 2-4 or 8 players, with 8 player groups only facing off against other 8 player groups, while 2-4 player groups will be matched with other players (who may or may not be in their own group(s)). All games are 8 v 8. Since it's a lot easier to get 2-4 people together at the same time, these groups are much more common. 8 player groups are typically the domain of player clans who play at least semi-competitively.
If you've started playing MWO and feel it's something you want to sink some hours into, going from PUG to premade is essential. You'll win more matches, have more fun and learn the game a lot better.
So here's the quick and dirty guide to it:
1. Download, install and configure TeamSpeak.
Use your MWO account name as your nickname in TeamSpeak.
2. In TeamSpeak, join a server dedicated to MWO. The most common ones are:
Comstar Relay North America (Comstar NA)
Address: na1.mech-connect.net
Password: WordofBlake
Comstar Relay Europe (Comstar EU)
Address: eu1.mech-connect.net
Password: hG5!4Dg*
(See this thread for others if needed)
3. When you connect to the server, you'll see a whole bunch of rooms. The most important ones are:
Dropships: These are the rooms where group members communicate with each other - you can only hear chat from people in the same room. The people in the room will have joined together as a group in MWO and will be launching into games together.
These groups are largely ad-hoc - players find each other and people rotate in and out as they start/stop playing.
Looking For Group (in the Dropships section): Linger in this room for a while and chances are someone will invite you to fill an empty slot in one of the dropships.
Mercenary Groups: This section essentially contains rooms and dropships for more persistent collectives of players who regularly play together. Similar to clans or guilds in other games. You may end up being invited or asking to join one of these if you find some people you get along well with.
4. Find a group to join.
You can just linger in the Looking For Group room and wait for someone to invite you into a dropship.
Alternatively, you can scan the dropship rooms looking for ones that have less than the maximum number of players (4 at the time of writing). The MWO community is scarily nice and polite for an online gaming community. Just hopping into a dropship room and asking if they're looking for another player is perfectly fine. You don't need to know the people in advance.
5. Once you've made your way to a room that has a spot for you, you'll need to form a group in MWO.
This is done via the social button in the lower right corner of the window. The group leader can invite people to the group, but they must be on their friend list to do so. Hence, when you join the room you should find out who to send a friend request to (or vice versa). Send/Accept friend and group invites as necessary and you'll soon be ready to transform and roll out.
6. Once everybody in the group has pressed the Ready button, the group leader presses Launch and everyone joins a game together.
To be a useful group member, communicate - where are you going, what are you doing, what have you seen, etc. See this thread for a rundown on that.
One of the most effective benefits of being in a group is the ability to nominate a target for the group to focus their fire on. Do this.
Another big benefit is the ability for scouts and frontline mechs to call out targets for LRMs once they are in the open and can keep them targetted. Do this.
That's about all there is to know in advance - the rest of it you will pick up as you play.
Edited by PhDGreg, 26 March 2013 - 09:30 PM.
