Why do most teamates fail to help?

To my mind (and i know not all agree) the purpose of the fight is to advance and take territory. To take the base and flip it to your teams control. Some feel the purpose is to go out and shoot as many guys as possible regardless as that is the most FUN. I can never understand why everyone stays in the spawn room when there isn't any real danger outside while the A point has been flipped? Why when i sit there as a Max crouched needing repair almost everyone runs off to play while i have been shooting down those bothersome airplanes or tank spammers to keep my teamates happy.
Worse yet, i take off in a Sundy because so often my teamates will run off to the next base without one and although there are guys nearby going to the next base no one will jump in my Sundy to run the guns. I have a bassy or kobalt and a bull dog to take on tanks with and get stuck all the time being killed by tanks or air or rocket launchers on the way over because no one will help out. It seems rediculous that my teamates dont realize that without a spawn point they cant play period. So what gives. Then there are the Sundys that wont let you jump in and run their guns. Tried to get in one that was getting taken out by a tank that just rolled up and i saw the Sundy had a bulldog to fight off the tank and off course i am willing to die in the Sundy fighting the tank but.....the Sundy is locked and wont allow me in. What is the point if youre going to lose it anyway and you or your sqaud arent manning it?
This is a great lesson for life, other people do exactly what they want and no organization or common purpose is followed except by agreement (squad formation). Even then there is almost never any communication allowing a common purpose to be realized by sharing the information of say....where the Sundy is parked or how many Maxs are guarding the A point. Everyone is on their own.

Start a squad and herd the cats if you want teamwork. I don't hop into others vehicles to gun because most people don't know how to play the game.. They drive straight into danger and get themselves killed. So unless I'm rolling with a squad, I do my own thing and help out when I can.

This is why joining a non-zerg outfit is important, those are the guys what actually want to bathe in the OP pool of friendship

Though for things like heals and ammo you can always use the almost perfectly named NS-44 Commissar to grab some attention

It's a combination of general apathy and lack of situational awareness. Because PS2 is conducted on a scale hitherto unknown in the FPS genre, most folks are suffering from information overload to some extent. So, everyone's first priority is self-preservation, followed closely by killing, often there's no room left in their awareness scope to help other players. It's not that they don't necessarily want to, it's just they aren't aware you need help, they are task overloaded.

This is quite possibly the best explanation of certain behaviors I've witnessed in game that I've read.

I can only speak for myself but here is my line.

1.) I did not log in to help you. Nor do i care to.
2.) I am not playing this game to help your cause or your mission.
3.) We wear the same team colors because the game makes me.
4.) I play solo and use the group against itself, hunting on the outer edges.
5.) I am not killing to capture or defend anything. I am killing because i love the kill.

With this in mind.... I disregard all orders that flash thru chat. But i will gladly use a teammate as a meat shield and enemy locator. Not one part of me is here for the team.

If you want like minded individuals who will play together and help each other, then join a squad. But to expect help from un-squaded random internet players is foolish. To get mad in a spawn room and start yelling at random players is pointless. Ever try herding cats? You would have better luck with the cats then with me.

And before " go back to COD " , I say no. Plus i have never played COD other then for a few minutes. Maps to small. I will play right here, until this game dies like all the rest and then move on to the next big new FPS.

bulldog is incredibly bad for killing tanks btw. get a walker and keep a basilisk.

Because lattice and zergs.

Gunning for a sunderer isn't often a very rewarding task. Especially not w/basilisks. Kobalt/Bulldog maybe in some situations, but it really depends on the sunderer being parked somewhere in range of enough targets - which is usually not where people park them.

Few people want to be on baby-sit the sunderer duty, basically.


Game does not reward people based on how much they help their faction gain territory, it rewards you for farming XP. Certs are always going to impact how people play especially with how many it takes to unlock a single weapon.

lol love that sig

There is a purpose behind what we do even if we do it at the smallest level. Play with people you know. I'm always looking to play with the more mature player. I'm not the best but I'll watch your back and play with a TEAM attitude. Shoot me a request.

The hills are alive~

LET'S FIX THAT

lol @ smokemaker . despite what they say your playstyle is valid and funny..

As to the parent topic, it depends. I personally mostly play support roles. You can get really good xp from sitting behind a max repairing. You can get amazing XP with a properly placed and certed up ammo pouch. Maybe people dont realize that all those 15-30xps every few seconds add up quick. 20 seconds is like the 300 or so xp you get for killing a foot soldier. all while you dont actually have to do anything! and the ammo pouch doesn't decay for like 10 minutes.

I love driving sunderers. I will just sit in a sunderer and guard with a flak cannon. The basilisk is the best all around weapon for this vehicle by far. With two clips i can seriously damage most vehicles and they will 9 times out of ten, focus on any tanks around you leaving you ample time to unload and help the tank out majorly. The second gun on my sundy is a G40 ranger. I like the noise it makes and with those two guns together, my sunderer can return fire at any possible target it runs across. Put night vision on the basilisk and people love jumping in it. But i can for sure gun it myself using F2 F3 to cycle through the hardpoints. The point here is to make it attractive, realizing that when you park, unless there are targets most gunners will not stay around. thats just life.

I treat the sunderer as not a gunboat, but rather a carrier that stays a bit back and deploys fighters from it. I can usually defend it pretty well by myself, getting 10xp whenever anyone spawns. You also get to control the battle somewhat, as if you get adept, you can place the sunderer in certain sweet spots and control where force is applied against the enemy. If you do that, and your fighters take a base, you cant help but feel responsible for it, even if your just defending the sundy by yourself.

When I am gunning other peoples sunderers and the person hasn't even purchased level 1 zoom (1 ******* cert people!!!), i will probably get out real quick. but if people have invested in equipment, i generally stick around place an ammo pack and try and protect the sundy. sometimes going HA and using the SAM lockon missile (i am not good with weapon names).

So my point i guess is that everyone has a different playstyle. Certain times are more conducive to team play than others I have noticed. Middle of the night is strictly solo, but you can corral a small group sometimes if you provide the sundy infrastructure. You may want to try playing at a different time of day when more people are on and thus there are more professional squads.

I have been in a bunch of outfits, and unless you use voice, they dont command through chat as much as pick up squads, so i tend to prefer pickup squads or squads that start pickup and then give me command so i can put beacons and waypoints.

And when the &%$@ hits the fan you'll be the first running away so you can HUNT ON THE FRINGE? Always staying far enough away from the fray to get a kill without having to commit to the fight. Sounds like you're one of the cats. MEEEEEow.

Perhaps it's because most of the ways you help people in this game is incredibly boring gameplay. Pointing a med/rep tool in the general direction of someone and holding down LMB isn't exactly the pinnacle of excitement.

I'm hoping that the Medic update gives us more fun healing options, since they mentioned a long range healing tool, which will probably have to be aimed and fired like a gun, which would add a skill component to healing, making it fun.

Global Agenda did healing in a fun way - there was the standard "tether" heal, but then there was a healing pistol and even a healing "shotgun".

Indeed, i am not foolish enough to die for a meaningless cause.
If i die while attempting to kill, that's expected.
But other then that, I will avoid the risk if possible.

Such a solitary life. I guess it does have it's merits. Good hunting Mr. Smokemaker. Just clean up the mess when you're done.

The mission system directional arrow is a nice simple way to point to one target but if they make use of the compass below it you could put several indicators activated by voice macros, low health status or even seating availability of people around you asking for or offering help. The brightness level and arrows above or below the compass markings could indicate distance, elevation and bearing to your next closest patient, gunner or vacant seat. It would also be possible to opt out of helping or being helped in the game settings. You simply wouldn’t be included on anyone’s compass...which is what some people want.

I've sat beside or chased after far too many engineers in my max suit. They can't see me, they can't hear me, the screen is full of doritos and the minimap is too congested and they really want to help. So they run around like chickens with their heads cut off and a group of wounded maxes chasing after them firing their guns at their feet trying to get their attention.

My point is how in the F? did you get to that position of flanking your enemy? Did you run all the way over from a previous base for 3 or 4 minutes just to get a sweet spot and then get killed and do it again OR....did you spawn at a Sundy and run up the mountain or? to flank them? I personally hate running for minutes just to get to a spot to engage from. Therefor i respect the Sundy as what it is ...the necessary tool to keep alive to HAVE A GAME AT ALL. If you dont then have fun either defending bases only or spending a lot of time running to get somewhere and then get killed in short order. My guess is you play sniper/cloaker alot. I do too, but i dont like running to next base attack at all.

I have been in tons of outfits and almost never find them using voice, which i cant understand as how do you alert others to intel. I find i can predict how short lived a Sundy park job will be becuase of lack of cover or exposure to stationary turrets or HA rocket launchers. What is sad is that over and over i see a Sundy driver without any gunners run directly into the enemy not knowing there are 5 tanks lined up over the ridge to take him out instantaneously where if there were say 1 or 2 having gunners would at least cause some damage. I find the Walker is the best gun but dont have the 1000 certs. I can do serious damage with the walker over the bassy on just about everything i can hit (Sundy should be pitched downward in direction of road or? that needs to be hit as Walker cant aim below horizontal elevation). My point is that most running over to the next base should jump in any Sundy going there for 2 purposes, 1: they benefit from a ride, and 2. They can help the Sundy to make over there ensuring a spawn point to use. Ya, everyone is about the certs but really....you cant play if you cant spawn. I havent found the Ranger to work as well as the Walker on anything and i realize the bassy is the easiest to use and get hits with but at closer range the Bulldog will take out a tank much quicker than a bassy and will take out turrets, kill infantry with its spash damage. Using the buldog to "Shell" a spawn center is like having a tank or dalton. Oh...and it's only 250 certs. I usually run Engi with the Sundy but convert to HA with lockons also to combat air or tanks if need be. I also try to tank mine any access roads that would lead to taking out my Sundy.