A Change in PUGs

[Outlawl]

Personally, I think it's too much for people to do just to get involved in PUGs. They happen almost daily as it is and that'd require a lot of (perhaps unnecessary) work to be put into throwing these games.

Keep in mind though that not every pug would be one in which you have to sign up for. While we may advertise one or two pugs on a certain day, that doesn't mean that there aren't any other pugs going on that day. If theres enough people in a channel, then by all means, start a game. The point of the sign-up pug is to allow everyone an equal chance of playing.

Also, we would be setting the forums/IRC up in a way that it wouldn't take more than 2 minutes to to sign up (if that).

 

[Jordahan]

The Lawl is on the ball.

 

[WildFire]

http://view.samurajdata.se/rsc/9433537c/

The bot that I ran, had some criticism from the Euro community. Mainly due to the fact that I couldn't keep it running 24/7, and people weren't happy by some of the bot configuration. I took it down seeing as no one valued it enough. The new bot would have to be specifically designed to meet #legions.pickup. If you want, I'll draw up a list of features that you might find useful (or to anyone else who wants to build this bot)

Euro's should most defiantly not be excluded from this project however, I would offer use of #legions.pickup for it, but I believe that is Disci's department now.

 

[Dacil]

Ok, What you can do to make pugs more Player friendly is to not rage at a new Player when He/She is doing bad. Give advice and Tips so that the Player can learn from his/her mistake(s). What would make a Fun Pug is Teamwork, Communication toward the Pug and the Gameplay. For Pug Captains please dont pick the same set of Skilled People every game. Give everyone a chance to play and have fun, Then again...Some Captains have there reputation of not Losing I understand why you would choose skilled Players all day long. Its only fun for the winning team and Immensely Boring for the Losing team. Show new Players why Pugs are fun and eventually Pick ups will happen more often.

I Hope Pick Up Games change or The Community will fall apart slowly.

agree with what I edited, and disagree strongly with the part in bold, so that's my opinion, could add more but i have to leave

 

[Buhlitz]

how about people just organize the games to play, and not win? I mean seriously, when was the last time you played a pickup or two that were about teaching someone something or just having fun?

 

[Apcizzle]

after legions overlive

 

[Sulazoh]

Id'e like to, as a complete and utter newb, with slow reaction and pretty much NO experience in playing computer games to any great extent, Tell a little story that might fit after reading all of this!

Im a COMPLETE newby when it comes to all this... I live on a tiny Island on the west coast of Canada, and im not even very computer Savy...
Pretty much a farmboy with little knowledge of all these games and whatnot...
Only game i ever played was "Exteel" And it was because a friend wanted me too.

Used to play an Instant Action website alittle due to a friend showing me.
It died, then sometime later he told me legions was back and sent me a link.
Managed to get on the forum, and found the teamspeak info...

I mean, im a very BAD player, i KNOW it, but its fun! And I feel like im getting better with time, or id'e like to think it anyways.
I love the rush of it all, and the teamwork If i can comprehend it at the time...

I was in teamspeak a week back or so, just listening to people and exploring this new "teamspeak" thing while I practiced "skiing" in an empty room
I didnt realise i was listening in on this "PUG" channel

Someone suddenly asked me if i was playing.

100 thoughts went through my mind at once, and i found myself exiting to the game list, frantically opening google, and madly trying to find out what "PUG" even meant.
The player then asked me if i would like to join up.... I informed him as best i could that i would only hamper the game as i was extremely new...
He told me that was fine, and that i should play anyways, and learn abit.
I once again gingerly told him i REALLLLYY failed... and didn't know anything....
But he reassured me it was fine.

He began spouting acronyms and terms, and i began madly researching them, and managed to find what most of them meant....
He had to walk me through on how to actually get ON this.. other.. server room thing on the main start page of the game.

Suddenly i was in, and givin a position, and the players discussed it, and gave me something they thought i could work with.
The game started, and its embarrassing to say, but i had butterflys in my stomach, it was so organized, yet everyone was friendly!
It was SO fun!

Abit of pressure, as i was constantly trying to keep up with everyone, and couldn't keep my eyes on the flag holder to save myself...
But i tried my best to make myself usefull.

The other team was kind, and gave me encouragement, and my team was extremely patient and kind, and showed me the ropes as best they could, And were very patient when i probably completely failed and got lost in it all, By always finding something i could do, and probably over simplifying everything.
And when we lost 5-6, I waited to be shot down and kicked out, But only "goodgame" came, And i didn't get called out as the newby i was, I was told i did pretty good, and asked if i wanted to play again!

It was VERY cool, and i would like to once again thank everyone that played, and gave this newby a chance to have some fun, and learn abit.
sincerely, Sulazoh~ or as pronounced that day, "Sulza"

 

[RockeyRex]

How rude. Forcing me to post constructive text before I get to do my thing...

Signup system is always a winner when it comes to fairnes on who gets to play. First come, first serve.
Naturally this needs a bit larger community to run smooth. This is to make sure that the games start fairly fast from the start of the signups. Otherwise you'll have the issue of afk and/or people starting signups to the one and only pug waaay early to reserve a spot and it may be filled long before peak hours and thus make alot of people just plain and simple being unable to ever make it.

However if the community is active enough for a few pugs a nite:
Make it 2 maps tops per pug and then remake.
New signups start as soon as the last pug is full and/or starts.
You can't signup while still in a pug. (Thus being unsure that you can make it.)
Just in case there is not enough to make a second pug straight out, wait out the 2 maps and have people from the old pug signup.
There we go, everyone gets to play.

Now after that, my deleted post:

OH.
Yeah.
No flame.

Or sarcasm.

>.>

 

[Apcizzle]

Sulazoh's long but good post

What a coincedence you post right after i answered buhlitz with "legions overlive". You were who i was talking about.

I distinctly remember picking you and teaching you how to connect to the server after i realized you werent in game. I was like "come to the front bridge" and hes like "wheres that" and so on... but then he finally said "what server" lol... i shouldve realized that he didn't know about the console or the join command.

But anyways, Sulazoh just so happened to pop into teamspeak 3 for the first time after legions overlive when we were doing the after show PUG. We wanted him to play because it was his first time and it would be a good experience. I actually ended up picking up Solazoh between the 4 captains and led him through the game. A few of us on my team were trying to explain what he was suppose to do and did a couple of flag passes to him in the pre game to give him a heads up on what to expect. Though he didn't show much promise then... he actually got a clutch return on a really long standoff and helped us get a point among a few other good plays.

I'm glad you had a good time sulazoh and you did a hell of a good job for your first time with such competition in the server... i just wish you'd pop your head in more and play with us

 

[Floks]

post

It seems as though one of the problems with PUGs is that players have bad memories of how PUGs used to be. While they are still very competitive, people tend to be nicer, as evidenced by Sulazoh's post.

I have no idea how to reverse the stigma that PUGs carry, but hopefully a lot of players who think PUGs are awful will see Sulazoh's post.

As far as the current PUG system goes, I don't mind it. I think people focus too much on winning, and not enough on learning and having fun. I think that bringing back newblood pickups would be a good idea. Either that, or captains can try to cycle players in, which has been happening lately. This community is making a concerted effort to make PUGs fun for everyone, which I think is great.

On a somewhat personal note. I understand getting worked up during a PUG. I get worked up all the time, as a lot of people know. Just try and make sure that getting worked up doesn't turn into getting angry (my apologies Contingency). The thing is, it doesn't matter if you win or lose a PUG. Just make an effort to enjoy the game. I know it may not always seem like it, but I pretty much enjoy every single PUG I play. Everyone else who plays might want to try to do this as well.

 

[Ucantry2run]

wat

I can't enjoy a pug when you RUN OFF ON CHASE AND LEAVE ME ALONE TO DIE A HORRBILE DEATH

On a serious note, I like the ideas. Keep up the discussion.

Sulazoh, you're always welcome to play pickup games with us. If you ever have any questions in the future, let me or anyone else know. We're all here to help.

SPARTAAAAAAN

 

[Propkid]

Get rid of the team captain idea. This will relieve a LOT of stress from the PuGs and will make the atmosphere more relaxed/ newblood friendly.

Discuss the team balance before starting out. Sure, two people pick their teams but improve on the team balance after the teams are made.

Once in a while do something silly in a PuG. This will get us off the Charlie Sheen-ish winning approach and will make the game much more enjoyable if you aren't good at it. Eg. have a whole team rabbitting after their own capper with the flag ;D Just be more creative and off-topic of winning.

The game needs a lobby for each server. I've mentioned this before, but now I've finally realized how much does it need one. Pre-game lobbies in PUBs will basically re-embody the time we all spend on TS before joining a PuG. If the lobby is to come up (with player list, chat, voice chat, team lists, team roles etc.) then it'll be possible to organize non-elitist PuGs on PUB servers; IMO the best way to go about making the 'low-end' players enjoy playing an organized game. Admin tools, vote kicks etc. also apply here.

/not following this discussion, won't argue about the above. CBA, things are all obvious in here/

 

[Ucantry2run]

Err..... no comment.

 

[Kryst]

Just brainstorming out loud... Is it possible to come up with some sort of ranking system for players involved in community? Dunno if that would help support and motivate people to get better, or if it would intimidate.

Edit - something that is NOT stat controlled via k/d ratios ect.

/end random thought process

 

[RockeyRex]

Excuse me with my elitist opinnion...
But wtf?

Get rid of the team captain idea. This will relieve a LOT of stress from the PuGs and will make the atmosphere more relaxed/ newblood friendly.

Urgh... No it won't.

Lets see...

Discuss the team balance before starting out. Sure, two people pick their teams but improve on the team balance after the teams are made.

Sounds like a pub... When a team has a capt that lobs out positions, you'll do the job and if wrong people end up doing wrong things, then they'll do wrong things.
If we go for a hippy democracy at this point you'll just have people eventually raging at each other for *dancing* up at a position that "they can do better".
Prolly ends up people just giving up on the positions as well and messing up the team even more.
Relaxed indeed.

Pre-game lobbies in PUBs will basically re-embody the time we all spend on TS before joining a PuG. If the lobby is to come up (with player list, chat, voice chat, team lists, team roles etc.) then it'll be possible to organize non-elitist PuGs on PUB servers

And the "tournament mode" that is in the PUG servers currently doesn't do the same trick?

/not following this discussion, won't argue about the above. CBA, things are all obvious in here/

Obviously obvious indeed...

 

[Propkid]

Sounds like a pub... When a team has a capt that lobs out positions, you'll do the job and if wrong people end up doing wrong things, then they'll do wrong things.
If we go for a hippy democracy at this point you'll just have people eventually raging at each other for *dancing* up at a position that "they can do better".
Prolly ends up people just giving up on the positions as well and messing up the team even more.
Relaxed indeed.

L:O= first game I've played in where in organized PvP the 'captain' does more than pick his team. And the first game where organized PvP 'endgame' isn't growing in popularity.

Captains... god, the idea still surprises me. Not that I have a lot of organized gaming experience but so far L:O is the only game where there's so much stress on the captains. In other places there are only 'those who pick the teams', then the team gets along by telling each other what is up and where, what would everyone want others to do, when do they need help and best from who etc. There's no one person in charge, except the bossy clan leader occasionally, but heck even the idea of a clan leader got called off (I'm talking about my 'friend' clan in CoD5) and there was the leader team, made up of 5 equally privileged players.

Anyway, relying on one man to command the whole team during a PuG is a bad idea, especially with Blade Run, and consequently larger teams coming up. Sure, there should be the one who picks the teams and perhaps assigns team roles, but that's about it. After the game has started things should sort themselves out; everyone should have a right to say what do they think about the current situation. Let the player's own authority and reputation support his ideas, not his instantaneous status of a captain. Eg. during euro PuGs if Application, a well-known HoF calls for a better defence then I'm sure someone will listen even if there's no captain to 'confirm' that need.

If we go for a hippy democracy at this point you'll just have people eventually raging at each other for *dancing* up at a position that "they can do better".

^Assumes that people are full of *chocolate cookies*. That's why I didn't want to get into this thread; it will soon derail into arguing about premises of the actual argument.

And the "tournament mode" that is in the PUG servers currently doesn't do the same trick?

The what? I'm sorry but http://forums.legionsoverdrive.com/threads/end-to-my-gaming-gaming-withdrawal-thread.1733/

 

[Ucantry2run]

Then please quietly remove yourself from this thread.

No flame.

 

[Buhlitz]

Just brainstorming out loud... Is it possible to come up with some sort of ranking system for players involved in community? Dunno if that would help support and motivate people to get better, or if it would intimidate.

Edit - something that is NOT stat controlled via k/d ratios ect.

/end random thought process

As much as I like stats, and rankings and comp and all that I think if you were to rank players in the community specifically for pugs, it would further intimidate and perpetuate the same nagging problem. People picking people based on 'win' percentages they write down on a sticky note on their monitor *ahem* DL *ahem* .

 

[Homingun]

What Sulazoh has said proves what I've been trying to say here.

PUGs aren't that bad. But I've explained enough in that thread, so I will not repeat here.

 

[Mots0311]

Being asked to join a PUG because there arent enough people at the moment and then not being picked because a couple of aces show up in the middle of the pick blows hard. Close the door when picking starts. If "Ace Legion dude" shows up in lobby during pick tough luck, start game and no trying to get him in PUG channel.
Outside of that I understand the need to win and no one wants to receive a shelacking, playing just to play is what PUBs are for. The good players get picked first thats the way it is, perhaps a tier system for games. First tier are experienced above average players and second tier seasoned but not as experienced ( 3rd tier just needs to grind it out in the PUBs). Either have different PUGs for tiers or have a required amount of tiers per team. I know that might edge out some really good players depending on the amount of people that show up for pick. It would also get messy defining who is on what tier.