It's really best to decide on a character by character or case by case basis how much you care about experiencing content. I generally tend to make a character that's got good solo chops and set them aside to experience stories when and as I choose. Or my girlfriend and I will make a pair set aside to do that.
From there, I'm in charge of what they see. Either I hide from searches, or I take people along with me instead of going along with others.
Other characters I decide story arcs on occasion are fun, but I don't get attached to seeing entire zones with them and jump on whichever teams come my way (except blind invites from random strangers, that's a personal pet peeve).
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
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The above stands out to me quite a bit...an 8 level difference is NOT extreme. There are some team nazi's out there that will not invite others that are of a lower level, but apparently the guy that sent you that tell was not one of them. Sidekicking works to ease out the difference in level barriers, so what is the problem? Once you joined his team, you're essentially his level--just missing 4 powers. Not really that big of a difference, at any level.|
Originally Posted by Benjamin_Mahir
Moving beyond any tools I might be missing... what are the qualifiers for looking for a group? A level 10 corrupter slugging through storyline in Nova gets a group request tell from a level 18 and I have to stop and take the time to explain to him that I won't help him because by association to his level he must be in Neutropolis and I'm just not ready to set foot over there. I've received other less extreme requests from people who go so far to state they don't care about the level discrepancy when my real (and stated) concern is what content they plan on running.
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Unless you want to take your time and finish your arcs in Praetoria (and hey, I can't blame you for that, I've done it on a couple characters myself), why would you want to limit yourself to solo action when it's hard enough finding a team over there?
And no, teaming isn't about only XP. It's about companionship and helping your fellow hero/villain. Which you decided to decline, apparently.
The LFG tab is very new and used primarily for the iTrials as you figured out.
Prior to that, you'd click on the team tag and from there you can set yourself to looking for anything, or looking for one of several specific things. Depending on what server you're on and who's trying to form a team, you may or may not get a team by doing this -- a lot of people just form teams via broadcast and tells/replies and especially using global channels.
From the team window you can also look for other people to add to your own team, search on who's looking, you can pull up the same window by typing /who all even if you're on a team and not the team leader.
It's generally considered good etiquette to send a tell if you're looking for team members for your own team, but some people will always blind invite of course.
If you're looking to join another person's team... it's going to be more difficult to find people running the same content as you. At least right now, the game is large enough and spread out enough that people who want to team have to not worry so much about level disparity (the way the game works, of course, allows all levels to play at the level of the mission so it's not such a concern on that front). When Freedom comes out it might be much easier to find people doing the same things you're doing, in the same level range.
My experience is that if you form teams to run trials or task forces or zone events then you have a team where everyone is focused on the same goal, but beyond that a lot of people team only to gain experience so that what missions are run are less important. Or they're working on hero tips, etc, and as long as it's a tip of the type they want, story is unimportant. If you want to run mission story arcs, it's best to run them solo or form the teams yourself. ^_^
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
Level difference can be 49 and you can still team fine 
Its one of the best things in this game.
Usually most used channels are players self made and it depends on server what are the best. You can try channel search and join them or ask people what is "looking for team" channel of your server.
Prunejuice is warriors drink.
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It's perfectly acceptable to send a short, polite tell asking someone if they'd like to team. Blind invites, not so much. Even if I'm not actively looking for a team, I'll sometimes join one if the message is courteous, understandable and has the information I need to decide: Location, level and activity. "Running level 35 Hero Tips in Brickstown, would you like to join?" If I don't feel like joining just then I'll politely decline, but I certainly won't be offended by the message itself, nor will most reasonable people - so ask away!
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Originally Posted by Benjamin_Mahir
I will have access to tells, but it would pain me to become one of those people who send random tells to players minding their own bussiness. And don't get me started on random group invites.
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Generally speaking, as long as you're polite, state clearly what you're running (paper/radio/tips/ae/storyArc/flashback/tf/trial/etc, level, and zone), most people won't mind getting tells as long as you pay attention to their LFG message. If they REALLY didn't want others contacting them with teaming opportunities, they can set their LFG flag to not looking, add an appropriate message (not that anyone reads them :P), and adjust their /hide settings.|
Originally Posted by Benjamin_Mahir
It's a major concern for me. I click the LfG tab, and I see the Incarnate Trials which are both late level and non-premium content. I regularly see a lot of request across the broadcast channel, but last checked that will not be a tool for premium players. I will have access to tells, but it would pain me to become one of those people who send random tells to players minding their own bussiness. And don't get me started on random group invites.
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| Moving beyond any tools I might be missing... what are the qualifiers for looking for a group? A level 10 corrupter slugging through storyline in Nova gets a group request tell from a level 18 and I have to stop and take the time to explain to him that I won't help him because by association to his level he must be in Neutropolis and I'm just not ready to set foot over there. I've received other less extreme requests from people who go so far to state they don't care about the level discrepancy when my real (and stated) concern is what content they plan on running. |
"My inner mind has become a reality-cracking overgod. He torments me! Help!"
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If you go to the Team window, there's a Search button on the bottom that lets you look for other players. You can look for folks who are in your level range, or in your zone, or any combination. You can send them tells directly, and you can see their "team status." The unfortunate thing is that their status is color coded and there's no logend. Go here:|
Originally Posted by Benjamin_Mahir
I will have access to tells, but it would pain me to become one of those people who send random tells to players minding their own bussiness. And don't get me started on random group invites.
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http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Search_Window
Remember that when Freedom hits, you'll get rewards much faster -- one token per month. I'd suggest you remain subscribed for a short time until you get chat access, then go Premium if you desire. From another thread the rewards are:
At Tier 2: Access to Huge characters, supergroups, trading, gmail, AE play
At Tier 3: Access to chat channels
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=268436
So you only need to subscribe for about 2-4 months before you have access to all the channels. I'm not sure if you can buy channel access directly.
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| A level 10 corrupter slugging through storyline in Nova gets a group request tell from a level 18 and I have to stop and take the time to explain to him that I won't help him because by association to his level he must be in Neutropolis and I'm just not ready to set foot over there. |
Remember Going Rogue has been out for a year. By now most folks have done all the content, and are just leveling for XP. If you want to run missions solo the first time through, by all means do. I did that myself too. One thing you might want to do is get an alternate character who doesn't need to experience the missions and just log them in when you get a team request (assuming you want to team).
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| Are forming groups all about the exp in this game? |
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One thing you can do that doesn't seem to have been touched on in this thread yet is go to the Team tab and type in a "LFG status message". This is a message that shows up to the right of your name in the LFG window. You could put something like "Not interested in higher-level missions right now", or "Don't want to miss out on content" and people would know your situation.|
Originally Posted by Benjamin_Mahir
Are forming groups all about the exp in this game? Because I honestly would be more concerned if I couldn't find someone for a certain mission than having the tools to do it in the first place. I've grouped once in this game, and it was a rewarding experience... but not because of the exp.
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(And for that matter you can set it so that people can't invite you to team at all.)
I go into some more detail about team search window etiquette in the first link in my signature below.
I recently purchased Going Rogue complete collection in preparation for going premium when Freedom launches. I consider what I get from it (assured, discounting potential) worth it, and one of those things is temporary forum access. I've tried coming up with a large list of questions to ask but ultimately only one question can't be answered by proper use of the forum's advanced search function:
What is considered proper “Looking for Group” etiquette in the game?
It's a major concern for me. I click the LfG tab, and I see the Incarnate Trials which are both late level and non-premium content. I regularly see a lot of request across the broadcast channel, but last checked that will not be a tool for premium players. I will have access to tells, but it would pain me to become one of those people who send random tells to players minding their own bussiness. And don't get me started on random group invites.
Moving beyond any tools I might be missing... what are the qualifiers for looking for a group? A level 10 corrupter slugging through storyline in Nova gets a group request tell from a level 18 and I have to stop and take the time to explain to him that I won't help him because by association to his level he must be in Neutropolis and I'm just not ready to set foot over there. I've received other less extreme requests from people who go so far to state they don't care about the level discrepancy when my real (and stated) concern is what content they plan on running.
Are forming groups all about the exp in this game? Because I honestly would be more concerned if I couldn't find someone for a certain mission than having the tools to do it in the first place. I've grouped once in this game, and it was a rewarding experience... but not because of the exp.