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

[Rahabib]

I dont play in an outfit. I am not opposed to outfits, but I have found that most of the outfts in this game are... well disfunctional. Here are my reasons I havent joined an outfit.

1) limited time. I get on maybe once a week. Now that the game is more stale, more outfits are willing to look past this, but there are some that feel there needs to be a time requirement, which I dont get. If this were a competitive game where wins and loses meant something, I could see practice sessions meaning something - but they dont. This is just a fun pub game, not a competitive game.

2) Ranks - ranks and politics ruin clans. The minute I hear an outfit has rankings, medals, awards, etc. I know its going to be bush league.

3) I want to do what I want to do. I tried out for an outfit and we were getting picked off by snipers. They wanted everyone to go heavy and take out the tanks. The problem was I could get one or two rockets off before I died. So I asked if I could help counter snipe. Well, of course the "leader" was not happy. I got frustrated and told them it wasn't going to work out for me. Again, if this was a real team based competitive game, I would care more, but its not. Sure tactics can win bases etc. but they are all gone in a matter of minutes anyway, and more than likely its not your tactics, it was the numbers that won the battle.

Again, I am not opposed to outfits, I ran my own competitive clan/organization for years - so I know its ins and outs. But I have not found one that fits my needs. Until then, lone wolfing it works fine for me. Hell, I don't even join squads anymore in game.

[evileet]

I like to have the freedom of choice.
I'm more the leader guy, actually. So i make my own decisions. When i play in a random squad and the next target is bullshit, i get a bit angry. i don't understand, how can people make such bad decisions and destroy the battle flow or something. So i rather playing alone. Maybe a good, coordinized outfit would be good.

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Mastodon]

Originally Posted by robocpf1

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.

The team vs. team aspect means nothing to me. I just want to shoot at something that isn't the same color as me, especially if it's red.

I don't understand the whole rivalry bit. Who cares if one shitty outfit really wants to fight me and mine? There are so many people in this game that narrowing it down to one group dulls the experience. As someone who played football from the time I was 6 years old through college, I'm very familiar with rivalries, however, beating someone up physically on a football field, within the rules of the game and beating them up in space Battlefield are not the same thing to me. Probably because I'm not as good at internet warfare as I was at offensive line.

Originally Posted by robocpf1

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.

Mumble functions amazingly with large amounts of people, the sound quality is better, and I use it for several other games I play. As an example of its awesome, the group of people I play with in EVE have a 5000 person mumble and when war's a brewing there are 1000s of people in it at any given time. The main reason it probably works so well is that we have an entire IT group dedicated to maintaining our out of game assets like Mumble, forums, etc.

I don't understand the distaste I see from many people about so-called "lone wolves". Your posts, whether you intended it or not, clearly illustrates your hostility toward solo players.

We don't all run around as light assaults ghost capping. I almost never go commando behind enemy lines in an attempt to be a space hero. I fight in the same areas as outfits and usually try to lend a hand when I can. I rep vehicles, I rep turrets, when someone says, "I need ammo" I try to find them and throw down a bullet box. Occasionally, I'll even play a medic (although not often). I guard sunderers with a burster MAX. I see other non-outfit players doing the same, constantly.

The biggest difference I see with non-outfit player as compared to outfitted players is that many of us soloers don't need instruction to help fight the bad guys. No one needs to hold our hands and point us in the right direction. I add myself and all of the tools at my disposal to where I think they're needed most, or as Assist has mentioned, where I want to be. By doing so, I'm not hindering you or your outfit's game-play and I'm maintaining my enjoyment of the game.

[MrBloodworth]

Originally Posted by Mastodon

I don't understand the distaste I see from many people about so-called "lone wolves". Your posts, whether you intended it or not, clearly illustrates your hostility toward solo players.

Followed by:

Originally Posted by Mastodon

The biggest difference I see with non-outfit player as compared to outfitted players is that many of us soloers don't need instruction to help fight the bad guys. No one needs to hold our hands and point us in the right direction. I add myself and all of the tools at my disposal to where I think they're needed most, or as Assist has mentioned, where I want to be. By doing so, I'm not hindering you or your outfit's game-play and I'm maintaining my enjoyment of the game.

"I'm to sexy for an outfit". You my friend, have missed the point of outfits.

[Baneblade]

Originally Posted by Mastodon

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

Show me one that beats TS3 and we will.

[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

[EVILPIG]

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