There are mistakes, yes, but I've definitely been in with people who didn't know what they were doing. Two, both in the same battle, actually. We were all in need of a toon-up and both of them kept sounding when I was luring. I was about to get sad when I alt-f4'd. Everytime someone would toon us up, they would sound and we would just get attacked again. I kept telling them to not use sound on lured cogs. They usually just said "No". You would be surprised how many 100+ laffers know no strategy but sound.
I try not to shuffle too much, because I find it annoying. But, if I go with a bunch of BF1's then we will lose, because none of them will help stun the cogs. I know from experience that the new toons rarely listen when you ask for help, and that includes some of the level 2's, 3's, and sometimes 4's. I'd pick shuffling over wasting my time with a bunch of newbies who have no idea what they're doing, and/or refuse to listen. And yes, if there are less than four stunners and people are refusing to help, I will leave. We'll lose anyway, so why should I stick around? The problem is rarely the cog round, it's the easy part. It's the second round where the newbies kill you. That's why it's more a matter of experience than laff.
The stunning I 100% agree with, though. If there aren't at least four stunners, then there is no chance whatsoever of a victory. Something that really drives me crazy is what you mentioned: when I have a handle on the cogs, but someone decides they need to come over and stun them too. That never works and just ruins the whole run. I usually tell them to chose a different cog, but it's hard to communicate with the phrases they give you.
I'm a bloodsucker level 5, and I still lose much more often than I win. If I get two or three victories in a full day I'm lucky. I've tried going with friends, but I've found that a lot of them won't listen either. My favorite is when they keep coming over and telling me to quit wasting my time and help them with the scale.
Good Luck. Hopefully it'll get better as more people learn.
Holly 107/Royalty 111/Dark Star 66