Certain People Shouldn't Lead Task Forces

And by certain people, I mean myself!

UGH!

I always say I'm not going to do it, and then I wind up putting one together that is as bumpy a ride as it gets.

So with that, major thanks to everyone who stayed for the Tin Mage run last night.

After the first mission, we lost our 8th but the remaining folks pressed on.

Just over an hour and 84 deaths later... a winner was us!

... and no more Zombie-led task forces for a while :P

[ @Zombie Fryer ][ @Zombie Smasher ]
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Twitter: @ZFLikesNachos Save City of Heroes (Titan Network) [Successful "The Really Hard Way" runs: 4] [Click ^]

Ran a PUG Sister Pysche last night , took 3 hours and 45 minutes longer than it should since we were fighting through the first level at +4 before the team lead made it + 1 the rest of the way . One guy dropped towards the end but we got the badge and I barely got any sleep . No more late night TF for me

You're level 50, so debt isn't a big deal. And I ran a TM TF last night at 1 hour 20mins. Not the quickest I've ever ran it, but it's not that bad

Director 11 is what slowed us down.

I propose more Zombie flyer led tfs.....

Heh, see, I main a regen. I don't consider constant teammate deaths to be discouraging, just annoying.

Seriously, that can't be worse than when I tried leading a Positron TF. Couldn't go five minutes without half the team dying. The only successful TF I've ever run was an ITF and that's because I had a lot of guys that already knew what to do. (I always get hung up on the second to last mission. My map bugs out and I always wind up losing track of everyone...)

*curses Zombie!*

Seriously though, considering how many good TFs you run or are a major part of getting together, you're bound to have a stinker here and there. And considering how many people are just giving the TMTF a shot for the first time now that it is the WST, lots of painful deaths are to be expected. I did one yesterday where only two of us were level shifted, only 3 of us had ever done it before with only 2 having been on successful runs, one person was alpha unlocked, but not slotted and the tank was on a test build. Just to make it even more fun, our only debuffer of note rage quit after dying to Director 11 so we went on with just 7. Hour and 20 minutes, 36 or so deaths later, we finished it. Sure it wasn't the ultimate run, but it was fun and there was a sense of satisfaction from all who stayed for getting it done.

Last week, I ran a pickup ITF since nobody else wanted to start one.

1st random invite: Cold Corruptor
2nd random invite: Rad Corruptor
3rd random invite: Kin Defender

At some point the Stalker said something about how it was the best run ITF team he'd been on all week. Nothing like randomly getting the best force multipliers in the game all on your team.

Running a TF team is like running a regular mission team.

Also, for the most part, leading any team is basically this...

"You know how to play your character. Go out and kill things!"

The only real choice for the leader is "Do we stealth or not?" "Do we need to pull" (which is hardly ever) and "Pull Romi to the side or rush him"

you forgot to invite me, im shocked!!!

In the end of it all...you ran a TF within about it's average time (it's 40 merits, suggesting a 1:20 avg time...maybe less if they're giving a few bonus merits) and won.

Deaths along the way happen from time to time. 84 deaths and you still managed to come in under the average time. Not to bad then!

I was on a TM this weekend where the Director 11 fight went eerily smoothly. He was a grease spot on the floor in mere minutes. Even all my imps survived! That is...rarely the norm for that fight.

Favorite line after an especially difficult Director 11 battle:
"Get his pants. We're not done yet."

Certain people shouldn't join one either lol (Not trying to insult anyone)

Seems like not too long ago I spent most of my time joining farm missions in PI or Grandville. I avoided TFs like the plague. When I did join one it was still the same, perfectly content to join someone elses TF and do whatever he/she asked of me and my toon. Then I started running my own on redside. We would do Barracuda probably 3-4 times a week lol. Sprinkle in ITF and LGTF and then on the weekends perhaps a Recluse.

Then blueside with the same as mentioned but Kahn and Statesman in there too plus all the other signature hero TFs. At first it was fun but after a while....meh. Statesman and Recluse are like a slap in the face. You usually ALWAYS have to have an exact complimentary cast of toons to complete them. Most of the other TFs can be completed with any PUG fairly easy. They're intended to be hard, but not at the expense of groups not being able to enjoy themselves or people not being able to play whatever toon it was they wanted to play. This is a game after all.

What has started to bother me is the fact that after a while of successfully running certain TFs to completion in short time frames you basically have your own system of how you want things done. Generally these methods are fairly common amongst other players in how to achieve TF completion. Here as of late I've been getting a lot of people, especially on ITFs, who think I'm running a burger king and they "want it their way". I know people are perfectly capable of playing their toons (well...most of them) but jeebus...either half the time I got people running off and trying to solo the damn things or they keep wanting to put their two cents in on how they usually (or the teams they've been on) have usually done things.

I'm all for suggestions...but wait until a certain method fails. Our success rate is high. Our TF times are fairly low. Mostly because it's not just me, I've got two other people I start my teams with that play with me regularly (my family). This is a common fact of life for all of us that play on every team we ever join I know. Think it's just magnified by the fact that we used to run them so much it's started to stand out more and wear me down. It also bothers me to see teammates lying about on the ground dead especially when it could have easily been prevented. Just a couple stupid mistakes or improper teamwork and *squish* the whole thing can fall apart.

Guess what I'm trying to say is...listen to the team leader. Hopefully, but not always the case, they're not just leading a TF for the hell of it and may actually know wtf he or she is talking about and/or doing. =D

Honestly, Zombie, that task force sounds like a lot of fun. The first thing I like to say when leading a task force is that "No deaths" means the team's being overly cautious; it's far more fun to flip out and try something daring than to take things slow, steady, and tedious. It's been my experience that once people know that they're free to try something crazy then they'll just laugh off a defeat - and try something crazy again. I like to think of those players as "Fun Force Multipliers."

84 KOs in an hour is my kind of task force and it sounds like you were doing something right.

Just bring someone with perma-Vengeance along next time. I hear there's a holy knight with it who's usually looking for a team..

Oh pfft, stop trying to make him feel better. Zombie failed, end 'o story and it's no one's fault but his own.