SG is calling!

We've all heard this before. Got to go, SG is calling! So does SG actually ever call? I've been in a few before (my mains are all in my own personal SG) and have never been called. Do some SGs demand you quit your team and come join them or else? Or is it much like I think and just the oldest excuse in the book to leave a crappy/boring team? Perhaps I'm missing out on something along the lines of YAY SG is here and calling, /quitteam.



Oh wait gotta go SG calls!

I have several times been called by SG mates for help. As they are SG mates, people I tend to like more than random strangers, I am more than willing to quit a group to go help them.

Granted, I generally won't quit in the middle of a mission.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

I think it's pretty much more 'Hey, this team sucks. I'm getting more debt then experience. So, peace. See you later.' then anything else most of the time, considering how often I've seen it.

My friend (Who has now left CoX) used a much more original way to get outta **** teams. 'Guys, I've got to go! My grandparents have just been turned into vegetables!' Or pineapples. Depending on his mood.

"Demand"? No. But when I ran with an SG (most have quit over the years and it's essentially defunct now), and they were doing something, I'd generally drop from any PuGs I was in just because I'd rather, y'know, team with friends. It might not have been "calling" per se, but it was close enough.

I always presume that it is a generic excuse, but I'm sure some small percentage of the time it is actually true.

The best response I've seen so far was on a trial league recently. "That's weird that guy calls his mom 'my SG'."

This always makes me laugh. I mean real life LOL whenever someone says this. I too wonder about these SGs that demand their members drop what they're doing and join them - post haste! If you want to quit to do something, then quit, say "thanks for team, gotta go" and begone.

I don't think it's that the SGs demand players leave what they're doing... it's that some people prefer playing with their SG mates... probably.

That said, I have been on teams and had a member say "Oh, gotta go... SG night.. sorry!" and they quit. Only to see that there are still other members of the SG on the team.

I have also been on more than one team where a member says "gotta go! SG Calling!" only for them to go into broadcast moments later looking for a team. Once, a member did that, and our team leader picked him back up, and the guy didn't notice it was the same team.

None of the teams were particularly bad, either.

Thank you, Champion.

I see it as a convenient excuse most of the time (I bet anyone who has kids here used the 'baby aggro' excuse since it's works for everything, including a phone call you want to end lol).

The only times it bothered me was when it was used in TFs. Twice that I can remember, one right after we started and another in the middle. And no the teams weren't bad, all went well, etc. Actually on most 'doomed' TFs I've been on, players have been honest like saying 'Sorry guys I don't think we can do it' or 'This is taking too long irritating me, sorry'. I like that kind of honesty because it's a game, if you're getting pissed by a task people will usually understand why you're leaving.

But using the SG or any other excuse on a normal mission team is ok, no need to explain yourself on a PuG since it's not a commitment like a long TF.

My supergroup has never made me feel obligated to come help them out. I don't think I'd want to be in an SG that insisted I drop what I'm already doing just because they say so.

That said, I have occasionally dropped out of teams doing missions that ended up taking a lot longer than expected because I had already committed to doing something with SG-mates at a scheduled time. But that's more of an "I told my friends I'd be there, so I'm going to be there" thing than the boss snapping his fingers and me zipping off to do his bidding. I at least try to give a few minutes' notice or wait until in-between missions if I know I have to be at a planned supergroup function.

I usually ask SG or coalition members first when I'm looking for a team. But once I'm on one? If I leave, it's because I wanted or needed to, not because my SG leader said "quit and do this with us instead" (though I'll admit sometimes it's a little of both).

As for whether I've used the SG as an excuse for leaving a team, no, I never have. I've found that generally, unless it's a task force or something, "hey, that's it for me, thanks for the team everyone" is more than enough "excuse" than the average PUG wants or needs. If I'm quitting mid-mission (which I never do if I can help it, but, hey, sometimes things happen that can't be avoided), I might go into a little more detail: "Sorry, guys, something came up. Gotta go, thanks for the team!" Thanking people usually goes a long way toward not making them feel like they're being ditched.

At least once I've used "SG needs me" when what I really meant was "two of my SG mates are about to kill each other, I need to go defuse this OOC argument before it gets any worse".

My SG is a one-woman SG, so I'm always pretty sure when it's going to call.

I'm probably naive. I rarely put too much thought into other peoples possibly hidden motivations in this regard, but I did put someone on /ignore a few weeks ago after seeing them broadcasting for a team after a "SG calling!". It wasn't that I was upset. I just don't see that as a shining quality.

Thus far, I've never lied to excuse myself from a team, or felt like I had anything to hide when I did need to leave. I don't often find myself on PUGs, but when I do, I'm acutely aware that they are people too, no less real or important than someone I already know. I wait until between missions to excuse myself, and I won't abandon a team mid-mission just to catch up with friends. My friends know this, but I like to believe they respect me more for it, since they also know I'll never abandon them in a pinch either.

One exception on a PUG is a scheduled super group meeting, but on those rare occasions I ALWAYS give my PUG a heads-up that I may have to leave mid-mission (I never surprise them with it). This should be everyone's policy! Another exception is when things are dragging on longer than anyone expected, and I have to be at work early. Some things are more important.

I've never quit a team out of boredom--I'm usually too busy entertaining the team!

And last but certainly not least, when a mission begins to seem impossible is usually when I get really really interested in it. Sometimes the impossibility is revealed to be smoke and mirrors, as even the simplest strategies often prevail in this game; but in any case, the team has to put aside their brute force mentality and start planning and working together for a change. These are the times that bring out the best (or worst) in people, and it always seems to be where I make a new friend. This is the part of the game that separates the team players from the quitters, and I wouldn't want every play session to go this route, but it's still my favorite time of all.

Sure... the SG really calls!
And sometimes I really have to wash my hair!
And, really, it wasn't you... it was me!


Haha, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I'm sure some people make up excuses now and then, but there is never any need to, heh.
Oh, noes... Super-Jimmy is leaving the team! He better have a great excuse!

Seriously though, I feel the same as Doctor Roswell and Captain-Electric (and, actually most of the people who've already replied).
Only if I happened to0 be PuGing and it took longer than intended and I had planned to do something with other people at a certain time... then I might leave the team... but rarely, if ever, mid-mission. It's just not usually necessary, but I'm not going to rule it out 100% (barring real-life things that obviously take priority, of course!!).

Either way, I like people to have fun for however long their able to and so I'd rather team with someone who might bail mid-mission because they're on-call as a fireman or something than have them sit it out and not join in!
What's he talking about now? No idea...


Oh!
And a side note... THIS:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain-Electric ... And last but certainly not least, when a mission begins to seem impossible is usually when I get really really interested in it. Sometimes the impossibility is revealed to be smoke and mirrors, as even the simplest strategies often prevail in this game; but in any case, the team has to put aside their brute force mentality and start planning and working together for a change. These are the times that bring out the best (or worst) in people, and it always seems to be where I make a new friend. This is the part of the game that separates the team players from the quitters, and I wouldn't want every play session to go this route, but it's still my favorite time of all.

THIS... so much THIS!!!
That is me, so very much.
Maybe some special encounters (in a TF or something) might possibly have the very rare occasion to truly become unpossible... But most of the time, it is just a matter of coming together and making it happen with smarts and/or just a different approach... And I love it when you have to go through that!
I was about to go on about that more... but no sense in derailing things further! Great job though, Cap'n... Those sorts of scenarios really get me all charged up!

For me at least, yes, they "call". If I'm on a crappy team I don't make excuses, I just say I have to go and wish everyone well.

My SG is a very small and personal group of people I've played with since shortly after joining the game, and we've all become really good friends over the years (some of us know others in person and brought them into the group, but most of us just know each other from the game).

There's also a few in the group that are reserved individuals and really aren't keen on PuG'ing in general given the choice. Not for any anti-social reasons, but more because what time they have to play they want to let their hair down and just be around friends and talk about stuff that either wouldn't interest a random person in team, or wouldn't be comfortable talking about around strangers. Plus, on some nights, some of our conversations and language wouldn't be appropriate for anyone outside the group

I myself have no problem with PuG'ing when nobody's on (it's one of the times I can actually get a good string of trials in) or playing solo, but when SG folks start logging in, unless I'm in the middle of something like a trial or TF, I bow out to run with them. If I'm doing a trial or TF, I leave when it's finished to run with them. It's not a matter of obligation as much as these are the folks I truly enjoy running with.

I hope that answers your question!

Lyc~ the SG loyal werewolf

The OP doesn't seem to be a complaint about people leaving mid-mission and forcing the team to continue short-handed.

Given that, I'm wondering why the base assumption is "that's a lie"?

If you were hanging out with random people in real life and a friend called and said "let's do some stuff", would you turn him down or tell the PuG, "thanks, gonna go hang with my friend now"?

If I'm chilling with a PuG and a SG group forms either spontaneously or on-schedule then I'm likely to leave the PuG at the next reasonable opportunity. Sometimes, yes, it's even for one mission b/c a SG member asked for help with a tough boss and we went separate ways after that.

I don't get into a big explanation. "SG is calling" is a good enough explanation, when people come and go from PuGs all of the time for any reason or no reason at all. Your team may be rolling in XP but if it's one of the teams where I spend an hour in nearly complete "silence" b/c XP is all anyone is focused on then yeah, I'll happily bug out when a SG friend logs in and says "Who wants to run some tip missions?"

It's got nothing to do with lies or with over-bearing leaders.

I agree completely but as I pointed out, the OP never makes any intimation about quitting mid-mission or otherwise leaving the team in the lurch.

What he says is "My SG never calls on me so I think those other people are just making it up.",after which he characterizes it as something where the SG is demanding compliance.

Neither of those characterizations is generally correct though one or both of them can be true on occassion.