Over the last few years, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being a member of what I feel is one of the best Destiny Clans around. As I’ve said over and over, one of the things that make Battleborn special is our desire to include every member in our activities regardless of their skill level. Anyone is welcome in any fireteam or chat.
With that said, over the course of Destiny something developed: the raid team. Groups of guys that were committed to getting each other through the most challenging PvE experience that Destiny had to offer. You might have heard their names: Pants Optional, the Irregulars, PFU. Now that the Destiny 2 release is close and Destiny is fading into the sunset, I wanted to take some time to reflect on one of the best experiences that I’ve had during my time with Battleborn: raiding with Pants Frowned Upon.
Origins
How did Pants Frowned Upon form, you might ask? Were we a group of elite players that wanted to combine our skill? Did a day come, unlike any other, when Battleborn’s mightiest heroes were united against a common threat to fight the foes no single hero could withstand? Honestly, it was neither of those things. You see, PFU’s origins were much more humble than that.
During the Taken King, I was reaching a point in Destiny where I was struggling to find things to do. I had completed virtually all of the quests available in PvE and wasn’t terribly interested in Crucible but there was an activity that had eluded me: raiding. I don’t know if it was a confidence thing, scheduling thing or both that had prevented me from raiding but up until that point I had participated in fewer than a half dozen raids.
Feeling a little more confident in myself, I took off to our clan calendar in search of a raid group that might have some room for a guy like me. One day, I miraculously found a group that had room for me AND started at a time that fit my schedule. To be honest, I can’t remember who was there other than Bah, MadMudd and Nightrain but one thing became perfectly clear on that winter night: none of us had a clue as to what we were doing. Here’s the thing: it didn’t seem to matter to anyone.
We weren’t terribly successful that night but we had fun, we were patient with one another and even though we didn’t get very far, it still felt like a success in most of our minds. Afterward, this happened:
And with that, Pants Frowned Upon began.
Style
As most of you have heard (and witnessed first-hand), PFU’s primary trait is that no member is an “elite” player (other than Freak). We’ve been playing Destiny for nearly three years at this point and we still manage to make rookie mistakes on a consistent basis. In the early days of our raid team, there were nights where we struggled to complete one challenge encounter, never mind the entire raid, and sometimes we didn’t manage to accomplish that.
This leads to a second trait that marks PFU: patience. Patience is probably the main ingredient in the PFU recipe for success (along with a big spoonful of luck). When raid teams form it takes time to feel each other out and get a sense of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes the raid itself refuses to cooperate. Regardless, it was extremely important that everyone exercised patience with each other, themselves and the raid itself. It took weeks of playing together before our group found a groove that seemed to work. If anyone went over the top with rage, everyone was mature enough to deal with it in an adult manner and move forward together.
The third trait that marks PFU is willingness to include others. It seems counter-intuitive but our raid group has never been entirely exclusive. In fact, we take a great deal of satisfaction from including others in our group. More often than not, our raid team has had the pleasure of having a guest star or two amongst us on any given Raid Night. Some of our proudest moments have come from nights where we were able to help a clanmate get that first completion or watching as a rookie raider blossoms into a prolific boss slayer.
What’s important here is that we never approach things from a perspective of superiority (even though we’ve been known to talk some smack). We’re no better at Destiny than those that join us and we were never looking to “carry” anyone, we wanted to teach and do what we can to help others improve when we can.
Moving Forward
I wrote this not to brag about PFU. There have been several raid groups in Battleborn at one time or another and I’m sure that their members had an experience that was largely the same as ours. When Destiny 2 launches it will be a new beginning for everyone in Battleborn. With all new beginnings, there are new opportunities to grow and experience new things. It is my hope that new raid teams will spring up and have the same experience that I’ve had the privilege to partake from.
As you begin to form these new teams, please keep a few things in mind. First: scheduling matters. Make use of the calendar and broadcast it on the LFG channel on Discord. Try to start doing this at least a week before your raid. We’ve all got responsibilities and giving someone time to schedule in a raid is incredibly helpful.
It’s unlikely that you’ll get a full fireteam the first few times you put a raid group together but keep at it. Eventually, you’ll get a group of players that sync with your schedule. Don’t be afraid to send invites using the clan roster available within Destiny as well. It’s a great way to make new friends and include those that might not be as vocal on Discord.
Second: be patient with each other. Maybe you’ll get lucky but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful at the raid on your first attempt. It takes time to learn a raid (and each other) and in my experience, having one or two new players can be enough to throw everyone off their rhythm. While the goal might be to take down that boss or to get that sweet loot drop, being successful is more than that. Did you have fun? Did you enjoy each other’s company? If the answer to those questions is “yes” then you had a successful raid night, no matter how far you might have progressed!
Member of the Moment
Our newest Member of the Moment is a man that spends most of his time teaching soldiers the fine art of extracting information from individuals. When he’s not spending time with his family, drinking dark liquors or smoking fine cigars, he likes to relax by preparing perfectly seasoned BBQ and shooting spacemen with Battleborn (occasionally at the same time).
Gentleman, I present Rastusg as our newest Member of the Moment. Be sure to congratulate him on this monumental achievement!