Do people understand the Team Mechanic anymore?

[AnarchyInBlack]

Or has games like CoD and battle royals only cemented the birth of the solo player?
I've found more times than not, while playing team-oriented games (Overwatch, Battlefield, etc), people seem to dwell in the solo mentality, verses playing as a team.
Thoughts, comments, possible remedies?

[Merlin]

oof, don't remind me of El Dewrito. I'm still sad about that. We are never getting Halo on PC

[Saonyx]

Also, everyone wants to be the hero. Sometimes you just have to let the more experienced player or more experienced leader lead and follow suit. Most empires in history were undone because of greed and power, and thus lack of unity. Is pretty much the same mentality. People want to succeed at all costs, and sometimes they do; which gives them the notion that you win some and lose some. And when you lose, is probably because people didn't back you up. Without taking into consideration that working well with others will give you the most benefit overall.

A good game to note here is Pay Day 2. the runs were we get the most money, xp, and rewards is when we all work together. But every once in a while we get someone that just doesn't want to cooperate and the team suffers for it. Also Warcraft, once they included queuing into dungeons we got a lot of people trying to play the hero, because either they were better geared, they are used to play as a leading class, or they are new and believe they can take over the world on their own.

Another example, one which I've been more acquainted lately is in Guild Wars 2. Certain world boss battles require a commander or mentor present, so the newbies know where to stand or what to do. Is pretty cool when people cooperate doing the prerequisites to the world bosses.

As someone mentioned before, sometimes lack of communication is a thing. Some people need actual communication to function. However, I've played on teams where nothing is said through out and we steam roll the opposition, because we all know our strengths and weaknesses and have that chemistry without words. Sometimes, I knew the game well enough to do what was required, sometimes I didn't know the game well enough and still manage to do something to help the team succeed.

I should note here that i like to play ranged dps roles and sometimes support roles.

That's it.

[Kashimi]

Modern day online mentality:

Get more kills than everyone else, be the flag carrier, storm the zone and be the king of the mountain.

There is no in between anymore. You're either seen as the one doing all the bad ass stuff like you're Dwayne Johnson in a cheesy action film, or it's "u suck, get gud"

[ethansito]

I laugh so hard whenever I hear mention of a "COD team".

You can try playing team-based games, but the only way to guarantee being group with people who actually care about the objective let alone the team is to form a group to queue with from people you know. Some of the most frustrating games I have in CSGO is when I queue solo and end up with people who don't feel like trying or communicating.

[xadu]

It is all matter of incentives. What is your incentive for helping another player? If you sell yourself as a mercenary, what is your payment?

Corporations don't like teams, because they need to be managed. It costs money, and if some member flakes, all are desincentivized from playing.

There also is Leeeroy Jenkins!. Stay away from Leeroy.

[AnarchyInBlack]

No kidding. I had more cooperative moments while playing Dewrito than I have playing Overwatch in random queue, lol

[AnarchyInBlack]

You're not wrong, but, you're specifically talking about solo-play games. I am talking about the absence of team-play in team-based games.

[Dub-Z]

Everything peaked at Quake III for me and I never clicked with team based shooters. Or class based. Or sims. I need that raw uncut.

[Hadley]

It's not just you. The average gamer today has no tactical awareness and is completely clueless to the idea of providing cover and moving as a team. To them it's run, shoot, look at scoreboad. Do you use Steam? If I'm gonna play an online shooter, I don't go in alone. It's always good to bring a couple reliable friends along.

[ciderPunk1877]

Nothing killed team dynamics. People have been in it "for themselves" in MP shooters since Doom deathmatch. The arena shooters in the late 90s and early 2000s? Total "every man in it for himself" madness.

There are games that cater toward teams, there are games that cater to solo.

[SnarkyJay]

There are a bunch of forums out there for gamers looking to join a gaming group. They will often have boards for various games, and I find that there is much more teamwork when players chat with each other outside of the game. I used to belong to a group called Friendly Gamers Guild and I had a bunch of good multiplayer interactions across various games. I don't think that particular guild exists anymore, but I know others exist. I would join a few forums and see which ones seem to have the most welcoming members and game with them! I would much rather join a group of nice people that play middle of the road, as opposed to a bunch of jerks at the top of their game. That's just me though. I'm not the most competitive person in the world, and I game to have fun, not be the best of the best.

EDIT: I wanted to add that some streamers on Twitch will allow viewers to join them online. I have hopped in a bunch of online multiplayer matches with streamers and had a blast. Another good way to find gaming groups is through Discord!

[Merlin]

I believe it is innevitable by nature. When every new game is a new set of strangers, its hard to develop and cohesion. You don't know who is good at what, and you may all do best a certain thing which is unhelpful. You don't have time to figure out what everyone should be doing as much. Though as a support and tank player I never have this issue since everyone wants to be the DPS I don't have to fight over a role in games. But I see what you mean, people don't seem to cooperate as much in newer titles even if there are bigger potentials for team play. It might sound sad, but I remember more teamwork in Halo 3 than I do in overwatch.

[lostaname]

JackofTears You just described my experience with WoW. Getting kicked out of public groups FOR DUNGEONS for not meeting the highest ilvl. <_>

[JackofTears]

Stop blaming "casuals" for everything, we are all casual compared to someone and we all started out as bad players and learned to become good. When I played Mass Effect multiplayer I became incredibly skillful but avoided playing above silver after the first few times because the people there were elitist pricks who'd kick kids out of their group without giving them a chance to show what they could do - all because they didn't like their build, or their item loadout. It wasn't fun and it didn't build teamwork. The Silver matches (and even the Bronze), however, wherein this kind of behavior was uncommon, were always fun, the people worked together naturally because we weren't being antagonistic to one another and since little mistakes wouldn't get the team killed, everyone was able to just relax and enjoy the experience.

Elitism kills games faster than any "casual" player.