Is a Supergroup a Brand Name?

After a bad PUG this morning, I got into an interesting discussion with someone. Two of the members of the team were from the same SG, which I will keep nameless at this point. This being the case, I made the comment that there was one more SG that I would avoid teaming with in the future.

The other player seemed to think this was a bit harsh, but I don't think so. When you go out there as an SG member, everyone sees what SG you are from. Your actions reflect not only on you, but on your entire SG.

In this case, the player was low level and likely a new recruit to the SG. Maybe their actions were not indicative of the SG members as a whole, but first impressions are everything. The leadership of an SG has full control over who and how they recruit. If their preferred method is spamming broadcast in various zones and accepting anyone who knows how to turn on SG mode and get them prestige, they probably shouldn't expect much in the way of "quality" players.

And yes, I know the above method is the most common method for recruitment. I understand why the prestige system more or less encourages people to just focus on member quantity rather than member quality.

I know that personally I have left SGs because I don't want to be associated with some of the people in them. I see how they act, and I think to myself, "Wow! I don't want people to see this SG name and associate me with that guy or think I may be one of his alts. I think I should go now."

So my question is, how many people think along the same lines? When you see a particularly good or bad player, do you pay attention to what SG they are from? Does it influence your willingness to possibly join that SG at some point or take part in teams with members of that SG in the future?

Just want to get some thoughts on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frosty_Femme I said "ur" which is not a word. It's a sound dumb people make when you ask them to spell out "you are".

If two or more people from a SG were acting in a way that diminished my enjoyment I would avoid the group as a whole.

As just an isolated incident, one player who happens to be a bit of a twerp, I'm usually more willing to put the blame on the individual rather than the group. On the other hand, if there's a few players from the same supergroup on a team and they all act like idiots, or if I notice a tendency for bad players all to come from the same SG, then yes, I would start to avoid that SG.

Still, I usually solo, so it's rare that I would be in a situation like this in the first place.

I don't pay attention to people's SGs.

Hell, half the time I forget if I'm in an SG, and if I am, which one I'm in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari 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.

This is why I left the Chronos groups. Too many people were blindly accepted and their 15 day kick policy wasn't near enough for damage control. Aside from them and a group called the ignios school for higher learning, I've enjoyed the various SGs in game. The ONLY reason I do not associate with the Ignios group anymore is because they let their rent slip and no one had paid it in a while.

I find that SGs in general add little to my enjoyment of the game. I can belong to a group with a tricked-out base with all the teleporters, storage bins, and whatnot and not be aware of this fact for several months. I just don't find myself making use of the perks of SG membership.

So, with that in mind, I tend not to notice or care what SGs other people are in, either. I could team with the same person several times and like hanging out with them, and if you asked me what group they were in, I might not be able to tell you unless it were a multiple choice question. By the same rule, if someone really irritates me, I might put a note on them to warn me about them in the future, but I probably won't even remember their group.

One or two people? No. That's what player notes are for.

If I see a group of people from the same SG acting a certain way? Then I avoid that SG.

Only times I tend to leave an SG are if it dies (even if it's "active," if nobody acknowledges anyone else, it's dead to me,) or if the direction the group takes changes drastically (and I think I've only done that once - went from a fun, friendly VG to a "prestige farm" mentality. With the same leaders.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

Only 2 SGs I won't have on my team, different names that I'll keep to myself, but both could be called "Clueless fire/kin farmers" who were absolute disasters on normal missions. This was pre AE, but AE babies would describe what they produced.

No, if I have a problem with a bad player, I make a note for that player and move on. Most of the time I don't even look at people's supergroup names; I don't know how well it applies to the global population, but I've found that a lot of players have their own supergroup or very small supergroups with close friends, in order to use them for storage. The old function of the supergroups (to find teams and chat with a large group of people) is being filled by global channels.

Since my SGs are all made up of nothing but my characters on that particular server I would say you are entirely justified in ignoring my SG mates if you don't like my playstyle.

There is a supergroup on Infinity that I specifically avoid. I have yet to meet a single person in it that was worth a durn, and I've seen them on several occasions grief events to the point where some of them were kicked by community reps who were attending.

On the flip side, having been a member of the Taxibots there for several years and observing frequently how people react to Taxibots, even brand spankin' new ones, with respect and compliments, yeah, I'd say that supergroups can be a "brand."

Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone from that first group in a while. Maybe they've done us a favor and gone.

There are a few SGs on Pinnacle I try to avoid if I can, but not to the extent of quitting a team if one of them happens to be on it.

However, if a member of them is leading the team I'll bail as soon as I get a chance to without screwing the other team members. It's mostly that those SGs have a mentality about the game that doesn't mesh well with my enjoyment of it. I don't necessarily WANT to speed run everything I do in the game, and those SGs insist that anything they do must be done as fast as possible so they get their shinies and can move on to the next thing.

I've also noticed a tendency towards incompetence from a couple SGs, so I avoid them when possible to avoid the headaches associated with playing with idiots. And I mean the kind of idiots that insist they know everything about the game after playing for a week, and refuse to listen to anyone else.

I'm more likely to work the otherway and check someones SG if they are good rather than if they are bad. It's usually cos I would consider inviting them to my SG and take note if they already have one.

If people from a particular SG behave pretty badly, I'll take note of the SG and be prepared for next time. Not to mention the particular players. But I don't personally avoid grouping with others from a SG because one or two miscreants.

I deal with people based on who they are, not what SG they claim. I don't look at a character I've never seen before and look at their SG tag and go "Oh no, don't wanna eff with him because he's from Super Group X". Assuming that one's behavior is based on the behavior of a few within a society is ignorant. Not calling you ignorant, and you're certainly entitled to feel how you want and play how you want, I'm just saying that one lousy member of an SG doesn't make an SG lousy. Most times I don't even give a damn what set you claim. Let's just play the damn game.

It's just my belief that when you wear an SG tag, you represent that SG. Your actions reflect on everyone else in the SG. I have actually, in the past, booted people from an SG (back when I cared about running one) for this very reason. Not before speaking to them about it and giving them fair warning ahead of time, mind you.

It's this same reason that some companies expressly forbid their employees to engage in certain activities while wearing a company uniform or driving a company vehicle. The US military is a classic example. People see the uniform first and the individual second. Even if it is not intentional, there is a subconscious association.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frosty_Femme I said "ur" which is not a word. It's a sound dumb people make when you ask them to spell out "you are".

Thing is, a player may belong to several different SG's since sg's are character specific, and a player may have many different characters. So, judging a SG because of a player is useless.

Use the star rating system to flag the player. That way, you'll be aware of them no matter what character or SG they are using.


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I have had a few bad experiences where I've joined teams and it turned out that I was one of 2-3 fillers in an essentially SG team. There was a period where I viewed 2 particular SGs on Infinity with distain. I don't know if I was just unfortunate to keep meeting up with the same rude guys on their alts during that time or if it was more indicative of their membership because word on the grapevine was that they're generally held in high regard. This was back before Player Notes or an easy way to get their Global names.

I haven't seen much of either SGs recently, though, so I guess they've moved on.

As for me, I'm in my own solo SGs.

No ... I am my SG's leader and have been for 5 years. I find that especially in CoH where people come and go all the time you cannot effectively judge character from just teaming with people a few times and chatting for a week .... I have had people that seemed perfectly great SG members for several months then all of a sudden they start causing mishief for some reason.

To actually hold an entire SG responsible for one persons actions in game is not only irresponsible but imho stupid. I have played MMOs for over 10 years now and have led groups, guilds, clans etc in most of them ... there are always azzhats in every game and you cannot prevent the occasional one from getting into your group occasionally. Thankfully CoH give us a way to identify these people by commenting them so you know when you see them months later you can avoid that person.