The Boot Myth


Adelie

 

Posted

I keep seeing post after post after post of people using the words "surely," "likely," "probably" and even "definitely" in regards to people getting kicked from teams due to perceived "bad power choices."

Let me give some examples of people who, according to the forums, will get kicked from the team because of their own foolish considerations:

  • A Mastermind with no Henchmen
  • An Arachnos Soldier or Arachnos Widow without Tactical Training: Maneuvers
  • A Kinetics without Fulcrum Shift
  • Any Kheldian
Now, I've done my fair share of teaming, and I've never come across those intimidating types who carefully examine your build to see whether or not your power selections satisfy their min/maxing appetites. In fact, very rarely am I ever on a team where any member even checks to see what powers another member has. Everybody just goes with it, and if it works, it works.

Maybe I'm just lucky, or perhaps Triumph is just a better server than the others, but in my experience, you are not going to get booted from a team based on your power selections.

Also: petless Mastermind /plug


 

Posted

I've been one of those lucky ones as well. I pick powers for concept, not efficiency, and no one has ever so much as commented on my power choices in a negative way. I have had people give me advice, trying to be helpful. When I tell them I know, but, it doesn't fit my concept they always drop it.

I tend to think, just my opinion of course, that those who have played awhile realize the game is too easy to require min/max characters and its only those who either have not been around long enough to realize that fact or those who refuse to accept it that create the anecdotes you're talking about.


@Doctor Gemini

Arc #271637 - Welcome to M.A.G.I. - An alternative first story arc for magic origin heroes. At Hero Registration you heard the jokes about Azuria always losing things. When she loses the entire M.A.G.I. vault, you are chosen to find it.

 

Posted

Personally, I could care less about what build you have. I'm more concerned with whether we are having fun or not.

Now, if I see someone who looks like they have a haphazard build like what you mention above, I may ask what their plans are for the build, find out some perspective on how they are going about building and such, and offer advice if they ask me. Would I kick them from the team? Nah. Not at all.

Just remember, there are 3 Main Buttons* on the UI that are the most important and Kick is not one of them.



(They're usually "Go To Hospital", "Go To Base" and whatever slot has my wakie in it for the F# keys... )


Comic and Hero/Villain Culture
Saturday January 29th, 2005 (12:37 PM) ~ Monday August 9th, 2010
Those Who Lived It Will Remember Long after your Ban Hammer Crumbles and the servers flicker dead.
We Will Remember This One Moment In Time! ~ Shadow Ravenwolf

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obscure Blade View Post
My Fire/Dark Corruptor was once booted from a team for not being a "healer". Apparently Twilight Grasp and Howling Twilight didn't count.
Were you actually using them? Had a lot of self-proclaimed healers stand around like morons or plink away with their attacks while team mates are dropping all over the place.


 

Posted

I saw someone kicked from the team once because they wouldn't stop complaining that I was playing an energy blaster and had too much knockback.

Of course I wasn't actually scattering anything in any significant way or even causing the scrappers to run around after enemies (yay for hover). They apparently just didn't like the powerset a lot. It was more annoying than anything else really and when the, "It's them or me," ultimatum came up they were kicked.

Sometimes PUGs are entertaining.


MA Arcs: Yarmouth 1509 and 58812

 

Posted

Quote:
A Mastermind with no Henchmen
This is the only one I'd kick... but only if I was forming a Task Force.
If it was a normal team, I'd sigh to myself and try to get a real MM that wasn't gimping themselves.


 

Posted

One guy got really ticked at my friend for blapping with his energy/energy blaster. He was the tank and basically said "Either I tank or he tanks."


 

Posted

I have been booted from a team for 'not healing enough' - mind you, this is on my Level 50 Empath; she has all the buffs slotted to the hilt (granted, with HOs; but that's still more than plenty), and rarely needs to heal. Apparently I'm supposed to put the tank on follow and my PBAoE heal on auto. And do nothing but throw heals and buffs around.

I'm sorry, I have a secondary, and Rain of Pwnies won't fire itself!

edit: I have also been booted for not having SB, after clarifying to the person who sent me the invite that I hadn't picked SB up yet (next power purchase).
edit2: On a different character, obviously.


Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dispari View Post
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyPerfect View Post
I keep seeing post after post after post of people using the words "surely," "likely," "probably" and even "definitely" in regards to people getting kicked from teams due to perceived "bad power choices."

Let me give some examples of people who, according to the forums, will get kicked from the team because of their own foolish considerations:
  • A Mastermind with no Henchmen
  • An Arachnos Soldier or Arachnos Widow without Tactical Training: Maneuvers
  • A Kinetics without Fulcrum Shift
  • Any Kheldian
Now, I've done my fair share of teaming, and I've never come across those intimidating types who carefully examine your build to see whether or not your power selections satisfy their min/maxing appetites. In fact, very rarely am I ever on a team where any member even checks to see what powers another member has. Everybody just goes with it, and if it works, it works.

Maybe I'm just lucky, or perhaps Triumph is just a better server than the others, but in my experience, you are not going to get booted from a team based on your power selections.

Also: petless Mastermind /plug
I had someone scream at me once, on Triumph, that my heals weren't doing enough. Guy wasn't even on my team, but the green numbers weren't big enough for him. *boggle* So no, Triumph is not immune.

PUGs are funny things. Sometimes you'll find that min maxer who can't stand the idea of an inefficient build, and some who probably wouldn't even know how to check a build.


 

Posted

While I can imagine the kind of player who would build such a horrific character, it seems a certain amount of malicious knowledge and intent would be required, not ignorance. The worst 'build' I've ever played with was a level 18 Claws/Regen scrapper who hadn't taken Integration. This was his first time playing a toon with mez protection, though, and he hadn't realized it was important. Other than that, he was a great roleplayer, and I had a wonderful afternoon.

So, yeah, I remain unconvinced that such characters exist. I'll buy that some team leaders are douches, though. I've seen that plenty.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zikar View Post
This is the only one I'd kick... but only if I was forming a Task Force.
If it was a normal team, I'd sigh to myself and try to get a real MM that wasn't gimping themselves.
Just today, I was on a MITF run with a petless Mastermind. The Mastermind was fighting with melee attacks quite often, with boss aggro and everything, and never died. The only reason we didn't make it is because a sneaky ambush in the last mission got the Empathy Defender of all things.

I'd much rather be on a team with a petless Mastermind who knew what he was doing than a pet-ful Mastermind who couldn't command his way out of a paper bag.


 

Posted

I've rarely seen people kicked. What I see more often are people making up excuses to get off of teams that aren't working.


 

Posted

There are only two types of characters I'd kick, petless masterminds and defenders with no powers from their secondary other than the mandatory one (and sometimes the stun).

Actually I'll expand that slightly. I would kick anyone, regardless of AT, who seems to be ignoring one of their two powersets. However I've never encountered anyone doing that on another AT. I don't expect people to take all powers from both powersets and I don't care that much WHICH powers you take. However you should look as if you're making the effort to use the set in the way that it was intended (which for Masterminds means taking the pets).

That being said I rarely bother to check people's power selections so I normally only notice if they either tell me up-front or I happen to notice them behaving wierdly during play.


 

Posted

in nearly 6 years, i have personally been booted once, during a nasty trash talking spat in pvp between the leader of our group and the leader of the one hero group, when i asked our leader to cool it and she kicked me. and once i was not invited to a rsf run because my dominator was not perma. i do wonder sometimes when people go on about people being kicked for small build issues, if its a freedom/virtue thing, or if they are just drama queens. I will note that i have kicked people twice as well, once because the guy parked himself at the door of a longer mission, and then went to the store(and i mean the grocery store, not just a run to sell enhancements ingame, he abandoned the game and the team, without telling us till his roomate popped on his character to tell us). the sad part is, id have put up with it if he'd asked, and once when a blaster was acting suicidal and would not listen to multiple attempts to alter the team strategy, 4th wipe i decided it was best for us to pursue separate ventures.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyPerfect View Post
I'd much rather be on a team with a petless Mastermind who knew what he was doing than a pet-ful Mastermind who couldn't command his way out of a paper bag.
this is exactly how i see things, i dont really care what build the other person has, as long as they know how to use it

i usually build all my toons to be self reliant against large enemy spawns you would see in a tf, so buffs are extra but they do help, but i wouldnt kick someone for not having a buff that would help me a tiny bit more

one of my toons (actually my main toon) has a very unusual build for a mm, hes a ninja/dark but only has 4 dark powers (heal, shadow fall, howl twilight, and servant), because i build him up to be mroe of a dmg dealer, so he has 2 attacks in primary, and 3 powers from patron which allow him to run petless if necessary, but the pets are mostly used as meat shields since hes still a little squishy. another example of my odd builds for toons is ive never taken the fighting pool on any of my toons, brutes, tanks, whatever, i never use the fighting pool.

IMHO, as long as you know what your doing and how to use the toon, you can use whatever build you want be it odd or be it super efficient


 

Posted

I've had people decline to invite me because of my build (when you're looking for a support character, a plant/storm splattroller won't be too helpful), but I've never been kicked from a team for it.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood View Post
However you should look as if you're making the effort to use the set in the way that it was intended
Do you have a developer comment indicating that they "intend" for us to play any specific powerset in any specific way, or that they disapprove of any "unintended" power or powerset usage that isn't directly related to an exploit? I'd like to see it, please.

Before you answer that, I've broached this subject with Castle on more than one occasion, and I know that he thinks it's absolutely wonderful to see players turning the game on it's head this way and doing things he never expected, as long as they aren't exploits. And Castle's sentiment is pretty much standard for the entire team. So you might want to re-examine your determination to kick other players based on what you think the developers "intend".

That "play the way you're told" crap went out the door with Jack Emmert. And you don't get to reinstate it, mister. If you want to be a build nazi, you go right ahead, but don't try to justify it by claiming that you're just following the rules.

And for anyone else claiming to be entitled to kick other players for not having your idea of an acceptable build, the only person you're really hurting is yourself. A good player with a "gimp" build is a better player, and person, than you, because that player is willing to take a chance on something different, isn't afraid to deviate from the cookie cutter mentality and can actually teach you more about the game than you'll ever learn from reading the wiki and copying someone else's build on the forums. Nor will a new player with a "gimp" build learn anything by being kicked, except that you're a selfish ****** who can't even be bothered to talk to someone and help them improve their experience in this game.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex View Post
I've rarely seen people kicked. What I see more often are people making up excuses to get off of teams that aren't working.
Oh Ive been guilty of that before! I always try and be very polite about it though

I've never been kicked or have kicked someone due to 'odd' build choices. I think the worst I have done is ask a Storm toon or two to watch their use of Hurricane when they have it on perma and stay in melee just to scatter mobs rather than using it to protect ranged squishy toons to to herd baddies into a corner.

I think I may have come close to being kicked last night though. I was on a team with my new Traps/DP 'fender when I got a tell asking 'Want to join our team we need a healer'. I replied saying I was already on one but wonder if I would have got booted when they found out the only healing I would be doing is with an unslotted Triage Beacon!


Member of GGRRR, a SG on Defiant - check out our website - GGRRR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
Quote:
16. Has Paragon Studios redefined "player" to require your mouse to subscribe separately from your keyboard?
If your mouse has greater processing power than your gfx card, the answer is yes.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyPerfect View Post
Maybe I'm just lucky, or perhaps Triumph is just a better server than the others, but in my experience, you are not going to get booted from a team based on your power selections.
Nope. It's not luck. I've never been kicked from a team for any reason. Most of my characters have no travel power. I have a Kin defender who only uses melee attacks and didn't take Speed Boost until level 30. I have a petless mastermind. I played TA when TA was regarded as completely ineffective, useless and broken. I don't even make "team builds", I design every character to be effective solo and play them exactly the same way on teams.

And in over four years of playing, with some of the most ridiculous builds I can find ways to make and play, I've never been kicked from a team. I've never been asked to leave a team. I've never even met anyone in the game who claimed to have been kicked from another team, or seen someone complaining about it in /broadcast. I've rarely left a team without someone asking if they can add me to their friends or global friends list (which still surprises me, to this day). In all of that time, not one of these people with their raging Emmertudes has ever crossed my path... except, of course, here on the forums.

The reality is that these people are in such an extreme minority that they're irrelevant. I have no doubt that they behave like fascists in the game, but they're also restricting themselves to SG teams, small groups of close-knit friends or global lists where people are aware of their behavior, so they don't actually affect the vast majority players in any way.

Bunch of hot air and chest thumping, that's all it is. Build nazis don't matter. They never have, they never will, no matter how much their egos say otherwise.


 

Posted

I'm convinced that the idea that people are going to get kicked if they fail to build their characters exactly according to some mythical, "cookie-cutter", build nazi standard is just one of those exaggerations made up to demonize min/maxers.

I'm still waiting for a convincing explanation of why I care about the performance (or lack thereof) of your character when I have designed my characters with the explicit goal of being as self-sufficient and widely capable as possible.


 

Posted

Let's see, I've had my arch/rad defender kicked from an AV team because "arrows suck." My kin was kicked from a lvl5 team because I didn't have SB. Same kin was kicked from a team because the tank said I wasn't giving him SB when he called for it (It was set on auto and I was targeting the tank.) They didn't like it when I told them that multiple SBs from one person doesn't stack. They just said that I don't know how to play. My scrapper got kicked from a team for doing a better job tanking than the tank. He would just stand there and wait for the blaster to shoot first. The blaster threatened to quit the team if someone didn't start tanking because he was sick of getting killed.


�Let there be truth, happiness, and waffles�
-Vagabond, Dark Lord & Avatar of Gnarr
The Justiciars

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by DocArcus View Post
Let's see, I've had my arch/rad defender kicked from an AV team because "arrows suck."
That was funny. XD


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by poptart_fairy View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Obscure Blade
My Fire/Dark Corruptor was once booted from a team for not being a "healer". Apparently Twilight Grasp and Howling Twilight didn't count.
Were you actually using them? Had a lot of self-proclaimed healers stand around like morons or plink away with their attacks while team mates are dropping all over the place.
I never got the chance to use them; as soon as I reached the zone they were in, the leader saw I was a /Dark and kicked me.

EDIT: And as it happens, I never called myself a "healer", nor did he say he wanted a "healer" ( but if he did, a /Dark should certainly qualify as one ). He sent a tell asking me to join, and never said a thing about "healers" until I finally reached the zone the team was in and he kicked me.


Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth

 

Posted

I've only been kicked once. And it was on my petless mastermind Was around three years ago, and i wanted to play a dusl pistols char. so i rolled a Thugs/Dark MM and picked only three powers from thugs

I usually don't mind how people build their chars, but sometimes it just annoys me. Like the super reflex scrapper who complained constantly they were held/slept/stunned etc. I checked their powers, no practised brawlers. I asked why they didn't have it and got the reply "It's not doing anything".
*rolls eyes*

Or the invuln tank who died in every fight on ITF, and noticed they didn't have Temp Invulnerability, they respecced after the TF tho and became a much better tank

Or the Fire/Axe tanker who didn't have stamina (he had hurdle, swift and health tho), demanded that we stopped every fight so his rest power would recycle and threatened to quit when i ran ahead and soloed two groups at once while he rested. The best part was when he said to team "I'm gonna put two more slots into rest, six recharge should make it better"