What should all trial leaders know?

I think it bears saying, that regardless of opinions, whether one trial is intuitive or not, all are in agreement that a trial leader, at least for a fairly new trial should be aware of that trials established tactics for successful completion.

My hat's off to those folks who are willing to endure a new leader's attempt at a trial. I've always had a hard time standing by and watching things being done differently than what I'm used to. But, if I were leader, I wouldn't want to have someone sending me tells, "Dude, have them pull Nightstar to that north wall, it will be easier to handle the adds, etc" ( I like the courts. Particularly that dark nw corner, looks like a bloodstain.)

In short, your league, your rules - provided they are explained clearly ahead of time.

For me, though, the notion of failure on a trial is just..that's not fun for me at all. That leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth, wasting 20 to 60 minutes of 23 other people's lives for no gain? That's just unacceptable.

Maybe, in the case of pursuing a specific badge, if the whole league is aware of and okay with the consequences. I'm simply not going to take a league into a trial unless I'm fairly sure we can succeed.

Powergamer. What a term. I never thought I'd be considered a powergamer. But, I guess I am. I'm certainly far more passionate about winning a trial than the folks I team with.

I think, to a point, all of us are correct. Should there really have to be pre-requisite reading to do a trial successfully? No, I don't think so. That is, I don't think there should have to be, but the way things are now, they should and they will need to - unless someone who already has gives that player a good review. ( I had read nothing about magisterium -but running though the trial 5 times with a skilled leader was enough for me to pick up all the tactics, aside from badge runs)
I think a gamer should probably spend about 5 minutes scanning announcements, patch notes and their server forum section to have a better sense of what's going on. When a new trial goes live, I'd be inclined to think that players should be taking a peek at the patch notes, just to see if their toons got nerfed or buffed. I hate reading patch notes, but I've learned to do it, because not doing so has cost me time when I didn't.

I think following on trials is also a good thing for any leader - you never know what you'll learn. As soon as another free transfer hits, I plan on moving a 50 to another server to see if that server does things differently, and why. (or maybe level one up - just hate trying to get plugged in on a new server)
One thing that is abundantly clear - only in the older trials can you get away with no communication. Even folks on baf need to know who should be doing what -though on a strong league it's not as urgent to know.

Thanks to all for you replies.

Perhaps the lore and destiny unlock requirement for Magisterium? Even so, it should be +3 minimum instead of a simple unlock. (but that's just my opinion)

Some very good tips, I have not led any Itrials myself. I am the kind of person that researches and observes and participates until i am comfortable enough to lead one.

Not sure about the whole herding cats thing.. the Trials I have been on with two characters to +3 ( granted only BAF, LAM , TPN, Keyes so i I am not claiming any expertise) have gone pretty well.. OK except for those folks that have a huge fit and pee themselves when a prisoner escapes but oh well...

I do want to Comment on some things...

You are taught about leading groups from a early " age" in CoH rather you realize it or not even simple things like DFB and DIB or the signature task forces..on and on through out the levels. Ever run a DFB for badges with a poor leader? you almost never get the first badge.. but take a leader that uses communication with the team and amazingly you get the badge! Unless you are that person that feels DFB is the devil and never does the Task Forces for accolades...

The other thing is.. I feel there should be Tips made on how to behave during Itrials. That is how you as a team member should act.

Hi Guys,

this happened for real last night and made me spit coffee at screen and think of this thread

Names and Servers have been omitted for confidentiality.


So was just chilling in Atlas and see in the new LFG channel:

"What TF's can I run as a lvl 48 without exemping?"

About 3 replies referring Asker to the Wiki lists and one that says:

"If you hit the LFG tab and select TF's tab and then mouse hover over the ones listed you get all that info pop up. They start at the highest lvl and then reduce in lvl as they get lower in listing. You can do the first three at lvl 45"

After a minute or two the Asker posts:

"Tyvm where do I find the LFG tab please?"

Couple of posts with directions. We then hear nothing for about 10 minutes followed by:

"So at 48 I can do a lvl 45 Statesman?"

Couple of posts saying yes.

Few more minutes silence then:

"But I have to be a VIP to run that!"

Couple of posts explaining that the VIP mention is only to be able to claim the VIP reward choice from the completion table.

Another few minutes silence then:

"Okay what City is Statesman in so I can go start one?"

Silence.........ongoing. (Well apart from a few futile shouts for members needed for Statesman TF!)


So in ending, this addresses both parts of the OP's thread.

Leaders at least have an inkling about your mission and Members, just know when to walk away or in this case flee at full speed

It all boils down to being able to communicate properly in my opinion.
- You may not run trials like everyone else is, but that doesn't mean you are doing it wrong. However, if you are not telling everyone what you expect the league to be doing, then it's your damn fault if they are running around like headless chicken.

- If this is your first time as a leader, saying so will lessen the chance of being yelled at by half a league of grumpy people who didn't bother starting the league in the first place.

So....the arguement here is that not being able to complete Incarnate Trials locks you out of doing more Incarnate stuff (which isn't at all accurate, except for Hybrid at the moment, which is not required for any content). I don't see the problem. The people who don't enjoy this content don't have to do it. The only thing they are missing out on is being able to do more content that they don't enjoy.

There are plenty of people who do enjoy incarnate trials and the challenges that go into them (myself included). I will never get the concept of complaining about one facet of a multi-facet game like City of Heroes that might not appeal to a particular player.

I don't like repetitive Taskforces (Citadel and Synapse come to mind), so most of the time, I won't do them. And when I do decide to do them, I know what I am getting in to, and if it starts to annoy me, I have no one to blame but myself. That doesn't mean I will complain that those things exist, their existence does not affect my life or enjoyment of the game at all.

I should also say that in my four years of playing CoH, including 4 months of doing a lot of Incarnate Trials (often clumsily), I have encountered very few players who were jerks if my actions led to a mission fail. I can get distracted and confused (and sometimes my system lags). In 99% of situations, the worst I have gotten was some good natured teasing about it.

In fact, a few weeks ago, I did an Underground that went sour in last enemy (just couldn't seem to coordinate right to damage AV), and even though we were all frustrated, there wasn't any blame thrown around or nastiness. I didn't need to block anyone sending me nasty tells or log off to avoid ranting. And this was after a 45 minute mission. We all went about our business, and I would be glad to team with any of those players again.

To me, that is how CoH is most of the time, and why it is the only MMO I can play with any regularity.