Introduction
When I started beta testing Star Wars Galaxies, a little over eight months ago, I had a MMORPG background of playing a lot of solo characters. Lone-wolf types. Slowly, but surely, SWG turned me from my old ways.
This guide is far from comprehensive. These are just a few observations I�ve made along the way. I hope it is helpful to you. Also, I encourage you to read as many different guides as possible. There are many different ways to run a group. My method is much more brawler centric than others, but you can run a group just fine without brawlers. Nothing is gospel. Fine what works best for you and your group.
First we must address the obvious question: Why group at all? What are the benefits?
Grouping has a number of benefits that, in my mind, far outweigh solo play. You must be grouped to teach others. Groups have access to groupspeak, which is literally a personal chat room for your group. Groups have a much easier time fighting tougher opponents. Groups overall receive many times more combat experience (this is not just because groups can take down bigger enemies; there actually is a grouping multiplier to experience). Grouping is an efficient way to learn many other skills non-related to combat. Lastly, grouping is just plain fun to a lot of people.
Please keep in mind that this is not to say that solo play is inferior or undesirable. You can solo just fine, but keep in mind that solo players tend to advance much slower than grouped players, overall.
Pre-Group
Finding a Group
Your first task to become a grouping god is to fine a group with which to work. There are a number of ways to do this. Try to take your character to the most popular cities on a planet, then find the most popular areas of that city. Usual locations are the cantinas, hospitals, and the spaceports where new travelers arrive on the planet.
If you see a two or three people running closely together, chances are they are in a group. Jot down the name of one of them and send a /tell asking if you can join.
Can�t find any existing groups after a bit of looking? Then it�s time to take matters into your own hands and form a group yourself.
First, try the street method. Stand in the middle of a popular area and tell everyone that you are forming/looking for a group. Use the yelling commands so that a wide area of people can hear you. Just don�t overuse /yell and /shout, it looks newbish. Try to use /announce and /bellow more.
Be specific and add detail to your group announcements. If you are open to everyone, say so. If you are looking for medics and surveyors, say so. If your plan is to run to Jabba�s or hunt Sharnaffs or have everyone get two destroy missions to the north� say so. As a group organizer you are, for lack of a better term, selling the group experience to everyone around. Anybody can /yell �Forming up a group, come join NOW!!,� and anybody will. You want people to be interested enough to stop whatever they were planning on doing and come with you.
Repeat your announcements every couple of minutes so that the new arrivals can hear, but don�t spam it constantly to the point where you annoy the people who are sitting in the area.
If you haven�t found many members by /announcing, next try the community window (CTRL+P). Open up the search window and select �Looking for Group� then search. It will list all the players currently looking for a group. Send those players /tells and ask them if they would like to join your group. You can also use the community search function to find specific types of people. Need a medic for your group? Search for medics. Need a few brawlers? Search for them. You can search for people by base profession (medics/brawlers/scouts etc.) or you can get really specific and search for by title like �Artilleryman� or something like that. This is a great tool to find group members (or anyone else). Make use of it. (And while you have the community window open, don�t forget to select �Looking for Group� for your own character so that people can find you when they search. Note: If you have looking for group selected, it automatically deselects when you join a group. You have to reset it each time.)
Two other great options for finding group members: Joining a Player Association, and Grouping with your real life friends. Both options are great for having steady group members.
The Initial Group
So you found your group or formed one of your own, now you�re at what I call the initial group stage. The initial stage is one of the most trying for the group because, depending on the group, it takes a great deal of patience. You might have been one of the first players to join the group, but the leader is trying to recruit 8 more people, so you have to wait. Or one group member has some �friend� who is on the way and is begging you not to leave. Or one or two members have to leave for 5-10 minutes to check the bazaar, or go to the bank, or train, or hundreds of other excuses.
I�ve had groups where this period has lasted up to 45 minutes. Other times it has lasted only a few seconds. In general, the more complex the group you want to form, the longer this period is going to last. People will drop out, it�s part of the process. It�s up to the members of the group to determine how long is too long before they �get to the action.� You want to wait long enough to find a few quality group members, but you don�t want to wait so long that everyone starts to leave. It�s a tough balance.
One idea is to put the �waiting� members of the group to work for the good of the group. Send them to get supplies. Send them to other popular areas to find members. Put them to work on the community window, have one look for medics and another for scouts, for instance. Ask them to get in contact with their friends who might want to come along. If all else fails. Talk to them. Ask them questions about what they like to hunt, what weapons they use, what fun times they have had. Do what you can to keep them in the group and more importantly, keep them interested. If you are the group organizer, the effort you put in directly relates to the overall success of the group. (Yep, I think it�s quite clear that I spent a good part of beta as an entertainer.)
Grouping Basics
Ok, so you found a group of players together to form a group. Now what? Here are some of the grouping basics.
Forming Commands
To start a group select a potential member then select �Invite to Group.� You can also type /invite . If someone else invites you, click join in the invite window or type /join . Don�t want to join the group? Then /decline
When the group is over the leader can /disband to disband the group. /leave when you want to remove yourself from a group. When you want to remove a single person from the group, the leader can /disband to get rid of them.
If you organized the group, but don�t want to lead, you can always make someone else the leader. The leader can use /makeleader to make someone else in the group the new group leader.
Group Speak
Group speak is one of the best features of grouping. Learn to use it and use it often. You can type either /gsay or /gtell or /groupsay in front whatever you have to say. Only your group members will be able to see what you say in group speak. If you have a �Groupspeak� chat tab open, then that window will only show groupspeak messages. Sometimes it is convenient to drag the groupspeak tab to form its own window. Also, for extreme convenience use CTRL+G to automatically type /gsay.
Group Commands
The group leader and members have access to a few different group commands. For instance everyone has access to /group info and /group leader. The leader can also use /group options or /group menu to access the group options menu. All of these are pretty self-explanatory.
Group Member Highlighting
Listen up. Here comes one of the most important aspects of grouping. Group member highlighting. Did you know that you can use the control keys to select members of your group? CTRL+1 always selects your own character, whether you are in a group or not. This is useful for emotes that use yourself as the target, personal image designing and a number of other uses.
CTRL+2 selects the first group member. If you are not the leader, the first member is always the leader. If you are the leader, the first member is the first member you invited. Keep going to toggle through all your members. CTRL+3 selects the second member. CTRL+4 selects the third member. Et cetera. An easy way to remember is to count down from the top to the group member you want, add 1 and that�s the key you need to hit. The ninth group member is CTRL+0, then it just keeps going to the right. Ten uses -, Eleven uses =.
Some of you might be sarcastically thinking to yourselves, �Ohhh I can save the two seconds it takes me to click on the group member. That�s really useful.� Well, it really is really really useful. Besides the fact that you can use this to easily select your group members, which is next to impossible when everyone is running around or 60 meters away, there are a few more very powerful uses for this.
One of the first things every newb should learn is the TAB-tilde-1. The tab key cycles through all enemies within range. The tilde key (~ left of the number 1 key) brings up the radial menu for any selected target. Each radial menu command is numbered so you can use that command by pressing the corresponding number. Attack is usually number one. So TAB-tilde-1, three quick keys and you�re in combat. Much quicker than physically selecting the enemy, bringing up the radial menu, then clicking combat. (Actually an even quicker way is to TAB then CTRL+K which combats any target.)
The same philosophy works for groups. You can select any member, then use the tilde key to bring up the radial menu. Then you can easily select a variety of commands. Use it to quickly autofollow a group member, when teaching, when healing, when assisting, etc. (Note: Don�t try to memorize the numbers right away, they may be different depending on your skills. You could end up kicking a member when you want to heal, or teaching when you want to stop following.)
That�s the deal on group highlighting. Learn it and learn it well. This is what separates skilled group members from the newbs.
Hotkeys
Hotkeys are a pretty basic SWG feature, but I felt the guide wouldn�t be complete without at least a brief mention of them since group members are likely to use them a lot.
Your character has five hotkey windows each with 24 slots (you can expose the bottom 12 by dragging the hotkey box down). For you math nuts, that�s 120 possible slots for you to put stuff. You can access the different hotkey windows using CTRL+1 � CTRL+5
You use the F-keys to select the hotkeys. The first twelve are F1-F12, the bottom twelve are SHIFT+F1-SHIFT+F12.
Inside the hotkey boxes you can place any command, mood, emote, macro, or inventory item. You can find a lot of these by hitting CTRL+A. Just find what you want and drag it to the desired spot in the hotkey.
The hotkeys make it really convenient to avoid typing complicated commands, equip and unequip weapons, and to use other items like General Crafting Tools and Healing Products with ease. Learn to place your most used commands, items, and macros in convenient to reach hotkeys. The faster you respond in a group, the better group member you are. Hotkeys (combined with all these other speed tips) can help you respond almost instantly.
Assisting
Assisting is a critical part of any combat group. Helping each other is a great thing to do, true. But in this case I�m talking about the actual command /assist. /assist places you into combat with whomever or whatever your target is in combat with. So you can select a group member and use assist to fight whatever they are fighting. Keep assist handy, very handy. Put it in a prominent spot in your hotkeys. Keeping other group friendly commands like /peace, /follow, and /stopfollow are also good ideas.
The Hunting Group
The vast majority of SWG groups are hunting groups. Here I focus mainly on the makeup and roles in the combat group. There are some other excellent grouping guides on the net which outline specific fighting tactics. You may want to look at those also.
Group Roles
There are a few different group roles that members might take in a group. I�ve split all of these up, but in practice one member might perform many of these roles at once.
Leader: Somebody is the group leader. The group leader does not have to necessarily lead the group, but the group member is responsible for keeping the loot, and other administrative functions.
Guide: The guide is the member(s) loosely responsible for what the group does. The guide has the plan. The guide knows where the group is going and what they plan to hunt. Usually the guide is at the front leading the group while everyone else autofollows. The guide is mainly responsible for moving the group along effectively, waiting for members who are lagging behind, looking for potential prey, and above all, keeping the group from dashing blindly into the middle of a tough enemy camp. Everyone else in the group can casually click on autofollow and then use the time to chat with each other using groupspeak. The guide can even do this to a point by using NUM-LOCK to auto run so he/she can talk as well; however, the guide needs to be alert and constantly view what�s happening off in the distance and on the radar.
Point: The point characters are usually the first into combat. Brawlers make excellent points. The brawler running to the enemy gives everyone else time to set up and prepare to fire. Everyone should select the point person and when they enter combat (you�ll see the twin red combat swords by their HAM bars), everyone should then quickly /assist them. Two other good reasons to have brawlers at point is simple ease of combat and group member protection. Brawlers are toe to toe with the enemy while a rifleman might be 60 meters behind. Obviously, it is way easier for the brawler to select the next enemy than the rifleman, so the brawler should do it. But you also have to remember group member protection. Everyone should be attacking the brawler�s opponent because if you don�t, the brawler will soon be dead. Marksman can also be on point, which is useful for pulling single enemies away from camps.
Support: The support characters either don�t participate in combat or participate indirectly. Medics are the true definition of support. Other characters might use commands like /threaten shot to scare off other enemies so the group can deal with them one at a time. In practice, support characters help the group in some way besides being part of the main attacking force.
Professional Roles
I also use professional roles very loosely here as well. There will be very few �pure� profession players. Some medics are combat medics. Many combatants have melee and ranged skills. Entertainers can also be cooks. Cooks can also be Riflemen. Etc.
Marksmen: Marksmen will probably make up the majority of most groups. If you are a marksman, know your role. If you�ve noticed, I�m very brawler biased. So marksmen, your role is to help me stay alive. Why? Because if the enemy is pounding me into pudding then it means he is not pounding you. Once I die, he�s coming for straight for you.
You want to help the brawlers fight whatever they are fighting. You�ll want to try to do as much damage as possible as quickly as you can. That means use your special attacks. You want to be as accurate as you can. That means putting yourself in an accurate position. Have you noticed that enemies have little blue numbers on the left when you fight them? That is your accuracy. It constantly changes during the fight. You want this number to be as high and as positive as possible. Negative is bad, really bad. There are exceptions, but in most cases for marksmen, kneeling will raise your accuracy, going prone will raise it even more. Riflemen get the best accuracy when they are 40 to 60 meters away from the opponent. Carbines, a little closer. Pistols, even closer, but still try to stay a good 10 meters away. Moving targets reduce accuracy (aren�t you happy you have that stationary brawler keeping him in one spot), and moving yourself reduces your accuracy. So remember, above all else� be as accurate as possible.
Brawlers: The brawlers role is to be at melee (duh). His job is a) Keep the enemy from moving around by standing there getting pounded on, b) Do some damage himself, and c) Give everyone a single target to focus on.
Brawlers should try to get the enemy�s attention. Try to attack first. Use taunting and other tactics to pull the enemies to you. As a brawler you�ll want to try to lay on as much damage as you can before you really get hurt. Be cautious of your posture-affect attacks. Taking a enemy to kneeling or prone might be great for you, but it decreases the accuracy of your marksmen friends.
If you start to get critically hurt, ask the next brawler to take over while you try to retreat. If you are the only brawler then DO NOT MOVE. In most cases, even running, you�ll die anyway. Plus, since it is now a moving target you decrease the accuracy for all the marksmen, who may even be forced to get up and run after you, decreasing accuracy even more. Even when critically injured, you�ll want to stay in that one spot. Trust that your group members are helping you out and with luck they will kill the enemy before he finishes you off. And (because of a recent patch), if the enemy does incap you, you are most likely dead.
First to combat, most hurt, first to die. This is the role of the brawler. Other group members, understand what the brawler does for you, respect it and be understanding of it (i.e. Feel free to pool some credits together for his/her cloning/insurance. And be willing to wait for them to return from the cloning center.)
Medics: Medics you are worth your weight in gold. You�re job is keeping everyone alive during the fight, sometimes helping in the fight, as well as post-combat healing in the camp. During combat, an alert medic needs to keep an eye on all the group members� HAM bars. If you see that someone is dropping fast, try to get over there. Use your handy quick group member select to highlight them then start healing. You can use the radial menu to heal. You might also have healing commands and healing supplies from your inventory in your hotkey, this is a great idea that will speed up your response. That faster you are, the more group members you can keep alive. The wise medic knows when to fight, when to not fight and strictly heal, who needs healing the most, and even when to jump in yourself to melee so that someone else can get away. The medic has arguably one of the toughest assignments in any group. Treat your medics well.
Entertainers: The entertainer can heal mind wounds while inside a camp environment. Many people feel that entertainers shouldn�t be in a group (entertainers and non-entertainers alike). I disagree. You are thinking very small if every time you see someone with an �Entertainer� profession tag, you picture someone who isn�t good at combat or can�t help the group. During most of beta my main character was an entertainer by trade, but he was also one of the most skilled two-handed weapon users on the server. Just like action and health wounds, you�ll want those mind wounds to be as low as possible. So do your best to get someone with entertainer skills to come with your group.
Scouts: Scouts have almost too many jobs to name. Scouts have the creature harvesting ability, which can lead to many group conflicts. Groups need to discuss beforehand a) How many scouts they have in the group, and b) Who will harvest and in what order. Split the harvesting duties equally to be fair. The same goes for camps. Unless you specifically need a higher level camp for something, let every scout have shot at some Wilderness Survival experience. Also, scouts, be nice and give the lion�s share of your harvested resources to the crafters in your group so they can make products to help you while the group rests in camp.
Scouts make great guides due to /maskscent and their superior movement abilities. They can scout ahead to find prey while the rest of the group follows behind. They can use their creature knowledge to find out if an animal is aggressive or not. And since some scouts go on to become creature handlers, they might grab a few babies on way. A quick word about Squad Leaders, a mostly scout based profession. Squad leaders give a number of useful bonuses to groups, but they must be the group leader for the bonuses to work. You can still lead the group if you want, but let the squad leader take over the role as �group leader� so that the group can receive the bonuses. Also, it�s just the nice thing to do, squad leaders must lead groups just to advance. Give them some help.
Artisans: Gasp! Artisans in a combat group?!? Well, why not? The statement about entertainers applies here as well, just because someone is an artisan does not mean they cannot fight. Even if they can�t fight, artisans are still great to have along in the group. Work hard to drag those artisans out of the cities with you. While in camp artisans can survey around to find resources for themselves and other group members. The higher Ranger camps even come with crafting stations. So theoretically, if you have a few artisans in your group, and a high level camp, they can: Survey for resources, repair your weapons, make new weapons/clothes and other items, cook tons of life enhancing food and drinks, they can even bring out the droids to help.
The Entertaining Band
Here is a quick entertainer section. Combatants might want to just skip this to get to the next section: Post Group.
Another useful group is the entertaining band. Groups of entertainers can get together to form a band. Then if someone watches one member, all members receive the healing experience (albeit healing experience that is split X number of ways depending on how many members are in the band). Also, one member can lead the group in band flourishes for musician and/or dancer experience. In this way everyone gets experience for the efforts of one. (See some of the popular entertainer guides for more info on bands, group flourishes, and the like.)
I�ll use this spot to insert my quick entertainer rant. Entertainers, bands, get out of the cantinas! Most newbie entertainers think you are supposed to entertain in the cantina and only the cantina. Well� that�s true, and it�s not. The cantina is the most convenient place to earn entertainer experience. Everyone comes to see you. You receive all three (or four if you do some type of image designing) forms of entertaining experience in one one-stop shop.
It is my view that most entertainers should spend a third of their time in the cantina to help out with battle fatigue. Another third should be spent somewhere else. Where? Anywhere that is not the cantina. I used to play for groups of surveyors clustered together on the west side of Coronet, I played for crafters hanging out at the crafting stations, I played for players who were returning to town after a hunt. Most entertainers respond with, �but no one will listen to me if I�m not healing battle fatigue or mind wounds.� My response? Who cares? There are two reasons you should play outside of the cantina. 1) You can earn musician and dancer experience anywhere. And you can earn it regardless of who is watching or not. 2) Two key factors of the entertainment profession: exposure and public communication. If people see you out in the street, they are more likely to listen to you when they see you in the cantina. If you spend the time to play and talk with the surveyors, they might listen and throw some /applauds your way. A big part of being an entertainer has nothing to do with flourishes or battle fatigue, it has to do with being well-known, well-liked, and (tah-dah) an entertainer. That means giving them an entertaining experience. Like forming and maintaining a group, the longer you can keep people interested, the better it is for you.
That last third of entertaining time (back to groups now) should be spent out in the field, playing for hunting groups in camps. Most entertainers in cantinas who I asked to come usually respond with �But I can�t fight.� Folks, any character can shoot a pistol. The more guns in the group, the better. But even if you do not want to fight, you�d do a great service to the group just by following behind them and cheering them on. Then, of course, entertaining while in camp (and if loot-split is on, you get money each time just for being part of the group).
But what if none of that appeals to you. Here is the most critical reason every entertainer should spend a significant amount of time in camps. If you go on a hunt, you are usually the only entertainer there (that is the only skilled entertainer, many people pick up novice entertainer on the side). This means that you�ll have the entire group watching only you. In this situation, entertainment healing flies. Most entertainers complain because entertainment healing is a hard skill to raise. My entertainment healing skill was always above my musician skill for the life of my character� because I spent most of my time playing in camps as opposed to the cantina.
Now back to our regularly scheduled grouping guide.
Post Group
The hunt is over and you�re heading back to town. But your job isn�t over yet. Write down the names of group members who particularly impressed you (and you might want to keep track of those you never want to group with again). Put them in your friends list. A little later, send them in-game mails telling them that you enjoyed the group and would like to group again. Most importantly of all, tell your group that you had a great time and you thank everyone for their participation (especially do this if you organized the group).
Thanking people is critical. No matter how you cut it, everyone in the group benefits because of the efforts of the other members. Grouping isn�t easy, it requires patience and a willingness to give up some of your power over what your character does. Thank them for grouping, they are helping you immensely.
The Part of Tens
10 Grouping Commandments
1. Thou Shalt Not Be Impatient
You MUST be patient to group. You have to be patient when the group is forming up. You must be patient when the group is working on missions other than your own. You must be patient when a few people are getting healed in a camp while you are fine and ready to go. You must be patient when you want to attack, but the rest of the group is forming a plan. If you cannot do any of this, then you don�t deserve to group.
Impatient people are also inconsiderate people. They are the first to suggest that you don�t wait on someone who is on their way. They are the first to say �Let�s leave em� when someone is lagging behind or goes linkdead. They are the first to say �Screw them� because they don�t want to wait when someone dies and is running back to the group.
People who run off on their own or constantly scream �LET�S GO NOW!!� or �SEE THAT OVER THERE, KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT!!!!� are people who are promptly kicked from my groups and banned until they grow up.
2. Thou Shalt Not Attack a Camp/Lair Before Informing Others
This is the natural extension of commandment one. I love laughing at people who run off on their own to attack some high level camp or lair. They come running back to us, looking for help, and we promptly run in the totally opposite direction away from the battle until that person is dead. Cold? Perhaps. But what usually happens is that one moron goes off alone and gets eight enemies attacking him. Then the group rushes in to save the fool which results in EVERYONE being killed. Smart groups don�t sacrifice themselves for morons.
Always take at least a few seconds to come up with a battle plan or to tell your group members what you plan to do.
3. Thou Shalt Not Ninja Harvest/Camp
Be considerate. Don�t try to be the first person to harvest the creature or the first to lay down the camp so you can get the most experience. Work with your group to develop a harvesting and camping order for all the scouts in the group.
A fun trick for group leaders when there is a ninja harvester: Without telling anyone, cut on looting notifications. Then the next time it happens, everyone will see plain as day who the culprit is.
4. Thou Leader Shall Share the Loot
I don�t like how SWG gives all the loot to the group leader. But honestly, I�ve never been able to think of a way for the system to automatically and fairly distribute the loot. And how would the system know who wanted which loot anyway?
As the group leader, group members expect you to A) Tell them about the looted items, and B) Offer items to whomever wants them. Sure, you can keep some for yourself, but never try to hog it all.
5. If Thou Hath Starteth Neutral; Keep It Neutral
If your group didn�t form on the basis of attacking rebels or imperials, then don�t try to shift that focus in the middle of the hunt. Nothing pisses of covert players more than some overexcited group member screaming �Ohh look, some imperials!!!! Let�s go kill them everybody!!!!�
It�s just common courtesy. Covert players tend to like to stay that way without everyone in the group finding out or fights breaking out or group kicking because they refuse to attack imperials or rebels.
6. Thou Shalt Not Run Around When a MOB is Hurting You at Melee
I think we covered this pretty well, already. But it needed repeating. For the good of the group: STAY STILL.
7. Thou Shalt Know What�s Going On; Ask Questions when Thou Doesn�t Know
Also known as the newbie commandment. There is nothing wrong with being a newbie. Just make sure you tell everyone in the group about it. Let everyone know that you are new. Ask for advice and playing tips.
Above all else, be humble. Why? Because you are new and we know better than you!!
I can�t count the number of times where my character, a brawler, turned slightly to his left to see some newbie rifleman a) Standing Up, and b) Right next to the enemy, all of a meter away!!!! Let me tell you, you may not have seen furious red as a skin selection for Rodians when you create your character, but you would see one pissed off Rodian whenever he found a rifleman not in a prone position or anywhere closer than 20 meters. On a couple instances, these clueless newbs have the nerve to tell me that I was wrong and only trying to trick them into staying far back so that I could get the most experience!?!?!?!
If you are new, try to learn as much as possible (hey, you�re reading this guide, great start). Always, always, always, ask questions.
8. Thou Shalt Be Helpful and Friendly to Group Members
The proper combination to commandment seven. Newbies aren�t bad people just because they don�t know what�s going on. As a veteran, go out of your way to help newbies along and educate them. The newbie today may be a great and loyal group member tomorrow.
On top of that, be friendly to all your group members, even if they are screwing up or if you don�t like them for some reason. For one, just by being in the group, they are helping you out. Two, you will most likely run across that person at some point in the future, and you will need them for something.
9. Thou Shalt /assist Your Fellow Group Members
Not the moron who runs off by himself. But assist everyone else. Groups aren�t about doing your own thing. Keeping everyone alive indirectly keeps you alive. If someone yells for help, immediately highlight that group member and use your /assist hotkey. You can do this before you even really know where they are. Just follow the combat arrow to the enemy and get into your best accuracy position. It goes without saying, assist your brawlers. Brawlers, try to pull everything off of your marksmen friends. Non-combats, try to stay away from the main combat if you can. If you get in trouble, ask for help, but keep in mind that you might have to wait for the primary target to die before you get it. If everyone immediately switches to help you then the brawler(s) will die. When they die, now you have two hostile enemies, instead of one, and both will proceed to pick off all the medics/marksmen one by one. Assist whenever possible, but at the end of the day, it�s better to focus fire on one enemy at a time than to have everyone splitting up to fight their own losing battles.
10. Thou Shalt Use Groupspeak and Communicate with Fellow Group Members
I think we covered this well. But it bears repeating. For a group, communication is life.
10 Ways to Be a Better Group Member
1. Pick up some medic/entertaining/artisan skills: The more non-combat abilities you have, the more useful you are to the group. It would be great if you could find an expert chef, and expert medic, and skilled musician to travel with you every time you hunt, but you can�t. In a pinch, it�s great when one of the pistoleers can heal, and one of the brawlers dance, while the scout also doubles as a blue milk dealer.
2. Don�t be afraid to pay: Sometimes it�s hard to get entertainers out of the cantina, or doctors out of the hospital, or artisans to stop surveying for 10 solid minutes, or a lone ranger to come to town. But it would be great to have them in your hunting party. So, don�t be afraid to fork over some funds. Cold hard credits. That�s right, pay them to come with you. Offer them something like 30% up front and 70% when you return plus a share of the resources. Nothing beats high level food or on the spot high level healing. Never be afraid to pay people for their services. If you are willing to fork over a big part of the credits, then you truly are a valuable member to the group.
3. Expand the group: Valuable group members are always looking for ways to strengthen the group. While you are autofollowing the leader, maybe you can use part of that time to search the community window (CTRL+P) to find additional members. Then you can use /tells to keep these potential members updated about your position as they run out to meet you.
4. Bring Supplies: Valuable group members come equipped with tons of supplies ready to go. They have camps/stimpacks/food all ready and waiting. Even better when they have these supplies before they join the group so that everyone does not have to wait on them.
5. Get Missions: Suggest that everyone get missions and coordinate it so that all the missions are around a common direction. Then take them out one by one.
6. Trade Off Running Duty: Volunteer to take over running duty every once in awhile so one person isn�t forced to be the guide all the time.
7. Expand your fighting potential: Valuable group members come to combat pre-healed, with the best weapons/armor they can afford, and consume lots of useful food/drinks right before combat begins.
8. Keep in Touch: Good group members keep in touch after the group has ended. Send in-game mails and add people to your friends list. Try to connect with them later to group again.
9. Give Praise: Praise your group members when they do things well. Cheer when you blow up the lair. Praise the brawlers for standing tough. Also use praise to combat behavior you want to eliminate. To use the mentioned example about the newbie riflemen who fired from 1 meter away, praise some other group you once had (real or imaginary) where the riflemen got to prone and stayed 40 to 60 meters back. The newbies will get the hint. And when they do it, praise them for doing a great job.
10. Have Fun: Valuable group members truly have fun grouping. They are valuable because fun is contagious. If one member is having a blast then chances are everyone else is having a great time as well.
Comments and Conclusion
That�s the guide folks. If you actually read all of that, let me applaud your efforts. I hope you learned something from all my babbling. If you find a typo or error, please accept my apologies. Good luck grouping.
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