I've decided to post this in order to give a wee bit of instruction and advice to people new to the forums in regards to the process of either joining or creating a team.

I'd like to start this off by saying: This game is all about having fun, you don't NEED a team in order to do that.

The Scene

The natural instinct upon discovering these forums is to go out in search of a team. Unfortunately, for people unfamiliar with the state of the current forum scene here in Skate 2, this leads to all manners of problems. So first I'll give a brief rundown of how things work here and what people expect.

Realistic vs. Unrealistic - Backflip 1080's or Kickflip Crooks

For a while this was a pretty heated topic. When the game first came out teams were popping up left and right, with the primary divide being that they were either realistic or unrealistic. Over the course of the last year we've seen nearly every unrealistic team dissolve and disappear, leading to the current realistic oriented community that we have now. This will be the first choice that you have to make before deciding to join a team.

Realistic - Realistic skating involves trying to be as true to real life as possible while still being entertaining. Nobody wants to see you doing shuvits up curbs all day long. Skating realistically takes far more work to master, and you'll come to realize that there is always something else to learn, no matter how long you've been doing it for. Learn to ollie low, stop doing 360 flips out of everything, and don't grind for a hundred feet at a time. You'll notice that most people who skate this way develop their own style after a certain amount of time, and it becomes pretty easy to recognize skaters simply by seeing them skate.

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/238177.page

Unrealistic - This style of gameplay is really up to you. Here pretty much anything goes, revert-pops, hippie flips, double backflips, you name it, nobody is going to care. Unfortunately there are also very few teams out there that film on a regular basis, you're much more likely to find a group of guys that you'll just skate with rather than film with. Good luck.

Best advice is this, lurk the http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/forums/show/271.page section for a while and find a style you like.


Filming - If you haven't yet realized it, filming is basically the point behind having a team.

So you've posted a few reel clips using the follow cam or the bi-pod and you think you're ready to make a video?

It's a little more complicated than that. Filming is a huge part of this community, there are people here who got noticed primarily for their talent at filming and editing. And in order to make anything worth watching, you're really going to need to invest in the Filmer Pack.

Filming can be hard work and when its all over and you have a video done, then the community critiques it. You might get called out for bad camera work, unrealistic tricks, and all kinds of stuff. But you'll grow as a skater and you'll start taking pride in your tricks because rather than just filming something you did by accident, you'll spend time on your tricks and they'll look better for it.

There are of course teams out there that don't film, in that case you'll just have a bunch of guys to skate with on a regular basis.

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/forums/show/271.page

Ok now onto the real guide.


JOINING A TEAM

The last kid standing up against the wall

Nobody wants to be the last kid picked for any sport, in order to get picked for a team here then you're going to have to stand out a little bit. This isn't very difficult to do, since most of the "recruit me" threads out there are little more than 2 sentences long and contain no footage... wait, maybe a Reel clip or two. And that brings me to the first topic.

Reel Clips - Posting a single Reel clip doesn't give much insight into your style. If you can't edit a Solo or a 5 in 1 or get somebody to do it for you, then posting multiple Reel clips is your best bet. Just know that people would much rather see a whole video rather than a single clip.

Solos - If this is your first time editing a video just let everybody know, people won't judge it as harshly. Having a whole video is much easier than having to scroll through your Reel clip by clip. This is the preferred method of displaying your skills.

Multiple Threads - Just don't do it. If you've made a thread trying to get recruited then you don't need to make another one, much less 6. Also, please keep your recruitment threads to the Skate Teams section (Or the Show Off section if you really must) in order to keep the forum organized.

DLC - Most teams out there require the Filmer Pack, and if you're joining a team intent on filming then be prepared to shell out a couple of bucks. Some teams require the rest of the dlc as well, Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, The Skate 1 Pack, and Maloof. If you're posting in a team thread, you should probably find out about this if you're not interested in spending the cash.

General Attitude - As much as teams are looking for good skaters, they're also looking for people they can chill with. So if you're an uppity ***** who can't take a joke or just doesn't like other people*, then the whole team thing probably isn't for you. Try to find a group of people you can talk to when you're playing. Also, when on the forums try not to get in e-peen wars, everybody is a tough guy on the internet. Remember, this is a video game. Just be cool.

*Sidenote: I hate you Stryker

Thread Jacking - Do not post your own recruitment video in somebody elses recruitment thread, it's just a **** move.


CREATING A TEAM

Do a Barrel Roll - Kusa

Creating a team can be both a lot of fun and a lot of work. Most of the things written above also apply to creating a team, so take note of them.

Teams are a great way of finding people to skate with daily, I started off in Rotten Apple with a bunch of strangers who had never skated together before. Now six months down the road most of us have moved onto a different team and still skate together everyday, no longer strangers, but friends.

Name - A team name is a powerful and important thing which people will come to associate with you and the people you recruit. So choose wisely. Try to pick something original. Don't Steal. Don't name yourself Hudloom, Third Nature, The Tens, or anything that resembles another team around here, you'll make enemies very quickly.

Footage - Footage will help you stand out amidst the throng of teams looking for members. New teams without any footage tend to pick up people along the same lines, and the team tends to fill out pretty quickly since there are relatively no prerequisites or qualifications. Teams like that are pretty much 50-50 in their chances of survival. If this is your case, then get organized quickly and pull your team together before it falls apart. Having footage lets people know how you skate and basically what you're looking for in teammates.

Recruiting - Post a single thread in the Skate Teams section. You don't need all caps in order to get noticed. People who are looking for a team will find you, I promise. Take your time when picking people, skate with them to see if you get along, and review their footage kindly. Just because you're starting a team doesn't mean that you're the awesomest dude around, you're just a guy starting a team. Just because people aren't well known, doesn't mean that they aren't fantastic skaters, so give them a chance.

Holding Your Team Together - Team members will argue. That's a fact. It will happen eventually. Your goal as the "leader" is to make sure that the arguments don't build to the point where people decide to leave. Basically keep everybody cool and don't pick on one guy all the time*. Another team-killer is inactivity, as a creator and leader of a team you can't expect your team members to hang around waiting for you if you're never on. The first couple of weeks are very important in building a team bond and finding out if its going to work.

*Sidenote: Red sucks.

Thread Jacking - Do not post your own recruitment ad in another team's recruitment thread, it's just a **** move.

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Parting Words:

Once you've actually joined a team (Or decided not to) please don't get upset or discouraged if your footage doesn't get noticed right away. It happens. People will always click on the more reputable skaters first, its just the way that it works. The best thing you can do is to keep in mind that at one point or another those same skaters were just like you, so keep putting out footage... and one day it'll get the attention it deserves.

Cheers.


And if anybody has anything to add, please feel free.

hah the tens.

This is a great thread. i wish this was here when i first came to these forums a while back. it wouldv'e helped me a lot.

I quit.

xbox.a red bicycle wrote:I quit.

is this christmas?
greatest present i got


ohh and i hate you too doc but i do agree on hating red

ps3.iRipper89 wrote:hah the tens.

This is a great thread. i wish this was here when i first came to these forums a while back. it wouldv'e helped me a lot.

yeah same.
haha i was so desperate for a team. it was so pathetic, im actually ashamed of myself
great thread Dr, you get an A++

great post mr. strange, hopefully the influx of THE KINGS SKATE CRW1111 will stop soon.

This is great!

And this should be sticky.

I can the 11s.

Thank you hopefully there will be less teams with requirements like "Do a hardflip 5 times"

Also please note that there is a difference between realistic teams aswell. There are laid back realistic teams that do realistic tricks but dont really care about how high you pop then there are hardcore realistic teams that have to get every pop right and do smallish gaps.

Bumped cuz it should be stickied

wow, thank you...... that was pretty much perfect..... sticky icky

Edited the links in.

wow DOc....


i was looking for that recruitment thread and came across this

Very good post. This should get stickied.

I think a small thing to add might be the capability to make graphics on the graphics creator. Its not too important, but I think that it will make you stand out when being compared to everybody else trying out for the team.