I've never had a problem getting groups. On the other hand, I don't have a super group, and I kind of use all the "join my super group" requests as mish group leverage, but I'm still calling a 0 to 38 solo streak just bad luck.
I did a post last year in the MM forums entitled "Do YOU invite MM's when you have the star?" To my surprise a great many of the MM comrades do NOT invite other MM's because like people who play stormies, people are more afraid of the bad players that the difficulties they can cause as oppose to the aid they can render.
I was actually in a group the other night where we went out of our way to ONLY invite masterminds. It started as a joke, since the group initially was 4 masterminds, 2 VEATs, a brute and a corruptor, and someone said "Clearly we don't have enough masterminds."
When one of the non-MMs dropped, we started piping up with "Invite another mastermind!"
As people slowly dropped due to having to go, getting disconnected, etc, we made sure to only invite more masterminds. Eventually we had a full team of 8 masterminds. It was hilarious. Mobs were dying so fast that we could move through the mission at a non-stop run. The only thing that slowed us down was a mayhem, where people split up and got chewed up by the massed longbow ambushes.
But a lot of people do seem to have this phobia about inviting masterminds. Much of it is a case of "I remember this one time, when a mastermind screwed us..." But for every situation like that, I can remember when it was a brute, a corruptor, etc. Masterminds are just an easy target to blame, for two main reasons: the pets can get annoying if they end up blocking doorways (a valid complaint, really, though I've had several doorways blocked by overzealous plant doms, as well, with that healing tree, and that thing can't be moved!), and the occasional lack of pet control in a large, crowded room. One pet chasing a runner into another big spawn, and that can cause a wipe.
But the same thing can happen if a runner with a toggle on them goes running off. Or a runner who gets tagged with an AE attack within range of more mobs. Heck, one mission got wiped because a brute sneezed when she started to jump forward, overshot the target group, and landed in the aggro range of two more groups, so our group of 8 suddenly had to deal with about 20 +4 level mobs, including a number of bosses. Was ugly.
But really, all this can be summed up really quick: Learn to master your powers and your pets, and you'll be a huge asset to any team.
The Mastermind Project
Leveling every primary/secondary to 50!
50: Bot/FF, Bot/Dark, Ninja/Trap, Merc/Pain, Necro/Dark, Thug/Dark
Works in Progress: Thug/TA, Merc/Poison, Thug/Pain, Ninja/Pain, Thug/Storm
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I was actually in a group the other night where we went out of our way to ONLY invite masterminds. It started as a joke, since the group initially was 4 masterminds, 2 VEATs, a brute and a corruptor, and someone said "Clearly we don't have enough masterminds."
When one of the non-MMs dropped, we started piping up with "Invite another mastermind!"
As people slowly dropped due to having to go, getting disconnected, etc, we made sure to only invite more masterminds. Eventually we had a full team of 8 masterminds. It was hilarious. Mobs were dying so fast that we could move through the mission at a non-stop run. The only thing that slowed us down was a mayhem, where people split up and got chewed up by the massed longbow ambushes.
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LOL!!,..must have been like the Keystone Cops. Funny Stuff. In keeping with that Keystone Cop theme, I appropriately named my three little Battle Drones Moe, Larry and Curly as they seem to constantly get into trouble and mischief...lol.
i've found that unless the group im in is of a like mind - ie. they prefer situations controlled instead of rampant chaos - grouping with an mm of any flavor is frustrating
at least when i play a brute i can take point and ENFORCE my controlled way of kiling things and keeping everyone alive. when im on my fire/kin well...i'm too busy pounding on fireball.
Well, by the same token I've had groups where the brute is the one causing "rampant chaos" as well, due to the "argh, I can't run out of fury! " mindset, where one or more will go running off to pull more mobs, forcing the people supporting them to have to chase after them to keep them from face-planting, spreading the team all over the place.
Quite often on my masterminds I'll be the one taking point, and soaking the alpha strike and methodically taking the spawn apart, since a lot of the brutes I've run across seem to be rather squishy; more about damage output, less about soaking damage.
But everyone's experience varies.
The Mastermind Project
Leveling every primary/secondary to 50!
50: Bot/FF, Bot/Dark, Ninja/Trap, Merc/Pain, Necro/Dark, Thug/Dark
Works in Progress: Thug/TA, Merc/Poison, Thug/Pain, Ninja/Pain, Thug/Storm
Inviting MMs is a crapshoot. Just put your pri/sec in your LFT and have it say you have pet binds (you DO have pet binds, right?).
The alternative is to say something cute in your LFT. "Will spam heals for food" on my paindom pretty much means I get harassed nonstop while marketing at the BM.
'Bubble, Bubble, toil and trouble' is my LFT message.
That said, on off-peak Justice people take what they can get. I can't afford to be choosy, I'll even take a petless just to get more spawns.
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I was actually in a group the other night where we went out of our way to ONLY invite masterminds. It started as a joke, since the group initially was 4 masterminds, 2 VEATs, a brute and a corruptor, and someone said "Clearly we don't have enough masterminds."
When one of the non-MMs dropped, we started piping up with "Invite another mastermind!"
As people slowly dropped due to having to go, getting disconnected, etc, we made sure to only invite more masterminds. Eventually we had a full team of 8 masterminds. It was hilarious. Mobs were dying so fast that we could move through the mission at a non-stop run. The only thing that slowed us down was a mayhem, where people split up and got chewed up by the massed longbow ambushes.
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LOL!!,..must have been like the Keystone Cops. Funny Stuff. In keeping with that Keystone Cop theme, I appropriately named my three little Battle Drones Moe, Larry and Curly as they seem to constantly get into trouble and mischief...lol.
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Its been a long time since I played COV on a regular basis but most of my characters were MMs. One of my favorite moments was on test when the THUGs MM was being prepared for live. We had a team of nothing but Thug MMs and about the only thing that slowed us down at times was there were so many pets they actually got in the way and made it hard for us to move forward.. with them following. When we all got gang war it was like watching a train wreck everything in our path dropped so fast.
I do know that certain leaders have expressed impatience, especially at higher levels, waiting for the MMs to summon all the pets and then equip and enhance them. I actually got to the point where I'd summon and do the rest on the fly as we moved along. Frankly that always struck me as odd considering the benefits fully enhanced set of pets offered. There was also an issue with the pets having a mind of their own if the MM wasn't really good at controlling them and they'd aggro mobs before everyone was ready.. But that same thing can happen on COH with Controller pets and a good MM or Controller learns to keep it from occurring.
The nice thing is MM are very soloable and I have even done Mayhems where I did all the sides destroyed every object and defeated every NPC on the map and left with a LOT of time left on the clock. Still I enjoy teaming and the lack of team invites due to misconceptions could be annoying. But as long as you are enjoying yourself have fun 
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
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Some people get lag from MM pets so they don't want to invite MMs.
Some people have dealt with bad MMs who only buff their own pets or buff their pets first so they distrust all MMs.
There isn't much you can do for the first group to be on a team with MMs and you can only show the second group that not everyone plays MMs the same.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
Honestly, I've had no trouble finding teams with my mastermind in general. However, it is much easier to find them with a corruptor or a brute. I think people are a bit wary of inviting masterminds for two reasons, they have had a bad experience with a mastermind previously, or they don't know what to expect.
I find the second is the relevant reason in general. Masterminds are a harder AT to quantify than corrupters or brutes who both bring pretty obvious things to the table. (Damage and buffs and damage absorption and damage respectively). A mastermind's effectiveness in a team largely depends on how that player plays them. You can't always count on mms for buffs and heals, (some of them don't use them or only use them on their pets) and the amount of damage a mastermind does is relative based on the primary. Tankerminds can bring a huge amount of mitigation to a team if built right but, (I find) are few and far between.
Realistically, if you just put LFT in your search box you are probably not the first choice for teams to invite. If you want a team PM team leaders who are looking for members and throw the occasional Lvl _ primary/secondary mm lft in broadcast.
So, working with my first MM Bots/Traps and almost to level 40, I made some general observations along the way. Being that this is only my sixth Toon I've been working on as of Jan. 09' since I came back from a five year hiatus, I am learning new things with my MM.
When I first started out with my Blaster, I would always keep my search status as "looking for teams" on. I would call myself a passive team player meaning that I normally don't send out tells or broadcast "lft". This really never was an issue as I would always get invites with my Blaster and other Toons, including my Controller. If I didn't get an invite right away, I would never sweat it and just go solo for a few mish'es but would eventually always get a tell to join a team.
Now the weird thing with my MM is since I've been playing from level 1 to my current level 38, I've only been invited to three teams. I used the same technique that I did with my other Toons leaving my "looking for teams" prompt on and only three invites. After awhile, I would just turn off my prompt. Again, keep in mind that I don't actively seek teams since I do enjoy soloing with my MM. I just thought this was funny as who wouldn't want a MM on their team with all of their wonderful pets?
I only bring this subject up as I do plan on building different builds of MM's since my Bots/Traps was my first. So, are MM's looked upon more as a solo'er other than team toons? Or, does being on CoV side have something to do with the lack of invites?