So to the point: I looked over the recruitment forum, and it all seems a bit like trying to sift through a bunch of job openings and trying to find what I might be qualified for. And though I've been getting frustrated at times in PUG drops, the hassle of finding a group hasn't yet been worth the time it seems I'll need to invest to find one that will accept me.
I thought maybe a post here would let me just say what I'm looking for, and maybe some kindly forum folks who are more in touch with the various groups in the community can point me in the right direction to get me started.
With that in mind, here's some stuff about me:
I played in beta, dropped with folks on Teamspeak pretty regularly and wouldn't mind doing so now, but I do like some "alone time" now and then, too. I don't want to be hassled about having to group up if I'm just on for a half hour.
I took a break from the game, having returned within the last few months, and I've played occasionally in groups of 2-4 friends since then. But I haven't yet gone out "into the wilds" and checked out other Teamspeak servers to team with random people yet since I got back.
I'm not big into the lore of the game. A friend and I picked House Kurita because, in no particular order: red is cool; the symbol is cool; we dig the bushido concept - he's a fan of James Clavell's Shogun, I'm a fan of Raymond Feist's Empire Saga, and that's enough for us to have picked Kurita. I don't know the secret handshake, but I wouldn't mind learning it. And I'm interested to see how the faction stuff shakes out in this game eventually.
I played a little bit of tabletop Battletech 20 years ago, but never got obsessively serious about it. I played a couple of the Mechwarrior video games obsessively, but never online multiplayer until MWO.
I plan out my Mechs using Smurfy's planner, and I obsess over them, but I don't worry too much about whether I'm playing some FOTM build, or whether I'm going to be some elite/feared opponent on the battlefield. For example, my JR7-F doesn't field 6 Medium Lasers... instead, it has 4 plus a TAG. I play my way, and I don't need someone telling me I'm gimped unless I add those other 2 lasers.
I don't play every night. Sometimes, I don't play until the weekend. I can't commit to a practice schedule. But if a team is organized, has a plan, and needs me to stand on the hill and listen for seismic contacts in the tunnel, I'll play along.
Anyway, this is starting to get a bit long, but hopefully you get the idea. I don't think I'd cut it in "competitive play" for this game, but I wouldn't mind getting involved with a group that I can get to know some of the folks and drop with them, instead of winding up in Terra Therma bumping into the backs of a bunch of people as they back out of the volcano into me.
![:D](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.png)
Any suggestions are welcome. Hopefully better than "yo, check out the recruitment forum"... heh heh.
Good gaming!