Once you have created or joined a game at its beginning, you are taken to the Team Lobby from the Games List. The Team Lobby is where all pregame strategy typically happens -- where you discuss what team you will play for, who the members are on each team, and what roles the different players will be playing.

At the top of the Team Lobby, your player status and that of your team are shown. If you have not joined a team, a message here states that you need to do so.

Teams Section

The teams section shows the names and number of teams in the game. The two numbers separated by a "/" beside each team's faction choice represent the current and the maximum number of players allowed on that team. A minimum of 2 teams is needed to start a game, with no more than 6 teams allowed.

To see the players that make up a team, click that team's name to see its team roster. All team and player information is updated as players join and quit teams.

If a player is "not on a team," he must join a team by the time the game starts, or he will not enter the game when it is launched. Players who are not assigned yet do have chat access so that they can chat with other players in the lobby.

If a team is labeled Available, no one is on that team yet and it is waiting to be formed. The first player to join such a team automatically becomes that team's leader.

Once you decide which team you want to join, click the Join Team button. The team leader for that team will either accept or reject you.

Team Roster

The team roster lists all the players on a specific team as well as their details.

Pilot --Shows the player's name.

Role --Indicates if the player is the game owner or the team leader.

Rank --Indicates the player's rank as a member of the Allegiance Zone.

State --Indicates whether the player is ready, away from the keyboard (AFK), or requesting to be added to the team. To change your own status to AFK, click the AFK check box directly above the chat section.

Wing --Indicates what wing the player is on. To change to a click Change Wing to the right of the team roster, and then click the wing you want to be on.

Team Leader Options

If you are a team leader, you have access to additional functionality that the other players do not see.

Team Settings --Click to display the Team Settings screen, where the team leader can modify the team name and select which faction the team will represent.

Team Ready --Select to let everyone on all teams know that your team is ready. This can be selected even if a player is away from the keyboard (AFK). Once all team leaders have selected the Team Ready option, the game will begin.

Auto Accept --Select to accept automatically all players who request to be on your team.

Accept Pilot --Click to accept a player who is requesting to join your team. When a player tries to join your team and Auto Accept is not selected, that player's name will flash and his status will change to "requesting."

Reject Pilot --Click to reject a player who is requesting to join your team. When a player tries to join your team and Auto Accept is not selected, that player's name will flash and his status will change to "requesting." When a player is rejected, he is booted back to the "not on a team" roster, from where he can try to join another team.

Make Leader --Click to make the selected player the team leader. The first person to join a team is considered the team leader at the creation or setting of a game. The team leader is always placed at the top of the team roster.

Game Owner Options

The game owner has access to two options that no one else does.

Lock Lobby --Select to prevent new players from joining the game.

Lock Sides --Select to prevent team leaders from making changes to their team settings.

Chat Section

The chat section gives you two main communications channels, and a third one if you are a team leader.

All Players --Select when you want to communicate to all players in the game. It is often used for all players to discuss what game styles they want to play and who will be on what team.

Team Only --Select when you want to communicate only to your team members. It is the best channel to use to decide among your team members your team's strategy and tactics, who will play exactly what roles, and so on.

Leaders Only --Select when you want to communicate only to the team leaders of all teams in your game. This option only appears if you are a team leader.

If the icon beside a communications channel flashes, it means that a new message has been entered into that channel. It will continue to flash until you access that communications channel.