Why would I team? [Archive] - Champions Online

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 07:00 AM

I play CoH/V, and I enjoy teaming.
Right now, my PC is subpar for CO, and due to severe lag I solo. I solo because I tend to slow the team down and I can't function nearly as well as I aught to. I intend to either upgrade or replace my system so I can run this game and be able to team, in high population areas lag free.

I have teamed, and I have some folks on my friends list. My brother also plays and I team with him to. But mostly I like to solo this game because I miss less of whats going on. I looked forward to getting my PC up to par, so I can team and really see how this game looks and feels. (Right now I have all the video settings for CO turned down to the absolute rock bottom which includes half resolution and wow does it look horrible)

But, after playing for a little while I've come to realize something. Why would I team? So far, about 90% of the game seems to be all out doors and not instanced. When I'm on a team I have no idea what mission the team is doing, until the team leader clearly announces it. The only time I can see where the mission is if its an instanced mission. Which is rare cuz most of the missions are out in the open. So I have to follow someone who is heading to the area for the mission. This does not always go smoothly because teammates often dont communicate clearly enough.

I've found that soloing is better because I get to know what mission I'm working on and where the mission is, all without having to stop to ask or say things like:
"Can you set the mission to Primary please?"
"Hmm... so what does setting a mission to Primary do?"
"What are we doing?"
"Where is the mission?"
"Who gives that mission?"
"Can you share that mission?"
"I still need 'X' to complete this"
"I wish I could see your mission list so I know what I'm supposed to be doing"
"I already did that mission"
"I know you all have already completed this mission, but I still need 'X' to complete it, will you help?
"Sorry, I cant share this mission, it says you already completed it"
"It wont let me share it. Says you already got it"
"Thanks for the team, I'm gonna go solo and get my stuff done. Take care!"

In other words, the team mission system needs an overhaul. Until then, it seems to promote solo play over team play.
Just my two cents

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 07:07 AM

The instanced missions in CoH were what made it such a fun and great game. Sadly CO is closer to WoW in that aspect. Everybody soloes until the late end game when you group for raids. I do miss the instanced missions, wish CO had them.

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 07:19 AM

I totally agree. I enjoyed the ease with which I could team up on Coh. However the way they set up these short instances/quests, it's not really conducive for teaming. Plus the instances are way too short. It often takes longer to go to the contact, get the quest, invite people and then zone in....than actually doing the instance. Overall, I don't get a sense of accomplishment when I finish these short instances.

- Hung

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09-02-2009, 07:24 AM

I agree. :cool:

http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=49132

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09-02-2009, 08:03 AM

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 08:03 AM

level 25+ you hit the 5 man lairs which are good teaming expeiences but till then other than maybe fight club meh teaming worse xp/loot

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 08:24 AM

I completely disagree. I solo'd my first character in City of Heroes to 40th level and had a good time doing it.

I'm at 14th level soloing in Champions and I'm already frustrated.

On the other hand, I teamed up with three friends the other night and had a blast.

It seems a number of your complaints relate to either communication issues or people being unfamiliar with game concepts. For the former, I recommend Skype, for the latter it might simply be a matter of passing the learning curve.
I agree with you to the extent that communication among players can be, and often is a problem. However, I don't use Ventrilo, Skype, Teamspeak or any other voice com system when I team in CoH. I've never felt I had to either. When the team leader set a mission everyone on team could see it and eveyone knew what we were doing and where we needed to go to do it.

This is not the case in CO. It is far less obvious what the team leader wants us to do. It calls for much more communication. I don't think I'm the only player in CO not using Skype, or any other voice com system for that matter, so what good would having it do me if the team I end up on does not have it? (Which is most of the time)

As for the passing the learning curve, it seems to me that in CO, this actually entails repeating content enough that you are very familiar with each mission. I know how to use the waypoint system in CO. I dont like it, but I know how to use it.

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 08:41 AM

level 25+ you hit the 5 man lairs which are good teaming expeiences but till then other than maybe fight club meh teaming worse xp/lootI still don't understand how you go about finding teams for those lairs. I flagged myself as "looking for group" and put "teleios' tower" in my status, and nothing works. can't we get put into a queue with 4 other random heroes and just do the instance with them? like once it has found 5 heroes, it puts us into the lair, teamed up and everything, and we go. I really don't understand how the current "system" works, if there even is one

I've got three level 30-31 missions requiring 5 heroes just rotting in my mission list

Archived Post

09-02-2009, 08:58 AM

Gotta concur with the OP here - CoX's teaming interface was quite good in the respect that it was a lot easier to know what was being worked on when you could stick the mission objectives right dead (upper) center of the HUD so that everyone knew what was being worked on. Also, waypoints were more easily homed in on w/o having to call the map up, realign your movement path, etc.

Also: do these instanced missions even scale for team size at all?