So as a major change just happened in my life the other day, simultaneously my Task Force collapsed. Another guy who runs two other Task Forces essentially poached my guys and left me empty. It didn’t bother me until he revealed to the other members that I was playing with two accounts.
Prior to this, I was considering jumping to the guy’s other Task Force. I asked some questions to figure out how much of a time commitment would be necessary. In the end, it sounded like a good deal right up until one of the more vocal guys in my Task Force began acting wishy-washy. I wasn’t happy with him though so having him leave was a stress reliever. Nonetheless, I didn’t understand why the other leader kept quiet up until this point.
I think he figured that the gig was up and he had nothing to lose. Since I wasn’t being completely honest about my two account situation, it probably would provoke the other two members in my Task Force to leave once they learned about my dual identities. It was a dirty move in my opinion because he never said anything up until that point.
Now, in my own defense, I kept the dual account secret just because another member took issue with that. I don’t know why someone would care. Maybe they felt threatened and that it would lessen their position. Either way, all it means (at least to myself) is that I’m fairly dedicated to the game.
At any rate, I ended up deciding to not join the other guy’s Task Force just on the basis of what he did. I wish he was far more upfront about his intentions early on. But it’s obvious that his tactics were to join lower level Task Forces then poach people. It’s pretty dirty overall since he even tried to convince me to keep my Task Force at the 5 count. I think he did that to make it easier to poach people down the line and to avoid drama which might call him out.
In addition, I decided to shut down my Task Force to outsiders. I was pretty upset that this move was pulled off in the end. I had been accumulating quite a bit of Intel on my own while this other guy pretty much was gaining resources. Sure, he made good plays but the way he set his base up was questionable, at least in my view since he’s a veteran.
But this just reinforces my view that online and social games suck. It just adds unnecessary drama and stress overall to people. It might be fun to get some friends to gang up on someone. But at the end of the day, you’re forced to join with complete unknowns. Social gaming at best in my view really occurs when you play with close friends, not random strangers you meet online. Although the game is the common interest, you do not know how people behave beyond that.