12 replies to this topic

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Ever been in a match where nobody is calling targets for the team to focus? Most of us have, especially in solo drops. The problem, however, isn't limited to solo PUG missions. Premade groups with voice chat often find themselves unable to coordinate properly. Letters can sound the same, or confusion can be had between Epsilon the capture point and Epsilon the E-designated enemy mech.

How can one resolve this? Phonetic alphabets. The goal of a phonetic alphabet is to give each letter a separate and distinct sound, thereby making it easy to tell what somebody is referring to. There are many variants of the alphabet, some of which use a few greek letters, but I prefer a system that avoids the greek alphabet entirely, since greek letters are employed to mark objectives in Conquest mode.

Here is my suggested alphabet, through L (12 letters, which is what you'll see once 12v12 games are added; Edit - I'm adding some alternative word choices):
A - Able - Alpha
B - Baker - Bravo
C - Charlie
D - Dog - Delta
E - Echo
F - Foxtrot
G - Golf
H - Hotel
I - Indigo - India
J - Juliet
K - Kilo
L - Lima

If you're in a command or support role and want to designate a target for people to focus, whether in chat or over voice comms, then try using these letter codes. This avoids things like calling for target Kappa and having everyone rush to the Kappa capture point while the enemy mech designated K murders you.

I've found that when I take the time to type targets into team chat, it pays off more often than not. It works especially well in high-tonnage LRM builds and other fire support mechs, since you often have a bit more time to communicate than in a mobility-dependent role.

Update 1

When calling targets, or when letting people know where enemies are, grid coordinates are invaluable. No scout should try to do his job without knowing how to call grid coordinates.

The map is arranged in a pattern with A, B, C, etc., and 1, 2, 3, etc. This results in grids labeled things like A2 and H7.

When communicating positions verbally, it is helpful to use a phonetic letter followed by a number, for instance Grid Charlie-Four. This can be things like "I've spotted a light moving through Kilo-Nine, heading toward Hotel-Seven." Or, "Focus Atlas Dog in grid Foxtrot-Four."

You can also use this to help your team stay together. "Move to Echo-Five and set up on the ridge line."

Edit - I only just realized my keyboard didn't input the 'h" from fashion. My apologies for the error.

Update 2

Another thing to remember is that the best way to drop an enemy is to make sure people are targeting the vulnerable or important areas of enemy mechs. Running a Target Info module and scouting for a group? When you find a target, call out not just its type, location, and code, but advise them on where to shoot.

"Atlas Echo in grid Foxtrot-Six. He's got a Gauss, so aim for his right torso."

"Cicada Charlie running up the Three column. Aim low and take his legs."

And so on. I like to focus on Gauss rifles, since they have a great chance to explode, and legs are a great target against anything that moves really fast, but you also need to pay attention to where enemies are injured already. If a mech has a Gauss on its pristine right torso and a breached left torso, then aim for the left side. If a light is running by and it's center torso is at red internals, don't waste time shooting for the legs.

To call out hit locations on the fly, try using these convenient short cuts:

Center Torso - CT
Left Torso - LT
Right Torso - RT
Right Leg - RL
Left Leg - LL
Right Arm - RA
Left Arm - LA

So a focus call might look like this:
"Hit Catapult Baker's CT, grid Charlie-Two."

Edited by Levi Porphyrogenitus, 05 May 2013 - 06:08 AM.

[Dexter Herbivore]

You seem to have a mixture of the modern (post 1957) and the old (WWII) phonetics. A Alfa (or Alpha) . _ Able Affirmative Afirm Afirm (Able) B Bravo _ . . . Boy Baker Baker Baker C Charlie _ . _ . Cast Cast Cast Charlie D Delta _ . . Dog Dog Dog Dog E Echo . Easy Easy Easy Easy F Foxtrot . . _ . Fox Fox Fox Fox G Golf _ _ . George George George George H Hotel . . . . Have Hypo Hypo How I India . . Item Interrogatory Int Int (Item) J Juliett . _ _ _ Jig Jig Jig Jig K Kilo _ . _ King King King King L Lima

[Dexter Herbivore]

Aaaaannnnndddd that's what I get for trying to cut and paste a table:

A = Alpha
B =Bravo
C =Charlie
D= Delta
E =Echo
F = Foxtrot
G = Golf
H = Hotel
I = India
J = Juliet
K =Kilo
L = Lima

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I'm not a fan of Alpha for calling targets, and Baker just sounds better to me aesthetically. As I said, there are lots of variants to the list, and yours would work just fine.

The main thing is that people be aware of the practice and use it.

[Rushin Roulette]

2 out of 3 minimum designations are missing from your table.

The letter designation is only one part of what you need to communicate.

The real minimum is Mech type , letter designation and map coordinate (or waypoint if you have the maps down to important landmarks). For example;

Atlas, Beta in Charly Four

This way the people on your team know where to look, what to look for and which letter designation.

The problem with letter designation alone is that ECM pretty much makes thit useless for the rest of your team. Additional infomrmation would include for example weak armor parts or primary weapons (so that they know where to aim for and which distance they should go for (like staying outside of 270 meters of a Splatcat or within 80 meters of a Regular PPC boat).

EDIT: As for what name to use for the letters. It doesnt really matter. You could use city names if you really want. The important bit is that the name isnt too long and not a double name (such as New York). Every one will know that Dallas stands for D and London for L.

Edited by Rushin Roulette, 04 May 2013 - 10:58 AM.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Rushin Roulette, on 04 May 2013 - 10:55 AM, said:

As for what name to use for the letters. It doesnt really matter. You could use city names if you really want. The important bit is that the name isnt too long and not a double name (such as New York). Every one will know that Dallas stands for D and London for L.

Exactly true, though I do like to avoid Greek letters to prevent confusion.

I'll edit the OP to include other designation protocols at some point.

[Deathlike]

My recommendation is the following (I do this often):

Learn mech name shortcuts
STK - Stalker
JNR - Jenner
CENT - Centurion
etc. (I could probably create a list if you wish for this if requested..)

Location is important..

Cent @ D5
or
D5 Cent
RVN @ EP

Direct your attacks:
Leg the HGH (Highlander)
Leg the CIC (CIcada)
Core (CT) the Atlas

Requesting Help:
Need help @ C5
Help @ EPS

Inform players of ECM mechs:
ECM @ F5
ECM Atlas @ D4

Incoming message:
4 INC (4 mechs incoming)
LGT INC (light mechs incoming)

If you can type shorthanded messages, it'll make you a better communicator.. not just a better player.

Edited by Deathlike, 04 May 2013 - 11:10 PM.

[Thoummim]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 04 May 2013 - 10:54 AM, said:

I'm not a fan of Alpha for calling targets, and Baker just sounds better to me aesthetically. As I said, there are lots of variants to the list, and yours would work just fine.

The main thing is that people be aware of the practice and use it.

The international one is the one dexter herbivore gave. Better stick with one system that everybody know instead of a shitload that can be interpreted differently in another language, that why 99% of the world have adopted the metric system it make thing easier for everybody.

Able for example sound kinda like the letter è in french when alpha is obviously a.

Edited by Thoummim, 05 May 2013 - 02:21 AM.

[Soy]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 04 May 2013 - 10:07 AM, said:

So a focus call might look like this:
"Hit Catapult Baker's CT, grid Charlie-Two."

Dude straight up I would think that is a police dispatcher asking a patrol officer to bring them donuts.

Here's what I sound like - "Yo hit this ****ing... ****ing... dragon in the balls man, he's cored out in the ***, ****ing wreck him, ****... chest, chest, chest, DEAD ok next guy is..."

Edited by Soy, 05 May 2013 - 02:44 AM.

[Hammerhai]

Only thing I would stress is that the greek letters should be reserved for capture points in conquest. Prevents confusion.
These are:
Kappa
Theta
Gamma
Sigma
Epsilon
(These are the ones I remember OTOH)

For total Newbies: When you lock onto a enemy target, these are assigned an identifier in order of detection.
This is visible in the top left hand part of the targeting bracket and ranges from A (Alpha) to H (Hotel)only.

Your Grid reference is always made up of a letter and a number, in contrast, and can go beyond H on the larger maps.
So "kill Alpha 3" is a location on the map, whereas"kill Alpha" is the first mech detected.

[hkk]

For any other messages

A = Alpha
B = Bravo
C = Charlie
D= Delta
E = Echo
F = Foxtrot
G = Golf
H = Hotel
I = India
J = Juliet
K = Kilo
L = Lima
M = Mike
N= November
O= Oscar
P= Papa
Q= Quebec
R= Romeo
S= Sierra
T= Tango
U= Uniform
V= Victor
W= Whiskey
X= Xray
Y= Yankee
Z= Zulu

[Zypher]

Or

Development creates a in game function for the person in the commander position.

Commander presses a hot key to broadcast a focus fire request for his/her selected target.

Lance mates can press another hot key to confirm commanders target designation so they know what is being selected for focus fire, or they can chose to ignore it.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Zypher, on 13 May 2013 - 08:01 AM, said:

Or

Development creates a in game function for the person in the commander position.

Commander presses a hot key to broadcast a focus fire request for his/her selected target.

Lance mates can press another hot key to confirm commanders target designation so they know what is being selected for focus fire, or they can chose to ignore it.

Though we'd all love for that to be done, until then we need people to be aware of the protocols. Calling targets in chat is difficult in the middle of a fight, but it really does help your team.

What would be simplest for PGI to do is put a marker over whoever your Commander has targeted (a star maybe), and do the same for Lance Commanders but make it only display for lance members (and a different symbol, of course; asterisk maybe?).