Let me tell you where I'm coming from. I'm a member of Team Banzai (yes
that Team Banzai), and most of us are still around waiting and watching how this title develops, though a few are already active in the game under new handles.
Back then and in the future if we choose to adopt this title officially our primary goal was to help new and experienced players to better themselves, our forums were neutral ground and the Banzai Institute For Advanced Armored Warfare was the only place in the entire mechwarrior community that recognized and actively tried to make getting into this community as friendly as possible to newbies. With the exception of special events, or league matches, our servers were run with the same ideals. We were also a pretty competitive team in most major leagues, a unit to be reckoned with, despite our casual nature.
If there was anything more morally repugnant to us than experienced players taking advantage of noobs for kicks, I can't think of what it might have been....
I
could be reading you wrong. It happens easily in forums. But all I heard at the end of your OP was whining about loosing 8 man teams without any further comment, and considering that when you had your 8 man teams all you faced was pugs the majority of the time...well it comes off like that's where your were deriving enjoyment out of the game and I just have zero respect for that.
Quote
You are judged by the quality of your enemies
Personally I'd sooner see premades out of the equation altogether until its only premade vs premade and pug vs pug.
I played premade for one night with guys I haven't played with since Jeho was threatening to hard code Team Banzai out of his precious mekpaks and around the time Card's tearing him a new one got DSC shut down for days.... half of the guys only installed the game that day and were using trial mechs. I think we managed 6 guys at one point, but over a few hours it was usually 4 or 5 of us and we only lost two rounds to captures.
We steamrolled over everything that engaged us whether it was pug or premade with 4 or 5 guys on average in a drop. Along wight a couple 8 man premades we wiped the floor with trying to recruit us.
It was all just too easy.
I personally refuse to fight in a group if all I'm going to be faced with is random noobs the majority of the time and so do most of the guys. Everything about it has a negative impact on the future success of this title. Experienced players pounding the snot out of noobs isn't my idea of a good time, and a sure way to discourage many of them from ever investing any time or (more importantly for the survival of this community) money into the game.
"Give me a worthy opponent" is what I would be
demanding from PGI, and
THAT is a sentiment I can
respect.
A tiny part of me hopes your the kind that wants even matches....but the cynic in me is just playing the odds....