Awful SG recruiting practices

Okay so we all have seen the ads that fill you chat box screen as some Super Group tries desperately to recruit new members. It can be annoying when they feel the need to do it over and over but check this "new" technique I encountered today....

I was in Atlas park with my new 4 level Kinetic Melee Scrapper when I got a tell asking if I wanted to join a team. I was at the entrance to the sewers about to broadcast and see if I could form one of my own and assumed whoever was contacting me was doing the same. Instead I discovered a mission in Peregrine island and the Tank that was the leader even asked if I wanted to use his bases teleporters to get there. I told him I was fine MY BASE had teleport and I'd be there shortly.

I arrived and made my way to the mission and was actually impressed .. the guy was a very good herding tank and the mission went very quick with no team defeats. I felt a little embarassed since I had a grand total of 4 attacks and hadn't even bothered to enhance with TOs yet let alone anything stronger but SSK was only giving me same amount of XP I'd have gotten if I was on a 4-5 level team and I was in the thick of every battle doing what I could to help.. hey if they didn't want a 4 level on a 50 level team then DON'T invite me right?

Okay mission ends and we start off toward the next one when this series of tells begins...

[Tell] Exxxxx: Hi.... Lookin for an sg?
[Tell] -->Exxxxx: I run one lol
[Tell] Exxxxx: unfortunate, i assume thats a no

Before I could even answer, and remember while I was STILL back in Atlas I mentioned I had a BASE with teleporters, the mission disappeared from my screen and I was back to level 4 again. I contacted the team leader and this was what I got in reply..


[Tell] -->Exxxxx: opps what happened? I got bumped off the team
[Tell] Exxxxx: no u were removed
[Tell] -->Exxxxx: I see Well THANKS so much for the 2 levels oh and I am putting you on global ignore Jerk

So Mister TACT contacted me out of the blue, I was not advertising that I was looking for a team and certainly didn't send him a tell begging to join, and then after one mission because I didn't jump at the chance to join his SG.. he kicked me and left me sitting in the middle of Peregrine Island with a character now facing villains 10 times stronger than my own. Fortunately I wasn't far from the Vanguard base and managed to get there without being killed. I reported him for grieving.. although I have no clue if what he did falls into that category under the TOS. Regardless it's a pretty sleezy way to recruit new members. Invite some low level to your team in a 40-50 level zone and then if they don't JUMP at the chance to join your group strand them there. If I'd run into anything I'd have been one shotted and then would have had an even LONGER run to get from the Hospital to the Vanguard base.. or run the OTHER way toward the base portal and TOWARD even higher level villains.

Anyone else have any stories like this?

And people wonder why I don't team.

I haven't run into this, I'm afraid, but sheesh! That was a class A jerkass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Definatly a jerk. I have asked sg'less people if they want/need an sg if they are on my team and i think that is a valid way to recruit but I would never kick them if they said no. The fact that you already had an SG and he knew it suggest he thought he could steal you away from yours as well. So double sleezy.

I get blind invites all the time and it sucks

Jerky, definitely, but I honestly don't know if that'd be called griefing. It's more a sin of omission than commission.

I have not run into such individuals, no. The worst I've run across is people just sending me random SG invites, which I always turn down, and I've never heard from them again. I'll join SGs only if I've been on a team with people in one, and only if I liked them.

I don't see such anecdotes as the OP's as indicative of players as a whole, so frankly to say "This is why I don't team" seems quite extreme to me. I've met many, MANY more folks that range from average to great than I've met bad ones, and I'm 95% PuG to 5% soloing. This game is very friendly, actually if you've only played this game online I daresay you're spoiled. Don't get me wrong, team if you want to or don't, but to not team because you have a 1% chance of running into a jackhole isn't exactly playing the odds.

Along with the 1-star, I would have put his SG in the notes, just to avoid any other members of the same SG.

The only good time I've had decent SG invites are at the end of beautifully run TFs.

Nope, sounds like an ignore spot well earned!

A regrettable situation, but one that you can learn to avoid in the future! Whenever I get a random Tell like that, I briefly add the person to my friend list, allowing me to see where they're at and what level they are. If they're not a match for my level or in some far-away zone (or sometimes even if their Tell is composed poorly), then it probably isn't something I'd enjoy very much, and I pass on the offer.

As for Tells from strangers inviting me to super groups, those people are immediately put on my ignore list. While this may seem harsh, I've found that no one in a QUALITY super group will recruit in that manner to begin with. Furthermore, many characters who spam these ads via Tells will inevitably belong to the same player. For these reasons, judicious use of the ignore filter has led to a more pleasant experience, allowing me to spend more of my time meeting QUALITY people.

I have had similar situations happen a couple of times. Global ignore, a one star and notes never to team with them again.

It's been gratifying to be starting a TF, find the person has been invited, then tell the leader what happened in the past, then watch the leader boot them. Friends are great things to have when they stick up for you.