People who don't play in outfits - a growing problem?

[Scotty]

I haven't found an outfit that is small enough to be fun to play in. The larger ones tend to have too much politics to be enjoyable.

[Rahabib]

Originally Posted by MrBloodworth

Those players are not fun.

ah see then its mutual.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Scotty

I haven't found an outfit that is small enough to be fun to play in. The larger ones tend to have too much politics to be enjoyable.

Would you be more likely to join an outfit if they were better advertised in-game and easier to join/leave?

For example, what if there was a UI screen in-game where outfits could advertise their size and levels of expectations from new members so that you could join them then and there without having to go through out of game recruitment processes?

[darktrooper]

i have been in a few outfits. from good ones to ones that just suck. most of them are dictatorship like outfits and its almost pointless to join them. outfits on all empires take things way to seriously and act as if they are in charge of you as a person. they treat it like its real and its pretty sad. most people dont want to deal with that and would rather run solo. outfits that actually work as a team instead of following the dear leader are usually small and just a few guys looking to hang out and cause havoc, which is not a bad thing i actually encourage those types of outfits. TRG was very similar to a dictatorship like outfit, they took it to seriously and cherrished there "ranking system" and anyone that talked back would be kicked and banned out of the outfit. even if you confronted them about it they either ignored you or just told you to get lost. kinda sad that in order to make yourself feel accomplished you have to be a big bad leader on a virtual game.

My current outfit NC10 is usually pretty good but they are starting to get a little to serious about the game. i mean its just a game your not deciding the fate of the universe. i feel as though some outfits take the fun right out of the game. sometimes its good to be with one but others your just following orders not doing anything you want to do, attacking a base your most likely going to get farmed at.

just my idea on outfits currently, just unfortunate so many people have to apply fake ranking systems and order people around like your a king in order to have fun and just play a game.

[Dragonskin]

I've ran with a few large outfits like 666th Devil Dogs in beta, Azure Twilight and Ghosts of the Revolution after launch. They are all good outfits, but I realized that their style is not really my thing. They all operated basically the same.

Now I stick to smaller outfits or run solo mostly because of the down time that large outfits seem to have. I also like running solo because I choose exactly how I want to play... not that being in an large outfit is bad.. but as soon as a squad leader or platoon leader told us all to be light assualt I found myself wanting to log for the night. I spent so much time spreading around certs on my VS character that is a jack of all trades and master of none. Which has a lot to do with having to constantly switch roles to fill in gaps within the squads/platoons.

On my TR I've spent 95% of the certs on him exactly where I wanted. A few things I got to help out my outfit like AMS and mineguard maxed for my sundy. Because I have been playing my TR exactly how I want I've grown to like him a lot more than my VS even though I have spent a lot more real money on my VS.

[Sledgecrushr]

Originally Posted by darktrooper

i have been in a few outfits. from good ones to ones that just suck. most of them are dictatorship like outfits and its almost pointless to join them. outfits on all empires take things way to seriously and act as if they are in charge of you as a person. they treat it like its real and its pretty sad. most people dont want to deal with that and would rather run solo. outfits that actually work as a team instead of following the dear leader are usually small and just a few guys looking to hang out and cause havoc, which is not a bad thing i actually encourage those types of outfits. TRG was very similar to a dictatorship like outfit, they took it to seriously and cherrished there "ranking system" and anyone that talked back would be kicked and banned out of the outfit. even if you confronted them about it they either ignored you or just told you to get lost. kinda sad that in order to make yourself feel accomplished you have to be a big bad leader on a virtual game.

My current outfit NC10 is usually pretty good but they are starting to get a little to serious about the game. i mean its just a game your not deciding the fate of the universe. i feel as though some outfits take the fun right out of the game. sometimes its good to be with one but others your just following orders not doing anything you want to do, attacking a base your most likely going to get farmed at.

just my idea on outfits currently, just unfortunate so many people have to apply fake ranking systems and order people around like your a king in order to have fun and just play a game.

I understand what youre saying. Being ranked poorly by your team mates can make you feel inadequate as a player and probably wouldnt be any fun. But on the flip side the dd has a rank system. And from my experience if you show leadership skills then you get moved up in rank. Heck Ive seen guys say no to a promotion because they didnt want any kind of responsibility. And I think thats cool too. I remember when I made fhe lowly rank of corporal, I felt really good about that because I dont get to play as much as a lot of the other guys.

I guess what Im trying to say is that their are good and bad outfits. My only advice is to not accept any spam invites. Do your homework and see what people are saying about different outfits.

[Mastodon]

There is no reason to join an outfit in Planetside.

You can get to fights without someone telling you where to go so long as you can read a map.

You can be useful without being on comms or in chat listening to someone scream orders. Grab a sunderer and drop it at a satellite base, play a medic, drop ammo, shoot rpgs in the same direction as everyone else, paint the walls of a spawn room with HE rounds while capping, etc. The list goes on forever.

Is it really necessary to have a coordinated, military-style outfit to take bases that 4 guys from a different faction will just take back when it's empty in 15 minutes, stopping your faction from getting that oh-so-important 10% resource discount that no one ever notices?

Now for my slightly more personal reasons for not joining an outfit:

1. This game is BFBC2 with persistence and less entertaining objectives. As such, I come and go as I please. I might play for 10 mins, get bored, then go rat in EVE (because most of the time it's more entertaining). I might also play for 2-3 straight hours. I go where the wind takes me and I have no interest in people in Planetside expecting me to be online to participate.

2. Wristcutpsycho is a perfect example of the kind of outfit leader that I have no patience to work with.

3. Teamspeak. Seriously outfits, what year is it? Upgrade to a respectable voice client.

4. Scheduled ops are no different than raid nights in a traditional MMO. I'm not interested in them. Even if I don't have anything else to do... at all, I would rather not be obligated to play PS2.

5. Role Playing. I've never seen as much RP as I've seen in Planetside and I don't really like it.

[Bags]

i dont enjoy being bossed around by some military wash out

the only outfits I enjoyed playing with in PS1 were killwhore outfits

every time I squaded with some big zerg fit employing "tactics" they'd command me to leave a good fight so we can spend 30 minutes getting in a galaxy only to get OSd or killed by a tank when landing at the objective

[Assist]

Originally Posted by MrBloodworth

Jesus, where are thees gestapo outfits that tread on the single man.

4. If you are online, join the squad.
5. Who ever has lead has lead, you will follow him to the maw of death, you will get your turn if you want it.

Originally Posted by Rahabib

For a lot of players, this isnt fun.

Originally Posted by MrBloodworth

Those players are not fun.

If I'm online it's to play a game and have fun. If I want to fly around in a circle in my galaxy ramming as many enemies as I can, then that's what I'm going to do. I don't need someone sending me tells asking me why I didn't join the outfit's squad. I don't like waiting for a squad member who went AFK, or having the squad wait on my for being AFK. I enjoy the solo aspects while appreciating the group aspects. The difference is when I'm not in an outfit I can do whatever I want without interrogation, which includes following some outfit around when I want to enjoy more organized adventures.
You can call it being anti-social or whatever makes you happy, I call it doing what I want since I have no obligations to anyone and prefer it that way when the game doesn't demand otherwise.

[Scotty]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Would you be more likely to join an outfit if they were better advertised in-game and easier to join/leave?

For example, what if there was a UI screen in-game where outfits could advertise their size and levels of expectations from new members so that you could join them then and there without having to go through out of game recruitment processes?

Yes, I think I would have an easier time finding an outfit.

[Mastodon]

Originally Posted by Assist

If I'm online it's to play a game and have fun. If I want to fly around in a circle in my galaxy ramming as many enemies as I can, then that's what I'm going to do. I don't need someone sending me tells asking me why I didn't join the outfit's squad. I don't like waiting for a squad member who went AFK, or having the squad wait on my for being AFK. I enjoy the solo aspects while appreciating the group aspects. The difference is when I'm not in an outfit I can do whatever I want without interrogation, which includes following some outfit around when I want to enjoy more organized adventures.
You can call it being anti-social or whatever makes you happy, I call it doing what I want since I have no obligations to anyone and prefer it that way when the game doesn't demand otherwise.

I agree with pretty much all of these things.

[EVILPIG]

The answer is simple: People are different. Sadly, a lot of what you'll read on this topic is outfits trying to recruit.

[robocpf1]

Originally Posted by Mastodon

Is it really necessary to have a coordinated, military-style outfit to take bases that 4 guys from a different faction will just take back when it's empty in 15 minutes, stopping your faction from getting that oh-so-important 10% resource discount that no one ever notices?

Now for my slightly more personal reasons for not joining an outfit:

1. This game is BFBC2 with persistence and less entertaining objectives. As such, I come and go as I please. I might play for 10 mins, get bored, then go rat in EVE (because most of the time it's more entertaining). I might also play for 2-3 straight hours. I go where the wind takes me and I have no interest in people in Planetside expecting me to be online to participate.

2. Wristcutpsycho is a perfect example of the kind of outfit leader that I have no patience to work with.

3. Teamspeak. Seriously outfits, what year is it? Upgrade to a respectable voice client.

4. Scheduled ops are no different than raid nights in a traditional MMO. I'm not interested in them. Even if I don't have anything else to do... at all, I would rather not be obligated to play PS2.

5. Role Playing. I've never seen as much RP as I've seen in Planetside and I don't really like it.

You may want to be in an organized outfit to fight the other organized outfits. Many players enjoy the team vs. team aspect. As a lone wolf, you don't really have many rivals, do you? A few perhaps? As an outfit, you have many, many people that you enjoy fighting against as a unit. It gives that much more depth to the game, for some players anyway. It's one thing just to fight "the whole enemy team" - it's another to fight a very specific faction of the enemy team that you have an extended rivalry with. Sports like basketball and football have such rivalries, so do we.

1. Only some outfits have time requirements. Many do not.

2. ...Fair enough

3. Such as? Teamspeak 3 is a great voice client for larger scale operations. I've tried using Mumble and Ventrilo, they don't hold a candle to TS3's capabilities and ease of use as far as large scale operations are concerned. I would go back to Mumble in a heartbeat if I was in a smaller outfit though. I've heard of this new VOIP called RaidCall but no idea what it's really about.

4. Again, there are different reasons for having scheduled ops than trying to goad your members into playing for you. Many outfits have "scheduled" ops just so people know that for sure something is going on at that time instead of playing the "is anything organized happening?" lottery.

5. Haven't experienced this as much.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

The answer is simple: People are different.

[RWJP]

I see nothing wrong with running solo, and sometimes do, but I do prefer organised outfit play.

Lone-Wolfing for me is only fun for a short while. Yes I can aid an assault, or clean up a small flanking maneuver, but beyond that lone-wolfs end up being pretty ineffectual. A lone wolf can't take a Tech Plant, he can't blunt a Tank Column that's about to hit friendly lines etc etc.

I play with BRTD on Miller. It's not a huge outfit, but not a small one either. We usually run two 24 man platoons (maybe three peak times), and I find that to be small enough to not be in a Zerg, but big enough to be really effective.

A 24 man platoon can take a Tech Plant or Bio Lab almost unaided. It can halt a Tank Column. And I really like that. I like being part of a unit that can actually make a big difference to a battle.

[Calisai]

Originally Posted by Bocheezu

I feel that organized, outfit play was the point of PS1 and lone wolf farming was useless. Capturing objectives was purpose of the game because getting to BR20/CR5 didn't require you to farm; it just came naturally from playing the game. If I logged in and there weren't many from the outfit on, it felt like a waste of time.

I played PS1 off and on for the complete history of it. With a mix of Tactical outfit play/Solo play/Laid back Outfit play/Zergfit play

When I was on Markov TR I was in a great outfit, gal drops, etc. Extremely tactical but not overbearing. The type of outfit that would time thier gal loadups and try and get faster and better. Unfortunately, It eventually died away (leader had to leave PS) until there were only 3 of us playing any significant time.

That started my Solo Play, as a BR25/CR5 max level (at the time). I would do foothold resecures and watch the empty conts and call in reinforcements from the outfits if needed. Usually ran AMS's/Loadstars for the zerg, or depending on mood, just killwhored, etc.

After a year or so this became boring so I actually moved to Emerald VS (my alt) and joined up with the outfit that I moved to PS2 with. A much more laid back outfit, the only requirement being that you have at least listen coms and run with the squad during ops.

Basically, I do feel that Planetside offers MUCH more when played with a good outfit, both tactically as well as socially. However, I do see the merits of not only playing solo, but in actually being an asset to your faction while doing so. It was easier to make a difference in PS1 solo, but there are still ways to be beneficial in PS2. (for example running an ammo sundy, or ams driving, etc)

The only way to play this game wrong is to not have fun while doing it. It is a game... if you are not having fun.. you need to either find a different way to play it, or stop altogether. Anyone who says you are playing PS wrong... is an idiot who wants to shove their viewpoint down your throat... don't listen to them and just find ways to have fun.

Oh, and I think outfits are hurt more by players leaving the game, than them leaving to go play solo, btw. The reason the zerg exists is because solo guys as well as off-hour outfit players tend to group up. So, They really don't "solo" play much. They are just grouped in a non-coordinated way (thus a lot less effective, but still powerful).