After more than a year of L4D, most players can be labeled as either experienced or new (as even L4D1 still seems to attract new players). By now, most tricks are more or less known; IME, playing the game can even elicit warm, cozy feelings because we've visited that airport, hospital, or whatever, so often it starts feeling like our very own living room. 
However, after all that time I find pub games more and more frustrating. I play Versus mostly, and often hit 'Quick connect' so I can jump straight into the action. Recently however, I've encountered quite some teams that don't play very well, and after some time seeing X or Y getting achievement Z confirms my idea that I've just been playing with brand new, inexperienced players. Which isn't bad per se, but when you yourself are ready to fend off the more known Versus tricks and the rest of your team falls prey to what's been repeated for dozens of times now, I get kinda disappointed.
The other situation would be that you yourself are in a good team but the other team doesn't play as well, resulting in ragequit after ragequit. Having to wait for new players each round isn't very motivating as well.
So my question is: do you guys play with friends only, so you know you'll be in a game with people that have a more or less compatible playing style? Or do you play pub games as well? Also: is this a 'problem' only L4D1, with its more static gameplay mechanics and level designs, has to cope with? Does L4D2 play differently?
However, after all that time I find pub games more and more frustrating. I play Versus mostly, and often hit 'Quick connect' so I can jump straight into the action. Recently however, I've encountered quite some teams that don't play very well, and after some time seeing X or Y getting achievement Z confirms my idea that I've just been playing with brand new, inexperienced players. Which isn't bad per se, but when you yourself are ready to fend off the more known Versus tricks and the rest of your team falls prey to what's been repeated for dozens of times now, I get kinda disappointed.
The other situation would be that you yourself are in a good team but the other team doesn't play as well, resulting in ragequit after ragequit. Having to wait for new players each round isn't very motivating as well.
So my question is: do you guys play with friends only, so you know you'll be in a game with people that have a more or less compatible playing style? Or do you play pub games as well? Also: is this a 'problem' only L4D1, with its more static gameplay mechanics and level designs, has to cope with? Does L4D2 play differently?
