What happened to teaming?...

First of all, apologies if this question is in the wrong section, if I need to recreate the thread in a different section then by all means let me know.

So, after returning to CoH/V after a year out I decided to create a shield/fire tanker, as tanking is my favourite role in RPGs.

So teaming was okay levelling, occasionally managing to maintain a group of 5 or 6 and blasting through missions, having fun, gaining xp etc.

Now I am lvl 26 and it seems I can't find anyone who is willing to team with me, if I'm lucky I can get a group of 3 together for a short while.

I suppose my main question is, why all of a sudden can I not find anyone to team with around my level? Is it a matter of luck? Or the level range I am in happens to be scarce?

Currently I am on the union serverl, joined the first sg I could find for the sake of having people to level with, although no one seems to be on most of the time. If anyone on union is willing to take on a casual tank as a teaming buddy/sg recruit I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

PS my tanks' name is Emberhorn.

The other thing, is that global channels are a near must to join if you want on demmand access to a pool of players making teams.

This thread/guide has the basics about global chat channels: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=112918 but check the forum for your server for more specific and recent channels. You can also do a channel search.

And jump on the board for Union to see who are active and what days they have activities etc.

Thanks to those who have inputted, I suppose I'll have to wait until the incarnate craze wears off...or go onto my 50s and try em out. I'll be sued to have a look at global channels.

Ways of finding teams that don't really work in this game at this time:

1) Standing in zone broadcasting LFT: Works for the first few levels, or in Atlas on Freedom, but at some point it falls by the wayside.
2) Joining a SG: Admittedly I haven't done this as much as others have, but I was in a fairly big VG on Freedom at one point (possibly a Top 20 one) and there were a few people to chat with, even a couple people that would hop on with me. But it wasn't like Instant Social Group or anything.
3) Putting your "LFT" flag on and waiting.

Things that have worked for me:
1) Make and keep friends. If you're on a PuG and six people suck and one is pretty good, see if they're willing to be global friends. [Don't take "no" answers personally. Some people's global friend lists are full already, for example.] If your friends have friends, you play with them a few times, you get a social group that way.
2) Global Channels. This is pretty big, really. Different servers tend to have different channels associated with them, but I can be on [say] Freedom and if "Victory Badges" announces they're starting something cool, I'll see it and hop over to Victory for it.
3) The Forums- you're here, right? Head over to /Servers/Union, see if there are scheduled events or whatever. If not, try scheduling one! "Back to back Sister Psyche/Citadel, Friday 8 PM GMT" or something.
4) It doesn't work always, or even most of the time but , if you ask politely, you can sometimes get an invite to an existing team. The phrasing I used to use, (it helped that I was playing Force Fields and could defense-cap the Blaster I was asking) is "Does your team have any use for a level 26 Shield/Fire tank?" As Adam Smith says, the butcher and the baker feed you not out of the goodness of their heart, but for their own advantage. Let them know what you can do for them.

There's another element here that no one seems to have mentioned. Task Forces.

The last couple issues have added many new Task Forces and more incentive for doing them. The last issue even introduced a new tool to find teams specifically for them. While improving this aspect of the game can hardly be considered a bad thing, it has had an impact on the already-small population of people who prefer Pick-up teaming.

More players running task forces means larger groups of players who are inaccessible for teaming. On radio, tip, or arc teams, there's always room for players leaving, and new ones being added, but not so with Task Forces. If you're not there when it's being formed, you're out of luck.

Added to this, the newer color coded Team Search window has actually been modified to the detriment of players who prefer small casual teams. It's color coding system is only concerned with players who are looking to form teams, rather than those who are hoping to join existing teams, or who are looking to pair up with other solo-ers.

Personally, I like Task Forces, but I don't always want to commit to playing one toon for an extended period. I guess I just wish they'd redesigned that search window from the ground up, to make it more functional. They've actually made it more difficult to team now.

If you give a man a fish he eats for the day. If you teach a man to fish he spends the day drinking beer on a boat.

Confessions of a serial PuGster:

1. Broadcast in server's Global channel.

2. Broadcast in Broadcast.

3. Send polite /tell to players at or under your level range asking if they'd like to join your Mish Team/Radio Team/Hero Tip Team/TF/etc.

4. Be open to accepting low level players.

5. Have fun.

I have run 6 Trials now since I20 hit.

Ussually I solo but have teamed pretty consistantly for the last 3 months. TFs, Tip teams, missions, monster hunting, even some radios.

The teams are out there. Sometimes you need to form them but they do exhist.

About 18 months ago I was feeling pretty frustrated with the lack of teaming also. I was thinking of quitting and looking for a new game.... then I decided rather then pay for a new game, I'll give this game 1 more shot and pay to move a toon over to Freedom. It made a big difference. It's pretty easy to grab a team there... usually broadcast or global channels are enough. Even coming from infinity which is usually the #3 population server it's a very noticable difference. When they gave away free server transfers (a month after I paid for one) I moved the rest of my regular toons over. Some people complain about stupidity in broadcasts and adolecent behavior on Freedom, but it's pretty easy to just not pay attention to that stuff in exchange for having a lot more ease of finding teams.

The other thing to keep in mind is that with Super Sidekick now, you don't have to join teams at your level. You'll still get XP from joining a level five team kicking the Snakes around, or from a Peregrine Island team looking to pick a fight with Malta.