Online Manners

Trying to be a nicer online player. How do you know when you are being pushy instead of helpful? Should you just wait until you are asked for help to offer suggestions?

In general, I prefer discussing strategy in chat rather than just clicking on a suggested card. I find "I can handle the environment because I have a grappling hook" to be better than just clicking on a card without saying anything. I'm especially not fond of people clicking on the card they think I should play every turn before I have even a moment to think about it. My thought? There's a single player mode if you want to control every aspect of the game.

That said, there are times when clicking on the suggestion works. For example, if Argent Adept is giving away a draw, card play, or power play, I'd say that's fair game to click on your name as short-hand for "I've got a really good play" but even then sometimes I'll follow up with "Got a grappling hook, team!"

I'll second everything that Jgraygaming2 said. I try to use Suggest sparingly; I'd prefer to let people make their own decisions and use the chat to explain when I have a way to deal with a situation that they might not be aware of. I will occasionally use Suggest if I see an interesting combo, just to slow the other player down so I have a chance to explain in chat.

On the other side of things, when playing with a serial suggester, I usually make a game of trying to be effective while avoiding all of their suggestions. I find it incredibly annoying, especially if they don't bother to explain themselves.

Which is why I always play with the closed hands option! If you would like the input of the other players, than you can ask for it. Otherwise, it is much harder for an alpha gamer to take control of the situation if they can't see anybody's cards.

Just keep in mind that tablet users will probably be behind Steam users, so if somebody is taking a bit longer to make a decision, it could just be that they haven’t caught up yet, not because they don't know what to do.

Humourously, in my friend group (which regularly plays online with Skype), I prefer closed hands but usually get outvoted - despite the fact that I'm by far the most likely to be giving advice and directing the others.

I really appreciate the help! I love playing with new players, but my wife has pointed out to me on multiple occasions that most people need time rather than advice to learn the game.

Closed hand is generally my preference, but sometimes on the tablet there is so much going on that the chat window takes to long to pop up with the key board. I find suggestions to be faster, but if they are annoying then that is counter to what I am trying to use them for.

And patience is not one of my virtues, but I promise I am working on it!

I generally play Argent Adept, so Closed Hands is really detrimental for me, especially when I have free card plays to give out.  I do understand the desire to not have someone breathing down your neck telling you what to play, however.

This is why I usually play open hand as well.

Swear constantly, mock people's decisions, make fun of their hero choice, rage quit and say you're the best.

These are basically things not to do. I play like how I would play a game on the tabletop, with real people. 

I think this is the issue. Many people get online and act differently. If we play like we would play in person, it would probably resolve a lot of issues…

Voice chat would go a long way to improving communication, but that method has it's own share of potential problems.

looks at my signature

In a vaccuum, it's always better to type thoughts in chat but as anyone with a slow iPad will tell you that isn't always... expeditious.  So in that context I'll sometimes chime in with suggestions in lieu of typing.  

If you click on the suggest button once in awhile, particularly for a tricky decision as to whether to skip a turn to off a particularly nasty environment, that's fine.

There was one time I told people beforehand it was my first time playing Chrono-Ranger so my two teammates suggested all the optimal plays since I'd never read his deck before.  That was fine and it was appreciated.

If I'm playing Legacy and you suggest without prompting each and every play I make, including whether or not to Galvanize when it's my only available power, then STFU I am completely disregarding anything you say from now until forever.

In one game I played two other players had suggestions for every single card play, for every single power use. It was a bit obnoxious.

I, for one, like playing open hands to try and learn how other people play and make choices. There are some people that really feel like they are saying "hurry up and play" with their suggestions.  Chat would be really nice, but some people just don't explain ANYthing. 

For me as a general rule of thumb, I wait between 5-15 seconds before I start typing what I would do. Most of the time this gives people all the time they need. Also is how I would want to be treated. Sounds oddly religious, but I do default to the Golden Rule. I also find it helps to ask for advice in advance, usually during the environment and villian turns. 

For that matter talk more in general, you're playing a computerized version of a party game: act like you want to interact with people, or else play solo.

This got me thinking of the unspoken etiquette/rules of the game. Things like.

1. If there's a choice of who gets damaged, the person with damage reduction is the first target. Failing that, give it to the person with healing cards/powers. Exceptions can be made if said heroes are at extremely low HP.

2. When there's a choice to be voted on (to discard or destroy a card or to take damage, for example) and you aren't directly involved (none of your cards are options or your hero isn't in the mix) give the heroes who are involved a chance to decide before you vote. Its only fair to give one of them a chance to volunteer first.

3. If you have a way to get rid of a pesky card (environmental or ongoing, for example) say so in the chat as soon as possible. That way someone who goes before you doesn't waste a play, power, or entire turn to get rid of the card.

4. Order of effect matters. Don't just click on the 'choose for me' button without thinking it through. Sometimes you need to take out the card that's buffing other cards or that will damage you if other enemies are hit first.

5. Be patient. People are playing on different machines and on different platforms. Some people read at different speeds (and actually take the time to read the cards). Some people consider their moves before making them. Some people even like watching the game's animations as part of play. Respect each player's play speed.

6. Unless someone asks for it, suggesting every move for someone can be quite annoying. Especially when there's only one move available. Give people a chance to play their own character.

I generally find the Steam version pretty tedious so I don't play it that often (preferring the tabletop version by far) but when I do play, I wish the chat feature was better - if the chat was visible without being in a pop-up window that needs clicking to bring it into view, that would help. If there was voice chat, that would be even better - it would be nice if there was the option to activate voice chat for those who have a mic (and mute it for those who for whatever reason don't want to hear it or something). I don't tend to make suggestions by clicking on stuff - I would rather do so in the chat and explain myself in the process, why I am suggesting whatever it is I'm suggesting :). Sometimes people will take their turn and pay no attention to the chat anyway, so it ends up being pointless trying to suggest tactics to them or telling them that you can do a particular thing so they don't need to worry about doing it themselves when they could be doing something else. Bleh.

The part I bolded is probably one of the best sounding advice I've heard here. I will deifnitely take it to heart! 

Thus far, the Sentinels community has been mostly polite but I'm alway wary of voice chat based on my (admitedly) limited MMO experience. I do not want:

1. To hear people eating.

2. To hear their music instead of the game's.

3. To hear their conversation with their parent/friend/sibling.

4. Listen to their homophobic or misogynistic slurs.

5. Listen to their lack of imagination in the use of adjectives (there ARE other adjectives besides variations of the 'f' word).

Really, my experience with voice chat and games has just made me shudder.

Something to consider about suggestions:  sometimes a suggestion isn't.  Its actually a user clicking on their screen to advance through animations.  I know that I end up accidentally clicking on something about half the time because of that.

Simple solution to most of that is for the voice chat to be push-to-talk.

I hate push to talk, because it is almost always push-and-hold to talk, and I am doing other things that require hands while talking.

While playing Sentinels? It’s completely mouse-driven.

I use Mumble or TeamSpeak for various online games - my PTT key is left alt. With most games I can push that and talk without it interfering with the game at all.

I've done that more than a few times I care to admit to.

I do that a lot too.  Especially for the damage selection screens, because there's not much distinction between the "One player chooses" and the "Everybody votes" screens.

Yep.

Nope.

I use the keyboard shortcuts a lot. And Alt Tabbing to do something else while it's not my turn and/or I think I know what is about to go down.

Sounds like you need some foot pedals.

Personally, I hate the chat interface. On top of that I really hate that by the time my turn rolls around all the other players have already suggested what I should play.

The only thing I dislike about the chat interface is that it's locked into capitals all the time; I want my lowercase...

That being said, a voice chat system would be optimal.

It's not capitals, it's just a style choice.

See the difference between lower case and capital i next time you play.