XV8Crisis said:

I assume you're basing this on the fact that the outskirts-threshold is higher and that fewer monsters spawn, but I don't think it's actually true.

With a lot of players it makes sense to have one or more players specifically go after monsters to keep the terror track down. But with a very small number of players this really isn't possible and you basically have to ignore/evade the monsters, because you need to spend all your time dealing with gates.

It might also matter what house rules are in play.  Specifically, from the set proposed by Richard Launius, there are two that can directly affect the terror track rate:  Rule #1 ("two monsters on first gate")  and Rule #6 ("Monster guards sucked through closing gates").  I've used them both at times (separately and in conjunction) and definitely observed an effect on how fast the terror level went up.  

mageith said:

I believe this is a case of tunnel vision. When you're new you tend to focus on one detail and you can swing either way. When you have played a bit more you realise that you need to do both at the same time. I have played with quite a lot of newbies but since I'm vocal about what we need to do (but not how to do it) we don't tend to have that problem. If they realise that someone needs to sweep then someone will do it.

Oh and my cadre of players don't seem to be that selfish, if someone needs a specific weapon or would be able to use it better he/she usually gets it if a meeting can be arranged. Same goes for blessings. We consider it rude to just take one for your self if a monster fighter could have better use for it.

Oh, and to add something on topic. Our terror level usually doens't rise that much. When it happens it's usually due to a mythos card or something the GOO did.

AndrewClarke said:

It also seems to happen more often in games against Shub-Niggurath. The increased toughness means that even monsters that are normally very easy to defeat become a risky proposition. But it's true that for most games terror level stays low, i.e. up to three. I don't consider that to be a problem, though. I like it that there are several directions into which a game can go.