[ QUOTE ]
Also,as I said,to add incentive and initiave to people not wanting the badge,we could do something radical,like when you get the teaming badge,or badges,this could happen
1)You could unlock something that is major,vital,and desired..such as unlocking the option for vehicles for their charachter
2)You could possibly unlock another AT by getting the teaming badge.
..and also,when youa re on a team,we could link all other players to the team leader..In other words,if people quit before the team leader does,the bar that you earn for teamage goes down a bit
Just some ideas
The End : )
[/ QUOTE ]
This is going waaayyyy overboard.
Why do you think teaming is so important that it not only deserves a badge just for teaming, but it also deserves an additional reward well above the level of what other activities in the game get?
I'm really "meh" on a badge just for teaming, but unlocking a new AT for it? Or vehicles - which BTW seem so unlikely to happen that we have literally pounded the idea into the ground.
I would advise against tying the idea for a badge for time spent teaming to unlikely or unsuitable rewards. It needs to either stand or fall on its own merits without the fancy razzle-dazzle of outrageous rewards.
No "major, vital" stuff should be tied to a badge which rewards a particular style of gameplay.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
[ QUOTE ]
..and also,when you are on a team,we could link all other players to the team leader..In other words,if people quit before the team leader does,the bar that you earn for teamage goes down a bit
[/ QUOTE ]
I really dont like this idea. Its too much like penalising players for having to go and take care of stuff in RL.
What if the team leader goes AFK when the teams splitting up anyway? Everyone has to wait for them to come back from making a cup of coffee or suffer the penalty?
Say someone does have to leave for a valid reason after being a stellar teammate for a few missions - would it be polite for the leader to hand them the star first so they dont get penalised? If they do, who gets the star back again? Not necessarily the old leader, is it? Isnt it the player at the top of the list?
If a team leader wants to hang on to their members, they can make the team fun and productive. This penalty seems very artificial, and gives the team leader some kind of authority they dont need to have.
I read your objection Dr. Mike,and you are right,this might not be a very good idea,but this may help as an operation if this idea wee implemented.
Lets say that this was your team...
Gerald Gunn
Samson Sledge
The Omega Sounder
Reede
Serentus
Operative Shade
Zodan Brouge
,and Gerald Gunn is the team leader
If he were to quit,then Samson would get the star,if Samson were to quit,The Omega Sounder would get the star,and it would continue all they way down to Operative Shade,and all he would have to do is quit,and therefore Zodan quiting at the same time so he,nor anyone else,would loose points on their bar.
I merely suggested this idea to attack those players who just quit out of nowhere who love to spite other people,and make the team leader mad,but if the team leader team held the power to get there new AT,or Vehicles in his or her hands..I doubt they would go very far.
A team leader simply would let people know he is going AFK,and pass the star to someone else,and have his teammates remember that all team leaders must quit first before you do.All you would have to do is sit there,and wait for the star,and when you became team leader and quit,the very last guy would be forced to quit,and no one would loose any bar progress.
If someone had to leave for a genuine reason,and I was the leader of the team?I would simply pass the star to the person leaving,and as soon as he or she quit,the person who got the star after that player left would just give it back to me.
There is also no ironclad way to keep a team together,Hence the people who wish to quit to just make you mad,or those who quit because they arent willing to try.It isnt always a genuine reason as to why people have to quit.
If you arent up for this idea,that is all right,but I think it to have some potential.Just read it as I described it to you.
The End : )
I get what you're proposing, Samson. And your example there is what I was saying - people have to leave the team in the right order to avoid getting penalised.
I've never come across people leaving a team to make the leader mad or to spite people. You're saying this is a common occurrence?
If I did, I dont know if I'd want them to stick around just to get some goodies off me. Wouldn't it be preferable for them to leave anyway and pick up some new members who weren't trying to mess you around?
My bottom line is that anyone on a team I've formed is free to leave without obligation at a moments notice - I don't own anyone else's time in this game.
You have never come across anyone like that?..
Just out of curiousity,what server do you play on? : )
I play on Virtue.
I'm in Australia, so I play during the hours just before maintenance mostly, with other Antipodeans, shift workers and insomniacs 
I used to form pickup groups a lot, and you'd often get people leaving the team after a few missions because it was late, or they had to be somewhere, or they didn't give a reason. Just "Thanks for the team. I have to log"
It was never hard to find new bodies or keep rolling with less than a full team.
But I never got the sense that anyone was trying to annoy me by leaving.
I don't mind the idea of a badge for teaming, but I don't think it should be part of any accolade. People shouldn't have to alter their playstyle to get accolades, and some people just don't enjoy teaming.
[ QUOTE ]
I get what you're proposing, Samson. And your example there is what I was saying - people have to leave the team in the right order to avoid getting penalised.
I've never come across people leaving a team to make the leader mad or to spite people. You're saying this is a common occurrence?
If I did, I dont know if I'd want them to stick around just to get some goodies off me. Wouldn't it be preferable for them to leave anyway and pick up some new members who weren't trying to mess you around?
My bottom line is that anyone on a team I've formed is free to leave without obligation at a moments notice - I don't own anyone else's time in this game.
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with DrMike - I have never seen people leave a team to make the leader mad or spite people. It just seems very farfetched to tthink that consistently happens to anyone, but I am not in Samson's shoes, so maybe he has had extremely bad luck with team mates.
I have played across all the servers except Freedom and the one and only time I ever felt "betrayed" by team mates was when four members of an ITF (all the same VG and probably on Vent by the general lack of chatter) quite towards the end of the second mission all at th same time, abandoning me and the other hero member of the team. I think once in 4 1/2 years is certainly not enough to try to "Fix" because that's a pretty low percentage of jerkiness.
I'm sorry you are having such trouble with your teams, Samson. To throw the question back to you - What server are *you* playing on? Maybe it's time to change your playstyle or server to find better teams.
OK - Teaming tips - Join your server's badging/teaming channels. Find a good SG. Form you own team (but don't be a dictator about it - people need to leave when people need to leave). Fond a circle of in-game friends. And move off an unfriendly server to start fresh if you have built up that much bad karma.
Badge for teaming - meh, whatever.
Accolade or excessively "vital, desired" stuff for teaming - no way, not needed, and rewards one playstyle over others in an unbalanced way.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
[ QUOTE ]
I don't mind the idea of a badge for teaming, but I don't think it should be part of any accolade. People shouldn't have to alter their playstyle to get accolades, and some people just don't enjoy teaming.
[/ QUOTE ] The precedent has already been set with the Task Force Commander. And why shouldn't people have to go out of their way and do things they wouldn't normally do to get accolades?
I think having a badge for missions completed on a team would be awesome.
For an accolade you'ld have to find some other badges to tie it to.
Well as an avid badger I wouldn't mind a new series of "number of missions completed while teaming" badges. The idea of badges for "time while teaming" could (and would) be AFK farmed way too easily. Sure technically a "number of missions completed" series could be farmed as well, but at least that type of farming would require some "at the keyboard" player involvement. 
Having said that I doubt this kind of badge would appear in the game now in any form. The Devs are on the verge of getting rid of most of the MA badges related to "completing X number of MA arcs" in I15 on the pretense that they encourage grinding/farming. My guess is that they would consider any kind of time/count badges associated with something like teaming to be just as bad at this point. 
Loth 50 Fire/Rad Controller [1392 Badges] [300 non-AE Souvenirs]
Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
1) Adding in some additional reward in an attempt to get people to do something is always, always, always a terrible idea. If people don't want to do something, they probably have a good reason.
2) Adding in bizarre and arbitrary penalties (and similar "early warning system" badges) are also always a very, very, very bad idea.
3) If you're really deadset on a teaming badge, there damn well better be a soloing badge too.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
Yeah ultimately badges should not be seen as a direct 'tool' the Devs can use to -motivate- people to play the game in any particular way. They exist if you want them or not but they should never be "needed" for anything strictly necessary to succeed in the game.
I'll mention the I15 MA badge rollback again to point out that the Devs are mainly removing them because they felt they were encouraging people to play the game in a manner they didn't like. Clearly the Devs are now aware of the unexpected power badges have to "suggest" play styles and I would encourage them not get into the business of actively trying to manipulate people via badges one way or the other. The side effects of that kind of meddling could be widespread and counterproductive. Instead of having to grind for badges it looks like the game is swinging the other way where badges will become so trivial to earn there won't be any point to them.
Putting it in those terms one can almost question the whole manipulative idea of "accolade powers" in the first place. *shrugs*
Loth 50 Fire/Rad Controller [1392 Badges] [300 non-AE Souvenirs]
Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
[ QUOTE ]
Putting it in those terms one can almost question the whole idea of "accolade powers" in the first place. *shrugs*
[/ QUOTE ]
It's a question of intent. I don't think accolades were meant to sweeten badges for everyone else, I think they were just supposed to be rewards for investing in the badge system. The difference is very small, admittedly.
It helps that accolade powers aren't really essential.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Putting it in those terms one can almost question the whole idea of "accolade powers" in the first place. *shrugs*
[/ QUOTE ]
It's a question of intent. I don't think accolades were meant to sweeten badges for everyone else, I think they were just supposed to be rewards for investing in the badge system. The difference is very small, admittedly.
It helps that accolade powers aren't really essential.
[/ QUOTE ]
I think it does come down to the vague realm of hair-splitting intents.
The current accolade badges require a set of individually unimportant badging activities in order to get the end result powers. For most people the badges/powers are the primary goal, not the actions it took to get the accolades. The ends tend to justify the means.
On the other hand the OP is interested in encouraging and/or manipulating a specific badging activity with a "carrot and stick" approach. The accolade power is not as critical as trying to permanently train people to perform a single desired activity needed to get the power. As far as the OP is concerned the nature of the particular "carrot" is of secondary importance.
The main problem with the "carrot and stick" way of thinking here is that eventually a given player can/will get the carrot. Once the player has the carrot (in this case the accolade power) there is no longer any motivation to keep up the specific activity (i.e. teaming) it took to get the carrot in the first place.
In a nutshell we players aren't puppies.
We can't be potty-trained to maintain any style of play we ultimately don't want to enjoy.
Loth 50 Fire/Rad Controller [1392 Badges] [300 non-AE Souvenirs]
Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
People quitting before the mish even began?It just happened to me on Infinity not more than few iminutes ago,and it is really driving me nuts.
If my ideas arent good..How would anyone here give incentive and Initiative to want to team and team and team some more.Could it be for a badge,or to unlock a new power,or something like that?...
There msut be some way to do this...
Why do we need any extra incentive to team? We already get more xp teaming(over time, not per kill) than playing solo.
[ QUOTE ]
Why do we need any extra incentive to team? We already get more xp teaming(over time, not per kill) than playing solo.
[/ QUOTE ]
I like to think of this as less of an "incentive" to team and more as a reward for doing so. There are already badges for just about every other subset of the game community. Most of those badges are really nothing more than niftys with no real effect on game play. Why not one for teaming?
Writer of In-Game fiction: Just Completed: My Summer Vacation. My older things are now being archived at Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/~jwbullfrog until I come up with a better solution.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why do we need any extra incentive to team? We already get more xp teaming(over time, not per kill) than playing solo.
[/ QUOTE ]
I like to think of this as less of an "incentive" to team and more as a reward for doing so. There are already badges for just about every other subset of the game community. Most of those badges are really nothing more than niftys with no real effect on game play. Why not one for teaming?
[/ QUOTE ] I have no problem with the suggestion. I was just wondering why we need any extra incentive to team.
Well, most people don't. I happen to agree with you there. I'm just looking at it from the "marketeers have badges why don't I?" angle.
Besides, on villainside this could be called "partner in crime" if that hasn't already been used. That might be an interesting badge to have on.
Writer of In-Game fiction: Just Completed: My Summer Vacation. My older things are now being archived at Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/~jwbullfrog until I come up with a better solution.
Sounds fair and reasonable to me. I just disagreed with the reasoning of the one post.
<QR>
I don't really have a problem with a badge for teaming - probably working much like the badge for mentoring now works.
What I have a problem with in this thread is OP's conditions and rules and regulations around the badge, making it overly complicated and even penalizing people who don't want to continue on a team they aren't enjoying.
OP seems to have a perception that somehow people who quit teams he is on are persecuting him just to be mean, rather than choosing to do something else with their time.
Simple teaming badge - sure, may as well.
Complicated badge with conditions ("must stay with team until mission complete in order to get credit for teaming" - the simplest condition I saw mentioned, etc.) - no thanks.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
Also,as I said,to add incentive and initiave to people not wanting the badge,we could do something radical,like when you get the teaming badge,or badges,this could happen
1)You could unlock something that is major,vital,and desired..such as unlocking the option for vehicles for their charachter
2)You could possibly unlock another AT by getting the teaming badge.
..and also,when youa re on a team,we could link all other players to the team leader..In other words,if people quit before the team leader does,the bar that you earn for teamage goes down a bit
Just some ideas
The End : )