Who commands on Day 1.

[Gimpylung]

I'm hoping Matt will answer this one...

So it's day one and PS2 is officially launched and loads of players are milling about at BR1 with no command skills/certs learned yet.

Who commands? Will we have to play through an initial phase where there are no Empire commanders and rely on squad/platoon commanders to do the best they can via some kind of SL chat.

Or will you just use a few Games Moderators to fill the role until commanders come up through the ranks.

Hyperion/Allattar(VS Werner originally) informs me that PS had no commanders until weeks after launch, I didn't show up till a year later so wasn't there for that phase.

[Duddy]

Well supposedly the Empire itself will hand out its own missions.

Heck, people will probably do what they want anyway :P

[Logit]

I'd say the larger Outfits will probably guide fights for awhile. People are going to do whatever they want anyway. Even if a commander types angry messages about our first born child on whatever command chat they may have.

[MgFalcon]

Hypno-Toad will lead us ALL!

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNO-TOAD!!!

But on a serious note, I'll calling day 1 "Z-Day" (Zerg-day). Yeah there will be outfits and shit running around doing what they do once they set up. But for the most part there will be no leaders and everyone will be running around shooting anything that moves; Zerging along the ole' dirt road and bridges.... bet 100 bucks we see a Bridge battle within the first day!

[wildcat140679]

Originally Posted by Gimpylung

I'm hoping Matt will answer this one...

So it's day one and PS2 is officially launched and loads of players are milling about at BR1 with no command skills/certs learned yet.

Who commands? Will we have to play through an initial phase where there are no Empire commanders and rely on squad/platoon commanders to do the best they can via some kind of SL chat.

Or will you just use a few Games Moderators to fill the role until commanders come up through the ranks.

Hyperion/Allattar(VS Werner originally) informs me that PS had no commanders until weeks after launch, I didn't show up till a year later so wasn't there for that phase.

On day one (and any other given day), the build in empire mission system will provide the needed guidance. "Empire Primary objective, attack continent X"

It's unclear how detailed or specific, the mission system will be. But I expect it to be crude, so that those with command can set up secondary mission objects to attack/defend a more specific area on that continent.

[basti]

Simple question, simple answere: We do. Literally.

Just different. It will propably be just like it was at all times: Outfits work together to lead the continent. If 3 Platoons hit the same target, its easy for everyone else to figure out whats going on and where the fight is. Comall was never really nessesary for that, same goes with the mission system, not nessesary at the first few weeks.

Later, once people gained the ability to directly lead the zerg, stuff will be different. Outfits would work still together, but instead of hitting the same target with several plattons, they would split. One outfit there, the other outfit somewhere else, and at the same time someone is leading the zerg to a third location. That all to benefit each others attack.

It was always that way, and will always be. The zerg can never be lead with the precicion and timing a outfit would have, but whenever the zerg hits, it hits slowly but with improving power. And while the zerg keeps a position secure and locked down, an outfit or two would attack somewhere else, forcing the enemy to decrease their defense against our zerg, allowing the zerg to gain ground.



tl;dr: No worrys, stuff will work out just nicely.

[Zulthus]

People listen to commanders?

[RavenUSC3]

In the original game there were a lot of folks from beta who were there at the initial release, and during beta outfits formed, even large ones. In beta the command ranks were active and people were following certain commanders and outfit leaders already, so when the game was released, that just picked up where it left off.

Remember you did have broadcast chat, so when you finish at one base, everyone can speak to each other. Furthermore, there were lattices so you'd pretty much know where to go next. Not to mention, there is CR2-CR4 command chat as well, so all along the way that was working and I do remember a few conversations on CR4 chat with Malorn along the way on strategies. Once I got CR5 though it was a different ballgame. I remember people outside of the outfit thinking I was a dev, being offered rides from base to base, etc... Then came the /tells about what was wrong with their graphics and such and they wanted to know what I would do to fix them....

In short, if you're playing with an outfit or some kind of group, you're going to do whatever the person in charge of that outfit/group is doing. The person in charge of that outfit/group more than likely is communicating with other groups so that you're working towards a common goal. If they're not and you're following some rogue guy around and not accomplishing much, you might need to find yourself another group.

All that being said, we don't even know what the command structure is going to look like in the new game. CR5 might not exist in the same way it did. Communication in general may not be quite as liberal, or as strict. Beta is good for figuring things out though.

[Firefly]

On Day One I'll tell you what I'll be doing: 1) forming my outfit, 2) finding all my wayward outfit members, 3) getting a feel for the game's controls, and 4) taking my outfit to wherever there's a fight. And I'll tell you what I do in Planetside: find a fight, go there. I don't need a CR5 or some Supreme Overlord to tell me where and how to play.

[Sovereign]

Originally Posted by Zulthus

People listen to commanders?

The masses will most likely be fodder the 1st day without any established leaders.

Thus the question is who will have the true reins of command on day 1? current outfit leaders who are transferring over of course..

[Sir B Smythe]

I just hope that not every Tom, Dick and Harry decide they want to be commanders...... CR5 chat is full of moronic messages now, lets hope that ceases, but I won't hold my breath.

[Valdae]

Originally Posted by Firefly

On Day One I'll tell you what I'll be doing: 1) forming my outfit, 2) finding all my wayward outfit members, 3) getting a feel for the game's controls, and 4) taking my outfit to wherever there's a fight. And I'll tell you what I do in Planetside: find a fight, go there. I don't need a CR5 or some Supreme Overlord to tell me where and how to play.

As above ^^

[Malorn]

Squad leaders & outfits, with empire missions giving us a rough idea on where to go for a fight.

It'll be highly de-centralized but command will take form as the weeks and months pass and outfits get to know each other more, get organized, etc.

[Stanis]

In the first few days of the server .. chaos reigned.

It was organised madness as everyone killed everybody else (mostly the enemy though) with shiny new things.


As a few players climbed up the command ranks the outfits solidified which let to outfit based co-operation .. and a few mad commanders spending their entire game sat in a friendly SOI.
They would send out a /b or later /comall asking any squad leaders interested in a bit of teamwork to give their location and request assignment.

(outfits were already doing this. The commanders with that much organisation were in the bigger oufits)

On Werner druckwelle setup a Teamspeak server we could all use .. and chaos was contained by organisation.

<sighs> happy days..

edit: Reckon we'll have at least one European server so you can bet some of those outfit names will be familiar from the start, and old alliances reform pretty fast.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Firefly

On Day One I'll tell you what I'll be doing: 1) forming my outfit, 2) finding all my wayward outfit members, 3) getting a feel for the game's controls, and 4) taking my outfit to wherever there's a fight. And I'll tell you what I do in Planetside: find a fight, go there. I don't need a CR5 or some Supreme Overlord to tell me where and how to play.

You are right, you dont need them.

But if there is no organisation at all, stuff will go down, fast, very fast. The zerg without leadership would just always run into the next fight, always run into brick walls they couldnt break, and instead of changing the situation, people would just log off once they got frustrated. Thats what caused 20% or even less global pop for an empire countless times. Its a chain reaction, and you cant stop that while its already happening. You need to stop fights from getting retarted, and the only way to do that is players taking care of such stuff. Thats the commanders role. You would do the same on an outfit level, while i would do it on a continental level. If the two of us hate each other and you always do the exact opposite of what i want/need you to do, both of us get frustrated sooner or later. If we work together, and i include your style of play into my plan, you will have as much fun as i would have, and the zerg would be happy as well.

Its a very fine balance act, always was.