Greers, on 22 November 2012 - 12:49 AM, said:
Imagine a real world General ignoring the actions of his troops (getting stuck on hard ressistance, routing...) and just continues as planned. He'd fail miserably, cause the "Real World" ist not like his planning predicted.
spot on. having just passed Veteran's Day here in the US (the anniversary of the armistice that ended WWI), i might point interested persons to Plan 17: it was the French plan in place at the start of WWI, and the French CiC Joffre's unwillingness to adapt when overwhelming evidence on the ground showed fatal flaws in the plan and its assumptions. it was only errors on the German side that kept their right wing from Paris and complete envelopment of the French armies.
Dak Darklighter, on 22 November 2012 - 01:14 AM, said:
It would be a lot easier if the users who favour premade games stopped using 'sir' and 'friend' as if they came from the 18th century, smoking a pipe with a monocle in a display of gentlemanship. No one is taking you people seriously.
Dak Darklighter, on 22 November 2012 - 01:17 AM, said:
Maybe commonplace over 100 years ago, it has no place in today's language as it is associated with sarcasm and condescending.
well, some of us were brought up a wee bit different, and serving in the military reinforced some amount of the same. i find a lot of the language some folks use offensive, but i refrain from implying that they should show some respect and act like what i would consider an adult.
you may be 40 or you may be 15, but no matter how popular it is, respect is still respect. i do find it a wee bit odd that your post disparagingly equates our extending common courtesy with "sarcasm and condescending." and yet both your posts reflect exactly that (the "sarcasm and condescending"). if you somehow feel inferior to those who want to be polite, perhaps you might find it worth understanding why we think it is important... failing that, perhaps you are mature enough to just ignore it like we do the language that i have limited reason to doubt would be your preferred voice.
Hayashi, on 22 November 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:
On a side note, I would like to add that using the 'B' function to 'Take Command' helps with compliance. PuGs are usually more cooperative when your name appears in yellow and has the (Commmander) tag attached to it. I'm not going to speculate why this is the case, but there's no reason for me not to do it when it improves the team's chances of victory. It also gives some nifty map location indicators that are very useful for setting up ambushes - far superior than just 'D6'.
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A premade has never, in my experience, listened to a PuG commander. Probably because they almost never come across one.
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When you can't be sure there will always be a good scout, you do it yourself, even as a Heavy. When you can't be sure there's going to be coordination and command, you assume those roles yourself.
while i agree with much of your post, i would like to note that using B requires time and both taking your eyes off the battle and losing control of your mech. for a back line, that works much better than a front line or deep scout (where either is usually not a good idea). (added in edit:) i would think having the option to show an enlarged map off center in the hud with a slightly reduced version of info the battle map has would make solo TACCOM much easier (the one at the bottom is useless for the role. upper left would be my preferred location. along the same lines, having enemy designations ("A", "B", etc.) show on targets in the battle map would be a HUGE help, even with it in it's current state.
btw, i have run as TACCOM while a pug... and they did pay attention a lot better than otherwise. now i grant that i had to be in an lrm cat to do it, but it has been done. not saying successfully, i do not belong in a cat and died to a light while trying to help coordinate, but it has been done. of course, i do not know if any pre was there, if so, they might just have gone with the flow.
one note to nascent TACCOMs, be considerate. if you don't know what you are doing (familiar with the map in question and at least common strats on it), you probably should not take the reigns. if you do, remember that others (especially if not on comms) do not know that. for the rest of us, remember that what works in face to face communications is more likely to get cooperation: suggesting is better than ordering, positive feedback is better than rage, and supporting your weakest link helps keep your drop from being man (or woman) down.
on your final point, i might also suggest we be willing to adapt
our own plans to meet the needs of the group. if i am a deep scout but my group has no use for my seeing movements on the far side of the map and thereby loses my limited firepower and distraction value, i have failed my team... be they solo pugs or dropship pugs.
Edited by cmopatrick, 22 November 2012 - 12:32 PM.