Would you have dropped team?

Hi All,

I wanted to share something that happened to me the other night to get a different perspective on things.

I was tinkering around with my costume in Steel. And was qued that I wanted to join a missions team. (I didn't feel like making my own that night.)

Anyways, I received a /tell from someone asking me if I wanted to join a mission team. I gladly accepted. I said "Hi" to the group once I joined and didn't get any response. But everybody was in the mission. I've played long enough to know that this is usually a red flag that moral is low because the group is having trouble completing the mission and people have quit. So I go inside the mission and low and behold, the team is at the end room with 2 groups left to kill before the mission completes. And typically, once a struggling team finishes the mission, everyone disbands.

So I had helped the team finish the mission and as I predicted, the leader as well as others said that they needed a break and logged.

I had contemplated quitting even before trying to help this team based on what I thought so far, but figured that maybe the team would move on with other missions. I was wrong.

Do you feel the leader should have explained the situation when sending me a /tell?

And would you have quit the team knowing the scenario once you got inside the mission?

Or would that have been rude since I was qued that I was seaching for a missions team?

Edit* I think this bothers me some because I felt cheated a little since I devoted my play time to a team that disbanded after 15 minutes.

For an especially tough mission, after a couple of overwhelming team wipes he should have offered to reset the mission and lower his difficulty setting. Yeah, you'll have team members who are too blinded by the big purple XPs to consider the cancelling effect of Debt, so I'd leave it to how team moral holds. If the team don't mind being defeated multiple times, so be it and let the slugfest continue.

However, if the team leader knew or was at least considering quitting the team after the current mission, I'd say he was rude to continue to recruit. It would have been ok if he had arranged to pass the star to someone who was going to play on, otherwise he should have just toughed it out with the team as-is. If it was just to help with an AV at the end, he should have mentioned that that was the purpose of the recruitment.

As to whether I would have quit based on seeing an almost completed mission, eh, it depends. I'm on some low pop servers. Sometimes it is very hard to fill a team out. As a team lead, I'd check the Team Search several times during the mission. Sometimes, the team won't fill out until the 2 or 3rd mission. So it's not uncommon to get into an in progress mission.

I've joined teams under similar circumstances that went on to do at least a few more missions. On the other hand I've joined teams who were between missions that break up just after a new mission gets selected. Player whims are fickle, and sometimes disappointing. I probably wouldn't have quit that team just because I thought maybe there was a possibility it wouldn't last much beyond the end of that mission.

a majority of the time poeple usually specify to me if they needed help or just asking if i wanted to join team

if it disbands fast, oh well i can find other things to do

...Listen to what your gut tells you, its probably right.

Your situation was a difficult one; I do feel the leader should have made it a little clearer as in, "Can you help us finish this mission? We're having a little trouble..." But such politeness is rare, especially from strangers.

I tend to stay well past what I know to be wise. Example: the other night I was blueside, on a mid-level team of about 5 people. I'm looking forward to the usual fountain of xp when I see that we are looking at a cargo-hold of +4 Arachnos. Now what, I ask you, is more fun than +4 Night Widows???.... but I digress.

We buff up, tanks charge in and INSTA-TEAM-WIPE. Everyone hosps.

We buff up again, add a few lucks and INSTA-TEAM-WIPE. Hosp.

Repeat. Someone goes, "What if we dialed down the difficulty...?"

Leader [a Tank]: "Nah, we got this. This is easy." Re-buff, more Lucks, repeat. INSTA-TEAM-WIPE. Hosp.

Me: "Maybe we should dial down the difficulty...?"

Leader: "Nah. We got this. Watch!" Runs in, is instantly one-shotted.

Leader: "Let's regroup and try again, this is easy people." I'm quite leery of the whole process at this point, but I'm a nice person so I decide, one more try.

Re-buff, regroup, INSTA-TEAM-WIPE. We have progressed a third of the way through cargo-hold-room #1, if this gives you an idea... At this point someone quits without saying anything. Then someone else quits, despite further protestations of easiness by the leader..... and at that point I politely decline more debt-farming in team chat and take my leave.

Moral of the story: being too nice can get you some debt, plus maybe cause you to miss out on something else more profitable and fun, who knows.

If I am not having fun on a team, I politely excuse myself and go about my business.
At different time, different things are fun for me.
I don't expect very much out of other players when it comes to considering me.

I did not know that we could queue for normal mission teams.
I'll have to look for that option.

Where does one find the queue for normal missions?

I find the one for trials, but that's it.

Not to discount your feelings re: this incident but All_Hell said it best imo, "I don't expect very much out of other players when it comes to considering me."
Unless you are teaming with friends/known regulars it's best to lower your expectations if you want to avoid disappointment.

Here is my .02 INF

1. The no response to "Hi" doesn't bother me, the team could be on teamspeak.

2. The leader is probably spamming tells so doesn't want to type more than necessary.

3. If the team was doing poorly, well duh Of course the leader won't explain that to you. I mean its like expecting an honest used car salesman or politician.

4. Its up to the player to be pro-active. Ask questions to the leader and see what the response is. If the person replies a good answer then join, if they respond "r u heAl0r?" well then, don't bother.

5. As people have said, don't expect PUG teams to be worthwhile. I mostly join them to remind myself how amazingly superbad PUGs are. I do it mostly for comedy relief.

6. Generally, just asking an easy question like, "We fighting the easiest stuff for the level?" will weed out most of the bad players. If they are picking missions other than council from 30-50 then you know the leader isn't any good. You could also ask what diff level the team is running at. Just being able to answer an easy question should save you from a comedy of errors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray_Ray Hi All, I wanted to share something that happened to me the other night to get a different perspective on things. I was tinkering around with my costume in Steel. And was qued that I wanted to join a missions team. (I didn't feel like making my own that night.) Anyways, I received a /tell from someone asking me if I wanted to join a mission team. I gladly accepted. I said "Hi" to the group once I joined and didn't get any response. But everybody was in the mission. I've played long enough to know that this is usually a red flag that moral is low because the group is having trouble completing the mission and people have quit. So I go inside the mission and low and behold, the team is at the end room with 2 groups left to kill before the mission completes. And typically, once a struggling team finishes the mission, everyone disbands. So I had helped the team finish the mission and as I predicted, the leader as well as others said that they needed a break and logged. I had contemplated quitting even before trying to help this team based on what I thought so far, but figured that maybe the team would move on with other missions. I was wrong. Do you feel the leader should have explained the situation when sending me a /tell? And would you have quit the team knowing the scenario once you got inside the mission? Or would that have been rude since I was qued that I was seaching for a missions team? Edit* I think this bothers me some because I felt cheated a little since I devoted my play time to a team that disbanded after 15 minutes.

I wouldn't say anyone did anything terribly wrong, but people could have done some things better. Think of how differently the OP would feel now if that team leader had said something like, "We could really use your help with this mission. We're near the end but we're struggling." Then when you joined the team people might have said, "Thanks for joining us! What a hero!" And afterwards, even if everyone had immediately quit, you still would have been left feeling pretty good about your evening. Often times it's not the time or the xp or the debt that matter, it's how people treat people. It would have been nice if they had treated you better.

On the other hand, the team leader might have tried that approach three times before and had three people in a row refuse to join a team under those circumstances. I understand why you're feeling used, but I wouldn't rush to judgement without knowing what that team had gone through before you arrived.

Nah, I would have still teamed, even if i knew I was just called in for end game relief.

As a pure PUG team builder and leader...I have to wonder how everyone seems to have bad experiences with PuGs to the point of saying they're only for the "lulz". I've never had a bad experience.

When there are less then 8 members on the team...I'm usually constantly sending out tells when I get the chance.

I either get no reply at all..."no thanks"..."not atm"..."sure"..."what missions?"..."what level?"..."sure...let me exit"..."what level and missions?"

Granted...I would never invite someone to team during a mission if I planned to leave right after that mission...however, by simply accepting his invite request without asking anything...that's on you.

I have invited many people during the middle of missions because people leave during the middle of missions. Though I'm also inviting with intent on running more missions.

It would have been nice of the leader to tell but I don't really care either way. I would have helped anyway. I often see teams disband shortly after I joined or see more then 75% drop after one mission so not really bothered by that either. I am more bored if I see people leave after I have been teaming with them for quite a while.

Even I am guilty of quitting after just one mission or two because sometimes I just get bored. Normally I try to finish a mission before I leave and let the team know at the beginning of the mission that this will be the last one I'm on.

In general I have good experiences in PUG's, there are some exceptions, mostly caused by players who insist on having the highest difficulty which cause multiple team wipes. I don't find defeat very fun...I know there is a little punishment in this game but I just don't like being defeated. Besides, getting defeated all the time defeats the purpose of having higher level enemies...getting more xp.

Heck, I'm MORE likely to say yes to a team that just needs help with a final boss. I've been in that situation enough times myself.

XP is still XP nYou werent earning it, and then you were.

But yeah, it can be suckie at times when that happens.