Ixll�s Guide to Grouping
Written by Ixll on Lowca
E-mail: ixll1@yahoo.com with updates and comments
Grouping in any MMORPG is a good way to increase your security, xp growth, and most importantly, enjoyment of the game.
The problem is that too many people don�t understand the basics involved with having a good group.
There are several things that all players should know in order to have an enjoyable time while playing any MMORPG and specifically playing SWG.
1. Find a good group leader: In order to have a fun and productive group you need to have an attentive and experienced group leader. Not just any player will do. Having someone that knows the area you are hunting in and is willing to organize the group so that everyone knows what is going on are good factors. Finding a Squad Leader that can lead the group is even better as they have skills that improve the groups overall effectiveness in a fight.
2. Always designate a puller: There is nothing worse then having multiple people start pulling at the same time. When you create a group you should always designate one person as the group puller. This will reduce the amount of times that more than one mob is pulled and increase the effectiveness of the group.
3. Be prepared: It annoys everyone when you get someone in the group and find out that he/she needs to do something that should have been done before even looking for a group. Have everything you need crafted completed, get something to eat before heading out so you aren�t afk for the first 30 minutes of grouping, be cloned at the nearest cloning facility, and whatever else it is that you need to have ready in order to fight.
4. Pay attention: The chat window in SWG is very customizable, you can make new tabs, filter the content in each tab so you only see what you want to see, and have multiple windows open at the same time. I suggest having a tab for spatial and combat like the game does by default but add a tab called �Group Chat�. Set the filter in the new �Group Chat� tab so that spatial, system, tells, and group chat are all displayed then make the default channel for this tab group chat. This will allow you to speak to players in the group quickly and easily no matter the distance. It will also make it so you don�t have to type /groupchat or CTRL-G in order to talk to the group. Just type what you want to say and press enter. One more part to this, NEVER leave the combat screen open during combat. The amount of spam on this screen forces important messages off the screen way too fast to read. You could open a second chat screen that has it if you like or go back after the fight and see how well you were hitting. But NEVER leave it open during a fight.
5. Clone Clone Clone: Cloning is important in SWG. It�s even more important when you are playing with a group and do not want to negatively effect their enjoyment factor. If you do not clone and you die then you take some very hefty wounds to all of your stats. This will take time to heal up if you are even able to find a healer. If you do clone then no additional wounds or BF will be given to you and you can jump back into the fight much faster.
6. /waypoint is your friend: I am sure that most players are familiar with the /waypoint command by now but the most common thing I see happen is that people don�t know or think about the fact that they can /waypoint themselves. If you do die and need to clone then be sure to select yourself with CTRL-1 then type in /waypoint before you �release�. This will put a waypoint in your data pad in the exact location where you died so you can get back to the group and join the battle again without asking over and over again for someone to send you a WP or give the coordinates.
7. Use the assist command: I know the /assist command doesn�t work as well in SWG as it did in other MMORPG games but it is still useful. When you are in a group you should always be assisting the person doing the pulling. Be sure to keep them selected when not actually fighting so that if they pull something you are ready to go. Setup a hotkey for /assist and use it. When you type /assist you will automatically begin firing or swinging at the target but will also stay targeted on the person you are assisting. The easy way to undo this and make yourself able to perform special moves is to press the esc key. This will deselect your secondary target and move you to the primary target.
8. Use the Autofollow command: when traveling with the group I always select the leader or the one that is showing the way to the next fight and turn autofollow on. This frees up my hands to type messages to the other players and respond to some /tell�s I get during the fight. Also, as a melee class you may want to use /autofollow on those nasty mobs that start to move around a lot. This will keep you attached and close enough in range that you can still attack.
9. Lastly and most importantly: Have Fun! Pulls go bad, people mess up, things don�t work out the way they should have, and you die! It happens. Just deal with it. Dying in this game is not very harsh (especially if you remember to clone). Just remember that if you are in a group that isn�t going well and you aren�t having a good time then there is a command that will fix that for you. It�s /quit. :D Don�t stick around and bitch that it�s no fun for you and ruin everyone else�s experience. You can leave the group or just logout for a while to cool off. Dying happens and pulls go bad. Deal with it.
Thank you for reading this game guide. Please tell everyone you know about it so that they too will know a little bit more about how to group effectively. If you have comments please send them to the e-mail address above and I will update as needed.
Hope to see you all in game!
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