Frustrated at the terrible skill level of players.

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The poster has hardly any history of saying anything nice therefore I don't give them the benefit of the doubt.


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I LOLed.

QR;

I have a very effective philosophy that works very well for me.

When I invite a player to a team, I watch them play. If they're an effective player who keeps up with the team, cool. If not, but the rest of the team is still doing okay, then at the very least they're acting as filler to increase the spawn size. If they're actually a detriment to the team, in that they're AFK when the mission's over or they're aggroing unnecessarily or they're doing someting else that puts the team at risk... I kick them.

Very simple.

It's not hard, folks...

The key is to talk to them. Tell them what they're doing that is unacceptable. Most players who behave badly are simply inexperienced, they need to be taught a little bit, that's all. They just need some guidance. Hopefully when one tries the guidance is well recieved, but often it's not, and if it's not then that's okay too, they have the right to tell you to stuff it... but you have the right to boot them.

Truth is often funny.

QR

I keep seeing complaints like the OPs but it's not like any of these occurences are new. Before AE, there were PLed 50s that couldn't find their [censored] with a map and after AE...the same thing.

[ QUOTE ]
QR;

I have a very effective philosophy that works very well for me.

When I invite a player to a team, I watch them play. If they're an effective player who keeps up with the team, cool. If not, but the rest of the team is still doing okay, then at the very least they're acting as filler to increase the spawn size. If they're actually a detriment to the team, in that they're AFK when the mission's over or they're aggroing unnecessarily or they're doing someting else that puts the team at risk... I kick them.

Very simple.

It's not hard, folks...

The key is to talk to them. Tell them what they're doing that is unacceptable. Most players who behave badly are simply inexperienced, they need to be taught a little bit, that's all. They just need some guidance. Hopefully when one tries the guidance is well recieved, but often it's not, and if it's not then that's okay too, they have the right to tell you to stuff it... but you have the right to boot them.

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This doesn't have anything to do directly with what you said, but this entire conversation reminds me of an experience I had in Everquest during the release of LDON - Lost Dungeons of Norrath. LDON was an instanced zone expansion. It introduces mission instances similar to the system in COH. The only problem is that you had to have a group of 4 to enter any. So you can imagine the plethera of pugs that went on during this time. The kicker also was that the LDON got rated so if the group failed the LDON you got a rating hit and people could basically search and exclude anyone with any rating hits. The missions are timed and you had goals like defeat X or Y etc. The upside is that with LDON points you could buy really decent gear.

So I'm sitting around the LDON entrance and a group asks me if I want to go in with them so I agree. We enter the mission, and immediately the leader pulls like 4 or 5 guys, no ready checks no buffs no pre readiness etc. So already I'm thinking this is gonna be ugly. Theres no coordination, the leader is the puller and the tank and isn't communicating what hes pulling or what his strategy is. We have mobs maybe 3 feet to the righ of us and the leader goes directly ahead, and keeps running down some corridor. Well everyone starts to follow but somhow 3 or 4 mobs aggro from the room to the right so we stop to fight them. Still no word from the leader. About halfway into the second mob, the leader comes back with another 4-5 mobs in tow. OK so now we have 8 mobs on us. Anyway we get through the fight, nearly eveyrone is on 1/4 or less of their health before the fight is over, the healer went LD or flatout left about halfway through the fight. All of a sudden some schmuck in the party starts yelling something about, ' so and so is your group leader, you guys need to start pulling your weight and doing what he says because we aren't gonna take this crap' or something along those lines. I do a smile emote followed by a bye emote and promptly leave the group and take a fail hit. I don't know if anyone else stayed but I really didn't care a bit at that point.

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QR

I keep seeing complaints like the OPs but it's not like any of these occurences are new. Before AE, there were PLed 50s that couldn't find their [censored] with a map and after AE...the same thing.

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I didn't know until last week that I could see someone elses missions in the map, because I had been solo until that point. I was 35 at the time. I had agreed to help someone on a mission they couldn't get past. As soon as we entered the mission door they said, 'I've got to go now sorry.' Why do people do that? Its so annoying.

The lesson here is that communication is key for running a team effectively.

I've had experiences like that in CoH, actually. It's never fun, but often I've found I can wrest control of the team away from the leader just simply by continually asking, over and over what the plan is. Eventually they either kick me (which is fine with me, if they'd rather kick me than talk to me then that's totally fine, I'll go do something else), or they answer me. Once they actually start talking it's pretty easy to stick a paddle in the water and help direct a little.

Something I've found over the years and years I've played the game is that very often the people who complain about the players on their team are actually crappy players themselves who don't know how to lead effectively. With the right guidance and motivation anyone can become a decent player on a team and a standard that I try very hard to always apply to myself is the idea that if my team sucks, then I'm not doing my job.

Due to time constraints, I solo *alot*...and I've gotten very good at soloing. I'll take my Human Only PB into Carnie or Malta arcs without blinking and do very well... I've done this so much I can make the most of all my Toon's nuances. I've timed it, and I'm usually only a minute or two slower in soloing a Cimmerora repeatable mish on my 50 PB than on my IOd 50 Brute. So, using my toons in solo situations, I'm a veteran.

On teams, however, I'm still a Newb in lots of ways. I sometimes get separated from the team, or I'll accidently aggro a far group more often than I should. I'm still learning how to use my Knockback in team environments to avoid frustrating meleers, whereas Solo KB is a valued survival tool.

Again, due to time constraints, I've probably only completed about 6 or 7 TFs, even though I've got 3 50s, so often I have no ideas what's going on or what to do on a TF that requires some strategy.

I guess my point is that even veteran players can appear Newbie in some situations

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Truth is often funny.

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Right, because I've NEVER done anything helpful or beneficial to the community.

*looks down at signature*

Well, crap. I hate it when I'm wrong.

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The lesson here is that communication is key for running a team effectively.

I've had experiences like that in CoH, actually. It's never fun, but often I've found I can wrest control of the team away from the leader just simply by continually asking, over and over what the plan is. Eventually they either kick me (which is fine with me, if they'd rather kick me than talk to me then that's totally fine, I'll go do something else), or they answer me. Once they actually start talking it's pretty easy to stick a paddle in the water and help direct a little.

Something I've found over the years and years I've played the game is that very often the people who complain about the players on their team are actually crappy players themselves who don't know how to lead effectively. With the right guidance and motivation anyone can become a decent player on a team and a standard that I try very hard to always apply to myself is the idea that if my team sucks, then I'm not doing my job.

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I approve of this message.

To the incidental conversation about whether or not the game is easy, I'll list a couple of reasons why I find it so:<ul type="square">[*]Getting to 50 is a matter of patience, not skill. You never lose experience. To quote an administrator on a MUD I used to play (where you actually lost experience for dying instead of merely slowing down the gain) "getting [to max level] is worth a bucket of warm [urination]." Quite simply, you don't need to ever learn any skill to level - whether or not you do learn it is a matter of personal preference.[*]While the intricacies of each powerset combination will take a little time to utilize to best advantage, the overall basics, team roles, and power abilities/statistics are similar enough that an experienced player should be able to pick up any AT or powerset combination and have a good idea how to complete a mission without being a detriment to a team with minimal exposure.[/list]
As for helping people out... if you notice someone doing something that's annoying or detrimental, ask them to stop and explain why. Then, if they're still not causing problems, kick them or whatever. If they're not doing things that would help (a /Cold that has but never uses the shields, for example) then point out that they could help more by doing whatever. And try not to alienate people by telling them how their build sucks; building a character may involve wasted power picks (sometimes for IO set bonuses) and generally I don't care how you build as long as you can play it well, but I will make recommendations if asked or if I notice issues (like a level 33 Fire/Dark Corruptor that skipped Fearsome Stare and kept dying during the Rain of Fire animation immediately after dropping Tar Patch).

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

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I don't know if the AE farms are to blame for this, but I have recently started a few alts and while I am doing the tutorial mission, people ask me VERY newbish questions about the game. (like how to use powers, etc.) It's almost like they don't READ the instructions provided! I did answer the questions, but it's still kinda irritating!

Then, just today, while I was in Atlas, I saw a level 1 Blaster taking on a group of level 4 Hellions (probably 4-5 of them!) I found that the 'shrug' emote was the only appropriate way to react! (I REALLY need a 'facepalm' emote!) Seriously, I think it's like "Rise of the Newbs" in CoH! (Which actually isn't a BAD thing with CO coming so soon!)

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(I added some emphasis above).

OK, this sounds very odd to me - that someone finds it weird that people in a TUTORIAL are asking questions about the mechinics of how to play a game. Oh my goodness - people trying to learn in a tutorial, how bizarre!

Some learn by reading a manual or the various instruction links, some learn by trying stuff out, some learn by asking specific questions about stuff they are confused by.

Personally, I prefer it when people ask questions to clarify what they are confused by rather than ASSUME (we all know where that leads) - and in a Tutorial seems the perfect place to do that. But YMMV.

If it truly does irritate you, then don't answer them.

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Truth is often funny.

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Right, because I've NEVER done anything helpful or beneficial to the community.

*looks down at signature*

Well, crap. I hate it when I'm wrong.

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I wasn't addressing this to you... If you thought I was talking about you then I'm sorry, unless you are the same person with diff names.

I thought the quote came from someone else, my apologies Player. I'll pay more attention to the 'reply to' source from now on instead of reading as a linear reply.

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I've had experiences like that in CoH, actually. It's never fun, but often I've found I can wrest control of the team away from the leader just simply by continually asking, over and over what the plan is. Eventually they either kick me (which is fine with me, if they'd rather kick me than talk to me then that's totally fine, I'll go do something else), or they answer me. Once they actually start talking it's pretty easy to stick a paddle in the water and help direct a little.

[/ QUOTE ]

This kind of reminds me of Battlefield 2142 for some odd reason. Matches when I'm NOT a squad leader usually go like this:

I joint a squad. There are no orders.
Orders, sir!
*nothing*
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
*nothing*
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Orders, sir!
Shut up and get off this channel!
*You have been silenced for XX seconds*
Orders, sir!

What makes it WORSE is that having orders allows both the people carrying them out to rack up close to double points AND the squad leader to rack up points for free from squad members following orders. So not only are idiot squad leaders hurting themselves, they are hurting ME. And let's not even get into stupid commanders. Ye gads!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

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Form your own teams, find out who the idiots are, give them one star and add a Note saying "idiot", and then kick them. There, problem solved.


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i havnt played the game in over a year now. what is this "star" thing and what do you mean about adding a "note"?
do you mean that team leaders can give the players in their team a star rating and add notes about them that other players can see?
can anyone give me some more info, or a website to read about these stars and notes?
im very disturbed by the thought that other players can rate other players with stars and make notes about them....i can imagine the abuse that kinda system would have

You can give anyone you run across a note for your own reference. Its kind of like flagging someone instead of putting them on your ignore list. It reminds you of why you either liked or disliked someone or whatnot.

Just right click them and add note.

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You can give anyone you run across a note for your own reference. Its kind of like flagging someone instead of putting them on your ignore list. It reminds you of why you either liked or disliked someone or whatnot.

Just right click them and add note.

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oh ok, but its for your own use. no one else sees the notes and stars you gave the player. only you see the notes you added right?

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You can give anyone you run across a note for your own reference. Its kind of like flagging someone instead of putting them on your ignore list. It reminds you of why you either liked or disliked someone or whatnot.

Just right click them and add note.

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oh ok, but its for your own use. no one else sees the notes and stars you gave the player. only you see the notes you added right?

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You can see your own notes, but nobody else can, they're yours. However, the star rating you give and recieve is viewable by all.

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&lt;QR&gt;

Why does anybody care if you teammates are good or not? All they're good for is increasing the spawn size. Doesn't take any skill to fill(I can rhyme!).

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That has to be one the dumbest things i have ever read in my 5 years of playing this game. Teammates who don't know to follow the Tank, Don't know how to pull, don't know not to aggro a second mob while the first is still engaged, don't know to look at your teams END bars to see how everyone is doing, before taking on the next mob, notice when the healer says AFK, etc...Adds up to repeated team wipes, something apparently you enjoy!

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You can give anyone you run across a note for your own reference. Its kind of like flagging someone instead of putting them on your ignore list. It reminds you of why you either liked or disliked someone or whatnot.

Just right click them and add note.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh ok, but its for your own use. no one else sees the notes and stars you gave the player. only you see the notes you added right?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can see your own notes, but nobody else can, they're yours. However, the star rating you give and recieve is viewable by all.

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So people can go around arbitrarily one starring ppl and theres nothing you can do about it? If that's the case, its extremely unfair and has the potential for unwarranted bias.

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You can see your own notes, but nobody else can, they're yours. However, the star rating you give and recieve is viewable by all.

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huh. interesting. is this star system used by alot of players? or only a very few?
ive never heard of anyone mention in game about this.
where can i read more about how this star system works, tried google search, but all i get is how to rate AE missions with stars.
im guessing 5 stars is good.
is your star rating a total of all the star ratings youve been given?
all it takes is one annoying person to give you one star and ruin your rating?
i dunno if i like this star system

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You can give anyone you run across a note for your own reference. Its kind of like flagging someone instead of putting them on your ignore list. It reminds you of why you either liked or disliked someone or whatnot.

Just right click them and add note.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh ok, but its for your own use. no one else sees the notes and stars you gave the player. only you see the notes you added right?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can see your own notes, but nobody else can, they're yours. However, the star rating you give and recieve is viewable by all.

[/ QUOTE ]

So people can go around arbitrarily one starring ppl and theres nothing you can do about it? If that's the case, its extremely unfair and has the potential for unwarranted bias.

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As far as I know that's how it works.

That being said, I've never used the system, I tend to ignore it as I feel very much as you do. I could be wrong about the mechanics of it, though, as clearly I have little experience with it.

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You can see your own notes, but nobody else can, they're yours. However, the star rating you give and recieve is viewable by all.

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huh. interesting. is this star system used by alot of players? or only a very few?
ive never heard of anyone mention in game about this.
where can i read more about how this star system works, tried google search, but all i get is how to rate AE missions with stars.
im guessing 5 stars is good.
is your star rating a total of all the star ratings youve been given?
all it takes is one annoying person to give you one star and ruin your rating?
i dunno if i like this star system

[/ QUOTE ]

Player Notes Patch Notes

According to the link:
<ul type="square">[*]Only you will see the Player Notes that you write and ratings you give. Since these notes are stored locally on your computer, other players cannot see your notes and ratings.[/list]

Like it says in the patch notes (linked above), only you see the rating you give to a specific player. It doesn't affect what anyone else sees; they either get nothing or their own rating (if they have one).

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

I've had the unfortuneate luck to run across some bad teams of AE babies. One however remains memorable.

We're a team of 8, all 50, and running story arc missions (not AE) and doing fine. A few mishes in, the leader asks me where are my pets. I respond that I don't have any pets.

Big mistake/wrong answer.. this immediately starts the entire team ranting about what a mistake it was not to have a pet on a controller.. what a idiot I was for not taking a pet on my controller... I wait out the storm (having figured they must all be AE babies since only one of them had a vet badge), and calmly reply "I'm a mind control/kinetics controller.. there are no pets in the set." Then my speed boost and fulcrum shift "mysteriously" disappeared from my power trays ^_~.

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Player Notes Patch Notes

According to the link:
<ul type="square">[*]Only you will see the Player Notes that you write and ratings you give. Since these notes are stored locally on your computer, other players cannot see your notes and ratings.[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

ok then, it says that only you see your notes AND RATINGS so im guessing then that no one else sees your stars either.
which is very good i think