In the team-based shooter Wardogs, a significant portion of the player base actively avoids selecting the Lonestar (Blue) faction, a trend that has persisted since the game's closed betas and has only solidified since its launch.
This aversion manifests even before matches begin, with players often stuck on the team selection screen, desperately hoping for a spot on Manticore (Green) or Valkyra (Red) while Lonestar's slots remain unfilled. "Anything but blue," players have been observed chanting, indicating a collective disinclination to join the Blue team.
This phenomenon has become so pronounced that it has generated considerable discussion and humor within the Wardogs community. Top-rated posts on the Wardogs subreddit depict team select screens with sparse Blue rosters, with one user renaming factions by difficulty: "Easy" for Green, "Normal" for Red, and "NIGHTMARE MODE" for Blue. Even Bulkhead, the game's developer, has acknowledged the Blue team's notoriety, with co-founder Howard Phillpott posting on X in response to a Lonestar victory screen, "Lonestar actually did it."
While many players treat the Blue team's reputation as a running joke, for some, the reluctance is serious enough to delay matches. One Reddit user, PogoMarimo, described servers with over 80 players struggling to launch for up to ten minutes due to insufficient Blue team selections. "These would be 80+ pop servers and they would go 10 minutes without launching because not enough people were willing to pick Blue to get the match to the starting population needed," PogoMarimo recounted. "I, of course, was one of those refusing to choose blue, because I had already done Blue duty twice that day and saw awful things happen. I'm not ashamed to admit it."
Observations from players suggest this reputation is not entirely unfounded. In personal accounts, matches played on the Blue team were described as significant stomps, where the opposing Red and Green teams established strong bases while the Blue team struggled to construct even basic defenses. Conversely, a match played on the Red team showcased a dedicated squad quickly building an elaborate base, highlighting a perceived difference in team effectiveness.
Several theories attempt to explain Lonestar's perceived disadvantage. One common idea is that the Blue team's uniform, particularly the blue jeans, makes them more visible as targets in forested environments, though the effectiveness of any faction's camouflage in open areas is debatable. Another theory posits that Lonestar's starting position in the southernmost corner of the map forces them into a potential two-front war against the West and East starting factions, though the map's headquarters placement is not perfectly symmetrical.
A more self-fulfilling prophecy also seems plausible. A negative experience with Lonestar, combined with community feedback and observing others avoid the faction, could lead to a Blue team composed of less experienced players, thereby reinforcing the negative reputation. This unique situation, stemming from Wardogs' three-team format, presents an interesting community dynamic, with some players even contemplating embracing the challenge of the Blue team simply because a slot is always available.