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We've all been talking about how chock full o' morons the PUGs are now that the golden prem master race has left for their own glorious Elysium... only once they get there it turns out many of them are becoming the stomped-on morons ("casual groups" is the euphemism they prefer, I believe).
Throughout the MWO community, there are calls to have the matchmaker somehow fix and balance the derp levels, in both the dirty scrub PUG Underhive as well as the glorious Elysium group queue (Remember that the "casual groups" don't like to think of themselves as the "derps" of the glorious Elysium group queue, but when they ask to not be put up against 'competitive groups,' it's really the same thing).
The thing is, I don't know how the mm is going to magically take all the stupid away. I've seen some dumb f*#king things done in the solo queue on the strategic level that just can't be explained away with the labeling of noobs or derps. You can't fix stupid, as they say. And having better players on your team is no guarantee that yours will be the most coordinated (and we all know that teamwork is op, right?).
Look around these forums. How many good pilots are there around here who refuse to take command of a PUG unit (I'm a pretty good pilot, on occasion, but I'm guilty of this myself)? How many good pilots around here can't carry on a civil discussion with other players without arguing, or are "proud to be a troll," and bring that brand of negativity and insolence to the field?
How many times have you seen ace pilots slug it out with mad skills, only to lose against one ECM light in conquest (then post the scoreboard in the 'Carry Harder' thread)? Or seen good pilots lead the company into a shooting gallery and get rolled? We all know going off on your own is a bad move, but I've seen good pilots stomp off in a huff because they didn't like the plan and figured they'd rather die alone. Or good pilots cluttering up the chat window with wise cracks when someone tries to come up with a plan at the beginning of a match, and so discouraging that OP teamwork.
The only things that are certain in this game are that many matches, certainly in the PUGs, but also probably in the group queue as well, are going to be 12-3 and worse ROFLstomps, and often the poor decisions made by inexperienced players on the losing team are only part of the failure; they are compounded by the poor decisions made by the "pros." Also, it is certain that everyone in those situations is looking for someone else to blame for the loss.
Sure, the scorecard shows you with a few kills and more damage than the rest of your team. Your decades in front of a video game monitor have paid off: you twitch like no other. In my experience, the scorecard is never the whole story. In every loss there are, in terms of strategy, positioning, and communication, systemic failures on a team that usually occur long before the first shots are fired. They don't show up on the scorecard, no matter how well you did compared to everyone else on the team. The matchmaker is not going to make a bad team good.
As always, good hunting.
Edited to change "Krackker-jack pilot" to "ace pilot." They mean the same thing. Not a profanity. Lighten up, PGI!
Edited by Tycho von Gagern, 18 July 2014 - 04:34 PM.
