63 replies to this topic

[Shadow Stryke]

I am curious about the reasons why some people join a unit and some stay solo.

Please keep comments to which choice you made and why.

Thank you.

[Wildstreak]

Solo.
Irregular play time to join a unit, also not a competitive player. Some say there are units for this style but I do not even have time to look into it. I once was in a Facebook group that tried to fit this, most of the others seem to have left the game, the group page no longer exists.

[Leone]

I joined a unit right away because there's not reason not to. Granted, I've turned down every offer to join an established unit, maintaining my unit of one, because eventually, my friends from the tabletop game are going to want to do CW, and I'd rather be able to move factions with them. perhaps they'll join my unit with me. Perhaps we'll need to make a new one.

Either way, just last saturday I got to run with the two who introduced me to battletech, though it'll be awhile since the newest to MWO feels ready for CW.

~Leone, Raid Leader of the Crimson Hand.

[Gagis]

Unit. I really like to make new friends, to play with friends and to play as a team, so there was no question about it. I was quickly recruited into XWLF after starting MWO and later I moved on to join my out-of-game friends in ASE.

[Gorgo7]

Joined a unit after mastering a couple of Chassis.
It was very helpful and the game is much more complete as part of a unit!

[Josef Koba]

Solo with caveats. I joined an established unit a couple years ago (a Davion unit) because I really felt like that was something I should do given the amount of time I put into this game. But in the end, I didn't drop a single match with them. I was finishing my master's and didn't have time to do any coordinating/mandatory training/etc. And frankly, I'm an introvert at heart, and I just can't find it in me to get on comms with a bunch of people I don't really know. That said, I do drop with a friend almost exclusively. I created my own CW unit (Koba's Zebras - with all of two members; me and him - yeah, we have...zebra colors) to drop in CW, but since that's exclusively big unit territory, I don't think we've dropped more than ten times together total. Just not worth getting rolled. So we stick to the group queue, where we get rolled just as easily but can do so far more often. I've tried the in-game VOIP and can't get it to work. I'd be curious as to what it would be like to drop with a full lance or two. Tried recruiting some friends from my BattleTech days to play with us, but the four guys I recruited didn't play more than a couple of weeks and, frankly, the learning curve was so steep they lost interest fast. Someday I might join a group/unit, but I doubt it.

[Night Thastus]

I joined a unit. While I do have super-irregular play times and am heading to college in the fall, I found that my unit didn't mind when or when not I was on, and were a great group of friends.

Playing solo is just depressing for me, I don't get anything out of it. Knowing someone has your back, and fighting with them to either victory or death is the best kind of gameplay.

[Darwins Dog]

I joined a unit (as evidenced by my signature). It's nice to have a group of people to chat with while playing. We don't even talk about the game all the time, we gab about movies, work, beer, funny stuff on the internet, whatever. Also a little coordination goes a long way in this game. You don't have to be super competitive or committed, to join a unit, just browse the recruiting threads until you find one that sounds like a fit for you.

[PACoFist]

I am just playing solo.

I have played other online games in the past and have also played in groups/clans. And I have made the experience, that this makes me play more, than I really want to. If the others continue to play you don´t want to let them down and leave earlier, you have arranged play dates, and such situations. With some games this went so far that it became more of a duty than a game.

And while I really like MWO, I think it is not good enough to invest that much time. That is why I am a casual player and want to stay a casual player.

[bad arcade kitty]

im too mean to join a unit

[Revis Volek]

Joined a relativly young unit and have been having a AWESOME time ever since!

I played SOLO for about 3 weeks and realized this s%#t is for the BIRDS~! (and not Clan Green Chicken or Faction Purple Pigeon lolz) I have not looked back since....

BUT

I do still enjoy playing solo from time to time, i turn some music up get in the zone and play sniper or support for some fatties. The SOLO aspect this game offers is rather casual compared to dropping with 12 vs 12 organized groups.

[Creag]

I joined a unit not long after Istarted playing the game for the Team work and to meeting people from around the globe.

[Johny Rocket]

Both. I joined a unit that doesn't group much.

I play mostly pug because I hate the wait times to drop in cw. But sometimes Ill play in LFG with friends and unit mates. With over 200 in our unit someone is always on to fill out a group.

[Void Angel]

Yes.

Initially, I played with a friend, so we would drop together and do the best we could as a team - it was fun, although we knew that to get in on higher-level action we'd eventually need to join a team. Eventually, we got picked up by a recruiter from BWC who was impressed that we actually cooperated with him - even though the team got rolled. =) Since then, I've been with that unit, even though my buddy stopped playing.

So for the reasons: I was solo because I was having fun playing with friends and not having to deal with integrating into a unit - even with the best, there's still more people to play with, and often scheduling requirements and other complications to playing the game. I went with a unit, on the other hand, for the satisfaction of playing at a higher level and operating with a good team.

[slide]

When I signed up for MWO when the website was first launched back in Nov 2011 I had no intention of ever joining a unit as this was my first real experience at an online game.

In Jan or Feb the following year (before closed beta) a fellow Aussie posted about starting an Australia only unit. Something about his post appealed to me so I signed on.

I can honestly say it is one of the best things I have ever done, both in a gaming situation and in real life. Long story, short I am now CO of that unit. I have made some very good real life friends from it whom get together at PAX every year. I have learnt things about managing large groups of people, dealing with difficult members, acted as "shrink" for people who are having issues.

Being involved with a group of people who have enthusiasm for something and a common interest makes getting involved a hell of a lot easier than it is in real life. If I had to make the decisions over again I wouldn't change a thing.

There are plenty of units out there with different commitment levels, it is just a case of finding one that suits you. Not every group requires you to play 12 hours a day and give up your first born as tribute. People seriously have the wrong idea about most units, sadly it is an idea born from the highly competitive serious units that have little to no empathy for anyone who is not at their level of skill or commitment.

I can honestly say I would have given up on MWO long ago if it wasn't for the fun that we create by being in a unit. If it is not more fun being in a unit than playing solo then you are probably in the wrong one. But that may depend on how you define fun in the first place.

If nothing else it passes the time quicker whilst waiting for a drop.

Edited by slide, 02 June 2015 - 06:22 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Shadowstyke, on 02 June 2015 - 02:26 PM, said:

I am curious about the reasons why some people join a unit and some stay solo.

Please keep comments to which choice you made and why.

Thank you.

I'm a unit pilot, and I joined for the following reasons:

Teamwork, better company, a chance to improve my gameplay. What I got instead was:

Hilarious people. Crazy nights where we run stupid builds, and make them work. Fun, my skills improved. I also got feedback from people, and honestly, when playing as a coordinated group, it's a different game.

I still play the solo queue heavily, because I don't always have the time to jump on TS and drop with my unit mates, but when I do drop with them, the fun factor increases a lot.

[PeeWrinkle]

I play solo for several reasons, but they can all be summed up with "because it is easier".

Ironically I did join a unit once. I did a bunch of research on which unit to join knowing I wanted to play in a Davion unit that was casual. I actually found one and joined for a few weeks. I ended up never dropping with them but did sit in their teamspeak channel several times. Never really got any conversations going, I actually felt like an outsider.

To elaborate here is why I drop solo:
1. Inconsistent play times: it's hard to get to know those in a group when you never are online with the same people
2. I'm not very outgoing online. Strange but I don't like talking online. I'm an enigma though because in a crowded room I have no issues striking up conversation.
3. It's faster: dropping solo most of the time I can be in a CW match in less than 5 min, and almost instantly in 12 mans. With a group it always seems to take a long time to get everyone together and queue up.
4. Don't really want to pay attention to the meta. Probably cause I'm not that great a player, but I often do better in non meta load outs. At least it seems that way.

I think that sums it up.

[Moldur]

I joined a unit because it was a week before Tukayyid and I knew it would be better to have a group of familiar people to be playing repeated games.

SWOL is big enough for there to be a fair number of people on any time of day. Drops are especially active if there is an event going on. It's nice because you have a pool of people that are more-or-less on the same page when you want to drop, and there are enough people on where you can shout into the abyss, "Hey, any CW drops active? Want to start one?" and you can get a couple of people together. Even in SWOL, a very mixed-skill unit, it's a far more enjoyable/completely different experience going into CW. Communication, tactics, etc. It's a great change of pace from the great experiment of group mentality that is called Mechwarrior Online.

PeeWrinkle is right about solo drops being faster. With a group, you have 12 people ideally. Unless it's understood that this group is doing drop after drop, people will take breaks. People will disconnect. People need to get off. You may spend 15 or even 30 minutes between a drop before everyone is ready. It's not always the case, but it happens enough to be worth mentioning.


edit: In my opinion, there is no special kind of leadership or management. There are different styles, sure, but the skills it is based upon apply universally. It all depends on how you think about your experiences and choose to use them. Whether it's Planetside 2, where a few people organize and lead platoons of 48 people in real time on a fairly large map, or some real-life club where you have to organize and work with a bunch of people, there is always something to learn when dealing with people, leading them, managing them, motivating them, etc. You can choose to make bsing around in a video game as a learning experience if you so choose. I think that's kind of neat.

Edited by Moldur, 02 June 2015 - 07:52 PM.

[Jody Von Jedi]

I put off joining a unit, but I really like playing CW. CW is no fun solo, we all know this. So it depends on what game mode you want to play.

Regular queue: Solo
CW: Unit

[0Life]

I was in a unit for a little while, but differences in advice to some players made it impossible to stay with them. Since then I have played every so often, going through spurts of being interested and then tiring of the game and how it "works" in regards to meta and certain chassis being inherently "better."

At this time, I am wishy-washy on being in a unit. I want to do more CW, but I do not want to feel like I am working a job when I play.