Is there any way to get into a pickup team anymore?

I've been playing on and off since beta, and one of the things that made this game so awesome was how fluid and easy it was to drop into a pickup team. Back in the day, the idea of a specialized search system for LFG people rather than spamming the hell out of chat was unheard of!

Well nowadays the old girl's showing her age a little with declining server populations, but more importantly, since signing up for another go recently, I've been totally unable to find a non-AE-farm team in about 12 hours of time in-game. Even AE farm invites are EXCEEDINGLY rare if one doesn't send broadcasts in Atlas Park, relying only on the search system.

So obviously the game has changed since a new sewer team formed every 30 minutes, and I wasn't subscribed as it was happening, so I didn't get the memo.

My question is, do you guys have any tips for someone looking to like, save/conquer the world rather than be a lotus-eater to Aeon's fantasy machines? Or at the very least, to find an AE team that chooses missions based at least as much on content as on XP/minute?

EDIT: it's worth noting that I don't play enough with any one character or server to really be a SG/VG member, so this really is about pickup teams.

The best way to find a team is to start your own. You can also try hanging out in level appropriate zones and broadcasting but that's slow.

Apart from that get on your server's teaming global channel(s). Admittedly these are often geared more towards TFs but even for regular missions you can often find people here.

Adeon beat me to the punch...

The absolute best way to get on a fantastic team is to start one.
I think people often forget that this game is titled "City of Heroes" not "City of Me following 7 other guys around." You really need to be a hero, not a sidekick, follower or "dude mumbling in the background."

Be the burger, not the ketchup... Do not live your life as a condiment. ( Good advice for real life too..)

You are paying $15 bucks a month... it is your money, so I guess you can choose your own role... but I have found for me personally... it is easier especially if I only have an hour or two to start my own team, not waste it looking for one.

The new Super SK system and the new difficulty slider in i16 will bring a lot of people out of AE and make PuGs not only more popular but WAY easier to put together since you won't have to worry about careful level matching any more. Help is on the way!

Finding/Creating/Joining non AE teams since AE's release is a nightmare, I too have been around this game since it's launch. It sucks to be honest, I haven't seen the game this bad in it's entire run.

I just started playing Age of conan and will be cancelling my CoH account as of the end of this month. Hopefully things are a little different when going rogue is released as this is when I plan to return.

Good luck to the op and any other like minded players, this game has become "City Of AE" and is slowly becoming yet another sinking mmo ship imo.

Doooooooom!

Seriously though lol, I hope in 6-12 months AE has lost it's shine and the heroes and villains are back on the streets where they belong, Instead of all huddled under one sweaty roof racing to 50 spamming "AE Boss Farm LFM" over and over and over again . . .

/End rant
/Log out
/Cancel Subscription

I believe that before this one, the most recent "No one's inviting me to PuG and I refuse to try to make & lead my own team" dOOOOOOOOOm thread was here.

And it contains some good suggestions for getting your own team up 'n running for fun and profit.

Another trick is to go to the main AE Hub and recruit teams there. That is usually Atlas Park on blueside and Cap au Diable on redside.

But don't forget to specify non-AE, or people get uppity!

I'm going to say something different than "build your own team" because... well, it's good advice but you've heard it.

Join your server's global channels. Some SG's and coalitions are helpful for teamforming and such, although not a lot are. Things like "Infinity Badges" -although that gets you a lot of task forces, not so much anything else- and "Cozmic's Playground" (on Pinnacle) tend to be where PUG's are formed.

Once you DO get on a PUG, if you find a good player thereon, friend or gfriend them. Last time you were in this game, you probably had a social network that you'd slowly built and that you took for granted. This time, your social network is probably gone and you're flailing around, having forgotten how to do what you used to do.

Is The Hollows still a good place for bad PuGs ? Cause usually even a bad PuG has one good player on it.

I have been consistently around since the beta days and I also noticed that with the introduction of AE, farming has become more predominant. Now I will not say that I don't farm as I would be lying (see note below). However, farming is not the main reason I play. In AE, I often try to join or create teams where I state that they are for non-farming missions. Do I get takers? Yes... but depending on the server, it is sometimes pretty hard to build a full non-farming team.

(Note: Why do I farm? First, don't rely on the number of posts I make as I am more a lurker than a talker. I have been around for over 60 months and I have numerous toons. I have played with practically every aspect of the game. When I start a new toon, I am now interested in playing it at the higher levels (heck, why do I need to go through the same storylines over and over). So at times I farm to get past 20-25 faster. Although new features are added with each release, the core game is pretty much the same. This is probably why I have started to play Champions Online as it offers new challenges and a fresh start. However, I am not dropping CoX... at least for now. I am betting a lot on Going Rogue, hoping that it will freshen-up the content.)

QR

Maybe it is because I am on Freedom but I dont have team finding problems outside of AE. Last night I did a Faathim PUG with knowing only two of the eight. Most night I am not looking and still get invites and I play my Warshade most of the time. Not sure about the other servers but "my experience" leaves me satisfied.

Server channels are indeed your friend.

Try higher traffic zones like the Hollows (5-10), Steel (10-20), or Talos (20+).

Redside, Cap is the easiest.

Also, as everyone needs to train and sell drops, by the trainers and near WWs it's easier to find folks.

I understand your problem, and my advice is as follows:

1. See if you can join server-wide channels, many servers have specialized chats that caters to specific teaming ventures suchs as threads, TFs, AEs, trade, etc. Since I am a player at Champions, BMT is an outstanding channel to seek PUGs for Badges, Monsters, & TFs. Usually thru BMT I can either form or join a team to accomplish any of the BMT enterprises, usually I am really big into doing TFs and I am constantly trying to join or form them.

2. Be picky about which SG/VG you join, frankly in your case, if they SG/VG is not in the top 5 spots in your server, as aweful as it may sound; they are not worth joining. You need a huge SG/VG to ensure there are enough players on-line when you play, so you have a chance on getting something started.

3. In either case, chat channel or SG/VG route, your initiative to form groups will make a huge difference.

4. Establish a good teaming reputation, so others will remember and look you up, and invite you into their teams as they form, we are always searching for good players; once you establish that reputation, life does get easier.

5. When you play with a good group, and encoutner good players or people you just like, be aggressive at adding their names to your friedns list, and get their globals if possible.


I hope this helps you

Hugs

Stormy

Aka Stormfront, Champions Server