New Shatter map... something Feels off.

[Valence]

If one of yall is willing to have a salted earth timer and a "I'm attacking now" macro you could start putting a pretty nice dent into them. (You can always look up my guide to >.<)

As for what Mawlzy said... I don't think it should be surprising that a group that wants to win consistently does in a gamemode where many don't care. I'd rather more players improve and adopt a winning mindset for a competitive game mode than breaking up the people who probably enjoy/know the most about the mode.

I don't mind premades because i'm a pvp vet, and I think the only case where I've fallen prey to one well executed kitchen sink recently was because they had a dancer. I field command when nobody fills the role, and back them up with clear macros when they do anyway.

I tried to ask multiple times at the start of a game if people wanted to synergize some things together, never had a single reply. I offered to DRK, DRG, DNC... I even tried to ask the whole alliance if they wanted to try mass SCH just for the giggles and see how it goes. Nobody cares, and tbh, I don't mind either. I have the little fun I get in FLs by killing BH5 premade players, which offers a certain challenge and you can see immediately how they notice you as a threat and try to counter immediately. I like those little games.

All of this to say, I'm not asking for premades to be removed. The sad reality is that the skill gap is too wide and people that play for fun just get stomped by coordinated players, although to be frank, remove the kitchen sink Salted Earth and it may already alleviate a lot of discrepancies... But I'd rather die before they remove the ability to queue up with friends just because SE cannot balance salted earth there.

[Mawlzy]

I tried to ask multiple times at the start of a game if people wanted to synergize some things together, never had a single reply. I offered to DRK, DRG, DNC... I even tried to ask the whole alliance if they wanted to try mass SCH just for the giggles and see how it goes. Nobody cares, and tbh, I don't mind either. I have the little fun I get in FLs by killing BH5 premade players, which offers a certain challenge and you can see immediately how they notice you as a threat and try to counter immediately. I like those little games.

I've tried, and often do get a reply, but it's usually "chill, bro, I'm here for the XP." Sigh.

Your attempt to get a bunch of people playing SCH is a perfect illustration of why solo players cannot do what a premade does, contrary to Olivia's claim. When she isn't running the DRK+, she sometimes runs a 4-SCH. Its rarity makes it much harder for randos to counter. Yes, in principle, a random team can decide to emulate this, but as you say, it simply doesn't happen on NA. We need solutions that apply to the real world, not an imaginary one.

The one area where I do have some optimism is that regular, more competent solo players will sometimes get somewhat organized when a premade has been stomping them over a couple of hours. It's amazing what getting pissed off can do for motivation. It's a pity blacklisting doesn't include preventing one from being on the same team as the blacklisted player. That would at least promote that little challenge of trying to derail premades, and remove the monotony of running around after them when teamed with them.