I've come to love awful PuGs. I think that's the best way to deal with it. Find the amusement in it, learn to leave when you know it's just too bad to even be funny, and try not to worry too much about all the debt, since it always goes away.
I've had some really funny experiences on bad PuGs - I keep logging on with my characters, just to save particularly bizarre conversations I've seen, and regularly take screenshots of the worst builds and bios I come across to share with SG-mates. I honestly think it keeps the game fresher for me than if I just teamed with people who are actually good at it all the time. It keeps me thinking, it ensures I'm paying attention to what I'm doing - when it seems like the entire team is out to get you killed, you really need to know what's happening at all times so you can try to get away. It's especially fun to play support-oriented characters on these sorts of teams, I find... the whole experience really keeps you on your toes, trying to keep everyone alive as they do increasingly stupid things.
It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
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It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
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And for extra comedy value you can forget to change channels before venting - informing the rest of your team just how awful you think they are 
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I've had some really funny experiences on bad PuGs - I keep logging on with my characters, just to save particularly bizarre conversations I've seen, and regularly take screenshots of the worst builds and bios I come across to share with SG-mates.
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I'm glad I'm not the only person who does this. We even have a "bad bios/characters" topic on our SG forum for this very purpose.
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It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
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Hehe, it's the Teamspeak server I'm on for me usually. Even better is when more than one of us get into the PuG, since then you can share in the fun!
Even if I had a way of venting (which I don't) what I really want is an upward trend in the quality of teaming, and that's not going to happen the way things are now. That is, when someone gets fed up of dying for the third time, it's more likely that they just give up there and then rather than saying something about it. We're in a culture where clicking 'Leave' is easier than talking through the issues.
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It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
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And for extra comedy value you can forget to change channels before venting - informing the rest of your team just how awful you think they are
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Actually, there's a bug in CoH at then moment that means your team can see what you write over Tell and Friends - it doesn't come up in the chat window, but it does appear as chat bubbles 
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
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And for extra comedy value you can forget to change channels before venting - informing the rest of your team just how awful you think they are
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That actually happened to someone in our SG... I think he managed to do it two or three times in the same team, too. I have to say, it was very funny for the rest of us on the global channel.
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It helps if you have someone else in-game to vent at while it's happening, though. I go for my boyfriend, or my SG's global channel, usually.
[/ QUOTE ]
And for extra comedy value you can forget to change channels before venting - informing the rest of your team just how awful you think they are
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, there's a bug in CoH at then moment that means your team can see what you write over Tell and Friends - it doesn't come up in the chat window, but it does appear as chat bubbles
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Are you sure you're not just seeing people talking in Arena?
Hmmm, maybe - I'll try it tonight, and ask anyone if they can see my Tells or not.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
IMHO there needs to be some sort of weekly server event to help folks cope with the very real possibility that their next team is going to be a disaster. Frankly, I find myself wanting to team, but not wanting to at the same time because of the unspeakable horrors of Pick Up Groups which I think many of us know well by now.
Despite the wonderful new content that has come with I7, I have the pessmistic outlook that I will probably never see any of the good stuff because I'll give up on this game first. What's the fun in getting a whole new pool of funky villainy powers if you're the only one who gets to see what they do? So yeah, teaming or bust.