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Got nobody to play with.
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I hear you... story of my life in this game for most of the year I've been playing 
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Should I just remove my brain, strip out the 'No blind invites' from my search comment and take every offer that comes along...
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If you want my opinion, I SO wouldn't recommend it. It's bad enough the idiots who randomly blind invite me when I'm flagged "Blinds ignored, send /tell first please" let alone the ones who still try to invite me when I have "soloing, not teaming, no invites please" up. Don't even get me started on the ones who approach me when I'm hidden and ask "are you hidden? want to team?" lol!
Whilst I've found that most PUG's suck, some are FAR worse than others. I suspect that accepting the first blind invite that comes along is possibly the best and quickest way to find the really bad ones. Way to put you off the game big time IMO.
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or should I just give up and call it a day?
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Assuming you can't find decent teams, then I imagine that would depend entirely on whether you get any enjoyment out of soloing. I imagine CoX could be an amazing game with a decent team, and I'd still love to find out, but to be honest I've pretty much given up on teaming after a year of playing. Fortunately for me I also get a reasonable amount of enjoyment playing solo most of the time, so I continue to subscribe and play now and then.
If you really don't like soloing, and teaming is what appeals to you, but you're having no luck there (and I can totally sympathise with you) then perhaps this isn't the game for you? Speaking purely for myself, I'd certainly wouldn't continue subscribing under those circumstances.
Well the problem as I see it is that not only do I like the game, I love it. Having played in some good teams, I'm not content with soloing although there are times (especially after a bad PUG) when it is necessary in order to clear your head and also try and clear off some debt :/
In some cases (shall I just say Sea Witch and let that explain it all?) teaming is essential to the completion of a mission and hence an arc of story, but in most cases you can achieve more with a well-oiled team than you can on your own, so it really doesn't have to be the case that I'm struggling to find one.
The only thing I can really think to do is to run my own team and I have done in the past, but I hate having the star full-time and the pressure that it brings; I'll speculate that I may not alone in that regard.
Well, I totally understand where you're coming from, as I too would far prefer to be on a regular and reasonably competant team instead of soloing. I'm also right with you as far as forming/leading teams goes - I have an extreme phobia where the star is concerned. Unlike you, I guess I have a higher tolerance for soloing - for me, whilst it's admittedly nowhere near a much fun as a good team, I find soloing is still a whole lot better than not playing CoX at all.
So far I have found few missions in CoV that my MM and Stalker can't handle alone (case of having to most of the time) It's one of the reasons why I've stopped playing CoH and gone over to the dark side - all my heroes are facing the Praetorian arc there, and even my regen scrapper can't solo most of those guys, even on heroic when they're 'only' Elite Bosses. I actually found Sea Witch no problem solo with either of my villains (on Villainous) though I guess both are pretty good solo A/T's. Even so, there have been a couple of Longbow tanker type heroes who have kicked me utterly senseless. Must admit, I just wimped out and prevailed on helpful high-levs to pop into my missions and slot them for me. Far from ideal, but it seemed like the only way to clear those missions at the time - not going to lose sleep over it, comes with the territory for a mediocre solo player like myself. At the end of the day though, even if ALL the missions are readily solo-able, it doesn't change the fact that both of us would prefer to do them with a team.
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I have a higher tolerance for soloing - for me, whilst it's admittedly nowhere near a much fun as a good team, I find soloing is still a whole lot better than not playing CoX at all.
[/ QUOTE ]/Agreed.
Well I'm becoming convinced that there simply isn't any way for me to get onto a team. There really isn't anything else I can do short of bombarding people already on a team with tells; that is a route I would rather not go down, because when you do that you become known as someone who just won't stop whining until they get onto a team, and then you get blanket-ignored.
What A/T's do you play? Maybe that makes a difference - some A/T's certainly seem to me to be far more popular with teams than others. If you don't know anyone who will team with you purely because they consider you a friend, maybe you need to consider making an alt that people will want to team with because they think it will benefit them and their team - To be honest, I can't see many other reasons why someone would want to invite a complete stranger to their team, and a lot of players do seem to be very results-oriented in this game
I'd guess that controllers and defenders might be considered more useful in a variety of situations than some other A/Ts. Scrappers seem to be so popular that Cryptic might want to consider renaming the game 'City of Scrappers'. Whereas since ED tanks seem to be... well, not highly regarded by many people unless there's a specifc job for them (AV's usually)
I have 5 alts in the 41-45 level range. Currently none of them are finding it easy to get onto any kind of team, never mind competant ones, but it's far worse for some of them.
My 2 AR/Dev blasters are pretty much pariahs as far as any invites go - no one seems to want to team with them at all lately, and as a result I haven't played them in weeks (they're slow and boring to solo for any length of time) In fact now I think about it, I don't think I've seen another AR/Dev or even AR/anything solo or teamed for ages. Maybe it's because some people consider AR/Dev to be possibly the most 'gimped-at-source' A/T in the game since ED? Personally I don't have enough experience to know one way or the other, and I've never tried any other kind. Still, apart from my pure empath I would say they're by far my weakest alts, even though I consider one of them to be my main. By and large most of the other blaster types certainly seem to be fairly ok (although I did notice a recent thread badmouthing fire blasters, so YMMV)
My tanker (scranker build without Taunt) is also pretty much shunned nowadays (unless maybe a tank-less PUG desperately needs some fool to cop the alpha strike and some debt from an AV for them) I've read more than a few posts on the tanker forum where people have said that they wouldn't even consider teaming with a Taunt-less tank. No biggie IMO, he's much more successful (and fun) solo than on a team anyway and that's why I scrankered him. Barring AV's/EB's he's virtually unkillable when soloing, whereas from day one he's been killed regularly and almost without fail on almost every PUG I've foolishly joined.
My regen scrapper does get the occasional invite, certainly more so than my tank or blasters (not hard really) This is somewhat ironic as I actually created him with the express intention of soloing him when I couldn't get teams. Being very self-sufficient and pretty tough, he actually needs the average PUG like he needs a hole in the head - he levels much faster on his own, and barring the odd AV/EB he has never died solo. The increase in enemy numbers and lack of any support forthcoming on most PUGs (even /regens need love) has been his only significant source of death/debt. He rarely gets buffs or healing when teamed (nor, to be honest, does he really need them most of the time) and I guess that might be one reason he gets invites - maybe he's considered to be a dependable low/no maintenance team asset. Whatever, I find teaming with him totally unsatisfying.
Which leaves my final toon - an empath defender, and possibly the ultimate team animal. Until recently I'd have said that if you want people falling over themselves asking for your company just make an empath. Used to be I'd be fighting off team invites with a stick almost as soon as I logged on with her, but that's a thing of the past now. Last few times I've logged her on I couldn't get a sniff of a team in nearly an hour online. Unfortunately, being almost pure empath, she's currently pretty much unplayable solo. Luckily I have a respec in hand, so I may remake her as an offender, max her blaster set (I've always wanted to try Nova!) and only keep the empath powers that I can benefit from myself, so I can solo her a bit. Of course then she's pretty much dead weight if she does get onto a team! Ahh, the irony.
Three toons at level 22 - a Gravity/Energy Dominator, Martial Arts/Super Reflexes Stalker, and a Super/Energy Brute.
One toon at level 16 - an Ice/Dark Corruptor and for now, not all that good outside of a team.
One toon at level 15 - Ninjas/Forcefields Mastermind.
One toon at level 10 - Robots/Traps Mastermind.
I also have four over on Union but if anything I have a worse time getting into a group tehre than on Defiant.
Ahh, you only have villain toons eh? (hmmm... posting on the villains forum... could that be a clue?) I find it hard enough getting a team on CoH, but I've found CoV to be FAR worse. Seems there are usually a lot less people on CoV to begin with, and IMO the villain A/T's don't really seem to me to complement each other as well as heroes when teamed.
I have an L30 MM and stalker, and an L10 brute and they've done most of their levelling solo. I've barely teamed with any of them since they were created. Excluding the occasional duo with a CoH acquaintance when our paths randomly cross, I've teamed maybe half a dozen times with the MM, four or five times tops with the stalker and not once with the brute. Sadly the few PUGs I've been on have been... well, with very few exceptions pretty poor even compared to CoH. Still, I guess I'd become used to soloing after lean times on CoH, so coming to CoV my expectations were pretty low. Accordingly it's not been such a disappointment for me.
None of which helps you of course... unfortunately I really have no idea what to suggest 
Your choice of A/T does play a big role in the group situation for invites in my opinion
It shouldn't, as all A/T's were created equal (tm), however some A/T's are more equal than others! Team wise, stalkers and Masterminds tend to be at the bottom of the list with Brutes and Corruptors at the top and Dom's in the middle. A well played Dom should be right up there with Brutes and Corruptors, but people don't seem to see it that way unfortunately.
If you want a team, your brute is probably the best bet out of your characters, however Brutes can solo pretty well too .
In the long term it's best to pick the character you really want to play and stick with it, patience will be rewarded hehe. I suggest taking up a few PuG offers and friending the decent players you meet in them...that way you can see who's on next time and get invites to better teams or start your own with a core of players you know
If you still being told HOW to play your char, in a team with 8 lvls between highest/lowest who doesnt want a lacky/LM, nearly scolded by the fact you dont have a travel power and debt is a base thing (i used to be blaster in CoH, thats about it)...
No, i rather solo.
Good teams are specialy in CoV very very very rare, or i just got massive lack of luck. Not to mention my framerate in a 4-8 team (8team is big hype in CoV) when we do bigger groups.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
I actually don't mind being given HELPFUL advice on how to play. I'm a mediocre player at best, with little worthwhile teaming experience, so IMO it all helps. Only way to learn really. Unfortunately good, experienced players willing to advise a newbie like me rarely crop up on PUGs, though there have been a couple who have been real stars (special thanks to High Pain)
My main hero (currently L45) doesn't have a travel power, but I do mention this in my search comment. As a result no one's ever given me a hard time about it - a few mickey takes maybe, but nothing serious. Of course, he doesn't get many team offers in the first place, but I accept that's the price I have to pay for stubbornly sticking to my 'concept'.
See, what you can argue here is that you make the recall friend and team teleport powers more useful for those who take them.
Oh yeah, for sure - people who have those powers tend to like getting an opportunity to use them, so they're usually kindly disposed towards me.
allllllllllllll by myyyyyyyyyyyyy sellllllllf!!!!
LALALLALLALALALLA
*falls over*
I find to function well on teams you have to have a somewhat team orientated approach, so if you find a good team they may welcome you into their regular grouping.
But if you dont get a team (with having a team build) often you may decide to build a solo toon. Catch 22.
I am used to having an 8 man team where we grind through missions a set certain way, finding out what works best and sticking to it. Using my toons powers to help anothers work that more efficiently.
In some PuGs you get people who, rather than work together make life harder for all or somebody. On some teams someone has to take control or suggest something to do or not do rather than have repeated trips to the hospital and getting nowhere. But the person who does that gets accused for being bossy when all they want to do is get the mission done in the least dire way as possible.
I am an altaholic with team orientated toons, even my scrappers get taunt at lvl 12 to help pull of someone which is a rare thing. I play them all whenever i feel like playing one, i put one character down and proceed with another for whatever reason until by chance I find a team of people who are "like-minded" in playstyle, who are also regular and then I become serious with the toon. I have been on many regular teams in the past (10 lvls of 1 where everyone spoke spanish) but atm i havent so much so because I havent really sparked with people in anyway with any character. It takes time to come across the right people but by more or less ruling out trying PuGs despite being random invited wont help you to come across the right people. My very first toon i have made is lvl 38 basically through many PuGs, whilst i have other 50's who i have found people to hit it off with.
I know when it comes to a crunch time i may say i like my team build and i want this toon to get to 50 sometime soon i'll start creating teams and leading a team is often the easier thing to do. Then i'll try to gradually create a regular cooperative team through trying to offer people a quality to which they will want to be on my teams plus gradually find people who offer eachother a reason to go regular.
Atm i may spend 5 mins on a PuG see a playstyle thats a bit wreckless, i may get ignored in my suggestion to make things a bit easier, see more wrecklessness and leave the team, no fun me playing with them so what and i then go find another team who i do have a better time playing with.
A team aint a team unless people work together.
There are many over year long players, such as myself who see the same mistakes repeat themselves by different people who like me are quiet frankly bored with it, we suggest something, get ignored, and have to relive old mistakes. A team that knows how to play together has more chance of staying together and i may have to find people one by one to create a proper one.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Okay so, given that there's at least some of us who actually want to join a team where the quality of the experience is more valuable than the quantity of the XP (heh) I think the most logical step would be for us to organise teams on Defiant, because that's the only way to improve the quality of grouping.
The goal is to start including players who want to learn good teaming, but have never been in teams patient enough to accommodate the need to learn. It's sad, but in a PUG you only learn what's the wrong way to do things because you get kicked or because everyone else leaves complaining about debt.
So instead of advertising to look for any old team, you could say 'Looking for TPI team' (Team Play Improvement team) or if you're looking for someone whose team playing has already been improved, you could ask for 'ITM' (Improved Team Member) - these terms to be explained carefully to anyone who is polite enough to inquire about them. As I said, the goal is to include players who are going to wind up quitting or soloing their characters otherwise, and to never exclude anyone unless they demonstrate the unwillingness to learn what wisdom there is to impart.
This provides a much better framework than the current teaming system because it encourages those who are patient and follow instructions but more importantly ask why, for example, they're being asked to stand out of sight while one team member demonstrates pulling. The lesson is more easily understood that way, and the class is less likely to get wiped out by a big angry mob.
However given that you need a sizeable number of players to adopt this as a standard, and many players do not necessarily visit the forums, it will be hard to get it off the ground. Perhaps if some SG/VGs were to get behind it, it would have a chance?
I dont know i mean it isn´t that hard to get a team or make friends , maybe your expectation are too high Warhead ?
Do you quit/make excuses when you faceplant a couple times ?
Allright basic team basic is same like solo , seems both of you can solo , the difference in team isn´t that big.
Now for all none major functions in team like Empath and Tankers ,its basically find out the biggest threat and eliminate it as fast as possible or control it.
For those area of effect damage build , its find out the biggest herd and nail it usually around the tanker(minus scatter or knockback effect will get to it later)
There isn´t a big difficulty in teaming , now if you depend on being healed , its also important to know what contribution you bring to the team . if you face plant after engaging a couple minions .... thats not a big contribution to say atleast 
while a controller is holding off 50% of the mob each time for example .
But i found out its best to not be reliant on being healed , if healing is needed find your healers and get near them (healers meaning defenders corrupters mastermind controllers who got area of effect heal)
Basic teamwork does really takes a while to present itself, especially if faceplanting occurs , 1 time sure can happen 2nd time allright somebody beter step forward and make some basic strategy .
1 mobs too tough then use pulling strategy
Pulling involves either long range snipes or stealth , best done after the one who pulls run around a cornor and hide
(dont pull the boss unless you want the whole mob to come chase you , pull a LT you sometime get half mob) wait till the mob is in the position where the puller was before he ran around the cornor , dont go charging in .
2 check who is essential to success ... this sounds stupid but holds a lot of truth , one or two players on the team usually will hold it ground nomatter what even if faceplanting occurs ,support those and listen to them when they say RUN even if they dont run means start running
Just run unless you are sure you can take over there task of controlling the situation (usually 2 or 3 mobs pull that gone awefully wrong)
3 If you are really feeling you are in need of a team just remove the blind invite join up and expect a load of debt , in most cases you will suprised that it isn´t that bad.
4 Dont go off on your own thinking cause the rest are back there they will follow your lead and charge into a big group of enemies , just wait till the ready signal , if somebody does open up with what you think is stupid , be patience see if the tank or main scrapper/controller reacts or not , dont go charging in blindly ... some idiotic blasters or players like to get things moving by opening up blast then run away as fast as his legs can carry towards safety , hoping some other "victims" will intervene.....
5 this is not the person i am , but most players will use this strategy when joining PUG wait and see attitude , and its well deserved , so if you are not sure what kind of team you are in , dont be afraid to watch your own back and know your own limits . now if the whole team is like that tell the star to come with initiative , he she/he recruited the team after all .
6 check the difficulty of the mission setting if its on invincible , well then make damn sure you they know what they are doing , just engage what you would normally when solo 3 minion /1 lt /1 boss without much healing . dont try to take on more if you are not the main issue of the team (tankers optimised AoE scrappers, gungho squishies with very good builds ) if team is working great then increase your own challenges .
5 having a empath on the team doesn´t mean its a excellent healing player or optimised slotted for doing it job , especially when his area of effect heals are eh... too low.
Anticipate that and let him heal the main tanker .
6 eh if you have a tanker thats well build but doesn´t want to tank .... hmmm then you beter find a workaround by pulling or hoping somebody else have a smart use of pet absorbing the alpha strikes , or mass mezz opening up , but in most cases the tank beter gets it fat hinnie moving after that ....
7 check others build before bad mouthing them , its not there fault if they dont have taunt , stamina ,heal other , status protection , some people could make mistakes in powerchoices (why do you think those respec are there anyway) but that doesn´t make them bad players right away .
8 When starting a team dont be afraid to take some lowerlevels and SK them , or asking higher levels if they want to exemp (most who wont have that in there info anyway)
Dont be afraid to get negative response just keep trying but dont wait longer then 4 min if you already have 4 people
The longer you wait the more chance you have thats its falling apart , so start a mission .if the team works then aquire more after the first .
Now yes Warhead for the 41 and higher you need to have a couple friends , or else dont mind grinding your way to 50.
Ask around there are some Supergroups on both Union and Defiant who contain a few good players and very social people that dont appear as much on the forums .
Just ask them check out the SG registry for the ones with most money , those can´t have gotten them without having good players
It is hard to find a team and you're missing the point I'm making which is that there are players falling by the wayside in terms of getting good teaming. Posting advice here on the forums is all fine and dandy, but putting it into practise on the server as an entirely different thing, especially when you're playing with people who may have never visited. I stand by my suggestion that we should be a bit more pro-active as a community in getting help to where it's needed.
Well telling people are falling at the wayside without offering some solution isn´t productive too , honestly the most productive is just to make teams
And teach those who are bad players or those that dont visit the forum how to be a good player.
If you are hoping to find miracle PUGS that hardly happens , unless there are 1-3 good players in that PUG.
Now it only takes one or two to get things going in a team, the longer it keeps going the more chances you have that another good player joins .
There isn't any one solution to the problem as I see it, and I would be rather naive to start offering the answer to all teaming problems on a shiny platter when I myself haven't had the benefit of a good team experience.
However I don't see any sense in continuing to address the issue in a wait-and-see fashion. If we want a good all-round gaming experience, including those vital lessons on how to run teams and how to keep the team alive, then we have to get out there and make it happen. Think of it as an investment - for example by teaching someone how to pull in an easy mission at level 6, you avoid having them wipe the team out at level 12 by dragging a group of tough enemies into your midst. The earlier this is done, the less times the debt fairies will come a'knockin.
What exact methods are used to start building the teams of the future, that's up to whomever wants to improve everyone's quality of gaming, all I can say is that learning should be fun, especially so in CoH/CoV.
I think the quality of teams in CoV is mostly based on the AT's itself. Where in CoH the 'roles' of the AT's were pretty clear, CoV has a complete other set to work with. Corrupters can be healer/buffers or 100% blasters. Brutes can tank or scrap, each has a different approach.
In my cases, even once kicked, i been pointed to the fact 'i am doing my job as MM wrongly'. The TPI system most probably will be based what _you_ except certain AT's to do, yet as said earlier, you first should check his powers to actualy see what he can do and how he can fit into the team tactics.
SG-players go with SG-players, the rest is kinda doomed to party together. Yes those are starters, yes those are the solists, yes those are the less-experienced.
I like to team with new players, they listen alot, they try to do their best job for the team. Or at least, those who i met so far. Most important is to tell them 'correctly' for any improvement needed, instead of scolding him 5 minutes cause he ran the wrong way.
Oh well, i gues my next toon will be called 'Lone Crusader' 
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
Well i happened to come across a team whose dynamics i liked and quite frankly this has taken weeks of off and on playing all my toons in different PuGs but i feel that tonight i have found a group of people i can progress with in the way i like to. No hotshots showing off, no one playing from their toons point of view having a bad cause and effect on somebody else's, it was proper teamwork.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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Well telling people are falling at the wayside without offering some solution isn´t productive too , honestly the most productive is just to make teams
And teach those who are bad players or those that dont visit the forum how to be a good player.
If you are hoping to find miracle PUGS that hardly happens , unless there are 1-3 good players in that PUG.
Now it only takes one or two to get things going in a team, the longer it keeps going the more chances you have that another good player joins .
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If I had any kind of solution to offer I probably wouldn't be posting here in the first place, I'd be playing and teaming. However, I'm part of the problem - i.e. poor/inexperienced players. I'd certainly wouldn't class class myself as a good player (more importantly, I doubt if anyone else would) and I'm particularly, and quite obviously, inexperienced when it comes to teaming. Meaning I'm in no position to be teaching anyone ELSE how to play better on a team. I'd need to learn something first in order to pass it on - which doesn't oten happen on PUG's (well, I HAVE learned not to join PUGs, but that's hardly very constructive)
I'd certainly agree that 'miracle' PUGs happen incredibly rarely. I'd also agree that, at least in theory, the longer a team sticks together the more likely it is to learn and improve - but that's really one of the big problems with PUGs. Few I've ever been on have managed to keep a stable lineup for longer than a couple of missions at most. People regularly bail at the first sign of trouble, new people get recruited mid-mission, and they in turn leave pretty much at the next sign of trouble and so on. No one, myself included, wants to waste their valuable time on an unsuccessful, un-fun team, so it becomes a vicious circle.
Something struck me when I logged on tonight and got a stupid blind invite for a VG (plus abuse from the guy when I pointed out to him that he was the umpteenth person to send me an invite without having any clue about how to properly recruit someone) and I felt I would share the wisdom
Motivation is key.
If you're looking for prestige drones as the guy in my example above was, and you have nothing else to offer to motivate someone to join the SG/VG, you are wasting your time. Sure, you'll get a few players who are new and don't know any better, but those of us who have tried being part of a borg collective and didn't like it aren't going back.
Similarly, if you want to be on a team that caters to a good quality of gameplay, you're going to have to motivate other players in such a way as they will pick you (or join you, if you decide that creating a team from scratch is the way to go) and not the next person on the list.
Now unfortunately there is no one way to attract the sort of crowd that are interesting in teaming for teaming's sake, because solo is fine for a little while but when it becomes the mainstay then something is seriously wrong. But whatever we do to try and get ourselves into good teams, expect to see it at some point, because we're sick to the back teeth with the status quo.
Got nobody to play with. Should I just remove my brain, strip out the 'No blind invites' from my search comment and take every offer that comes along, or should I just give up and call it a day?