How to know you're in a *GOOD* Pick-up Group
By
AmericanSteel,
Posted on: 2006-03-20 13:09 in Player Guides
Good story!
Now tell us what really happened. J/K 
just mentioning an error abandoned sewer network is lvl 35+ so you were only in the regular sewer network
Doh!
Fixed.
Life - a sexually transmitted terminal condition.
- The invitation is to 'join' the team, not 'help' the team
- You join, and your team chat window *isn't* filled with an argument within seconds
- No one says 'We need a healer' (or, worse, it's misspelled leetspeak equivalents)
- Everyone responds when the leader says 'rdy?'
- Your XPS go up faster than your debt
- The leader actually leads, meaning;
- The most aggressive/suicidal Brute/Scrapper/Tank does NOT become the defacto leader by running in front, and is occasionally told to cool off by said leader
- The leader picks mission based on proximity, challenge or continuity but *not* on getting HIS next contact
- The star doesn't get passed to you mysteriously and WITHOUT BEING TOLD
- No one asks a half-dozen strangers to 'help pls clean out old mish', or if so it's for a really, really good reason (haven't heard one yet)
- People with Recall Friend offer teleports, or at least give them when asked (why? why do some refuse?)
- People who go afk actually say 'afk' or at least 'brb'
- No one is getting PL'ed, or if they are *at least* they have the decency to bring their little debt-immune arses over and help, instead of standing in the entrance
- When someone asks advice for their next level, the conversation takes less than 2 minutes
- No one mentions 'pie', 'loot', 'mana', 'spells', etc..
- When people don't know where to change their rep or find a shop, they ASK instead of hauling their carcass over to another zone
- People call each other by the name of the toons they're using, instead of nicknames the rest of us can't possibly fathom (exception: if most of the players are in the same sg... still annoying but understandable)
- No one goes glowie-clicking unless they're invited to or it's their mission (not as important after the XP nerf, but still)
- People who don't mention they dont' want 'buff X' (fire or sonic shield, speed boost, whatever) don't fly off the handle when they get it. Note: they shoudln't fly off the handle afterwards either- us dumb mortals make mistakes, live with it or play with the other gods
- Everyone waits for the leader to either exit the mission or tell us to do so
- The sk's never initiate fights; they stay close and help
- Everyone has fun 8)
Zapgrrl, 45 EleEle VIRTUE
Darkgrrl, 50 DrkDrk INFINITY
Nuqular Skwirl 37 IllKin VIRTUE
Bayushi Rei, 50 KatReg CHAMPION
Corvus Corone 32 NinDrk INFINITY
...and too many others to admit
"Don't dream it- be it"
Frank'n'Furter
First off, Im really glad to see this thread crop up. The former is funny, but its nice to have a place that acknowledges the good experiences had, despite the common issues with PuGs.
I dont have a good one to add off the top of my head, except for being part of a team where the leader informed the two members of the team who insisted on running off and fighting fires in Steel that they would be kicked.
and they were. Believe it or not, that was a very good experience. Far too many flighty and unfocused team leaders out there. It was refreshing to see someone pulling everyone together and keeping the pace fast and fun.
----------------------
~Khenti, Pinnacle
Carl and Sons/The Establishment
Crey Cryostorm Lvl 42 Ice/Storm Controller
Hound of Belial Lvl 39 Fire/Kinetic Corruptor
Regarding demand for h3al0rz: People are selfish and stupid and no amount of argument is going to change that.
Regarding Corruptors desired only for their secondary:
See above. If we werent capable of being a damage-dealing AT, we wouldnt have a blasting primary and Scourge.
Excellent points there. Now if only the people who caused the other thread to come into being would read your post.
I had a pretty good group last night.
Which was weird, because it was a Hollows group and it was doing classic "newb tricks" like leading with the fireball and aggroing the second spawn.
But I was a Force Fielder and when I started applying bubbles, people showed up.
And I realized that, basically, as long as everyone's in the fight, nobody's dying too much and everyone's having fun. . .that's good enough.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
I was recently invited to a PUG for an AV mish where I was the second Tank. The other tank, who'd obviously been with the team longer, was a couple of levels above me. Now, I don't mind playing with another tank, but it is immensely helpful to have the roles spelled out beforehand.
Here's the surprising part; when I asked "So, what's the plan--what do you want me to do?" I actually got an answer a useful, reasonable answer. Team leader says, "Other Tank is lead tank, you follow and pick up extra aggro."
I nearly fainted on the spot in surprise. I can't tell you how many times I've asked a PUG leader how they want the battles to run and gotten the answer, "Just kill 'em!". Urgh.
My Characters
Knight Court--A CoH Story Complete 2/3/2012
Last night I got my Ill/Sonic controller on an all controller team and did missions in Perez. Easily the best pick up group I've been in in months. Three levels in two hours with only one team wipe. (result of a huge patroll walking into an already iffy pull.)
Definitely a lot of folks ther I would team with again.
All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.
But memories remain, And that is beautiful.
My level 49 Emp/Rad Defender gets LOTS of invites, many of them blind. I accept most when otherwise unoccupied, and am pleasantly surprised on a regular basis by the quality of many of the groups I join. The ones that are PUGly get dropped by me very quickly.
I know I'm on a good PUG when I get complimented on the quality and timing of my buffs/debuffs rather than constant yells of "HEAL!"
I know I'm on a good PUG when people recognize that I know how to do my job, and allow me to apply Fort and AB to the key members that need it most.
I know I'm on a good PUG when the leader takes control, the team does their jobs, and I can spend almost as much time using my offensive attacks/debuffs as I do my heals.
I know I'm on a good PUG when the hours roll by, the AV's go down hard and fast, and I can count the number of team deaths on one hand.
Many of these players end up on my "friend" list quickly, and I know I end up on alot of theirs...
[ QUOTE ]
Last night I got my Ill/Sonic controller on an all controller team and did missions in Perez. Easily the best pick up group I've been in in months. Three levels in two hours with only one team wipe. (result of a huge patroll walking into an already iffy pull.)
Definitely a lot of folks ther I would team with again.
[/ QUOTE ]
The first thing you did right was making an Ill/Son Controller!
Life - a sexually transmitted terminal condition.
Whee, finally back in CoH.
First PUG since returning was tonight...3 blasters, 3 controllers. I admit, I know nothing about the sewer network, wasn't around when I was last present. O.o In short - huh? So here we were, a bunch of level 8s or so, wandering around the Hollows.
Signs of good group which were noticed.
- When travelling, they move as a unit. Nasty large group of baddies? Kill 'em, or have someone with recall friend and hover skirt 'bout them and move everybody to safety!
- When fighting, rather than everybody working alone, a coherent plan was constructed. This controller does that, that one that, that one that. This blaster does that, that one that, that one that. Bad guys meet floor.
It was a pleasant surprise, I must say!
- After the mission has been selected, it doesn't take 20 minutes to gather everyone at the mission entrance
- People seem to read team chat and act accordingly
- Blasters are not trigger happy
- Blasters are not jumping into the middle of unaggroed mobs trying to fire an AOE
- People know what buffs are good for
- People know where to stand around the non-Empath Defenders to receive a heal and be protected
- People fight the current spawn until EVERYTHING is dead and do not start aggroing other mobs
- People with knockback use it purposedly
- People kill anchors last as much as possible
- People don't "do homework while playing" !
- People don't bail out as soon as mission is finished but say good bye to everyone before leaving the team
- People say they have time for one more as soon as mission is finished and just don't stay at the mission exit waiting for god knows what
- People recognize work from other support characters that are not Empathy-based
- People communicate with sentences
- People don't have 3 travel powers at lvl 20
- People have costumes that look like they have taste
The best pickup-group I was ever in was a while ago. I was invited courteously and ansked if I wanted to the Founder's Fall taskforce, and I said yes.
On the team we had a tank who was kicked after we'd done 3 missions without him. He hadn't even told us he was going afk, but when prompted for a reason for his absence, he stated that he'd been looking at his badges. I learned later that this also got him kicked from his SG.
We proceed to do the taskforce in record time, and decide we'll try our hand at the respec trial as well. And we do it. Not a single death, timely pulls, no need for discussing tactics because we all knew our stuff, that sort of thing.
The team consisted of a forcefield defender (deity bless her), an ice/storm controller and an illusion/something.
A taskforce and a trial in less than four hours total, and only one death. Mine. I'd been jousting with superspeed and combat jump and got a BIT too far. Right into a second spawn. I hit Inferno so my teammates wouldn't have to worry about them and missed all but one. Pure, rotten luck.
The entire team made my friends list, but I never saw them again.
Since then I've been on numerous pick-up teams, most of them good. In fact, my very first pickup team (duo, actually) became my very first supergroup, WildThings, and we're still very much around.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
I probably had one of my best PuGs yesterday, doing the 34+ respec. The fact that many of the people came from the Guardian channel probably had something to do with it.
<ul type="square">[*]The tank PUNCHVOKES. Every bad guy in the spawn who isn't trying to hit him gets hit by him. He doesn't sit in one place trying to arrest ONE perp.
[*]Everyone waits for buffs. When offered, people await their buffs. When not offered, people politely request them.
[*]The empath RARELY heals. Okay, if the empath has to heal lots it may still be a good PuG. But if the empath defender says, "this is the least healing I've ever had to do on a tf," you know the team is rockin' and the empath is able to concentrate more on allocating buffs.
[*]People have perspective. It's just a game. Good teams recognize we all have real lives and accomodate. When a personal issue came up during the tf I let everyone know I had to take off for 5-15 minutes and said I would log and return so as not to spawn the mission for 7 instead of 6. Everyone said to enter the mission and stay to get xp, and that they all understood!! Cool peeps.[/list]Nice thread!
Yeah, I like this thread, too. I have been in many, many good PUG, and a few bad ones.
Yesterday, I rolled an Ice/Storm controller. I like controllers, but had not really tried either of those powersets very far. I do some hunting and one mission but was still level 2, and then was invited to a Sewer team. The leader was a newbie, who gathered a few people and then quit, leaving an experienced Emp Defender as leader. He gathered a full team of 8, with 2 controllers, 2 tanks, 2 defenders and a PB and a scrapper . . . and it turned out that the scrapper and PB were boyfriend/girlfriend.
The most important thing was that the team was patient. We would gather beyond the aggro range of the baddies, quickly discuss what we were going to do, and then let loose. Between battles, we would have some pretty funny discussions. Five of us hit level 3 on the second battle, and then got to level 4 in record time. We agreed on getting a team wipe so we could all level, then came back to work our way up to level 7 in the fastest I have ever done it.
I find that the best groups are ones that combine smart play with friendly banter . . . and I usually find that in older players, I am sorry to say. Usually college age and up, but there are some exceptions. Couples who play together are almost always good teammates.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
I had two pretty good experiences recently on the infinity server, with an earth / storm controller. In both cases it was the same team leader, who just by chance gave me a second invite and who didn't realize who I was until I reminded him or her.
What made the teams good was that teammates listened to each other and seemed to instinctively know how to cover each other's weaknesses. For example, if a change in targeting priority was needed, they'd listen. If somebody needed a green or blue insp, it was likely to be passed to them (I gave more than I received in that regard, but others seemed to pick up on the idea). Pulling was done competently and problems with teammates intercepting pulled mobs at an inappropriate time were solved with dialogue, without argument or rancor.
I'm having more trouble finding PUGs that turn out well when playing my dark / psy defender. Dark is very powerful when teammates play in ways that complements its strengths, but its utility falls off rapidly when anchors frequently get killed at inopportune times (despite reminders) and battles are spread out all over the place. I've found my earth / storm is more versatile and capable when helping marginal PUG teams, even in cases where my dark / psy would probably tend to struggle.
A "blastroller" build explanation: electricity / ice / fire
So just last night, my friend was on her Peacebringer, and I hop on my Controller. We're both fresh level 19s and looking to level. So she pulls together a PUG. The first thing that came to my mind was "oh no..." The second thing was "Why is she getting a full team of eight?"
Putting my fears to the side, and trusting her, we went and did my Tsoo mission, which was set to Heroic, and spawning whites and yellows, with the occational Orange (lots of bosses though. LOTS of orange bosses).
The first thing to be said by anyone when we get into the mission?
"There are Tsoo many bosses in here"
....
Followed up with
"How did they all get here? The Tsoo Tsoo Train?"
....
The amount of Tsoo jokes we had going was Tsoo funny. We ran with that joke through that mission, the next Tsoo mission, and even way off into the Council mission. Even hitting on a few in the Hydra, Vahz, Council mission! (There are Tsoo many enemies here, we need to pull)
The team meshed so well, and there was almost zero complaining (one person, who was kicked and replaced almost instantly). It was just amazing how well everything seemed to come together. And when I did level up to 20 on the last mission? I got Hurricane and helped clump up all the baddies around the tanks so the AoE happy Blasters and PBs could get it on.
How do you know you're on a good PUG?
There are Tsoo many jokes flying around that you can't see straight!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Last night I got my Ill/Sonic controller on an all controller team and did missions in Perez. Easily the best pick up group I've been in in months. Three levels in two hours with only one team wipe. (result of a huge patroll walking into an already iffy pull.)
Definitely a lot of folks ther I would team with again.
[/ QUOTE ]
The first thing you did right was making an Ill/Son Controller!
[/ QUOTE ]
agreed. and not just because I got one and its the most fun I've had so far.
Three nights ago I was killing council in Steel with my level 11 MA/SR scrapper in a desperate attempt to make it to level 12 before I logged. While I was doing it, I got a heal from what I thought was a passerby. I finished the fight, then turned to thank my benefactor. Standing next to me were a blaster named Moonlight Kiss and a controller named Pretty-Kitty.
We exchanged costume and bio compliments, and they asked if I wanted to join them for the Spelunker/Missing Fortune Teller mission and exemp a friend of theirs. I am pretty antisocial about PUGs, but they were pleasant and polite and I'm a badge [censored], so I did. We waited for a higher level Grav/Kin controller (yay!) to show up for an exemp, and then set off.
It was a good group. We had to run the entire length of Perez to get to the mission, and it wasn't just a free-for-all - the group stuck together, waited for slower members, and we defended one another when aggro hit. In the mission we were patient, everybody knew her role, and we made swift progress to the fortune teller.
And the thing is, there was a group wipe. There were what looked like three groups clumped around the fortune teller - three Lts and a Boss plus a lot (at least 12, maybe as many as 18) minions. I've never seen a spawn that large for a 4 man team on default difficulty, and part of the spawn was hidden behind a column formation. So we jumped in, took down about half the spawn, and were killed.
And the thing is, everybody was mortified ("A group wipe! I'm so embarrassed!"). We discussed tactics, regrouped, got back to the mission and cleaned house. It was a great experience, even given the death - I finished with no debt, within striking distance of 12, with a key badge, two new friends and an invite to a Trial mission later in the week.
I find that I increasingly rely on the way I'm invited to determine if I'll join a PUG. If it's polite, reasonable and open to questions, I'm much more interested than I am in the innumerable out-of-the-blue invites I get.
Nice post. If I were to distill that into a nugget of wisdom to put in a "How do you know you're in a GOOD PUG?" the lesson would be:
Good PUGS practice good communication
Life - a sexually transmitted terminal condition.
I mostly roll with PuGs and the best ones are the ones that I start myself. 
The chances of a bad PuG get smaller as you level up.
[ QUOTE ]
I find that the best groups are ones that combine smart play with friendly banter . . . and I usually find that in older players, I am sorry to say. Usually college age and up, but there are some exceptions. Couples who play together are almost always good teammates.
[/ QUOTE ]
I could not agree more. My SG (http://www.pcdf.net) is practically founded on the "make me laugh in Chat" principle. My wife and I play together and take pride in running fun PUGs.
We always want more fun people to play with so look us up on Infinity.
Infinity
Co-Leader, Paragon City Defense Fleet
Co-Leader, Scions of Arachnos
Captain Cure, Emp/Rad Def
Captain Corruption, Robot/Traps MM
and many many more alts
Altoholics Anon.
I was on my FF/Energy defender, when bam, invite outta no where. No tell, no broadcast on my part, just a blind invite. Well, my Defender was feelin' mighty lonely, so I accept. I get on the team:
1 Stone/Stone tank
1 Katana/Regen scrapper
Myself
1 Claws/SR Scrapper
2 Blasters (I forget their powers)
and one more scrapper (I forget his powers as well)
We're all around level 15, and we enter the mish to find, to our dismay, level 18's! Whats more, its only at the front. Deeper inside they turn to 19s. After a few jokes about how the stone tank can outrun the bad guys (he had rooted on), I bubble everybody, and the madness begins.
Never before have I seen so many reds/purples decimated.
The tank did his job, jumping in and holdin the aggro. I don't know how he lived, but he managed to stay about yellow without immediate doom. The scrappers scrapped to and fro, blasters a blasting, and I was throwin the knockback on to the bosses, keeping them trapped in the corner and constantly trying to stand back up. In about 30 minutes we cleared the mish, and everybody leveled up atleast once, some twice. We kept doing missions against purples, and finally when some yellows appear, the lowest members on the team (The tank and myself) scoff at their lowly nature. Everyone on the team global friended each other, and we all still play together, in an unofficial SG. As someone who has a serious case of altitis, I've seen alot of good and bad ones, but the above was my favorite.
First off, let me start by saying: I love the "How to know you're in a PUG" thread. Truly hilarious stuff. Love it, love it, love it....
HOWEVER
In honor of recent groups that I accepted invites to without knowing anyone- and finding the groups to be excellent- I would like to start a thread whose basic premise is:
"Yeah, I accepted an invite to a group where nobody knew each other- and they were really great! I first started to realize we were good when..."
For me, the most fun I had this weekend was with my shiny new blaster (lvl 6 when we started). I put up my LFT flag and ran missions and hunted for a while, then:
(clue #1 this might be a good group): I get a /tell saying a little something about lvl range of group AND (clue #2)
Clue #2: it was a group under level 10 who were hunting in the Sewer Network rather than doing missions in the Hollows
Shortly after joining group, which was a decent mix of blasters, trollers, tanks, etc., we entered sewers. Upon sighting the first group of baddies, leader says:
Clue #3: "Pull"; my ears perked up at this one. Sure enough, the other blaster did a pull and....
-nobody rushed forward to great the incoming mobs
-nobody "held" the mobs where they were until they had disengaged from the main group
-we all hung back in the "kill zone" and ripped apart whatever we pulled into it
It was glorious fun, all the better because...
This was a PUG...and it ruled!
My blaster's just three bubs shy of lvl 10 now....
Anyone- give us your odes to GOOD PUGS!
Life - a sexually transmitted terminal condition.