Question about PS's commander roll

Cyanide · 2003-04-09, 05:31 PM

I read on the PS website that in planetside you can take the roll of a commander so-to-speak and form/order squads to different waypoints and objectives, etc. I was wondering if this feature is actually being used to any success in the beta. I don't know if just telling that violates the NDA or not. I don't want to know any details about the commander system. I just want to know if it's actually being used by players in the beta.

I ask this because Tribes2 (a game that has many similarities to PS) had a "commander" feature too. You could put waypoints on other players huds and give them objectives. The only problem is, nobody ever listened to the orders. So i want to know if this thing is actually used in PS.

Terik · 2003-04-09, 05:37 PM

Well, I'm guessing the commander feature will be utilized much more than it was in T2, becuase this game is going to be more team oriented. Since everyone will be concentrated into small groups it will be easier for commanders to mannage them and point out targets and all that, and the handy dandy kick option (which i'm 100% sure is in) will ensure you don't get any glory hogging assholes on your team.

Jimbo · 2003-04-09, 05:41 PM

Originally posted by Cyanide
The only problem is, nobody ever listened to the orders.

I'm pretty sure that as the game matures, there will be plenty of command rank folks that other players will learn to recognize as good tacticians and leaders. Of course, there is no tangible way to force another player to do what you tell them to do but if a grunt has the empire's best interest in mind over his own he'll do as he is asked with no questions. I think those who do as they're told and pay attention to detail will be remembered by the command types and will be more apt to get a squad than renegade "one man army" types who run in blasting and die a pointless death.

[EDIT] Spelling error.

Elian · 2003-04-09, 05:49 PM

I believe the commanders will be used a lot, i mean, they have the "electronic map" deal too, there will atleast be "outfit" commanders that will be listened to. However, if some guy told me to do something, i'd probably listen, unless it was incredibly ludacris.

Venoxile · 2003-04-09, 05:50 PM

I think it could work except just one thing. Tell me if i'm incorrect on this thing.
This isn't exact, not quite sure but i believe outfits are split into platoons, and platoons are split into squads. If you're in an outfit i'd guess roughly about 80% of the time you're online, your squad's not, so, do you just make a squad of whoever you come by?

Another question is: couldn't anyone with an infiltration suit and a rek come online at 5 in the morning and hack some bases while everyone's asleep? Does planetside's servers turn off at night or something?

Ginzue · 2003-04-09, 05:53 PM

No, the servers never turn off.

Euroclydon · 2003-04-09, 05:57 PM

Squad structures in outfits should be pretty dynamic. If they're not, then yes, that would be a problem that no outfit members are online.

There's nothing stopping you to just join up with a few people you've never seen before who are getting ready to get on a galaxy and cap a base. Unless outfits are a lot more organized than I'm thinking they will be, this will be quite common I'm sure.

PS is 24/7 (except for maintanance downtime and such). Depending on how big the server populations are, I'd imagine there will still be a fair ammount of people on late and during the day. It'll be a lot easier to hack a base at those times, but it probably won't be a complete ghost town.

reaver101 · 2003-04-09, 05:58 PM

You can form a squad with anyone you meet. The person that starts the squad is the commander but that can be handed off to someone else if wanted.

Jim Raynor · 2003-04-09, 06:58 PM

Originally posted by Cyanide
The only problem is, nobody ever listened to the orders.

first of all there going to be a thing that kick the TKer and be the look at it lot of the people playing this will be like 16 to 35+ ok so i think there going to listened.

Ex70 · 2003-04-09, 07:01 PM

Originally posted by Venoxile
couldn't anyone with an infiltration suit and a rek come online at 5 in the morning and hack some bases while everyone's asleep?

Sleep?

Jaged · 2003-04-09, 07:02 PM

No one answered his question. Im curious too.

Venoxile · 2003-04-09, 07:04 PM

which question, one of mine or cyanide's?

Zatrais · 2003-04-09, 07:06 PM

They (the beta testers) can't directly answer the question due to the NDA...

But in most screenshots hamma is running around whit his command uplink tool so i bet the commander features is used quite a bit, atleast whitin outfits and the squad/platoon hes leading.

Seer · 2003-04-09, 07:08 PM

Of course no one listened in tribes. The maps are comparatively small with a small number of players, people move extremely rapidly, and it is possible to solo and the games are over quickly. Also, there were a very small number of objectives.

PS is huge in terms of people and size, people move slower, the game is persistent, and there are tons of objectives. It may be that the waypoint and command system will seldom be used, but the environment is a lot more conductive to it than match FPS games.

Cyanide · 2003-04-09, 07:38 PM

I think that in order for the command feature to be usefull (as in people actually listen) there has to be some reward for listening. Like a small amount of experience for following through with orders. If there is no tangible benefit you'll have trouble getting the "Lone wolf" types to work as a team.

Also, Jim Raynor, the fact that most of the people on the servers will be 16-25 year old males is exactly what makes it hard to see the commander system actually working effectively. Anybody who has ever been in that age/gender group, or had children that fit that description knows exactly how cooprative most of them are. Not saying every one is like that, just a lot of them.