A small request...

...please do not send me a tell inviting yourself to my team. If my team was looking for more, I would have broadcast it and invited people that way.

If you send me a tell saying "Any room? or "Can I join?", I will not reply, I will ignore you.

It's just rude.

Thanks.

yeah dont do it or the baby avatar will punch ya =)

That's no idle threat. My daughter is quite mighty.

I don't really see what's rude about it.

it would prolly make a much greater impact if you put this kind of thing in your search comment in game

It's always rude to invite yourself to a group.

Especially if he's not looking.

Hide is a great feature. My guess is that they're contacting everyone grey (teamed) from /sea.

I imagine most folks who do that don't read forums and might not care if they did. In a way, they're using one of the tools provided them - just differently than you or I would.

What I'd like to see is more folks also pushing for QoL improvements to team searches like an overhaul to the existing /sea window. /Sea will tell me your origin but not your team size.. or, regardless of size, whether you're locked in a taskforce already. Making everything optional for view would be nice. I'd rather know you're a kinetic dingdong than a magic origins dingdong, if you're a team lead or just a flunky etc...

Real Life Equivalent: Oh, hey, you're going to the movies with your girlfriend? Let me get my coat!

Think of it as a short primer on how not to fail?

Because the last thing anyone wants is a gooseberry.

Surely you've had a situation like this in real life - you and... lets say some work friends are discussing going out to have a couple of drinks after shift is over, and some guy you don't really know passing by goes "Oh, hey, that sounds like a good idea, I'll come with!"

It's not the be-all and end-all of social faux pas, but it really isn't very polite at all to impose on people in that fashion.

I mean, when I'm forming a team, it's normally hard enough to find people who want in or who are the right level range or whatever. I like nothing better than getting tells from people who have the wherewithal to seek out a team and are happy to be on one.

I have absolutely no problems teaming with others, and I love the synergies of big teams.

If I'm forming up a big team, I'll broadcast, I'll use search, I'll use my various communications channels to see if anyone is interested.

If I don't want to form the team myself, I'll put myself out as looking for a team with my search flags and broadcasts.

All of these things are not rude; they are looking for like-minded people to join together with.

But, if I see that you're teamed on a search, I won't try to invite myself along. You might be running with a static group, you might be running an Ouro taskforce, you might be running with a supergroup team. I have no way of knowing that, and making the assumption that I'd be welcome on that team is rude.

Some teams might be looking for more, but a significant number are not.

I do wish they could revamp the search system, to include a team looking for more flag. Then it would be perfectly reasonable to send a tell asking if you can be invited along.

But without that information, the best a team that is looking for more can do is to broadcast that they are looking for more, and use the other methods I have already described.

You want on a larger team, that's what you do.

Sometimes, I just want to duo with my wife, and having extras along isn't any fun. Sometimes, I want a big pickup group. But to assume that you're welcome on my team is like assuming you're welcome in my house.

If I want you there, I'll invite you in.

If only there were some way for people on and off teams to share information about their respective situations.

Man that would be great.

edit: also, comparing someone asking to join a team with someone walking into your house or something is beyond silly.

I've never thought it rude when someone's asked to join my team. Then again, I don't take myself too seriously on the internet.

I've just thought of a better simile than the one I used before.

It's like getting a cold-call. It's not a massive inconvenience, and it doesn't take long to deal with, but if you get two, three cold calls in one day, you can start to get pretty vexed about the whole thing. I see them much like blind invites. I don't know the person on the other end of the tell or invite, and I'm generally only interested in teaming with people I like and have fun with.

I'm here to have fun, after all.

I don't particularly like random groups, so I tend to avoid them. I've had good experiences with them in the past, but it's just a dynamic I don't particularly enjoy. So having these "cold-call" interruptions detracts from my enjoyment. Not a lot, but it can mount up if I'm unlucky.

tl;dr version - yes, more flagging and variables would be good because I'm a cantankerous old killjoy.

What I don't get is, if it's rude to ask to join someone's team, isn't it equally rude to ask someone to join your team?