More stupid Drive-By Buffers!

While I agree on your point of view regarding being shot into a spawn by a random SB, I also would like to add that if you're trying to avoid spawns, you're most likely not running straight towards them, and if you do it's probably because they're far enough away for you to not care about changing direction yet, thus unless you have the reflexes of a drugged sloth, you'll be able to hit the brakes.

However, if you're heading straight for a group, my guess is you're going there to fight anyway.

...I also would like to add that you still have a point. SB can get you killed, but it should be a very rare occurance. Sub par hardware, lousy connection, physical conditions etc are valid reasons I've heard for disliking or even being unable to play with SB applied, and that should of course be a reason to avoid buffing that player.

Also, the reason I wrote that was because of statements like this below, which I interpret as meaning all buffs (fortitude, forge, bubbles/shields, heat loss etc), but recognizing you from years back, I'm pretty sure you were aware of that and just wanted to point out the SB issue. I'll revise my previous statement to exclude the unanticipated application of drive-by SB then.

Not necessarily. Not everyone understands how to punch-voke. Those type of players do need taunt if they are looking to assume the tank role. I'm perfectly capable of holding aggro on my brutes and keeping even the squishiest lowbies alive in incredibly chaotic environments. However, this is where player skill and an understanding of game mechanics kicks in.

While I probably won't kick a player for not taking taunt, I would kick a player if their playstyle is clearly interfering with the survivability of the team. As for looking at powers, I rarely click player info. If I do, it means you've done to get noticed and I'm curious as to the depths of your stupidity.

While I agree with you in principle, Ironblade, I have seen far too many players that would benefit from taunt because they have not grasped the concept of punch-voke.

Yeah, but now you're talking about a Very specific set of circumstances in order to have getting SBd randomly cause problems.

I wouldn't say they are that specific.That can apply to pretty much any zone.

Yeah that was sort of my point... I guess this So Called Tank had seen other tankers in action and assumed he was supposed to run ahead and drive multiple mobs nuts. The problem was he wasn't doing anything, including attacking them, to maintain it. He'd turn and rush back at a team full of Blasters, Troller and Defenders (al squishies of a sort) and when the huge mob following him hit us they broke off and started attacking us.. resulting in mutliple dead team mates. Oddly enough one of the few that did survive hese disasters was our concept tank because he just kept running away until he was so far back everything lost interest in him since we were all there to pound on. I'm not sure what his so called "concept" was but it bore a striking resemblance to Shaggy and Scooby Do... Just let the bad guys chase me as I run away in total fear and someone will eventually save me! LOL

As for the Kin with no SB his comments just seemed sort of rude and he even added to them making it very clear he didnt care if any of us lived or died on the mission as long as he didn't die and got tons of XP. I wan't alone in that opinion as he was the topic of discussion after the leader kicked him and spent a few minutes looking for a replacement. Hey you want to build a solo only build fine.. go solo but don't advertise LFT and then get rude and nasty when someone asks .. "Why don't you have any powers that will help protect me?" Remember that the one person, in most cases, a buffer can't buff during a mission is him or herself. I had a player once scream at me inteam chat because he asked for CM and I didn't get it to him causing him to die. Well I'm sorry I ended up stunned and held on that same attack that you cause rushing ahead into the mob and by the time I woke up you were face down. At that point it seemed like a better idea to heal and buff the others so we didn't team wipe instead of running up and dying trying to rez you. Tha little story sort of demonstrates the need to HELP each other ...which is what a team is supposed to do. I buff you, you buff me, player 3 debuffs everything in front of us and HEY we win! Kin does have other benefits than SB and if the answer had been I skipped those to add more damage/whatever everyone would have been fine but .. "I could care less if you live or die I want XP" Umm "All those in favor of kicking the rude little troll raise your hand" *7 hands shoot up and the front door of the mission opens as a Kin is tossed back out*

ROFLMAO!

You had a point...until you finished off your post with a large dose of MALICE!

LOL!!!!!!

Originally Posted by PapaSlade Rangle's right....this is fun.

I've read your points, and will conceed you are certainly entitled to your feelings, but you know what?

I'm going to continue to do drive-by buffing, whether you like it or not, and will continue to be 'rude' about it by not asking first.

Sheez, you think that was malice? That was just practicality. If you get all mad and indignant, the only person you're making miserable is yourself. It's certainly not a punishable offense, unless someone is following you around and deliberately doing it repeatedly while you ask them (nicely, presumably) to stop. Even then, if you /petition it, you'll more likely than not be told, "Just go somewhere else."

Malice on my part almost always involves me calling someone either stupid or an idiot, that's how you can tell.

Snark. That was definitely snark.

If I misunderstood your intent I apologize. With the over all tone of this thread going to extremes in both directions, your post seemed to have had a certain tone at the end. The "suck it up" portion lent itself to that.

And snarks can certainly have malice behind them.

Originally Posted by PapaSlade Rangle's right....this is fun.

No argument that death by SB from normal street spawns are extremely rare occurances, but I wasn't just thinking of the standard street spawns that occur and are usually easy to ignore . . .


Let me quickly add that I appreciate your willingness to revise your statement, and the following is just to illustrate some other situations where SB death can occur.


I was thinking also of the mobs you encounter when you run across the path of an ambush or a mob chasing someone else. These are an everyday occurance which can be easy to avoid if you see them coming but that sudden burst of speed . . .

Another factor that contributes to SB deaths is running on Auto Pilot (I am gulity of this a lot). We all do it from time to time. We're doing something boring but necessary, like traveling between missions, Autorun is on and we're paying just enough attention to the screen to get where we're going safely. We're probably even multitasking. Talking to a teammate on Vent, while typing a response to an SGmate in SG channel. The game may even be split screened and we're glancing at a post on the forums as well. Then BAM! SB'd and the furball ensues.

How often have we been in the middle of typing when a fight started. LOL Or tried to type without being set to type and hit R and went into a mob. heh heh


Anyway, I'd say 99% of the time buffs are useful and applied with the best of intentions by Good Samaritans.

This thread is so all-over-the-place I'm not even gonna apologize for thread-jacking...

But punch-voking can be a problem for Tanks who benefit from being surrounded by as many enemies as possible.

If I want to help out that squishy under attack, it's much easier and SAFER (for me AND the team) to get his attention with a Taunt than jumping out of the middle of my mob to go punch-voke him.

Plus, I find other team members generally don't appreciate a Tank who's literally all over the map in a fight.

My Mace/Shield was once asked (as a lowbie) why he was bouncing around so much - clearly it was making it hard for the rest of the team to follow my lead - I had to explain that until I got my Taunt/Taunt Aura, I had to manually maintain aggro by running around punching the baddies.

For this reason, I do not consider the punch-voke an effective full-time tactic for an effective Tank.