Captaining 101

[Calimo]

This hierarchy of players and big emphases on winning is what keeps me out of the PUG arena.
I understand it's always there in the backdrop... and it is fun to win... but to all the people who are always keeping a serious tab of all their Wins Vs Loses... I believe you're falsely giving the impression that winning is a vital part of legions... when... it's not.

There should be scheduled randomized pugs. Where a group of players who meet up are randomly assigned to different teams. Players ranging from all different skill levels and positions are forced to work together. This would make players work with new people while allowing the more veteran players to get out of their comfort zones of playing.
This could also potentially show the newer players how to pull off some of the amazing stuff you PUG heroes and heroines can do. (Free Ego Stroke)

If this was a tournament setting, I believe the emphasis on winning would be a positive thing... and having the players with the "right stuff" would be beneficial... But it's not. It's a PUG.

 

[Delph]

I think we have 2 issues here.

1. Original post = Need for more captains. How to pick players for a PUG to make teams more fair. nothing more or less. Albeit, the post is somewhat large and I don't think it's realistic to expect any player to remember all the strengths and weaknesses of every other player in a PUG. God knows I can barely remember what my own teammates are good at! LOL. While I think the goal is a valid one, my personal experience with PUG's is that they have been too 'WIN' focussed and 'SERIOUS' for me. For me, I play for fun and fun only. My real life is serious enough. I don't need stress in a game. Like Redvan posted, there's no incentive for a new captain to step up and try to Captain for fear of the repercussions of failure. I seem to have the most fun, simply PUB'ing with my teammates and trying to help PUB's be more fun.

2. Responses = have more to do with: Does the current PUG procedure help foster new players or encourage new people to step up and be a captain or even PUG at all? My overall concern isn't for PUG's vs PUBs vs Scrims. My overall concern is about the success of the entire game, Legions. How do you bring in new players and hopefully new teams? I believe the focus shouldn't be winning a PUG, but it should be about Teams. Let's make it easy for Teams to form, practice, scrim and ultimately compete. That is what will make Legions succeed in the long term. my 2 cents.

Completely agree with by tor here. Everyone needs to just step back and relax a little. People get way to serious in pugs and yelling and screaming at people for making mistakes DOES NOT HELP AT ALL! It only adds stress and unnecessary pressure that will, 90% of the time, make them do even worse. This is the reason i have not participated in any pugs, and am still hesitant to join any clans that want to scrimm.

-Pollux

 

[Redvan]

a randomized PUG would be much more interesting than picking teams imo. Throw a bunch of random people together and see which team does best at thinking on the fly figuring it out.

 

[moronval]

Girl please, go make a randomized pug thread then. There needs to be a thread like this, it's about damn time.

 

[Darklord]

Clearly the way to teach people how to be a good captain is to teach them how to lose. That makes a ton of sense.

The way you get the best games is when you have two captains with good teams who understand the game and are trying to win. You can be all carebear "Let's just have fun!" if you want, but that doesn't change the fact that captains who don't know who to pick lead to horrible, imbalanced games. Games that aren't fun. Think of when Phan captained against me yesterday. We walk capped against the team he picked, the teams were so bad. While that might have been amusing for our team, it doesn't make for a fun game for the other.

The only complaints I am reading in this thread are from A) People who don't play at all or B) people who don't play pickups. Dacil threatening to not play pickups anymore? The horror! I can't remember a single one in months where you have played. Virtually everyone in here trying to derail this topic has zero stake in the matter at all. Do us all a favor and leave us the hell alone if you don't even play the game, and just stay around trying to stir stuff up in the community.

You may not like the idea of a list of who to pick, but that is damn well by far the #1 more important thing to have available to people who want to captain. Your strategies mean next to nothing if you don't have the player skill to back it up. If you try to set up a bad strat but have good players, they will correct you. No one is there to stop someone from picking bad players. I tried for ages to stop games before they started when people picked horribly imbalanced teams, and everyone always complained to 'just play it out' and then proceeded to have horrid games.

I said in my original post, and the subsequent ones, that there was more to come for what I was planning to write. That still holds. It got late, so I posted the basic stuff I had at the time.

 

[jago]

id love to play in a pug but havent been asked id also like to try being a captain

 

[Calimo]

Clearly the way to teach people how to be a good captain is to teach them how to lose. That makes a ton of sense... .

You betta check yo self before you wreck yo self! ... I apologize.. I've just always wanted to say that.. seemed fitting..

 

[Redvan]

Clearly the way to teach people how to be a good captain is to teach them how to lose. That makes a ton of sense.

actually, yes.

If people are better losers, they're more likely to come back and try again / learn from their mistakes.

If someone is a sore loser, they'll probably not bother trying again.

 

[discord]

id love to play in a pug but havent been asked id also like to try being a captain

jago, you don't typically get asked to play unless you are in Teamspeak when one is starting. Try hanging out on there when you are playing, hop in the PUG channel if you see people grouping up in it. Sometimes people will randomly poke/pm or say something about it in a pub if they are a few people short, but the best way to get in on them is to be on the community TS server when you are playing.

 

[Apcizzle]

I demand my description to be changed.

In return, i will play more. please!!

 

[Dacil]

B) people who don't play pickups. Dacil threatening to not play pickups anymore? The horror! I can't remember a single one in months where you have played. Virtually everyone in here trying to derail this topic has zero stake in the matter at all. Do us all a favor and leave us the hell alone if you don't even play the game, and just stay around trying to stir stuff up in the community.

You may not like the idea of a list of who to pick, but that is damn well by far the #1 more important thing to have available to people who want to captain. Your strategies mean next to nothing if you don't have the player skill to back it up.

hahahahaha to the part in bold!!! that's pretty funny! I actually captained not too long ago and even did a euro one for the heck of it XD but you wouldn't notice that b/c i will admit i'm not a great player and apparently you can only remember the awesome players because you single out and hate on bad players as if they are lost causes who can't learn, ever. BUT anyways!!...I was saying how you think about what is fun and what's important in PUGs makes me not want to play (what i've learned is to not stop playing PUGs, but to just never ever pick you....i know i know, my loss, totally, HA) because, as it has also been stated, you guys apparently bi*** like prissy little girls behind captains' backs over a stupid game that when you REALLY think about it, doesn't have any importance at all in the grand scheme of life...GG!!!

 

[Freeman]

I demand my description to be changed.

In return, i will play more. please!!

At least you have a description...):

 

[Ucantry2run]

osnap

Personally I like this thread. If two captains are good, like this thread mentions, then the teams should be fair and fun. The order of picks is almost what I would do, and I support most of the other information given.

Its not so much listing the top 20 players, but he's telling us who he would pick against another wise captain. Yes, making it fair for everyone is a big deal. However, your team should have at least a chance at winning to make it fun for you. Darklord is telling us which players would make a great addition to your team in certain aspects. He's not trying to give us an ego boost.

DONT NERF ME PLZ I WNNA B IN TOP FAIVE

I love being captain because I guarantee myself a spot in the PUG by doing so
This probably isn't a good reason to captain, but hasn't anyone here felt rejected due to countless times of not getting in a game?

We'll work on fixing unbalanced teams from now on. When I'm around, I'll make sure to take a look at it.

At least you have a name on the list

He did mention you.

 

[57thRomance]

I love being captain because I guarantee myself a spot in the PUG by doing so
This probably isn't a good reason to captain, but hasn't anyone here felt rejected due to countless times of not getting in a game?

 

[Ewrath]

The last time I captained against BugsPray we had to restard to picks (for the first time) because it was so unfair.

I will try again! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha...

 

[Jordahan]

Lets not get personal here guys.

 

[jago]

jago, you don't typically get asked to play unless you are in Teamspeak when one is starting. Try hanging out on there when you are playing, hop in the PUG channel if you see people grouping up in it. Sometimes people will randomly poke/pm or say something about it in a pub if they are a few people short, but the best way to get in on them is to be on the community TS server when you are playing.

ive been on a few times i will go on more if thats the case ty

 

[Homingun]

Randomized "PUGS" would be interesting. Except they wouldn't be pick-ups anymore. It would be a PUB with mics (and some without ).

I think what people actually want are new blood pick-ups where new(and some old) players can get comfortable and have fun in a competitive setting. But with the size of the current community, I don't know if that will happen. Maybe making an official announcement on the blog with a date and time for the new blood pick-up and instructions on how to get onto TS3 would get a lot of the pubbers to join.

As for being a captain, fact is, as a captain you are going to fail. The way you deal with this is what sets apart the good captains from the bad. If you get criticized for being a bad captain, then make improvements to become a better one. What DL has posted is a guide for those who want to be better captains and in the process make pick-ups more fun. It's funny how many of the players contending this thread are players that I have rarely seen in pick-ups and even more rarely captain.

If you had a bad experience, deal with it and contribute to a better one. Shutting yourself away isn't going to help anyone. And remember, PUGs aren't for hugs.

 

[Jack]

So you have 3 people who are willing to captain, are complaining about recurrent stacked teams, and you are going to gear a "Captaining guide" to all of the people who don't captain and don't trust to figure out a reasonably accurate top 20? Really?

In your top 10, only Fire and you captain at all regularly (bugspray barely plays). Why don't you ask the other 8 to captain? You know, you'd increase captains over 2 fold that way, and you wouldn't even have to teach them the intricacies of the rocket-science of picking teams.

But by all means, let's have another circle-jerk thread, as if there aren't enough of those :-].

 

[Jack]

It is not hard to captain. Play a few pickups, and watch the order of people who get picked. Note the score of those games. Come to your own estimation of others' skill and don't be bad at it. Go captain, and solicit advice from your team, particularly when there are people you don't recognize. If you are losing mid-game, either switch things up, or pass the reins to someone on your team who is more experienced.
Make it understood that the point is to have close teams, and not instead all-out stomping.

1. If you know the teams are stacked before starting (or even mid game), reset and repick. No reason to waste 25 mins.

2. Establish captains right as the map ends, so it doesn't devolve into the usual banter that lasts 45 minutes and the inevitable putzing around that everyone knows too well. This way people can look at the names and start thinking already.

3. Realize that some people are bad at assessing skill even if they are good at the game, though the reverse is not usually true. Maybe perro just got unlucky (1 is hardly a good sample size), or messed up a pick, but it's hard to get blown out. Again, everyone might have been better served by you throwing away a pick or 2 so that he gets a roughly equivalent team.

:-]