Gameplay: Localized Missions/Waypoints - Transport Available, Emergency Medical Assistance, ect

[Zekeen]

As we all know, there is a very in depth mission system in Planetside 2, though we haven't had a chance to really get to see it in action. I've thought on something that can improve gameplay and teamwork as well as organization. And that is through "missions" in the immediate area.

Medics can see who is injured, but if you call for a medic, you will give a "local mission" to nearby medics that you need immediate assistance. Completing this mission won't net them any bonuses, but maybe it can go toward a merit.

Another local mission, is one that gives nothing but helps organize troops not grouped together. Transports can use a voice command to call for passengers. When done, the transport shows up as a local mission to nearby troops who can see what the transport is lacking when looking at it. This is a rather important idea so allow me to go further into depth.

You're in a friendly base, a Galaxy lands behind you and calls for passengers. A small blip on your screen appears pointing to turn in a direction to face the Galaxy. When you turn and look at the Galaxy, it shows a line of infantry icons, greyed out, and 2 MAX icons, greyed out as well. This means the transport is empty and each icon lights up as itfills with troops. This lets you see an available transport that's not used by a specific squad and is freely transporting allies. This effect will also be useful when a vehicle is in the field and is calling for a gunner. Imagine having a tank nearby call for a gunner and you get an icon to run and jump in the second seat.

These localized missions can be seen through walls and even give distance to the objective. They can be used to get the attention of allies in a multitude of ways, signaling them to specific alerts or needs.

Here's a list of some things to see how this can help.

Medic - Calling for healing as more of an emergency for a medic to see your immediate need.

Repair - Calling for a repair for your vehicle or MAX so engineers in the heat of combat see you are in danger.

Transportation - Calling out for others to see you are ready to take them to the battlefield.

Backup - Calling out to allies that you are being pressed by the enemy and need more to come reinforce your position.

Scouting - Calling out that you have spotted an enemy from your position. Allies will see a marker of where you are, even through walls, but not the enemy. This seems worthless, but when defending a base it can tell you which side the enemies are at.



Squad Commands - Unlike basic commands, there are more squad commands to give your squad simple specific local missions when doing a bigger mission (attack a console instead of just attackign a base).

Attack Position - Send your squad after a specific objective.

Defend Position - Send squad to defend a specific objective.

Hold Position - Call squad to defend the area you are standing in when you give the command.

Regroup - Call squad to move with you.

Squad Transport - Call squad to use a transport without calling non squad members to the location.

Squad Dropzone - Call for squad mates to drop in to your location when using the drop pod ability... be sure to step a few steps back after doing this.

In the end, these serve as only a special way to assist a player with organizing the game. It's chaos in war, but if there is a way to help them out through their own actions instead of holding their hands, it gives the game just that much more depth.

In PS1, probably even harder than finding a medic, giving backup, or attacking the right objective, by far the most difficult task was logistics. I was a Galaxy pilot and frequently went in them as a passenger as well, and what I always remember was people being unable to find the right Galaxy to enter and getting into a space. I would call out for passengers and many times they would not find it, forcing me to use the chat to direct them to me in the courtyard. This is very hard with more Galaxys in the base too. Imagine if it was a thousand instead of a hundred players trying to find a vehicle. Having these localized missions give directions to where they can get things done. This can speed up the game without actually speeding it up. It makes it easier and less confusing as well.


A few final notes on localized missions -

They are used for convienance, not rewards.

They have a limited range, depending on the mission type so does the ranger (Galaxy transportation is much larger than calling for backup, vehicles get their nice intercom extended range)

Local Missions will ends over time if not completed. A backup call with not last more than 30 seconds, you are usually dead after 30 seconds or everyone has seen the call by then. Transportation missions last until transport moves out of the area.

Squad calls should be certed in the squad leader tree.