Start Leading Teams People!
By
AmazingMOO,
Posted on: 2009-08-08 11:27 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
You know, you really should stop telling them to lead their own teams. If they did, I wouldn't automatically have first pick at all the best players since I'm one of the few that actually does start his own teams. 
Feel free to try out my AE mission arc, # 473452: Praetorian Redemption
@Valerika
Well said, I completely agree. When I use to lead PuGs all the time, most of the 'leading' I had to do was say, "this way" when there were multiple paths to take. Leading teams in this game is actually quite easy.
I think we all know how to lead teams, what people don't know is how to set their LFG flags and set comments.
When I invite someone to my team... All I want them to do is stand by the door and look cute.
I hate it when someone goes, "Hey can we do my Behemoth mission? I am tired of yours!".
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That doesn't make sense...Why would somebody say that? I'm assuming you're talking about the Demon Farm.
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Originally Posted by Perfect_Pain
I hate it when someone goes, "Hey can we do my Behemoth mission? I am tired of yours!". |
Every time I join a team I ALWAYS get passed the star at some point or another, and I don't mind it actually. There are certain times I feel equipped to lead and at other times I feel someome else should take the helm. Leading a team is easy, but making intelligent decisions that benefit everyone on the whole is not. PUGs, SFs, TFs, Trials, etc. I've lead almost everything in this game I can think of save for a Hamidon Raid or LRSF.
It's actually quite fun to lead random PUGs so long as you keep them informed rather than saying nothing at all and then on the fly putting up a mission. A happy team is a healthy team that'll stay together longer "usually", as outside events such as Real Life issues or the usual Super Group intervention call.
In fact I'm probably going to be leading ANOTHER Lady Grey Task Force tonight on Infinity around 8:00 P.M. EST if anyone is interested.
Teams are a pain to keep together.
I'll stick to soloing and helping out the occasional blind inviter.
Also, I thought PK was turning his rep off?
Oh wait...that must have been just another shrill cry for attention.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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No! Seriously! I swear to God some ***** said that to me about 4 months ago... Right after that run... I had mysterious computer issues that caused me and my other 2 accounts to mysteriously get disconnected |
Originally Posted by MunkiLord
That doesn't make sense...Why would somebody say that? I'm assuming you're talking about the Demon Farm.
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Easier said than done if everyone you try to invite says "no thanks" or doesn't reply. Seems to happen villain side more times than I could possibly count on Union server (EU). And a happy team is a team which WORKS. It's no good inviting everyone who asks if the resulting team just faceplants in every combat situation.
I've had rotten luck trying to get teams in City of Villains for either my mastermind or stalker, so after months of having to solo the majority of my XP, I've all but given up trying. Trouble is that villain AT's are more designed for holding their own than for group play. There are some powersets which are more team based (such as kins, pain domi's) but most are still very soloish. In contrast, hero AT's are very team-centric meaning you're more likely to find teams as they'll always be in need of a tank or defender etc.
Characters:
The Heroic Mary Grace (50)
The Mystical Thunderspark (50)
The Candy-loving Little Jenny (50)
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Apparently SOMEONE hasn't been keeping up to date on the latest PK news. I coulda sworn that I had put you on the newsletter list Nether. Oh well...|
Also, I thought PK was turning his rep off? Oh wait...that must have been just another shrill cry for attention. |
I think it's funny that I even predicted your response...
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And this, my friends, is why I always say.... lolVillains.
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Originally Posted by Thunderspark
Easier said than done if everyone you try to invite says "no thanks" or doesn't reply. Seems to happen villain side more times than I could possibly count on Union server (EU). And a happy team is a team which WORKS. It's no good inviting everyone who asks if the resulting team just faceplants in every combat situation.
I've had rotten luck trying to get teams in City of Villains for either my mastermind or stalker, so after months of having to solo the majority of my XP, I've all but given up trying. Trouble is that villain AT's are more designed for holding their own than for group play. There are some powersets which are more team based (such as kins, pain domi's) but most are still very soloish. In contrast, hero AT's are very team-centric meaning you're more likely to find teams as they'll always be in need of a tank or defender etc. |
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This should never happen unless you're in a situation where you're fighting enemies that are well above the average level of the team on 'Heroic' setting.|
Originally Posted by Thunderspark
And a happy team is a team which WORKS. It's no good inviting everyone who asks if the resulting team just faceplants in every combat situation.
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If you're level 15 and leading a Positron with a bunch of level 10s on the team with no SKs, yeah, you're going to have problems. If you have a team of 8 level 12 in PO during a Rikti Raid (my situation last night) the spawns are not quite right for such a team and will wipe them out.
However, if you're level 12 and leading a team of 10-13s (or SKs) on arc missions, repeatable missions, or reasonably designed non-farm AE missions on Heroic, you won't have much problem.
All teams can "work" with the right strategy. I've proven it time and again by forming PuGs to do all sorts of tasks in the game.
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I lead teams quite often.|
Originally Posted by PhiloticKnight
I've seen over the years on these forums lots of threads complaining that people don't lead teams. I've seen many MANY people in game that are all LFT in the same zone... never thinking to team up.
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If I don't have a lot of time I don't start one. I don't want to start a team and then just let it fall after a mission or two, but that's just me.
I use a pretty simple method to lead and recruit for teams.
First off you have to have a team plan and stick to it. Mine is usually to run a certain kind of mission that either I'm pulling or a friend of mine on the team is pulling. This could be Police missions in certain zone, the midnighter arc, or just simply running level $level missions.
Always pull up a mission and have it ready before you start recruiting. If you don't do this, players will just drop from the team if one isn't pulled up fast enough.
Always say "hello" in one form or another when new player joins the team.
Always keep your team window open.
Okay, now you are ready to recruit.
- Open the /search window.
- Pick your level range and search again.
- If you want to find a specific AT(s) click those options and search again.
You are only looking for names that are in blue that;
- Do not have a red circle next to their name
- Do not have a search comment that says that they aren't looking for the kind of team that you are going to be running.
Don't click invite to team. That's a blind invite. It is considered rude by many people.
Instead send a tell asking them if they would like to join and wait for their reply.
Too hard to send a tell to everyone? I've solved that for you.
Paste this macro into a text editor, modify it to fit your team, and then past it into your chat line in CoX. This will put a button in your tray that you can push to send a message to a likely recruit.
This one is geared to a team that I'm running.
/macro SFT "t $target, Hello. I'm running a team doing level $level missions on difficulty in zonename. Would you like to join us?"As you see, it offers the player a choice to respond if they want to join. It also tells them my level, the difficulty setting, and zone.
Here's a possible edit --
/macro SFT "t $target, Hello,hero. I'm running a team doing level $level police missions on rugged in Kings Row. Would you like to join us?"Another would be ::
/macro SFT "t $target, Hello. I'm running a team doing level $level missions on inv in PI. Would you like to join us?"Okay, now that you have your macro built and your search window of likely candidates up. Refresh the search again.
Pick one of the names in blue that don't have a red circle or a search comment that indicated that they won't want to join you. Click on their name. Click on the marco. It will send the tell.
Now wait for replies.
Keep track of who you sent tells to. Sending multiple requests is bad form, so try to avoid it if at all possible. Just sent a tell to a player once and wait for responses.
Many will respond.
If they don't say they want to join, send a tell to thank them for responding.
If they do want to join, invite them! And don't forget to say "hello" when they pop into the team window!
Now you have players on your team, the mission is already up, and they are probably heading for the mission. Good work! You have the start of a team.
Take time to recruit between missions - using the method above you can do it quickly once you have the macro set-up.
Have a channel tab in chat for just tells makes it easier to keep track of who you have already sent tells to.
Remember to stick with your team plan.
The some on the team might want to do something else. It is best to just ignore them and keep with the plan. They will stop taking about wanting to do something else. If you change plans, you are at the risk of losing your whole team.
I have never seen more than one or two players leave to do something else and most of the time I see that they have logged shortly afterward as they weren't able to find anyone else to go along with their plan.
At the end of missions, make sure to say "Good work, team." or some such if the mission went well. If it went wrong, even "Whew" will go a long way for the rest of the team to know that you were sweating it as well.
If someone does something really good in a mission try to remember to compliment them on it.
And always say gratz when someone levels.
This is the critical part.
As soon as you get out of a mission pull up the next mission as quickly as possible. This can make or break a team.
If you have to go to a contact to get the next mission, let the rest of the team know as quickly as possible.
If you are going to go train, let the team know that you are going to go do that. If you are running missions, it is imperative that you train if you want to get a mission based on your new level - so don't pull a new mission until you have leveled up.
If you don't have a full team of 8, tell the team that you are going to do "quick recruit round" and quickly look for other players to send tells to. Do it quickly. Teams will fall apart if you delay. Quickly.
Don't wait for replies to the tells, head to the mission once you have sent tells to the new possible recruits.
You can deal with replies as you travel to the mission door or once you head into the mission.
There are finer point to leading, but this is they very basics that will enable you to form and lead a team that will keep going.
Good luck.
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NOTES:
For those of you that aren't familiar with macros, they are ways to run commands by placing buttons into the powers tray.
The basic structure is:
/macro nameofmacro "command"
$target = the player you have targeted. You can directly target them or click on their name in the /search window.
$level = the level of your character.
Wow, sounds like almost everything I already typed out in that guide that I pointed out in the first post.
Which reminds me, I really need to go back and reformat all those guides for the new forums. Yay! I have a project for the weekend!
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Cool. It's away good to know that more than one person is on the same page.|
Originally Posted by PhiloticKnight
Wow, sounds like almost everything I already typed out in that guide that I pointed out in the first post.
Which reminds me, I really need to go back and reformat all those guides for the new forums. Yay! I have a project for the weekend! |
You might note that I only indicated selecting AT's specifically briefly. I'm firmly believe that any group of players around the same level or sk'd to it can be a successful team if they work as a team.
However, I'm a great fan of the no tanker/no scrapper team at the moment. There are so many tanker-lead teams that that mechanic of game play as grown very old to me. Invite a scrapper to a team without a tank, and they want to be the tank. The same can be said for kheldians.
These teams are amazingly successful and don't fail as long as the team moves and works a a team.
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Red-side Union is a pain to get a team on. But better no team than a terrible one.|
Originally Posted by Thunderspark
Easier said than done if everyone you try to invite says "no thanks" or doesn't reply. Seems to happen villain side more times than I could possibly count on Union server (EU). And a happy team is a team which WORKS. It's no good inviting everyone who asks if the resulting team just faceplants in every combat situation.
I've had rotten luck trying to get teams in City of Villains for either my mastermind or stalker, so after months of having to solo the majority of my XP, I've all but given up trying. Trouble is that villain AT's are more designed for holding their own than for group play. There are some powersets which are more team based (such as kins, pain domi's) but most are still very soloish. In contrast, hero AT's are very team-centric meaning you're more likely to find teams as they'll always be in need of a tank or defender etc. |
It really shouldn't be hard to lead a team, but I managed to see it seeming like a herculean task today, as the PuG I joined at lvl 9 (with an 8, 11 and 12 in it) started getting lvl 15s, 19s, 4s invited to it. The leader kept Leeroy-ing and waiting for the rest of us to get into the mish before asking for a wakie or stuff to make it (at least that's what I assume the simple talk of "red" "blue" etc were...he may have just been telling us what colour of pills he was on at that moment) and he kept inviting people randomly into the mish. Eventually we got it sorted when we ignored his leadership and took it upon ourselves to work through the mobs. He then went AFK and said "please don't kick me" but whoever he passed the star too either did, or he disconnected. Can't say I was at all disappointed.
@craggy see me on Union for TFs, SFs (please!) or just some good ol fashioned teaming.
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Originally Posted by craggy
Red-side Union is a pain to get a team on. But better no team than a terrible one.
It really shouldn't be hard to lead a team, but I managed to see it seeming like a herculean task today, as the PuG I joined at lvl 9 (with an 8, 11 and 12 in it) started getting lvl 15s, 19s, 4s invited to it. The leader kept Leeroy-ing and waiting for the rest of us to get into the mish before asking for a wakie or stuff to make it (at least that's what I assume the simple talk of "red" "blue" etc were...he may have just been telling us what colour of pills he was on at that moment) and he kept inviting people randomly into the mish. Eventually we got it sorted when we ignored his leadership and took it upon ourselves to work through the mobs. He then went AFK and said "please don't kick me" but whoever he passed the star too either did, or he disconnected. Can't say I was at all disappointed. |
Holy crap, I must have teamed with the exact same guy the other day, there was a guy that acted exactly like that and spoke with the same caveman talk. Asking for the colors as well. So either we did meet the same guy, or there's an influx of WOWtards or something similar that were all "trained" with the same system.
Someone wants me to change my avatar, but why? I LOVE Mr. Rogers!
NO PK NEVER CHANGE IT!!!
yes it needs to be all caps
I dont lead any more because i solo alot more than i team and if i team its with someone i know. When i did team though i always was the leader. In fact i liked to lead because then it was my say what we were doing didn't have to listen to some stupid person calling all the shoots. Leading is the best you dont even have to do much all you ever do is say what missions to do and to think of a way to kill the guys if your having issues.
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I doubt this guy managed to sign up for 2 different accounts. I'd wager he had help with setting up one.
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Originally Posted by PhiloticKnight
Holy crap, I must have teamed with the exact same guy the other day, there was a guy that acted exactly like that and spoke with the same caveman talk. Asking for the colors as well. So either we did meet the same guy, or there's an influx of WOWtards or something similar that were all "trained" with the same system.
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@craggy see me on Union for TFs, SFs (please!) or just some good ol fashioned teaming.
I already posted a thread about this, and everyone complained.
Maybe you did a poor job leading...
I've seen over the years on these forums lots of threads complaining that people don't lead teams. I've seen many MANY people in game that are all LFT in the same zone... never thinking to team up.
Okay people, I have to say something here... the star is NOT a disease, it's NOT a lot of extra work. Seriously. You are NOT responsible for someone else's fun, even if you're the team leader. You're responsible for YOUR fun, that's it. If what you're doing on your team isn't "fun" for someone, they can leave and go solo or find another team, nothing is making them stay.
On top of that, most teams don't NEED "leadership". Most players know pretty damn well how to play their characters. To use the analogy I used in another thread, most teams are a pack of rabid, angry dogs, and they just need someone to point them at what to kill. That's ALL that a team leader HAS to do. Pick the missions, and occasionally pick up a stray dog when the pack gets too thin. One mission every 10-15 minutes, pick up a player or two every half hour or so while the team still keeps going, that's it.
Keep them busy, keep them active, and that's all that they really want for the most part.
So please, PLEASE consider moving to the role of forming your own teams. Read the PuG TF guide in my sig for help in getting teams STARTED. It's made for TFs, but the team forming strategy will work for any team, just make sure that everyone is sidekicked or exemplared appropriately. Even consider bringing in 50s to a "normal" team as they get just as much influence exemplaring as they do playing at level 50. The only thing they miss out on is purple drops, and most don't really care that much about those, they just want to have FUN.
The game's population is mostly City of Wallflowers, and if you CHOOSE to be a leader, guess what? You'll automatically be the most popular person at the prom. You'll be King or Queen of the prom, just lead teams.
It really IS easier than it seems.