322 replies to this topic

[tucsonspeed6]

The primary reasons I drop solo are:

1: My computer is my living room, where my 2 year old watches TV. Being able to kill giant robots with 'Little Einsteins' rockin in the background is an acquired tasted that I don't think most teams are ready to handle.

2: My headset is old and cheap. I doubt it works well at all, not that I've had experience trying.

3: I'm too self conscious to interject my opinions in the middle of a match. I always fear that I'd call the wrong target and my teammates would blame me for the loss. This is also why I never take command during a match.

4: I'm also a generally quiet person. I keep to myself and rely on myself.

5: My experience with merc groups is that they're led by armchair generals who make rigid rules about proving yourself to get into the group, and then after jumping through their hoops and licking their boots, they get to tell you when you're allowed to drop and with whom.

6: My first time trying out TS3, I joined one of the house servers and sat in the lobby for a bit expecting the people there to talk. Most of them looked to be AFK, so I figured I'd look through the other channels for a bit. I found the 'Looking for Group' channel and joined. A half hour or so passed, and during that time only one other guy joined the channel. It was maybe a minute before someone else joined and told the other guy to join them in whatever channel they were dropping in. I was dumbfounded that someone saw me sitting there for a half hour looking for a group and they didn't bother to invite me to join them. So I said f*** it, and taught myself to play good solo. Haven't felt a need to drop in a group since.

[OneEyed Jack]

My personal reasons are varied.

I don't like to be tied to the computer, but I also don't want to force other to wait on me when I want a smoke break or have something else come up.

When I play for long stretches I don't want to be constantly re-filling slots for people that left. When I play for short stints I don't care to take the time to find a group, nor do I want to be the one they have to replace after couple games.

Having played MMOs for years, I've learned I don't care for dealing with the attitudes. I've been in a number of casual guilds I enjoyed, with people I enjoyed playing with. But the nature of casual groups is that they don't stay focused enough to hold together long. The competitive groups have to many smegheads, or require time commitments I'm not willing to make. The larger groups become so impersonal as to be no different than simple PUGing. I'd probably group with R/L friends, but I don't have any that play, as my geek life tends to be separate from the rest of my life.

While I'm not anti-social, I spend enough time being social with friends/family/work. When I play I like to be left alone to blow stuff up.

it may have been mentioned already, but all of this is rather moot, as the OP seems to fail to recognize that the greater part of the 84% is made up of players that spend little or no time on the boards. Essentially, an inordinate number of the people that even see this post at all are actually the people that spend large parts (or even all) of their game time as part of the 16%, not the 84%. I think this is highlighted quite succinctly in the OP's reasons, which can be summarized as "I'm part of the 84% when I'm doing something outside my normal play habits." The title of the post should have been something more like "We are the 84%...... just not most of the time"

[Triordinant]

I only drop solo because I'd feel I wasn't fighting fair otherwise. If I was in a premade lance (possibly supported by sync-dropping clanmates) that had trained together and were using TS and tricked-out 'mechs that we've optimized as a team to maximize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses and we were against PUGs, it would feel like cheating. This is a personal conviction and I am not trying to get anyone else to play according to it.

If I ever dropped in a group, it would only ever be in 12-mans where there are no PUGs and I know both teams have trained together and are using 'mechs meant to synergize with each other as a 'mech company.

[Craig Steele]

Aym, on 21 April 2014 - 03:07 PM, said:

I'd like to know more about why you prefer not to group to help isolate reasons for dropping solo, since this thread is all about finding reasons that people drop solo.

Ronyn I appreciate your feelings, but that's not relevant to this thread, this thread is not about telling people to play any way, but rather about people telling WHY they play the way they play, solo drops.
For me, I prefer to play in a group most of the time, but I volunteered reasons I solo drop, therefore skewing a statistic that PGI is using to restrict my ability to play the game the way I do, but then again this thread isn't about telling anyone they have to play a certain way, as you state.

You know theres another thread that Bloodwolf started recently asking for thoughts and opinions and when people gave him responses not in line with the OP request, he asked for clarity.

What happend to him was that the same people "liking" so many posts here tore him a new one for daring to discuss other peoples opinions.

The point made to Bloodwolf by several was basically if you ask for someones view, respect it it don't try and talk them around to your view.

I personally cannot see the difference between your questioning of some peoples responses and Bloodwolfs "challenging" but the response you get is very different from people sympathetic to the "teamplay" side.

Roadbeer, on 21 April 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

Wow, some serious misconceptions about group play going on here.

Why do you find it so hard to believe that other people have different experiences than yourself Roadbeer?

It's far more likely that their experiences are real to them and not a "misconception", try embracing it rather than bashing it.

Kanatta Jing, on 21 April 2014 - 03:38 PM, said:

Roadbeer is right. Obnoxious people on the teamspeak server aren't there because they belong to a faction leaders family. They're there because if they tossed all the annoying people they would be back to dropping solo.

So it's an elitism thing? Or a popularity thing?

Can't play if someone thinks you're not social enough? Or if someone thinks your jokes are in poor taste?

Need to have so many likes to get an interview with the group master? If he likes you your in?

How does this work then?

[Mycrus]

I drop solo to give way for other guild members to drop 4man

[Thunder Lips Express]

i don't drop solo

[Ardney]

I drop solo because I am not part of an organized unit and am not likely to be anytime soon. The reasons for this are varied but that isn't relevant to the current topic.

What is relevant is despite the fact that I constantly solo drop I am not opposed to dropping against (or with) organized groups. I'm not afraid of having an 'L' on my record. If there was a queue for groups that I'd occasionally be pulled into to fill gaps in teams it wouldn't bother me a bit. I don't need anyone to protect my stats for me.

Edited by Ardney, 21 April 2014 - 05:24 PM.

[Sandpit]

Hi,

My name is Sand and I drop solo.

I drop solo once in a while because:
Friends online are already in a group and I can't join them
I want a quick match or three
Testing out a new build real quick


I am the 84%

Too bad PGI can't seem to figure out that I'm also part of that "14%" also that drops in groups the majority of the time...

kudos to you Aym and the rest

[Artgathan]

I drop solo when:

• Grinding C-Bills / XP
  
• Just playing a few matches in between some other activities
  
• My fellow Rangers are not online
  
• There's already a 4-pilot match going and I'm waiting for my turn in the rotation

[AlmightyAeng]

Roadbeer, on 21 April 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

Wow, some serious misconceptions about the way we group play going on here.

FTFY.

[Sandpit]

It IS amazing though that any time someone says "I want group play" a few of the trolls try to translate that to

PUGs are irrelevant
PUGs are insignificant
Groups are evil
Teamwork is "op"
I'm a PUG and I don't like groups
Groups shouldn't be allowed to "prey" on (insert latest sally struthers type infomercial about starving pilots here)
and a myriad of other just ridiculous things like that to detract from the point of the OP and/or just try to derail the thread.

It's also funny how a select few try to make it sound like those that want groups are somehow detracting from or otherwise forcing puggers to play in a specific manner against them or some such when it's already been explained numerous times that that simply isn't the case.

How about that select few just stop with your propaganda war and answer the following:

How does
opening 12man queue to all groups and solos that want to opt in
keeping the pug queue as is
force/detract from/etc. your gaming experience?

How about give a reason beyond "PGI said so" or "I don't liek groups" or "They're evil and roflstomped me"

[Aym]

OneEyed Jack, on 21 April 2014 - 05:07 PM, said:

(many good answers omitted for brevity)
it may have been mentioned already, but all of this is rather moot, as the OP seems to fail to recognize that the greater part of the 84% is made up of players that spend little or no time on the boards. Essentially, an inordinate number of the people that even see this post at all are actually the people that spend large parts (or even all) of their game time as part of the 16%, not the 84%. I think this is highlighted quite succinctly in the OP's reasons, which can be summarized as "I'm part of the 84% when I'm doing something outside my normal play habits." The title of the post should have been something more like "We are the 84%...... just not most of the time"

I'm glad this was finally brought up as I've been itching to address it. In order, the argument that the people on the forums are not necessarily representative of the player base has been brought up in regards to this topic and many others, most notably in my experience with 3PV. While certainly statistical analysis of the forum posters will show they tend to be a non-representative mix in many regards, how can we say with certainty that they are not representative in terms of these game features? The same argument was brought out during the 3PV debacle with overwhelming support for a 1PV only queue and yet when developers said the forum posters represented a minority, and were on an island, and implemented 3PV they realized they couldn't bother with a 3PV only queue because no one would use it and, lo and behold, practically no one uses it in game, so perhaps the forum posters were by and large right on that one, despite being very non-representative in other ways. I contend therefore that we should not refer to the "vocal minority of forum posters" as such an aberrant demographic and at least see what reasons can be gleaned from this thread, because you're very unlikely to get reasons for solo dropping by just analyzing drop numbers.
By reading the posts I disagree with your assertion that the people reading this by and large "spend large parts (or even all) of their game time as part of the 16%." Furthermore if it's really 16% of drops, not players, the number of players dropping in groups is at least 33% as basic math shows, and based on the reasons shown here (ie being able to immediately drop again after dying, not waiting for the match to finish, team mates to deal with IRL issues, or even have team mates switch things in the mechbay) solo droppers can account for a disproportionate number of drops w/out actually representing relative numbers in the population.
Lastly, I'll admit the flashy title was partly positioning on my part to get views, especially with the merged General Discussion, I felt a little marketing would go along way, and I believe it has paid dividends.

Edited by Aym, 21 April 2014 - 05:55 PM.

[Roadbeer]

Sandpit, on 21 April 2014 - 05:38 PM, said:

It IS amazing though that any time someone says "I want group play" a few of the trolls try to translate that to...

How about give a reason beyond "PGI said so" or "I don't liek groups" or "They're evil and roflstomped me"

Don't fall for the bait. Don't let MHW's simple, younger, brother drag you into derailing Aym's thread

[Craig Steele]

Sandpit, on 21 April 2014 - 05:38 PM, said:

It IS amazing though that any time someone says "I want group play" a few of the trolls try to translate that to

PUGs are irrelevant
PUGs are insignificant
Groups are evil
Teamwork is "op"
I'm a PUG and I don't like groups
Groups shouldn't be allowed to "prey" on (insert latest sally struthers type infomercial about starving pilots here)
and a myriad of other just ridiculous things like that to detract from the point of the OP and/or just try to derail the thread.

It's also funny how a select few try to make it sound like those that want groups are somehow detracting from or otherwise forcing puggers to play in a specific manner against them or some such when it's already been explained numerous times that that simply isn't the case.

How about that select few just stop with your propaganda war and answer the following:

How does
opening 12man queue to all groups and solos that want to opt in
keeping the pug queue as is
force/detract from/etc. your gaming experience?

How about give a reason beyond "PGI said so" or "I don't liek groups" or "They're evil and roflstomped me"

I'll pipe here given that you have insinuated all of this regarding me before so I assume you mean me.

It IS amazing that some team / group players have actually expressed those points about Solo PUG's. I have quoted them back to you several times from some of your most ardent supporters. But you still wonder why they think like that. Without being able to speak for them all personally, I think it's probably because some Team / Group players actually conduct themselves like that. Not all your supporters are have the same integrity and comprehension ability as yourself Sandpit and they do let your "side" down.

As for the "stop the propaganda war", yup. That's a statement that cuts both ways. But I guess as long as people have different views they can (and probably will continue to) use forums to discuss them. That's a healthy thing though. If the threads were all sycophantic head nodding then the Dev's would have even less reason to read the forums.

Do you want frank discussion towards a concensus or just a silent EDIT: vocal minority agreeing with each other for no purpose other than venting?

As for your questions, well thats not what the thread was aimed at, it was asking people why they do, not why they don't. Aym already redirected someone on that front so I won't go there out of respect for his OP.

Edited by Craig Steele, 21 April 2014 - 06:03 PM.

[AlmightyAeng]

Gentlemen, can we please keep this on topic with regard to Aym's questions here? I was rather enjoying reading people's responses to the OP.

[Craig Steele]

Aym, on 21 April 2014 - 05:51 PM, said:

By reading the posts I disagree with your assertion that the people reading this by and large "spend large parts (or even all) of their game time as part of the 16%." Furthermore if it's really 16% of drops, not players, the number of players dropping in groups is at least 33% as basic math shows, and based on the reasons shown here (ie being able to immediately drop again after dying, not waiting for the match to finish, team mates to deal with IRL issues, or even have team mates switch things in the mechbay) solo droppers can account for a disproportionate number of drops w/out actually representing relative numbers in the population.

Can you expand your maths please and demonstrate?

[CheeseThief]

As a proud member of the 84% I drop solo because I have more fun that way.

I don't have to put up with coordinating 3 other people for tactics, stop spectating games because they want to play another, wait around for everyone to die before playing another, sit around while they screw with builds, etc, etc, etc.

Solo drop is just so much easier. I choose my mech, I press the go button I play a game. I don't need to wait on anyone, I don't need to have the stress of needing to carry a team because I'm the evil premade, and I don't need to deal with the knowledge that all my friends suck at this game and that whenever I group with them your Alpha squad is going to be filled with at least 3 sub 150 damage players.


When the launch module turns up and proper organized matches can happen then I may join/start a team for the competitive side of things, but until then I play everything solo drop because that's where I get the most fun.

Edited by CheeseThief, 21 April 2014 - 06:20 PM.

[Artgathan]

Craig Steele, on 21 April 2014 - 06:09 PM, said:

Can you expand your maths please and demonstrate?

Using the numbers PGI supplied for "Launches":

84% Solo -> 84 Players
8% 2-Player -> 16 Players
4% 3-Player -> 12 Players
4% 4-Player -> 16 Players

44 Players in Groups, 128 Total. 44/128 = 0.34, or ~34%.

[Aym]

Craig Steele, on 21 April 2014 - 06:09 PM, said:

Can you expand your maths please and demonstrate?

Since this really is easier than finding another post that has done it... 84% of launches "launch" solo. 16% of the "Launch button" presses are groups, of which 8% are 2-player groups (Paul says "man" but I don't think he has any evidence they're actually men in those groups...) 4% are 3-player (same caveat on changing Paul's word choice...) and 4% are 4-player (yadda yadda). For total "drops" that must mean 8x2 + 3x4+ 4x4 = 44 total players equaling 16% of the "launch button presses." This is the basic maths I was referring to, the more nebulous arguments are represented in the pages of this thread. Those are some of the reasons people sometimes drop solo, faster matches by being able to quit and re-launch with another mech, not have to wait for team-mates IRL life to be dealt with, and not having to wait for other players to tweak a mech-build (be it for meta or fun purposes).

Edited by Aym, 21 April 2014 - 06:27 PM.

[Craig Steele]

Artgathan, on 21 April 2014 - 06:17 PM, said:

Using the numbers PGI supplied for "Launches":

84% Solo -> 84 Players
8% 2-Player -> 16 Players
4% 3-Player -> 12 Players
4% 4-Player -> 16 Players

44 Players in Groups, 128 Total. 44/128 = 0.34, or ~34%.

OK, thanks.

Thats not how I believe they presented the numbers but I see where you're coming from now.