Command

[Tikuto]

Humans always make mistakes. :P

[basti]

Originally Posted by SgtSnarf

What about an interface that allows you to pull up all available CR5 commanders that are presently logged in and active.



With an easy-to-use toggle interface, you can select the one(s) that you want to follow and you will only see their global broadcasts. This makes it easy to filter out the noise and to pro-actively choose the people you respect and actually want to follow. You could even add additional features to this interface that introduce additional communication tools and leadership abilities.

It's much easier to build a bridge than drain a river.

-SgtSnarf

That wouldnt fix the issue, it would just make you not see it. :/

[Traak]

How about /downrep where the CR5's could address ONLY the CR4's? I wanted that from the first time I used /sitrep, years ago. I would talk to the CR5's through sitrep, and they could only talk to me through tells or broadcasts, or /com.

I think /downrep would be a good command.

[CutterJohn]

I would personally like to see CEP and command ranks ditched entirely. In its place, a more fluid system with a simple mechanic.. Players choosing their commanders. Players would choose their squad leader. Squad leaders would choose their platoon leader. Platoon leaders would choose battalion leader, etc, and the more players you had under your command, the more access to command tools and chats you receive.

In this way, those who are in control of the armies constantly selected from a constant democratic process where the players choose who is in charge. People who lead well will be remembered. Those who do not, will not be, and players will not choose to follow them.

I would also like to see more tools at the commanders disposal, tools that entice players to do what is directed of them. For instance, the continent commander would be able to call a primary base, and aside from being highlighted on the map, there are actual benefits to fighting there, such as improved BEP rates. Lower ranked commanders could place attack/defend areas on more local positions. For example a squad or platoon leader could place a marker at the backdoor, and players under his command would get bonuses for defending or attacking that. They could also place bounties on players or structures, that pay out BEP on destruction, to entice players to take it out.

More carrot! Less screaming!

[KayOneElRoy]

Originally Posted by Hamma

Command Rank (if it exists) in PlanetSide Next should really have tons of information available to them. Real time data provided on what is going on in the battles. This is something we never had in PS other than "HotSpots" which were fairly useless.

I completely agree. Information is essential, and it would add a lot more depth and meaning into commanding troops in Planetside.

[Evilmp]

Originally Posted by Hamma

Most people just drew penises and the like.

every day


every, fucking, day

[Hamma]

I know that I have drawn a few lude images on teh map.

[demise14]

Originally Posted by SgtSnarf

What about an interface that allows you to pull up all available CR5 commanders that are presently logged in and active.



With an easy-to-use toggle interface, you can select the one(s) that you want to follow and you will only see their global broadcasts. This makes it easy to filter out the noise and to pro-actively choose the people you respect and actually want to follow. You could even add additional features to this interface that introduce additional communication tools and leadership abilities.

It's much easier to build a bridge than drain a river.

-SgtSnarf

Now that's an awesome idea. It should show "rating" and current amount of followers as well. Possibly even allow reviews or comments. That way the unproven/annoying commanders will have negative reviews and very few followers.

[Sieldan]

Originally Posted by SgtSnarf

What about an interface that allows you to pull up all available CR5 commanders that are presently logged in and active.



With an easy-to-use toggle interface, you can select the one(s) that you want to follow and you will only see their global broadcasts. This makes it easy to filter out the noise and to pro-actively choose the people you respect and actually want to follow. You could even add additional features to this interface that introduce additional communication tools and leadership abilities.

It's much easier to build a bridge than drain a river.

-SgtSnarf

Originally Posted by basti

That wouldnt fix the issue, it would just make you not see it. :/

Originally Posted by demise14

Now that's an awesome idea. It should show "rating" and current amount of followers as well. Possibly even allow reviews or comments. That way the unproven/annoying commanders will have negative reviews and very few followers.

How about this with a twist. If as a CRx you dont get a certain number of 'Follows' in a period of time, your CEP degrades.

[Firefly]

I'm going to have to agree with degrading of command rank as a means of population control - but really, what do you expect from an 8yr old game? Practically everyone should have CR5 by now.

Maybe they should um... I dunno... fix Command Ranks before they even worry about any of the other side-issues. I mean, let's think about it. What does CR give you? A few good tools and the rest was shit. Basically, Reveal Enemies had limited function which, if you have intuition and care about hotspots, could provide a teensy bit more info. EMP was useful for Gal-drops. Accurate orbital strikes on stationary targets or obvious hot-drop spots. The ability to zerg-herd. The rest was practically fucking useless.

Command Rank 1: somewhat useful - gave you waypoints (which I only really used as a navigation beacon). WPs were decent for mercs, but if you had an outfit with a decent population, no real need for mercs except for try-outs.

Command Rank 2: useless - gave me a CUD which could do what for me at that rank? Fucking nothing - reveal friendlies? Fuck that. I can do that by asking my outfit mates and alliance mates. The zerg, I don't really give a shit about. Access to CR2 chat? OOOH big fucking win there! This was the shittiest command rank ever.

Command Rank 3: useful - gave you an EMP, which had its benefits even though at CR3 it's lower power. Namely, Gal-drops into a Spitfire zone or minefield no longer ran the risk of killing everyone as they hit the ground.

Command Rank 4: useful/useless - orbital strikes were entertaining the first time I did it as CR4. Then attempting to vape an AMS and not being right on top only to discover that I just fried a few troops but didn't kill the AMS? Weak. It turned to somewhat useful but also equally useless when they took away continental broadcasts. EMP was a bit stronger, I think?

Command Rank 5: useful - CR5 OS is about the only decent thing here, or if you're not a complete twat, globals and continental-wide broadcasts. Reveal enemies had limited potential, EMP was useful. Unfortunately, there's no ego-check system so outfits with a hundred CR5s could basically run the game, at which point you either toe the line or go do something else and hope you're happy with that. This was somewhat negated by having alliances with multiple outfits and all working on a voice server together. If a dick move was made by Miss Popular Outfit, at least an alliance could still make a dent elsewhere.

[demise14]

Originally Posted by Sieldan

How about this with a twist. If as a CRx you dont get a certain number of 'Follows' in a period of time, your CEP degrades.

I like that but, some people are just going to want to level their CR for the extra tools and appearance mods, with no intentions of actually commanding people. I don't think that should be taken away.

Maybe you should have to actually broadcast yourself as a 'commander' to gain access to the global command tools, but this allows your CEP to degrade when you have a small percentage of the overall followers (to stop people from abusing it and drawing shit on the maps, and to keep there from being too many actual commanders). It should work by percentage of the players that are actually subscribing rather than accounting for all players of that faction, because obviously some people are not going to care or they'll just be working with their squads or outfits.

There should also be some system in place to alert people of the current broadcasting commanders they can subscribe to, to encourage faction-wide coordination. And limit the players to only 'subscribing' to 2 or 3 GLOBAL commanders at a time. Perhaps have a separate list for continent commanders with the same rules applying, with no subscribing limit.

The other people who just want to get CR for the appearance upgrades/OS/EMP can still do so and not have to deal with the responsibility of leading. They could just choose to have their command rank hidden. And this will allow for potential new commanders to step up on the spot when the proven commanders are offline or quit the game or whatever.

[LesserShade]

Here's an idea for starters. Don't give win buttons (OS) away as rewards for raising command rank.

[Azver]

Originally Posted by CutterJohn

I would personally like to see CEP and command ranks ditched entirely. In its place, a more fluid system with a simple mechanic.. Players choosing their commanders. Players would choose their squad leader. Squad leaders would choose their platoon leader. Platoon leaders would choose battalion leader, etc, and the more players you had under your command, the more access to command tools and chats you receive.

In this way, those who are in control of the armies constantly selected from a constant democratic process where the players choose who is in charge. People who lead well will be remembered. Those who do not, will not be, and players will not choose to follow them.

I would also like to see more tools at the commanders disposal, tools that entice players to do what is directed of them. For instance, the continent commander would be able to call a primary base, and aside from being highlighted on the map, there are actual benefits to fighting there, such as improved BEP rates. Lower ranked commanders could place attack/defend areas on more local positions. For example a squad or platoon leader could place a marker at the backdoor, and players under his command would get bonuses for defending or attacking that. They could also place bounties on players or structures, that pay out BEP on destruction, to entice players to take it out.

More carrot! Less screaming!

I agree with this. i think something like this might really help out. I dont know how many times when leading a squad or platoon and there was a relatively lightly guarded back door and i would try to get them all to focus on it, but most were more interested in the xp farm at the front door.

Maybe more area specific incentives would help those that normally dont follow the given orders, do so.

[LesserShade]

Originally Posted by Azver

I agree with this. i think something like this might really help out. I dont know how many times when leading a squad or platoon and there was a relatively lightly guarded back door and i would try to get them all to focus on it, but most were more interested in the xp farm at the front door.

Maybe more area specific incentives would help those that normally dont follow the given orders, do so.

Yeah I think tweaking incentives is key.. getting virtually the same XP for shooting down a lib as capping a base that has been contested for an hour just leads to prolonged bep farming over trying to work towards a collective goal.

[Bags]

It's currently a lot more lucrative to just farm than to cap bases. Highly contested base caps need to be at least 5 - 10x more BEP.