22 replies to this topic

[Mecha Patches]

I feel like I've seen this excuse just way too much:

'I only have 1-2 hours a day to play at most so it's impossible for me to join premade teams'

Guess what? So do I. Life is filled with work and a mortgage and responsiblities. We all have that. So what may come to a shock to most people not using teamspeak is this: we're people with lives too. Just because I almost always run with my guild/clan/merc corp/merry-band-of-giant-stompy-robots doesn't mean it has to take up ALL my time.

If you want to have a better Mechwarrior experience, trust me, find a group! Check out the recruitment forums! There's hardcore clans if you really want to devote yourself, but the vast majority of groups are just mechwarrior fans looking to get together and grab a few games between classes or after putting kids to bed or just don't want to work today. You can then coordinate and win some more games. Or just as fun, laughing with other people about how you were just utterly shredded. Other way, you'll be doing something both more enjoyable and more productive than complaining about other people playing a game.

So don't be scared! No one has been hurt by strangers on the internet!*

*at least physically, 90% sure on that**
**opinion not supported by statistical evidence

[RumRunner151]

Or at least drop in teams on the public TS3 servers.

[Ursh]

Forums, joining some group that has no method of communication, or if it does will likely not be receptive to someone who can only play for two matches? What a stupid idea. The best way to pick up random groups is to surf the ts3 groups posted here. No one minds if you only have time for two games.

[Karenai]

The problem is more that people do not want to commit straight two hours to one group.
Yes, you have a job and a life, we get it.
Some people have kids, a wife, someone special in their life. They just want to destroy some giant robots and not spend 20min of their 2h looking for a halfway decent group and feeling bad everytime they take a five minute brake between games, because their wife wants to ask them someting. Some of them do this thing with the people in their life, I think it is called "listening and talking to eachother".
And believe me, it is supported by actual statistical data that women are jealous about anyone their man is talking with.

And some people just do not want to spend two hours per day in voicechat.

It is just silly to believe just because you love to hang out in voicechat with others, that other people do, too. I for myself hate every outfit/clan/guild that hangs in voice all the time, they are too self absorbed to use any other form of communication, because it is above them to type something that is not the copy of their TS server which is always in their clipboard ready to be posted. And most of the time those people talk about everything but the game at hand.

On the other hand beeing in a premade in this game is either one of two things: stupid, because the "premde" you found is terribad, or it is no fun at all, because you roflstomp everything unless it is a 8 man premade group, too.

PS. Yes, you can still drop with 8 man in one game. (fix it) If you think otherwise, you are not realy running premades. And it works very often. It is also no fun at all imho.

[Apoc1138]

I actually found joining an organised group makes it much easier to jump in to games for an hour than finding a voice comms PUG on the open servers... I tried grouping via the general TS3 servers and it took too long for me to justify doing it on a regular basis... I found a group with a mix of player types and not very stringent membership requirements, and now when I jump on their server I can always find a group missing a person and jump in with them, and they don't mind when after 60-90 minutes I have to drop out again

I like the 4 man option better than the 8 man vs. randoms as it's often more challenging... will also be good to some full 8man vs 8 man drops after next week as well

[JebusGeist]

Karenai, on 16 November 2012 - 08:43 PM, said:

The problem is more that people do not want to commit straight two hours to one group.
Yes, you have a job and a life, we get it.
Some people have kids, a wife, someone special in their life. They just want to destroy some giant robots and not spend 20min of their 2h looking for a halfway decent group and feeling bad everytime they take a five minute brake between games, because their wife wants to ask them someting. Some of them do this thing with the people in their life, I think it is called "listening and talking to eachother".
And believe me, it is supported by actual statistical data that women are jealous about anyone their man is talking with.

And some people just do not want to spend two hours per day in voicechat.

So don't commit 2 hours a day to one group.
If people don't want to spend 20 minutes a day "finding a halfway decent group" thats fine, it only takes about 5 minutes not 20. I think that's roughly the same amount of time it takes to log into the forum and write 3 paragraphs about not wanting to take the time to log into a teamspeak server and join a group.
Listening and talking to each other you say? Gee your post quickly took on a thinly veiled insulting attitude didn't it? You should throw in some overt sexism while your at... oh you did. If this is any indication of the sort of things you'd be saying let me assure you, it is not you who has no interest in playing with people on teamspeak, its people on teamspeak who have no interest in playing with you.

Edited by JebusGeist, 16 November 2012 - 11:17 PM.

[BigJim]

I originally wrote a detailed reply, quoting those people who nay-say, and point by point, rebutting thier silly arguments, but that was taking too long and in the spirit of "not wanting to waste 20mins of my 2hrs", I thought brevity to be the better part of valour.


Everything you think you know is wrong. Wrong.

Groups on TS need be no more time consuming and complex than dropping into a solo match.
You'll spend less time grouping up than you spend spectating when you inevitably die alone, because no one had your back.

That's the part nobody thinks about; They're so quick to say "oh no I have such important things to do" - Well fine, do those things.

But make no mistake, the same pressures exist when you're dropping solo, and someone that has to go AFK because the wife wanted some loving or a kid has eaten the hamster will still have to go afk, be it in a group or not.

If you have to go afk between matches, just say "drop this next match without me guys, I gotta do real life stuff for a few minutes, I'll be back for the next one" - And that's it! I know, a revelation, right?


The whole point of voice comms is to let to talk to people - So talk to people. Let them know you're having a busy day and can only manage a couple of quick drops, or might have to play only every-other drop due to looking after your child this afternoon, or whatever.

For god's sake, this is about the only game you'll find that has such an adult following (this forum notwithstanding) due to the general battetech audience, so 9 times out of 10 the players you're with will be adults with all the same pressures as you.

Just chill, please?

Edited by BigJim, 17 November 2012 - 02:03 AM.

[Alexa Steel]

@OP: Why chill? All he said was that he has more important things to do and does not enjoy running with a group. Some people do not like to play with other people that arent friends. I myself do not even care about grouping up, because I hate the attitude present in said groups or any form of organized competetive outfit, even if its a sports club or something. I am not competetive, so why join a group that is? Yeah there are groups that do the casual thing sure, still no interest whatsoever. I dont get why people make threads about this, if people do not want to group up, than your thread wont change that.

[Von Falkenstein]

I've never seen so much QQing in a teamplay sim about guys who are actually practicing teamwork to an extent that the game Devs believe it to be a bright idea to restrict premades to 4 person groups only for a couple of weeks... This is such utter nonsense in a teamplay game... I had to watch the activity on our TS server drop to 50% of the pre-patch numbers just because it isn't the same playing with 4 guys who are always in the hands of 4 clueless Pugs as it was being in full 8 person teams who actually know what they're doing and having tons of fun with it, be it against Pugs or other Premades.

Such nonsense...

Edited by Von Falkenstein, 17 November 2012 - 02:23 AM.

[Alexa Steel]

@Von Falkenstein: I might have missed it, but arent the Premades the ones that QQ more about the game and how people do not want to group up? How PUGs miss the goal of the game and all?

[Zerberoff]

Alexa Steel, on 17 November 2012 - 02:32 AM, said:

@Von Falkenstein: I might have missed it, but arent the Premades the ones that QQ more about the game and how people do not want to group up? How PUGs miss the goal of the game and all?

What kind of Nonsense is this? .. why do you think we got the 4-man-Premade-Restriction? ...because of PUGers who are blaming others for Teaming up and the most funny Fact..  it wasnt even a Premade Group that Stomped them. Most of the time it was just a better coordinated PUG Group.

Edited by Zerberoff, 17 November 2012 - 03:24 AM.

[Alexa Steel]

Zerberoff, on 17 November 2012 - 03:17 AM, said:

What kind of Nonsense is this? .. why do you think we got the 4-man-Premade-Restriction? ...because of PUGers who are blaming others for Teaming up and the most funny Fact.. it wasnt even a Premade Group that Stomped them. It was just a better coordinated PUG Group.

I asked a question, I did not state that this is fact.

Edited by Alexa Steel, 17 November 2012 - 03:24 AM.

[Zerberoff]

Alexa Steel, on 17 November 2012 - 03:24 AM, said:

I asked a question, I did not state that this is fact.

Forgive me my harsh tone, it somehow sounded like a statement to me.

[Alexa Steel]

Zerberoff, on 17 November 2012 - 03:28 AM, said:

Forgive me my harsh tone, it somehow sounded like a statement to me.

Sorry if that was the impression that was conveyed.

[p4r4g0n]

I've used TS / Ventrillo extensively as part of a clan in America's Army Online, played in the TWL leagues, etc. I know its fun, I hear what you're saying.

BUT at this point in time, I just don't want to jump on VOIP for various reasons.

I try to work as a team when I play even without VOIP (with more success in some matches than others). I don't suicide rush intentionally but being a scouting light, I sometimes die early when I zig when I should have zagged. I die often even with a 300ms lag shield cos I just plain suck but that wouldn't change with VOIP. I could care less about my stats other than to judge whether I'm doing better or not.

I actually would and do encourage people new to the game to group and jump on VOIP because that would actually be a faster way to learn due to the lack of any real help built into the game.

So why all the pressure to group and use VOIP for people who clearly choose to PUG solo?

For the record, I don't yell premade OP nor do I have issues with premades. I have an issue with premades / all custom mechs on one side wiping the floor with 8 other guys using trial mechs but that's a MM issue.

[Black Ivan]

The big problems is the limit of 4 players per team. Nearly all games I played last week were lost due to the incompetence of the PUGs.

[Reoh]

Hopped onto the TS3 today. I had a look at the DROPSHIP rooms and noticed one wasn't full. Popped down, asked them if there was room. I waited no more than a couple minutes for them to finish their match and then had a marvellous time stomping about and laughing on TS3 with some new friends.

It's that easy and win or lose the game is more fun with other people!

[BigJim]

Alexa Steel, on 17 November 2012 - 02:16 AM, said:

@OP: Why chill?

Because of this ~

Quote

I myself do not even care about grouping up, because I hate the attitude present in said groups or any form of organized competitive outfit, even if its a sports club or something. I am not competitive, so why join a group that is?

If you're so anti-competitive, then just chill, don't be competitive - It's so easy if you'll let it be. It's a game, and games are for fun.

Some groups form for the express purpose of being competitive, akin to the sports teams you describe.
Many others, the majority in fact are just a vehicle for people to hang out together, chat, have fun, and play a game they have in common - These would be more akin to pub-teams (pub as in public house, where the guys have a few pints of beer & then go play 5-a side football on a sunday afternoon).


The very fact you think that all these groups are uber-competitive shows you have such a little understanding of the groups you criticise, which is exactly why I said in my opening remarks; Everything you think you know is wrong.

And I've played with both types of groups for long periods, and even in the ultra-comp groups, there is still more fun & chilling out to be had than being all alone out there and stressing because your puggie team won't back you up when you're calling for help in global chat.


Real life can be hard, we all know this.
But games are the opposite, so let's not make it hard on ourselves, ok?

Edited by BigJim, 17 November 2012 - 03:58 AM.

[Taizan]

I've been one of the people who have whined a bit about the lack of group play and always having to jump in with 7 random people.

Before I did that I tried about for 15 minutes to figure out how to flag myself as looking for a group or something, only coming to the conclusion that you can't, that there is no lobby and that you can't even add people to the friends list during a match and then when its over you are in bad luck as well, bc the information isn't available (except you scribble down their names). Even then after sending out the friend request, most of them don't accept or aren't even aware of the invite in the social function.

So then I read up about premade groups and thought to myself no wonder they are so op, they play all day long with the same 7 (now 3) other dudes. I actually thought it was some hidden option for founders or for people who somehow are in a clan or regiment. Something like a "Social Plus" menu only enabled for the elitists.

Anyway after looking through various threads & guides I understood that there are some unofficial community hosted TS3 servers where you basically just join, chat up random people you haven't played with and have to hope they will .let you join them, that no one has some hidden menu or function and all have to work with the same tools.

So this weekend I'll give it a try, its a cludge for now and personally I don't like to voice chat with people I haven't met or played with before, but unfortunately it seems to be the only viable workaround to mindlessly doing one random group match after another.

So anyway - just wanted to give a (relatively) new user's perspective on the whole process of understanding on how premades work.

[Alexa Steel]

BigJim, on 17 November 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

Because of this ~



If you're so anti-competitive, then just chill, don't be competitive - It's so easy if you'll let it be. It's a game, and games are for fun.

Some groups form for the express purpose of being competitive, akin to the sports teams you describe.
Many others, the majority in fact are just a vehicle for people to hang out together, chat, have fun, and play a game they have in common - These would be more akin to pub-teams (pub as in public house, where the guys have a few pints of beer & then go play 5-a side football on a sunday afternoon).


The very fact you think that all these groups are uber-competitive shows you have such a little understanding of the groups you criticise, which is exactly why I said in my opening remarks; Everything you think you know is wrong.

And I've played with both types of groups for long periods, and even in the ultra-comp groups, there is still more fun & chilling out to be had than being all alone out there and stressing because your puggie team won't back you up when you're calling for help in global chat.

Eh sir, Iam calm I have no problem with premades doing their thing. I play pug and I like it. What I stated above is due to experience with competetive groups and the attitude that is conveyed by varies groups.
Dont get me wrong there are casual groups aswell, but I dont care about them either, because I do not play games without friends and I have no intention of making "internet friends". So again why chill? Iam calm.