I'm so sick of this 'I don't like something that you're doing, so I'm going to complain and call you a noob for it' mentality that is plaguing the Minecraft community...
Free for All is currently an anomaly on Cubecraft Games, allowing players to form teams with other people to create totally unbeatable armies. The reason I am creating this thread, is because I want a discussion with the FFA community as to whether nor not this should continue; should people be allowed to team in this game, the name of which implies that teaming is not allowed: Free for All?
To me and to many other players, the term 'Free for All' implies that everybody is on their own and against everybody else, hence why you are still able to damage people that are on your unofficial team despite not intending to. On all other team-based activities on the server, you're physically unable to damage your team mates, thus it's logical to assume that you're not supposed to team on this gamemode.
This person sure seems to think this:
I want to share my thoughts on teaming below and conclude with whether or not it should be made illegal, because frankly, I'm sick of people complaining about it all the time. Keep in mind that I main the Archer kit, and have to deal with teams chasing me on a regular basis. This is why you can trust my thoughts on the matter; I am annoyed by teaming just as much as the next noob is. I would encourage any and all FFA fans to share their thoughts on the matter as well, because the last thing I would want is for somebody to look at all the complaints towards teaming, and decide to disallow it without considering how it would affect the player-base.
The negatives to teaming
Let's start pessimistically, and also point out the obvious: 10v1 fights are unfair. Nobody wants to be on the receiving end of ten blades at once, having no clue who they're supposed to attack to give them even a remote chance of winning that encounter. The typical majority are at a severe disadvantage when facing off against teams, which gives newcomers unfortunate first impressions.
This, honestly, is the only real negative. You don't like dying to them because you didn't have a chance to kill them back, right? However, what you did have was a chance to escape from them, because nobody is forcing you to fight them. If they're targeting you, then leave; there is always more than one map available. If they follow you across maps, then that qualifies as player harassment and can be responded to with a ban or a mute.
The positives to teaming
There seems to be a general consensus among the FFA community that anybody that teams is automatically a "noob", a player that is unable to fight alone because, on this one occasion, they chose not to. That, to me, is stupid. If their friends are online, do you really expect them not to team, to fight each other as if they were any other ordinary player? Their team mate is a resource, something that makes victory a lot easier to them, so if anything they'd be stupid not to take advantage of it. See it not as another player, but as a really useful item in Skywars. For this analogy, we'll say it's a Power X bow that two-shots anybody. Would you expect that player not to use the bow, which makes winning that much easier for them? If you would, then you're not looking at the situation from their point of view. And no, they wouldn't be a "noob" for using the weapon, either; they'd be smart. They want to win, and the bow helps them win; they'd be a noob not to use it, however much you disagree.
Free for All is defined not by its rules, but by its lack thereof. A group of ten friends can't go and play Skywars or Survival Games, because there are too many of them to fit into one team. This, I would wager, is why there are such large groups in FFA on every single map. Likewise, by disallowing teams, you'd be counter-intuitively hurting the FFA community by giving people less players to fight. If less people play the game, then the management team are more likely to conclude that the game is unsuccessful, and not worth updating. Considering it just got its first update today in months, I would hate for somebody to suddenly decide that that decision was a mistake.
Why teaming should not be banned
To conclude this wonderful rant/thoughts/opinions thread, we're going to play a round of 'I ask you questions and you get the questions wrong'. Okay, first question: What is the objective of KitPvP / FFA? If you said something along the lines of "to kill everyone", then way to go, you're wrong! The objective isn't to kill everyone, but to kill anyone. This is why an exception to teaming is made for this particular gamemode: In other games, say Skywars or Survival games, the objective is to be the last player alive, which is achieved by every other player in the game dying. Therefore, teamers have a big advantage, because they're a lot harder to kill by nature. However, in KitPvP / FFA, you don't win by having every other player die; you win when you decide that you've won, once you've gotten a great enough satisfaction out of killing other people. Therefore, you don't need to fight teamers. Unless they're hacking, there are no frequently occurring scenarios where you cannot escape from them. Are they annoying? Yes. Can you kill all of them? Usually, no. Do you have to fight them to win the game? NO!
All you've ever had to do was avoid them, and they will not be a problem to you. Remember, your victory does not depend on their defeat.
How to annoy teams
However... have you ever wanted to get a little bit of payback on those massive teams? Of course you have. Here are a few ways to do it, just in case you really want to. Just... don't get angry if it doesn't quite work out, okay? After all, by doing these things, you're choosing to engage in a scenario where the outcome is already in the team's favour before it has even begun. If it doesn't work out, then satisfy yourself by killing solo players instead.
Method one - The Wizard Kit
Harming potions deal a set damage to people, regardless of the armour that they're wearing. So... two or three sets of harming potions should be enough to kill every single one of them, assuming they're silly enough to not go into hiding after the first or second batch. Better yet, to increase your odds of success, pray on one specific player. However, don't just run in there and suicide. It isn't truly a defeat to them if they manage to kill you three times in the process now, is it? You want to have the intent of surviving the encounter at the heart of your objectives at all times. That way, even if you don't kill anybody, you're still annoying them in some way.
Method two - Interrupt their fights / steal their kills / clean them
This is another method that is best done using the Wizard kit, since you want to be able to make a hasty escape when they inevitably call for backup. Many times, those in teams like to 1v1 each other, or simply get into duels naturally against other opponents. What you want to do, is time the fight perfectly so that both players are quite weak. Nothing is more satisfying than not only ruining a fight, but stealing both kills with as little effort as possible.
Method three - shark-infested waters...
This method only really works on 'Classic', because once you've got them where you want them to be, there is nothing they can do to escape assuming you're accurate enough to keep them in your combo. It will take a few tries to get the hang of it, but it's so fun to do. Get one or two teamers to chase you into the sewers, and use the archer kit to lay them to rest. They will splash around in frustration as they realise all too late, the terrible mistake that they've made by chasing you. It can be a little difficult to get them to chase you, but continuously shooting them from a short distance away is usually provocative enough to get them to bite. Once they drop down, it is very hard for them to escape... just, obviously make sure that they don't have a bow themselves beforehand.
Please share your thoughts on teaming in this game below, and whether or not you agree with me. Thanks for reading c:
*Insert request for Athens map here*
*Also insert stupid gnome child meme here*
