Comand & Control: Makeing it easier

[Nazsteph]

It has come to my attention that there is a lack of communication and ability to share information that is one of the main causes of the zer. I have been thinking along these lines with the help of many posts to try to get a feel for what is needed. Now I hold no CR rank so I do not know what options are available to a ranking officer but as I see it there needs to be a Command center to coordinate the offensive, defensive as well as covert ops campaigns. And as such I believe that every base should be equipped with a Comand & Control Room. They all do have them already, that little room behind the spawn room. I would suggest making a few little changes to this room to create a C&C Center to coordinate massive campaigns.

1. Place in that room 3-4 pods similar to gun turrets(without the guns), when a level 5 enters one of these pods he is given a dispaly that can be customized and saved in his personal preferences suiting his command style.

a. This display would give him access to all personnel on that particular continent (i.e. listings of certs, BR & CR rating, currently LFS ...etc...etc.)

b. This would also allow him to sort those troops by Cert and Currently carried equipment (to get the right person to the right place at the right time)

c. He would be given the ability to access the PoV of any of the solders under his command (1st or 3rd).

d. Any devices that show enemy movment will also display that movement on his moveable radar, centerable on any location he clicks on the map. But, only friendly equipment or solders will give him the info; Ex. clicks on enemy base, no friendlys in the area no new information.

e. From the over head map he will be able to mouse click/box select troops and set specific WP for each solder/squad/platoon, that will only show up for those specifically selected.

f. While in the C&C Pod he will be able to receive any base message from friendly bases hooked into the currently controlled lattice, of coarse sorted and toggle on/off as he sees fit.

g. (for any abilities that a true CR5 might need that I have missed)

2. The CR5 in command would crceive the temporary title of General while occupying the CC Pod.

3. He can form a Command Squad of other Generals with him as the head this spreads benefits over the entire army with a cohesive single command structure. They can be at the same base or spread out across currently controlled lattice connected bases.

4. He would share BR and CR as if he wer in the SOI of every location his solders are currently receiving XP. Additionally everyone who is under him no matter where on the map would also earn XP (sharing of coarse so it would be reduced but continent wide would be significant and only on the continent the general is on)

5. He would be able to control the individual makeup of the squads and platoons under him, kicking and switching where appropriate. Since everyone is earning pretty much the same XP giving him the ablility to put someone in a squad or platoon that might need their specific skills would help the over all battle. And he can quickly restore a platoon back to full strength when people leave for varying reasons.

6. No benefits would be received unless the General is occupying a fully powered Pod (Gen going down, death, or just exiting the pod would negate any benefits) Stealthiers this looks like a job for you Others on his Command Squad may leave their pods at any time and the platoons under their command will still receive the benefits i.e guard the General, resecure the Gen room, move to a different base then get promoted to general in case of a strategic withdrawal.

Now this is just a rough overview but I think easily achievable, except for the C&C Pods there is no new in game art, a few new pop ups and displays whose main purpose is to make information gathering and displaying easier. There would be a few programming issues to sort out, but overall if not useing this feature the rest of the game would remain the same.

I do understand that this would take a CR5 out of the actual fighting, so if you are a fighting commander then a platoon leader or squad leader would still be your best bet and there is still ample need for these positions (even a General cant keep his eye on you 100% of the time).

A General would be someone promoted by a platoon leader into the position; the platoon would still need a ground leader to organize the troops so that is why he is not eligigle. And you must have a least a platoon under you to promote somone into the general position and it would be up the the Generals then to decide the Command Squad Hierarchy.

The sharing of XP in this manner is so when you assign a squad to defend a base that is important but not currently under attack, or only by a small deturmined force then they still share in the total army XP even though out of most of the heavy fighting. And you could say the same about any other non-XP job that must be done. Recon being one of the number one, sending a cloaker deep into enemy territory to scout out defenses and troop movements, under strict orders not to engage the enemy because the General can only see what is going on where his troops are. This could be a very long trek with no kills no xp who would want to do it?

Well I believe this would help some in suppressing the zerg but of coarse it is only one mans opinion. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Nazsteph - 7day'er whith the help of community and Ebay may be joining you all as a full member very soon, Thanks all

[Sentrosi]

Interesting. But what defines the hierarchy of CR5's? The first one who makes it into the pod is the lead general? It's a nice concept, but what if the general is just a n00b wanting to piss people off? Sure, the /ignore command would come in handy. But, then you'll be cutoff from all communication. Perhaps if the CR5's had additional CEP's based upon their strategy. You could be assured then that at least SOMEONE competent could lead your empire.

[Nazsteph]

Well, it would be self policeing, because you would have to have the approval of a platoon before you could even enter the C&C pod. Once in the the pod you have only control of those platoons that give you control. This would allow two Generals on the same continent controlling two separate armys, each General giveing benefits only to his army. Now one can ask the other to become subordinate in order to join their forces, creating the Command Squad, he then becomes the overall General and spreads the benefits to everyone under him.

Sure there will be some in the beginning that will be horrible, but Making it a promotion and only available to CR5 would weed out some of the undesired leaders, while others would gain a reputation so when they log on platoons would be petitioning their General to become subordinate to him.

A General can withdraw his support of another at any time so if he is majorly screwing up or just not paying attention there would, I hope, be defections toward a new General.

[NoSurrender]

the probelm is cr5 is meaning less and less as more people get it.

[TeraHertz]

I'm CR 0, and proud.

[Veteran]

I'm aiming to be a career cr3 and perhaps retire a cr4. Chain of command is essential to a military, and powerlevelling to cr5 is a mindset that can't fit everyone if the game is to remain strong.

I'd be cr5 now if I had been the one soaking up CEP over the last few months, but we appointed my friend to be the 'CEP soaker' and he got cr5 and quit. At this point, there are enough cr5s and soldiers that can set aside the ego factor and help form a chain of command are at a premium of usefulness.

The funny thing is, I play a lot but I never demand to be SL to soak CEP, so after all these months I still need 6 bubbles for cr3. Writing on the map and wrecking minefields will be pretty satisfying. An EMP blast every 20 minutes is a little hard on combat engineers, I must say, but that's how it is.