The biggest killer of any kind of teamwork (long post)

QahnaarinDynar

So recently I did Maw of Lorkhaj trial on normal for the first time, and I've played ESO consistently for the better part of the last two years. So this was the first time I've had a chance to work with a group on such a task. First off I gotta thank ZoS for making such epic and challenging content, really... it was great fun learning how to solo Craglorn content since before One Tamriel and how to solo normal dungeons. So I really feel like I've been missing out on something amazing.

As a first experience however I have to point something out, purely because I'm hoping that anyone who reads this post hopefully learns a valuable lesson about teamwork. Straight to the point, one of the very worst things you can do is basically being a saltminer by brazenly ripping on everyone for every tiny little detail and generally being a pain in the rear because you're taking things way too seriously. This doesn't just apply to trials, but also to any kind of situation in the game that requires teamwork.

Believe me... I really understand the pressure and the desire to perform well. I genuinely respect the players who give their all to this level of content and the time they take to properly master their cues and performing well in their roles. The ones who strive for excellence deserve all the credit that comes with it, and especially so for groups which are extremely well coordinated. Auriel knows, even mastering the basics can be a challenge sometimes... but as a former CS;GO player I find it necessary to make a point of this whole matter. I left that game because of the utterly toxic and elitist mentality of its player base in general. I quit and moved onto what I perceived to be a game that has a far more interesting and complex form of PvP and a very diverse community. I was about four ranks off of being a global elite in CS;GO, and being a Legendary Eagle isn't really that much of an achievement considering the ridiculous amount of skill needed to close the distance between my former rank and the rank above it. Playing with my Global Elite friends really helped in shaping my perspective on this, even though I absolutely sucked in comparison to them and generally felt like a drag.

What killed the experience for me was the toxicity of the random players I ran into on solo match making queues, and later even within some of my regular teams. I had a real drive to become better, I was always grateful to people who rekt me, because each experience made me stronger. But in all of the years I've been a CS player in general, the one thing that has consistently lost me and my teams a match was that one person (or more) who had to moan and groan about literally everything, when in reality the team wasn't performing that badly at all. Meantime those same players happened to be the ones who died first... go figure. So sure, it's important to point out what's being done wrong, and explaining it in a civil and constructive manner. But ultimately it's as old Abnur Tharn said (Originally Chuck Norris), "Soldiers are like Steel, when they loose their temper they loose their worth". To me, this is exactly what the problem with toxic players are... By loosing your temper you bring down your whole team because you practically loose any further value through your very presence. Because now you're making everyone else loose their tempers, and you're more likely to make mistakes too because you're rattled as well.

The best kind of teams that I've ever been in and the ones with the highest success rate where we experienced success in the overwhelming majority of matches we had, were the groups in which we practically had no toxic players. Both in CS;GO and ESO. But also in the many matches which we did loose, we were still left very satisfied because of the amazing experience we had fighting really skilled players and actually standing toe to toe with them. What's more, not only did we get the benefits of playing against some of the best players, we also had no personal drama that cost our team dearly. In ESO especially I love facing the many, MANY people in Trueflame who are without a doubt much better PvP'ers than I am, because it means that there's always something new to learn and something to work towards, particularly in the cases where the deciding factor was pure skill alone. But back to the point, it's amazing what an incredible difference can be made to the performance of a team when you don't have that one salty slaughterfish who has to make a point of bringing the rest of the team down through their own carnivorous negativity.

Seriously... if you're toxic then you may as well just leave the group. The only thing you achieve - and in PvE of ALL places - is bringing down the morale and the fighting spirit of the whole team. You make other players insecure about themselves, and whilst it's true that they may not be very good individually - it's quite possible to bring out the best in them and help them develop further, rather than insulting them and maiming their gamesense. Creating an angry atmosphere is just thoroughly counterproductive. The worst part is that you're robbing everyone of the chance to have an enjoyable experience. Facing the very real risk of being wiped and actually being wiped is a fundamental part of what makes this game a fun and worthwhile endeavor.

In this last trial run I wasn't the one being criticized to my surprise, but I will gladly admit that had I known the mechanics I could have been of even greater use to the group. But what concerns me were the other members who weren't even above cp.300 who felt very intimidated by participating in something of this nature in a group where the majority of us were cp.500's plus. This was worsened by the fact that we had one loud mouth that just didn't have any decency at all just kept making the whole team feel more and more miserable with each passing minute. Why our lead didn't kick this person is beyond me, and quite frankly if it were me... I'd have kicked.

Just like in CS;GO, I found that in my experience that we're better off being short handed rather than breathing in pure anthrax and dying because of a corrupted atmosphere. When we lost in those cases we were pretty ok with it, likewise in ESO I've ended up in situations where we duo'd vet dungeons because I have a zero tolerance policy for toxic players. The feeling of actually beating a dungeon on vet minus the third wheel is far more satisfying than it would have been dragging it out because of some vain need to finish a dungeon no matter what. The other alternative is just finding a replacement.

TL;DR: The team that keeps its cool and does away with commotion and drama is a team that's made to win. Of course there's a lot more to it than that, but I think I've said enough already.