The "#1" or whatever SGs are just that - the most prestige. It means absolute squat.
I'm in smaller SGs. I know the people in them. We run together, play together. The bases aren't huge, but they generally have everything we need (teleporters, invention area, pillar, some storage.)
Make your own SG. Find people you enjoy playing with and invite them. If you find another decent SG, coalition with them while you get built up a bit. Don't be a ***** about it (IE, "demand" SG mode, etc.) I tend to do the same thing - large or small SG, if I'm being used as a prestige drone and nobody bothers saying "hi" (just "why aren't you in SG mode/made X amount prestige/etc,) I leave. (This isn't saying large SGs are bad - Repeat Offenders, you can learn a lot from, and the Legion of Catgirls is entertaining in its own way.)
The game's about having fun. So go have fun.
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Yes. "Top Supergroup" generally means top as listed by the SG registrar, which is purely by prestige earned. And to keep the top spot, they have to get people grinding prestige constantly. I definitely advise against joining groups claiming they're the top on the server.|
Originally Posted by Comfort
I shouldn't say no one talks. There's one level 50 player who immediately tells me to get into SG mode. Farm prestige for the super group.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Comfort
Is there anything else I really need a SG for? I can't seem to understand the point of them in City of Heroes. I feel like I must be missing out on something great since everyone I know is in a SG, but every time I join one it's either completely dead or it's the same scenario as above.
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In actuality, the only thing a SG can give you that you can't get from a friends list is extra storage space for enhancements, inspirations, and salvage, but that's storage you share with the group, not personal storage. (And some zone teleporters go places you'd have to run/jump/fly to rather than taking the train.)
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
Quote:
[shameless plug]|
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
This isn't saying large SGs are bad - Repeat Offenders, you can learn a lot from, and the Legion of Catgirls is entertaining in its own way.
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I wasn't going to mention it, but since Bill brought it up...
Repeat Offenders Network. Largest coalition of supergroups in the game, with 38 SGs across 3 servers (both hero and villain SGs). I don't think any of them fall in the "Top X SG" category on their server, but we've had several of them hit the SG membership cap before (of course, less commonly since the cap was raised).
RO is about teaming and doing crazy stuff, not grinding presitge. To paraphrase Castle, 'Repeat Offenders has publicly leveraged the game mechanics to do stupidly difficult things easily.'
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
My wife and I have 6 supergroups, 3 hero and 3 villain, spread across 6 servers. We just expanded to 5 more SGs on the remaining servers. We've been playing for less than 2 years, and our oldest, original SG base is completely tricked out with millions in Prestige left over. We've not bothered with any of our other bases. That's mainly because we use our bases merely and almost completely as storage warehouses. With the ability to now email items to global addresses, we're able to deliver salvage, inspirations and crafted enhancements anywhere they're needed, regardless of where they're stored. This will only improve with Going Rogue and the ability for heroes to claim items sent by villains, and vice versa.
We, too, do not miss the lack of base teleporters. There are so many ways to get where one normally wants to go that the mild inconvenience of traveling off the beaten path (Boomtown? Dark Astoria?) is next to nothing, as measured in time. And the mission transporter even helps to cut that down.
Did I mention that all of these SGs, hero and villain, are completely composed of all the characters my wife and I have made? Sure, it takes time to build it up, but consider this: just two players (or one player with two accounts) on one server with 12 character slots each can make a SG base with a large workshop room and four salvage bins immediately (immediately after one character on that server gets to level 10, that is).
Not that we don't play with others, but we do mostly duo or solo. And for the purpose we put our bases to, we don't see any need to join someone else's SG. Of course, not everyone is like us, and the OP's point, I think, was that SGs should be about (lots of) players having fun playing together. If I choose to grind, that's cool, but if you tell me to grind, forget you.
What was I sayin'? I was totally goin' somewhere with this...
M. Bison: For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me...it was Tuesday.
-- Street Fighter (1994)
McClane: Hey, thanks for saving my daughter's life.
Farrell: What was I going to do?
McClane: That's what makes you "that guy."
-- Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
I have 4 SGs on Justice - one started with a friend (who no longer plays), my personal one although I take in wayward strays, my storage one, and one for the Mentor Project.
I have a personal VG there as well.
I also have a SG and VG on Freedom, again only other members are strays.
I have all porters and storage and everything else in them.
Why do I not care about the lack of /sg talk? Global Channels.
Small group of friends in a global channel > SG.
Support the Mentor Project - http://tinyurl.com/citymentorproject
[JFA2010]Mod08: And I will strike down upon thee (enrious) with great vengence and .... oh wait wrong script
@enrious, @sardonicism, @MyLexiConIsHugeSon
If you haven't joined a global channel, you're not really looking for team.
I have personal SGs, originally started with my brother, but he's moved on. We also inherited a couple of others. Having a personal SG means no more annoying surprise SG invites. It also means having a personal Base. I use my Bases for transportation, storage and crafting. In particular, safe storage to facilitate my hoarding tendencies.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
One SG and one VG here...
Both on Guardian...
Both with the same players (me and two friends)...
Both with lots of storage space, all telepads and med-room.
After we covered the pratical details, I was encharged of designing the rest of the base, according to the theme we decided...
50% of the base is streamlined, functional and organized. The other 50% I used to vent my creative skills, trying to keep a theme on each of then.
All the prestige was gained by the 3 members, at the rate they (we) wanted to use. No stress at all.
I have friends on other groups, and the coalition was made with then... and from time to time I catch a new coalition member with the new groups, to help then a bit with our telepads...
** Guardian�s Crazy Catgirl **
************* 22 XxX 10 *************
Yes. I can get lost on a straight-line map.
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Top sign of an SG that sucks. A good SG isn't about accumulating prestige; it's about the people in it.|
Originally Posted by Comfort
There's one level 50 player who immediately tells me to get into SG mode. Farm prestige for the super group.
|
Quote:
| I like having tons of influence and not giving a percentage away so some yahoo can practice landscaping some virtual garden. |
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| Is there anything else I really need a SG for? |
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| I can't seem to understand the point of them in City of Heroes. I feel like I must be missing out on something great since everyone I know is in a SG, but every time I join one it's either completely dead or it's the same scenario as above. |
1) Find people you enjoy teaming with.
2) Play with them a while. Become friends.
3) Ask to join their SG.
Joining a random SG means you'll end up in one that's really trying hard to recruit. Most of the heavy recruiters are SG's that suck.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Any SG that will immediately accept you as a member, knowing nothing about you, will accept anyone and isn't an SG you want to be part of.
My SG is small. It will always be small. We have maybe fifteen active members, on both sides on two servers. We only invite people if we've played with them and enjoyed the experience. We ask people to stay in SG mode until 25, and consequently have more prestige than we know what to do with. The bases aren't oversized mazes, but they have transporters, a medbay, storage, crafting, and yes, a garden in one of them.
We simply do not care if we're a "top group" (whatever that means) or not. Nobody grinds prestige, we don't have to listen to inane chatter in group channels, everybody pretty much knows everybody else, we don't annoy people with broadcast spam and blind SG invites, I have made some in-game friends and had way more fun playing with them than some random PuG, I can pick up a Photonic Weapon if I need one in a pinch, and I can get to Perez from Founder's Falls without zoning a million times.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
Quote:
This and the rest and also with the earlier point that a SG that wants you immediately in SG Mode (unless it's brand new and they should be up front with you about that - you get to be in on the ground floor of a SG construction) only see you as a Prestige Mule.|
Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
Any SG that will immediately accept you as a member, knowing nothing about you, will accept anyone and isn't an SG you want to be part of.
... |
Odds are they are caught up in the Top # junk and only see you as a means to an end, 'cause if they have everything in the base they need, they don't need more prestige.
Support the Mentor Project - http://tinyurl.com/citymentorproject
[JFA2010]Mod08: And I will strike down upon thee (enrious) with great vengence and .... oh wait wrong script
@enrious, @sardonicism, @MyLexiConIsHugeSon
If you haven't joined a global channel, you're not really looking for team.
Just to add to everyone else's comments, the "top supergroups" are the supergroups that have farmed the most prestige, plain and simple. Very rarely will you run across any friendship or camaraderie in one of them. As a member, you are merely a tool to get more prestige to keep them in the top slots on the server, in a warped competition with other supergroups doing the same.
My honest advice is to not be a tool like they are. Group up with your friends and players you like and respect. Some of the real top supergroups in the game are quite small.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
I'm going to disagree with that blanket statement Tony.
Being part of one of the 'Top SGs' on Triumph, (Fusion Force) we don't farm prestige.
We have a fun and active group, and the prestige just keeps coming in because of the TFs mission teams and the like we get going.
The leader was even interviewed recently:
http://www.massively.com/2010/04/28/...ity-of-heroes/
This is, I admit, unusual for groups high up in the rankings in the game as a whole, but is actually pretty normal for Triumph. A good number of our top 20 are 5-6 year old groups, who just play the game and have fun.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Quote:
This, seeing that one person can pay the base rent doing two missions or less every two weeks.|
Originally Posted by enrious2
This and the rest and also with the earlier point that a SG that wants you immediately in SG Mode (unless it's brand new and they should be up front with you about that - you get to be in on the ground floor of a SG construction) only see you as a Prestige Mule.
Odds are they are caught up in the Top # junk and only see you as a means to an end, 'cause if they have everything in the base they need, they don't need more prestige. |
My current SG is me, my alts and my stuff. It's also a chat channel for my friend, his brother and his son. It's a place where I can play with the base editor if I want.
It has all the stuff that I need, so there's no incentive to recruit. If I want chatter, there's the Global channels.
Quote:
Every 2 weeks? Why are you throwing Prestige away? You should be paying every 6 weeks (when your power gets shut off).
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Originally Posted by BBQ_Pork
This, seeing that one person can pay the base rent doing two missions or less every two weeks.
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Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
Hmmm...I always thought it was more of a way to tell a SG has been around awhile and not one of those "start up then die" SGs (which I've made a few...:/ )"
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
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Add: |
Originally Posted by SerialBeggar
Every 2 weeks? Why are you throwing Prestige away? You should be paying every 6 weeks (when your power gets shut off).
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...or when I get around to it.
...or when I get tired of seeing the warning.
...or when I lose power.
I'm gleefully inconsistant, but I'm the only live account on there now.
Quote:
Sorry, but you are wrong. There are plenty of "top supergroups" that got high in the ranks without farming, grinding, whatever and who are about the people. I know. I run one. And I know of (or am a member of) several others.
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Originally Posted by TonyV
Just to add to everyone else's comments, the "top supergroups" are the supergroups that have farmed the most prestige, plain and simple. Very rarely will you run across any friendship or camaraderie in one of them. As a member, you are merely a tool to get more prestige to keep them in the top slots on the server, in a warped competition with other supergroups doing the same.
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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Comfort
I see you advertising your SG in general chat, spamming it over and over. You're the top X guild on the server or world or who knows. I don't even know why your guild is the top X guild. Did you get a bajillion prestige? More randomly placed items in your base than anyone else? Did you kill something that required more than everyone on the team doing all the damage they could while someone else healed?
From what I've gathered it's because some book in some office somewhere in the game says you are in the top guild. I'm sure some intelligent forum goers know exactly why this is, but I don't care enough to search it out. Perhaps it's WoW mentality, I'm a returning player after all. In WoW when you said you were the top guild you actually had done something no one else had before everyone else did. Not having a life so I could be in the top guild was something I hated, looking back on it. I hate most of the people in the top guilds. So I tentatively join one of these so called top super groups. There must be some reason for the popularity, right? It turns out it's one of these offshoots from some other supergroup. There's no one in this super group that talks but in some other super group they're spamming 4chan memes as hard as they can via something called coalition chat. The chat where people who are in worthless super groups can get together and SPAM HOLY HELL THE SPAM I shouldn't say no one talks. There's one level 50 player who immediately tells me to get into SG mode. Farm prestige for the super group. I know as a lowbie this really doesn't hurt but the idea of giving to some nameless entity because somebody I don't know (but is higher rank than me in the grand scheme of supergroup pyramids) tells me to. I figure he'll give me a few minutes before he kicks me for my lack of constant flow of prestige so I go check out the superbase. After all, the superbase is what joining a SG is all about really, isn't it? Inside the superbase is a bowling alley, some sort of maze of trees, endless piles of workshops and labs. It looks like super walmart met disneyland and I wonder to myself what's so super about it. I got lost inside this base in the maze of corridors. This must be to what all my prestige I haven't yet earned is going to, this massive bloated sprawling nightmare complex. Oh this guy is telling me I'm not in SG mode yet. Demanding now that I switch. /sgquit He would've kicked me when I wasn't on anyway in the next few days. I understand I can teleport around the city at certain locations... I can do that anyway, it's called a train, oroboros, wentworths teleporter, vangard, pocket D, midnighter club, or possibly other ways I can't think of. I have friends, great friends, they're on my friend list and they don't spam me, but they do help me find teams and I help them where I can. I like having tons of influence and not giving a percentage away so some yahoo can practice landscaping some virtual garden. I almost feel like the whole concept of a super base needs to be examined again by the devs, to make it something more than a creepy customizable rat maze. To the point, we have these great little packs for mutation, magic, science, etc. Why not breathe a little life into super bases with a pack like that? Exterior superbases? Superbases in caves! Is there anything else I really need a SG for? I can't seem to understand the point of them in City of Heroes. I feel like I must be missing out on something great since everyone I know is in a SG, but every time I join one it's either completely dead or it's the same scenario as above. These are just my thoughts as I declined to join the #1 guild again. |
This made me laugh a lot
Eco.
MArcs:
The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
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First off, I applaud most of the original post.
Secondly, I love it in the small supergroups. If you see the supergroup as a collection of friendly people who just wanna get together and have some fun, you're on the right track as far as I'm concerned. I was curious though, and had a peek into one of the largest sgs on my server (naming no names). I couldn't stand it there. The people were all the kinds of things I find annoying, there was this dictatorship regime, and the base was just plain ugly.
I was more than happy when I found my little supergroup of around five, with a beautiful base that was cared for, and the friendly atmosphere. You can take your #1 supergroup, Captain Bossman, and shove it in an oriface of your choice, thank you very much.
Quote:
I think I had a character that was offered and invitation to the Legion of Catgirls as an honorary Catgirl many many moons ago. The character wasn't female...or a cat. I had just been on a PuG with a couple of them for a few missions. Much fun was had by all. |
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
(This isn't saying large SGs are bad - Repeat Offenders, you can learn a lot from, and the Legion of Catgirls is entertaining in its own way.)
|
I wonder if I'd have to move Catgirl Alex if I got another invitation...
There I was between a rock and a hard place. Then I thought, "What am I doing on this side of the rock?"
All the supergroups I've been in I've just kind of used to find people of similar level to me to group with without spamming broadcast every time I want to do something and hoping there's people in the area...
Even if I blend into the prestige grinding soul-less masses...at least I'm getting some convenience out of it..
That is until I find a better SG.
But hey, I'm keeping busy.
My SG and VG on union consists mainly of me and my boyfriend, theres a couple of odd people but then thats mates of ours and normally its to help me raise some prestige so i can get my "next big item". Like for instance, i finally got the pvp badge in my SG, now i just need 5 mil prestige to put it in (1.5mil gotten, 3.5 to go *sigh*)
I'm a big fan of the base editor but i try not to make my base like a maze. All the important stuff is near the entrance, the rest is for me to play about with. And WHEN i do get people going into either of my bases i do get some very nice comments on how well i've done with "so-and-so forest TP room" or "nice flyer bay in an arcane base" (i like to show off what i've done for ideas on how to make things better or just to see if i'm as good as i hope rofl)
Also having your own personal storage space for salvage/enhances/insps helps a LOT imho. My main toons both sides clears out the white/yellow salvage racks on a regular basis and gains the WW/BM badges that way.
I honestly didn't WANT to be part of a massive SG when i could have fun creating my own. For me some of the game is the missions/tf's but quite a bit of it is base editing/cossie making. Like the day i finally mastered the fine art of "stacking" i was so pleased and didn't even notice i'd been in edit mode for 4 hours and it was about 2am (bf was poking me and telling me to go to bed at that point) or the day i finished making my forest/lawn strip down the middle of my large TP room.
Sorry for the massive amount of text....but...i love my base on both sides :S
--------------------------------------
Short Story I did: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=228383
DevArt Page: http://tamedragon.deviantart.com/
Quote:
I'm not actually so sure about this. I'm running an SG with one of my friends and we're currently 3rd on the "top SG list" (I'm aware this means next to nothing) on Union. We basically invite anyone who wants to join, and we're especially keen to recruit new players. |
Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
Any SG that will immediately accept you as a member, knowing nothing about you, will accept anyone and isn't an SG you want to be part of.
|
The SG used to be quite hardcore (we were at top 1 at some point), but when most of the leaders left for other games it was just me and my mate left there so we decided to make it more casual friendly. No running in SG mode unless you want to. Invite rights for everyone so they can invite friends should they want to. It's worked quite nicely so far, we have an active playerbase now and we're running SG TFs regularly and what's most important is that everyone's having fun.
I don't think you need to pass some sort of rite of initiation to be able to join. I think it's more important that we just recruit anyone who wants to join and then help and teach them in SG teams. It doesn't cost me any extra to help other players have a better gaming experience.
The only expectations we have of our members is that they're willing to learn and have fun. Basically this just means that we shouldn't don't have to tell them not to zerg into spawns on their blaster more than a few times. As long as they don't harm the gaming experience of other members everything goes.
My two cents...
- @DSorrow - alts on Union and Freedom mostly -
Currently playing as Castigation on Freedom
My Katana/Inv Guide
Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. -Einstein
I don't think accepting anyone in is a bad thing... not the best thing either as it can be dangerous to your stuff, allowing it to get stolen...
Big SGs are kinda stupid in my opinion... Let's say you can only have 8 storage bins and 100 people... well...
When you have 8 people, that is 30 spaces for each.
when you have 16 people, that's 15 spaces for each.
When you have 32 people, that's 7.5 spaces for each.
When you have 64 people, that's 3.75 spaces for each.
When you have 100 people, that's 2.4 spaces for each.
and you can say that with more people you can get more storage quickly but that's useless if you're allowing everyone to access it and if you are...then you are not actually gaining storage space over all.
And as far as recruiting, I have my own SG... been trying to get people to join and stay in it since I started it, but because it doesn't have everything in it just yet and I have an odd sleep schedule they leave so meh... I gave up...maybe in several years I'll get people to join and stay and by then my base will be complete.
I see you advertising your SG in general chat, spamming it over and over. You're the top X guild on the server or world or who knows. I don't even know why your guild is the top X guild. Did you get a bajillion prestige? More randomly placed items in your base than anyone else? Did you kill something that required more than everyone on the team doing all the damage they could while someone else healed?
From what I've gathered it's because some book in some office somewhere in the game says you are in the top guild. I'm sure some intelligent forum goers know exactly why this is, but I don't care enough to search it out.
Perhaps it's WoW mentality, I'm a returning player after all. In WoW when you said you were the top guild you actually had done something no one else had before everyone else did. Not having a life so I could be in the top guild was something I hated, looking back on it. I hate most of the people in the top guilds.
So I tentatively join one of these so called top super groups. There must be some reason for the popularity, right? It turns out it's one of these offshoots from some other supergroup. There's no one in this super group that talks but in some other super group they're spamming 4chan memes as hard as they can via something called coalition chat. The chat where people who are in worthless super groups can get together and SPAM HOLY HELL THE SPAM
I shouldn't say no one talks. There's one level 50 player who immediately tells me to get into SG mode. Farm prestige for the super group. I know as a lowbie this really doesn't hurt but the idea of giving to some nameless entity because somebody I don't know (but is higher rank than me in the grand scheme of supergroup pyramids) tells me to. I figure he'll give me a few minutes before he kicks me for my lack of constant flow of prestige so I go check out the superbase. After all, the superbase is what joining a SG is all about really, isn't it?
Inside the superbase is a bowling alley, some sort of maze of trees, endless piles of workshops and labs. It looks like super walmart met disneyland and I wonder to myself what's so super about it. I got lost inside this base in the maze of corridors. This must be to what all my prestige I haven't yet earned is going to, this massive bloated sprawling nightmare complex.
Oh this guy is telling me I'm not in SG mode yet. Demanding now that I switch. /sgquit
He would've kicked me when I wasn't on anyway in the next few days.
I understand I can teleport around the city at certain locations... I can do that anyway, it's called a train, oroboros, wentworths teleporter, vangard, pocket D, midnighter club, or possibly other ways I can't think of.
I have friends, great friends, they're on my friend list and they don't spam me, but they do help me find teams and I help them where I can.
I like having tons of influence and not giving a percentage away so some yahoo can practice landscaping some virtual garden.
I almost feel like the whole concept of a super base needs to be examined again by the devs, to make it something more than a creepy customizable rat maze. To the point, we have these great little packs for mutation, magic, science, etc. Why not breathe a little life into super bases with a pack like that? Exterior superbases? Superbases in caves!
Is there anything else I really need a SG for? I can't seem to understand the point of them in City of Heroes. I feel like I must be missing out on something great since everyone I know is in a SG, but every time I join one it's either completely dead or it's the same scenario as above.
These are just my thoughts as I declined to join the #1 guild again.