2
Anyways, with that said, I've probably spent more time using it than most MWO players. I'm sure there are others that use it but not many. It is incredibly effective as far as I can tell. Sure, not everyone listens to orders--some ignore them, some dissent, some just are too busy fighting to notice. Either way, I think it makes a difference.
In my time using it, I've always had one big issue with it, well, two. The first issue is the interface itself. The second is notification to the player. The biggest improvement the developers have made to it so far is playing a sound effect when an objective is introduced/changed. More people pay attention to it now than before. Still, not everyone hears the changes.
So due to all my usage of it, I'd like to finally give a little feedback that could make it quite a bit better/more useful/easier to use by the commander issuing orders.
At the moment, it is extremely cumbersome and takes away precious seconds to do what shouldn't take nearly as long as it does now. In order to place a marker on the map, you have to do it not just one, but three times for each and every lance at the start and subsequently mid-combat. When you place this marker, you have to mouse through sub-icons which additionally takes time each instance you place. You've got to be precise, also in mousing through all of it because if you aren't, you have to close the screen and start over again.
In combat, we don't have time. We have seconds. So at the moment, the current downsides to the whole interface/system are as follows:
1. Sound effect played is good but need more to catch lancemate attention.
2. Mousing interface/icon placement is slow and tedious.
3. Player should never have to leave screen to stop an order being issued.
4. No way to commander to issue an order for their entire team in one click/mouse movement.
5. Have to use the mouse gesture menu to place icons.
Now, how would I improve things? Having used it so often, there are several ideas that I have.
Firstly, when issuing an order, in addition to playing a sound effect to your lancemates, perhaps have betty tell them something like, "New Objective." This simple addition alone could help people pay attention to it better. The female voice has been proven in multiple military studies to grab the attention of pilots in combat far better than anything else. Why not do this?
Second, allow hotkeys on the map! How would this work? Well, instead of mousing through multiple sub menus many times, set things up like this:
Four keys on keyboard to set who you are assigning the order to, i.e. key "A" for Lance A, key "B" for Lance B, key "C" for lance C and key "D" for the Entire Squad. The key letters are arbitrary. They could be assigned to a spot on the keyboard -- say the DEL, END and Page Down keys for example.
Once you press one of the four keys to pick who you are assigning the order to, have four or five more keys to pick the actual order. So, for example, for the Hold Order, you could press the "Ins" key. Now, the moment you press this next key for the order, it puts it on the map exactly where your mouse cursor is hovering over--allowing precision and at the same time, giving the commander an extremely fast way to enter the order.
From my estimates, the time spent issuing orders would be sped up tremendously by allowing this. It would keep the commanders SA up (Situational Awareness) and promote more usage of the system for better co-ordination of his team.
I'm not sure what the Cry-Engine limitations are for something like this but in my eyes, it'd help a lot. MWO would go from a clunky command interface to something streamlined like in an RTS game--where speed and precision is of the essence.
To summarize, the improvements would be as follows:
1. Have betty notify squadmates of a "New Objective," verbally.
2. Allow hotkeys to be pressed to choose Lance A, B, C or All as the first step.
3. Allow hotkeys to be pressed to choose order action for the second step and when pressed, immediately place a marker on the map corresponding to the current mouse cursor position on the map.
4. Panic button (see below)
5. Panic target (see below)
I believe these changes alone would tremendously help the current system and promote more usage of it.
Lastly, have a final function similar to RTS games that beep/flash/etc on the map to signal their teammates in an emergency. i.e. a warning/panic button. You mouse over the area of concern, press the panic key and it sends a flashing graphical/audible signal to all lancemates so they can immediately respond/focus/pay attention. In addition to this function, the "panic target" feature would allow the Commander to issue a priority target status to a corresponding enemy mech that he has identified for them all to focus on. This "panic target" hotkey could be pressed not only on the map but say on the target the Commander currently has targeted.
I urge PGI to consider these ideas as serious suggestions from someone who has been using the command system ever since it was introduced. Thanks.
edit: I'd like to present evidence of the Command Screen's effectiveness. I PUG quite a bit and at the moment, I have a 68.7% Win percentage in drops. This is no way a result of my individual performance. The game is far too team-oriented for this to be the case. I'd like to think my persistence with issuing commands has played a large part in this number.
Edited by Mister Blastman, 07 August 2013 - 07:37 AM.
