Making Squad Spawn Tactical

[amblingalong]

Just curious if anyone had details on how squad spawning will work, specifically whether you'll be able to do this after the squad leader is killed. One way I think the mechanic could actually make the game much more interesting is if squad leaders with squad spawning certed had a large, easily identifiable piece of equipment (backpack?), and squad spawning waypoints were always centered on the leader, not the squad as a whole (i.e. if the leader was killed, you couldn't spawn back into the fight anyways).

The whole 'instant rebirth' thing makes Infil's assassination job somewhat less meaningful, so having there actually be a reason to try to take out enemy leadership might add quite a bit to the game

[Mechzz]

The details we've had on squad spawning that I'm aware of are:

1. Outdoors only (seems to mean right up to the door of an enemy base)
2. On squad leaders only, and then only on squad leaders who have certed it
3. On a cooldown, so can't just lather, rinse, repeat.

[bpostal]

You want tactical squad spawns? Spawn on your SL as a gal drops on top of him. Take out the gal with the drop pod, save the day.

[Gogita]

Squad spawn will be very different than what was the case in for example battlefield 2.

The largest difference is the large cool down on squad spawning. It has a cooldown of several minutes and can only be used outdoors. This prevents it from being used as the main method of spawning. In addition, it was very, and very noticeable when someone squad spawns, possibly attracting enemies to the location of your squad

[megamold]

The details we've had on squad spawning that I'm aware of are:

1. Outdoors only (seems to mean right up to the door of an enemy base)
2. On squad leaders only, and then only on squad leaders who have certed it
3. On a cooldown, so can't just lather, rinse, repeat.

i'm not 100% sure about this but i think the cooldown timer for the squad spawn is going to be on the squad leader not the squad members

so only 1 player every X amount of time rather then all players every X amount of time
wich would make it much more tactical i think.
saving the squad spawn for the hacker and stuff like that.

[kaffis]

Did anybody who was watching the livestreams more closely than me notice whether the timer for an squadmate was per-spawning player, or whether anybody spawning on the squadmate triggers the cooldown for everybody's ability to spawn on that squadmate?

We know it'll be squad-leader only, so I'm hoping that it's the latter. The timer's on the squad-leader himself, not on everybody individually.

[Stardouser]

People are judging squad spawning based on Battlefield, but then, in every other topic where Battlefield comes up, people say "this isn't Battlefield" when it's convenient for them to do so, and so, it's convenient to say that now - this isn't Battlefield, so squad spawning needs to be fully tested to see how it works in Planetside 2.

[Mechzz]

Did anybody who was watching the livestreams more closely than me notice whether the timer for an squadmate was per-spawning player, or whether anybody spawning on the squadmate triggers the cooldown for everybody's ability to spawn on that squadmate?

We know it'll be squad-leader only, so I'm hoping that it's the latter. The timer's on the squad-leader himself, not on everybody individually.

Promise not jackhammer me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is that when someone was in the respawn screen the commentators said he couldn't sqaud spawn because of his timer. I came away with the impression that the cooldown is on the spawner and not the leader.

[megamold]

Promise not jackhammer me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is that when someone was in the respawn screen the commentators said he couldn't sqaud spawn because of his timer. I came away with the impression that the cooldown is on the spawner and not the leader.

well everyone would consider it "their" timer, but it could just as well be a timer on the squad leader with the time just being shown to the squad members, unless someone saw the timer reset in the spawnscreen ( ie: someone else spawned on leader first ) we have no way of telling if its the former or the latter :)

but from all the interviews ive seen and read ( wich is all of em :) ) ive taken away that it would be on the squad leader, but i could be wrong.

[ThermalReaper]

Here is what I can see from the stream(I haven't read the rest of the thread yet)
1) OutDoors.
2) You drop pod, not pop out of your respective teammate's butt. You can also get lucky and destroy an airborne target. It's also not accurate, a radius of the mate you spawned on.
3) Specific people
4) Cool down reaches up to 500 seconds after 5 or so spawns.

[Zebasiz]

Just curious if anyone had details on how squad spawning will work, specifically whether you'll be able to do this after the squad leader is killed.

I believe I saw in the E3 videos the spawn option being off when the squad leader was killed. Little skull and crossbones next to his name I am assuming means death. So that answers that question.
In the third E3 video at 30:29 you can see the guy trying to spawn, but spawn leader "MechaniX" Was greyed out as he was dead. Then he was alive again and the guy could spawn on him.

[megamold]

I believe I saw in the E3 videos the spawn option being off when the squad leader was killed. Little skull and crossbones next to his name I am assuming means death. So that answers that question.
In the third E3 video at 30:29 you can see the guy trying to spawn, but spawn leader "MechaniX" Was greyed out as he was dead. Then he was alive again and the guy could spawn on him.

wich would mean he could have just as well have spawned at a spawnpoint since thats where the leader will have revived :)

i'm thinking we need to come up with a name for people that waste squad spawns :)

[Mechzz]

wich would mean he could have just as well have spawned at a spawnpoint since thats where the leader will have revived :)

i'm thinking we need to come up with a name for people that waste squad spawns :)

We already have a collective noun for people that waste squad spawns: TR

[Zebasiz]

wich would mean he could have just as well have spawned at a spawnpoint since thats where the leader will have revived :)

i'm thinking we need to come up with a name for people that waste squad spawns :)

I think we actually saw that a couple of times in the E3 vids.

[megamold]

We already have a collective noun for people that waste squad spawns: TR

*angry fist shake*

damn vs , where did i put my bugspray !

[amblingalong]

I believe I saw in the E3 videos the spawn option being off when the squad leader was killed. Little skull and crossbones next to his name I am assuming means death. So that answers that question.
In the third E3 video at 30:29 you can see the guy trying to spawn, but spawn leader "MechaniX" Was greyed out as he was dead. Then he was alive again and the guy could spawn on him.

That's what I was hoping. What worried me is the possibility that 'squad spawning' would be literal and once a squad was joined by a SL with it certed, people could continue spawning on that squad regardless of whether the SL was alive.

This is great, because it makes eliminating enemy leadership a huge tactical priority and thereby gives the assassin-certed Infil class much more meaning than simply another way of killing zerglings.

[Baneblade]

It would be more accurate to call it Squad Reinforcement not Squad Spawning.

[Memeotis]

It's all about balance. I think it players should only be allowed to spawn on the squad leader himself (who has certified for it), because otherwise it could be very easily exploited for things like fast-traveling to specific points on the map, because a random squad member is there.

Nor would I object if the timer was a collective one for the whole squad, along with a ticket system. So when a squad leader first certifies into the squad-spawn, he will have a total of three tickets, which regenerate at a rate 1 per 120 seconds. He could then certify further into total number of tickets and the speed of regeneration, to a point where he can have 9 tickets and a regeneration rate of 1 per 30 seconds.

... or something like that.

[megamold]

Nor would I object if the timer was a collective one for the whole squad, along with a ticket system. So when a squad leader first certifies into the squad-spawn, he will have a total of three tickets, which regenerate at a rate 1 per 120 seconds. He could then certify further into total number of tickets and the speed of regeneration, to a point where he can have 9 tickets and a regeneration rate of 1 per 30 seconds.

... or something like that.

i really like this idea.

[amblingalong]

i really like this idea.

Ditto.

[kaffis]

Nor would I object if the timer was a collective one for the whole squad, along with a ticket system. So when a squad leader first certifies into the squad-spawn, he will have a total of three tickets, which regenerate at a rate 1 per 120 seconds. He could then certify further into total number of tickets and the speed of regeneration, to a point where he can have 9 tickets and a regeneration rate of 1 per 30 seconds.
That's definitely an interesting idea. Have "charges" of squad-spawn that can accumulate, instead of capping at one? 9 is way too high, though -- I never want a full squad to spawn in on anybody. Even half a squad is pretty extreme.

But having both the guys in the tank that just got blown up spawn in on the squad leader who's holding the door waiting for his squad to push inside is pretty slick.

[megamold]

having a lot of tickets combined with a longer timer would allow for tactical insertion of a squad

the squad leader gets the order from platoon to go take a tower, he leaves and tells the squad to not spawn on him ( having first saved up for the ticket ofcourse )
the squad leader travels to the tower on a flash and calls the squad to him, they all drop and rush the tower.

its like a mini galdrop :D

[Memeotis]

That's definitely an interesting idea. Have "charges" of squad-spawn that can accumulate, instead of capping at one? 9 is way too high, though -- I never want a full squad to spawn in on anybody. Even half a squad is pretty extreme.

But having both the guys in the tank that just got blown up spawn in on the squad leader who's holding the door waiting for his squad to push inside is pretty slick.

Yeah I was just throwing some numbers out there. I just feel a ticket system would result in more organized use of tickets, rather than players just spawning randomly, potentially fucking up a covert operation. If you have a ticket system, players are going to be more accustomed to asking 'Is it cool if I use a squad-spawn?'

And that's another thing, I really feel the squad-spawn ability balances itself out nicely, by turning you into a very obvious, fiery ball dropping from the skies.

[amblingalong]

i really like this idea.

And that's another thing, I really feel the squad-spawn ability balances itself out nicely, by turning you into a very obvious, fiery ball dropping from the skies.

Definitely- though I very much hope it drops you from high enough that there's time to get a missile lock on you on the way down. AA should be able to kill squad spawns.

[megamold]

also:
a button for the squad leader to press that stops people spawning on him, allowing the leader to use it tactically even with not so organised squads.

[Mechzz]

I have to say I like the ideas of accumulating squad spawn tickets and the ability for the SL to say no to squad spawning until the correct tactical moment.

[Memeotis]

also:
a button for the squad leader to press that stops people spawning on him, allowing the leader to use it tactically even with not so organised squads.

Yeah exactly; an easily accessible interface where the squad leader can look at his squad and tick boxes for: Always allowed, Ask for permission or Never allowed.

Always allowed: Player is trusted and can use squad spawn whenever there are tickets available.

Ask for permission: Shows a small queue on the squad leader's screen, where the squad leader simply has to press Y to grant permission and N to deny.

Never allowed: For the pesky random who you don't want to keep appearing in the queue.

[megamold]

Yeah exactly; an easily accessible interface where the squad leader can look at his squad and tick boxes for: Always allowed, Ask for permission or Never allowed.

Always allowed: Player is trusted and can use squad spawn whenever there are tickets available.

Ask for permission: Shows a small queue on the squad leader's screen, where the squad leader simply has to press Y to grant permission and N to deny.

Never allowed: For the pesky random who you don't want to keep appearing in the queue.

that might cause abuse,
as in: the squad leader only allowing his friends to spawn and use the tickets and screw the other guys lulz !
so its either all or none, especially since anyone will be able to make a squad.

[Robotix]

also:
a button for the squad leader to press that stops people spawning on him, allowing the leader to use it tactically even with not so organised squads.

This is pretty much necessary. I can think of plenty of instances when I wouldn't want a drop pod letting every enemy in the immediate vicinity know where I am.

[The Kush]

i'm not 100% sure about this but i think the cooldown timer for the squad spawn is going to be on the squad leader not the squad members

so only 1 player every X amount of time rather then all players every X amount of time
wich would make it much more tactical i think.
saving the squad spawn for the hacker and stuff like that.

yea it should be this way

[kaffis]

having a lot of tickets combined with a longer timer would allow for tactical insertion of a squad

the squad leader gets the order from platoon to go take a tower, he leaves and tells the squad to not spawn on him ( having first saved up for the ticket ofcourse )
the squad leader travels to the tower on a flash and calls the squad to him, they all drop and rush the tower.

its like a mini galdrop :D
This is exactly what I don't want to see. If you want to tactically insert a squad deep in enemy territory, then there need to be 10 bodies flying through the sky to offer up as 10 kills.

There's a reason Galaxies are big and juicy targets, and it's called balance.