46 replies to this topic

[chokingvictim]

It goes without saying that people who use teamspeak and work as a group have an advantage over Pick-Up Groups (PUGs)

Over all the debates, and arguments for and against - it's just the nature of the game that a team that co-ordinates and works together is going to have more success.

So why don't people who aren't having any luck in PUGs join a group?

I play PUG about 50% of the time, and with my group the other 50%

One of the main reasons for not joining a clan or merc corp is that people are casual gamers and don't want to have to commit to playing under a schedule etc -

There are actually casual groups out there. I play pretty casually myself, as I'm in a different timezone to my clan (they're from US, I'm in NZ) so I play either or.

It's not hard to use Teamspeak, and you can always just log on - see if anyone you know is on, if they are, group up, and if they're not then play as a PUG.

There's nothing to lose by playing in a clan, and as someone who plays both ways I find it very rewarding (C-bills in particular) and satisfying playing a game where the team works together.

Also to people who accuse groups of "PUG farming" - we actually prefer to play against other groups so it's evenly matched, and a challenge, instead of playing against 8 people who all run in different directions once the shots start flying over their heads

[FunkyFritter]

When people aren't having fun their first instinct is to go play something else, not to commit more time and effort to the game bringing little enjoyment.

[Demoned]

i think it would also be nice to have a general chat in meclab/bay, also
at least people could team up even with out the TS wanting to watch eachothers backs is a plus

I'm the same myself, just a couple of hours per night with friends on TS
and, we also love the chance for complex play styles, how to flank grp A so grp B doesn't wack us first can be a challenge sometimes lol

[De La Fresniere]

Personally I do indeed prefer casual playing. It's unlikely that any single clan would provide only competent teammates in the first place, even less likely that they could do so at any hour of the day (I have a highly irregular schedule). And as undemanding as they might claim to be, there's always the possibility of appearing unreliable if I don't show up consistantly.

Really, I'd be happy enough if the game put every PuG member in a single voice chat room for the match's duration; verbal communication alone would allow scouting information, situation reports and coordination.

However, since I also face the less common issue of not being capable of speaking English, I might just have to compromise and find a francophone clan...

[chokingvictim]

Yeah, I think all of this sort of thing will eventually be cleared up witht he Matchmaking changes they're doing (ie when you become an 8 amn group you'll only fight 8 man groups) as well as when you have the option for not-random matchmaking (ie when you invite players and have a lobby etc)

And from there when the Faction Warfare comes in. A lot of people are unhappy with how it is now, but they don't put any thought (or research) in what's going to happen.

The game is just in Open Beta - so it's not actually finished yet, and the devs are well aware of that. Hopefully it'll be a bit more "casual player" friendly once it's finished

[Click]

It's not only about commiting to schedules, some people just want to play this game casually. Start their game, customize a mech and do some matches for fun. I'm that kind of a player. All I wanna do is shoot some mechs, I do my part covering, scouting and whatnot (not a newbie to the series, been into it since MW2), but I never cared much for organized play. The rather arrogant elitist nature of the series' fanbase always helped put me off a bit tbh.

So yeah, it sucks being regularly curbstomped by the other team just because there are some guys there that use voicechat. Hopefully something will be done about this before I get tired (you can be sure that many casual gamers have already been put off by the matchmaking system alone), because as the game is now its basically "get a group or get lost".

Also I'm not a native English speaker, my English is good but my mic is busted and I have no patience to deal with strong accents + bad microphones anyways.

Edited by Click, 11 November 2012 - 05:40 PM.

[Hexenhammer]

FunkyFritter, on 11 November 2012 - 05:08 PM, said:

When people aren't having fun their first instinct is to go play something else, not to commit more time and effort to the game bringing little enjoyment.

Honesty.

[IIIuminaughty]

why not join a group..because they are bad and no one wants them?

[Click]

^Thanks for proving one of my points.

[Genghis Black Death Khan]

Why do I need to go join a group? I don't need to join a group to play TF2, CS, Dota 2, GW2, and a whole host of other games.

[christophermx4]

Genghis Black Death Khan, on 11 November 2012 - 05:52 PM, said:

Why do I need to go join a group? I don't need to join a group to play TF2, CS, Dota 2, GW2, and a whole host of other games.

Mech Warrior Online isn't one of those games? Seriously, the beauty of this game is just how important team work is. I have had some incredibly awesome gaming experiences facing off against another premade team with my unit.

[Demoned]

christophermx4, on 11 November 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

Mech Warrior Online isn't one of those games? Seriously, the beauty of this game is just how important team work is. I have had some incredibly awesome gaming experiences facing off against another premade team with my unit.

this man speaks the truth.
hopefully the new MM will let us see more of these games

[Vermaxx]

I'm in right now, and I love grouping.

I hate voice with strangers.

If you want a decent hunchmate, I'm open to invitations.

[Bloody]

a few of reasons.

there is no immediate grouping feature available in MWO. Any new player coming to the website will see a flashy website and a big download button. Multiple social buttons but no instructions to join a teamspeak channel , no grouping buttons and no " Join a group " etc features . Instead he sees big facebook and twitter buttons in a blatant attempt for the devs to leverage the player as a marketing tool but no chat channel etc

anyone who has spent abit of time having a look at the online community should realize by now that the hard core playerbase is actually very small. There is larger dedicated groups but the vast majority are folk with real lives outside of gaming and have only 1-2 hours a day to game. And it is no set pattern as well. So games which allow the player base to log in a random times, play abit and enjoy themselves with little commitment as well as see progress, do very well. World of Warcraft is the perfect example. Login, play abit, see some progress.No serious commitment necessary. Log off and go back to real life. You can see that most players are Lone Wolves or simply do not want to deal with the group dynamics or social aspects of grouping.

A good example is me logging onto the ts3 channel and there was several lone wolves looking for a group . But the only ones looking wanted a specific type of build or only would let them join if they could play for several hours. Granted this was unusual as normally folk just take anyone who has a mic and can listen / follow reasonable instructions but for a good 3-4 hours when i was logged on that was the case on the weekend. Other turn off was the manner in which some of the premades were talking thrash and epeen waving. I can understand some testosterone from the teenagers but many were supposedly grown up adults spewing all kinds of graphic and intrusive commentary about their opponents and their relatives.

[dubplate]

When I play I will play a round or two, then sit in the mech lab and tinker for a bit. Add in some browsing of the forums, or if the kid needs me for something makes it pointless to try and get a group. Now I could streamline my play but I still need to be able to drop out at the end of any number of matches to do stuff around the house as needed. I'm sure I'm not the only one who stays away from groups for that sort of reason.

[ShastaBlasta]

I have been lonewolfing a while now, In the past I have been a part of guilds, teams, clans and whatnot.

While I'd like to play with individuals that are more organized, nowadays the whole process of joining a group is just to much of a hassle. ie. applications, finding the right community that fits.

Would like to see a move towards separating the first timers/trial mechs and veterans though. I believe this would improve the quality of play overall.

Eventually, if competitive league oriented play happens, yeah , Ill find a team, but until then, having a good time pugging.

[Phlinger]

Some people, myself included, don't want to invest the amount of time that some others do. I'm not saying that all pre-mades are players who invest overly large chunks of time in one sitting, but that seems to be the general consensus.

When I log into the game, it's usually to take a break from whatever. Hop on, join a few matches, maybe 3-5 more. But when I want to walk away, I do it. I've spent far too many hours playing MMO's and being locked into my seat by bitter groups that get pissy because they have to wait for you because you enjoy going afk whenever you want to. So, in order to avoid that, some players would prefer to not even initiate it.

I don't like having people waiting on me, loathe it actually. But I also enjoy being able to get up, chat with the family, walk around, work on something or just get some fresh air without being planted into my chair for hours on end.

I know I am not alone in this either. I have some pretty good reasons to afk at the drop of a hat also, it's part of being a parent. If that makes me an anti-social newb who refuses to acknowledge the TEAM sport that some of the forum mongers spout, so be it. I'll continue to queue up solo, and those people will continue to get bent by players not playing the video game exactly the same they insist it must be done.

There are other reasons why, namely avoiding elitist attitudes, but those are better left unspoken, much like religion and such, because no one ever wins those arguments.

[CycKath]

The fact voice not really inbuilt is a big turn off. The timezone difference is a real killer, compounded by the fact I might have at most 30 minutes per day to play, who would want to group with me?

[Malap]

I believe the plan is that C3 will eventualy put all members of a pug into a chat channel together for the duration of a match, which will be nice.
I have been using TS for a while now and I've yet to run across any bad mouthing there.

[flarecde]

I like playing with new people constantly. I also like being able to log in, play a match, and log off when I have a limited amount of time to play. I also don't like feeling like I'm pressured to impress people in a group, if I do bad in a PUG chances are they will never remember me.

I think things would be fine if they kept groups matched against groups, and had a temporary public voice channel when you drop.