9 replies to this topic

[Horse Pryde]

This has probably been answered a few dozen times but I tried the search tool and it didnt give me the answers I am looking for.

I have about 300 drops in, all in QP. I don't have the mechs I need to do FP yet so I have not ventured down that road. That leads me to my question.

Do you need to be in a unit to play FP?
are there benefits to being in a unit?
Do certain units have certain requirements?

Thank you.

[Stahlherz]

Horse Pryde, on 13 July 2016 - 11:36 AM, said:

Do you need to be in a unit to play FP?
are there benefits to being in a unit?
Do certain units have certain requirements?

You don't have to be in a unit to play it. You can drop solo, or visit TS hubs to join groups gathering up for it.
You can be a Freelancer, a solo Merc, or a solo loyalist.

Depending on the faction you can become integrated in groups of mixed units with effects similar to being in a unit.

But being in a unit still has its perks.
Exchanging thoughts and experiences with other pilots can augment your game.

Certain units do have requirements, but there are units which accept pilots of all levels of experience.

You'll find hiring halls in other parts of this forum.

[Leone]

You do not need a unit. That said, being in a unit of like minded warriors can make it more enjoyable and/or help you team up for faster drops. Some units do have requirements, some do not. My suggestion would be to try out Community Warfare with the mechs you have, and take a look at what units you run into. Join their Teamspeak, if they have one, and do your best.

You might see a buncha threads around here bemoaning people taking trials into CW, but I'll let you in on a secret.

....

Even with a full stack of trials, as long as you stick with the group and do as your asked, decent units'd rather have you than some random pug.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 13 July 2016 - 11:45 AM.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Horse Pryde, on 13 July 2016 - 11:36 AM, said:

Do you need to be in a unit to play FP?
are there benefits to being in a unit?
Do certain units have certain requirements?

Thank you.

To add onto what Stahlherz has alrady said above me:

The biggest benefit to joining a unit is: to hopefully join a group with like minded people and form a friendship with others forming a bond all the while syncronizing to their battle patterns increasing your chances of winning on the battlefield.

But because of this, most units have requirments- to help ensure everyone is on the same page. It just makes connecting with each other easier. (These requirements differ from unit to unit, some base it on skill and performance, others might base it on maturity level, and some go by time zone... Ect...)

If you are interested in joining a unit, take your time and search for the right group that fits best with you, for your sake as well as theirs.

[Masochistic Trashcan Virtuoso]

unit benefits i have seen:
People showing you good builds
People taking you to private Training matches
Faction Warfare that actually can be fun (unless someone like me brings 3 stock urbies and a KGC to Invasion assault with enemy LRMs)
joining in on QP Teams

remember - you can always bring Trial mechs to FW Invasion or go FW Scout with a single light or medium.
(just dont expect Scout gather to be fun in a stock urbie - it was so cheap, though )

[Horse Pryde]

Having jump into a group drop for the first time last night and seeing upper tier'ed players for the first time in the cross hairs I got a much better understanding of what a unit is and does.
That being said, very soon, I will be ready to join my first unit.

[rolly]

If you enjoy being horribly killed with your friends as company, Units are a fun way to do so.
If you also enjoy the rare victory where you and your friends defy the odds and stomp, gel as a team, this is also the way to go. But you can also just form your own group and not need a Unit.

Unfortunately unless you have 12 or more friends and are pretty handy at working as a team you generally get horribly killed by larger units (If they still are around in FP, QP - due to all the wonderful changes). So MM is pretty skewed and not that fun if you run in small groups. At times 1-2 friends teamed up will squeak by and have a good fight otherwise any larger than 3 I find you get thrown up against big groups.

Right now there isn't really any bonus for being in a Unit, no spare parts, you can't even allocate the c-bill coffers. All you get is a shell of a game function that helps you in a mediocre sense find your friends, give them ranks, and have a unit tag. You get one more tab and one more list in your chat bar and have the MOTD function to update people.
Unfortunately now it also costs you money to recruit people, even as a small unit.

[Rogue Jedi]

Others have pretty well covered the original questions, but before you try to join you will likely want to get a bit of information,
I would recommend finding out when the unit is active, there is no point joining a unit only active in EU evening times if you will usually want to play US evening times,
Find out how the unit play, If you are a casual player joining a unit who are only interested in competitive play would be a bad idea,
If you are easily offended or have young children who like to watch you play you may want a unit who have PG rated comms, conversely if you swear a lot PG comms would be bad for you
If the unit have a code of conduct read it and make sure you can abide by it.

Doing a bit of research will seriously help you find the correct unit

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 15 July 2016 - 11:33 AM.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Like others already said, you can bring a full trial deck (or your own potatoe deck) if you have friends who back you up.

Benefits of a unit:
you learn faster
You can make mad bank (a versed and active FP unit can net you 10 mils or more an evening), you win more FP matches which will get you mechbays faster (you need dem bays, braw)
Playing together is more fun then playing alone (unless you've got some sort of social ankwardness going on)

[p4r4g0n]

Most of the benefits cited come from playing together with a group of people you can get along with which does not necessarily translate to being in a unit.

The only benefit of being in a unit in MWO are:

1. If your unit manages to tag a planet i.e. claim it, it earns the unit MC which MAY be shared out to its members; and
2. You are assured that all of the group members are in the same faction and can drop together in FP.