25 replies to this topic

[mailin]

With the addition of spoken communication to MWO, players have a new tool to help their team work together. However there are quite a few players that, in the heat of battle, forget some basic facts of using comms.

1) The team that communicates better tends to win more often. Voice comms used to be the main advantage that organized groups had in MWO, but now that advantage is potentially greatly reduced. Still there are far too many drops where players are not using comms or are using them in such a way as to provide incomplete or inaccurate information.

2) The default key for comms is "caps lock". This is NOT a toggle. You need to hold the key down for as long as you talk.

3) When you are talking your player name appears in the bottom center of the screen. This not only tells your team who is talking, but can be used to make sure that your mic and the game are playing nice.

4) Do not ever say, "I need help here!" That message is usually too brief for your team mates to see who is speaking, so we have no idea where you are. Also do not say, "need help B4". B4 could sound like C4, D4, E4 or even G4. Remember the comms software is still being optimized and things sometimes sound garbled. Instead, simply say, "I need help (Grid Reference, for example, Bravo 4)". The grid reference refers to your minimap location and always use a word, in this case Bravo, instead of a single letter. Always know where you are on the minimap so that in the heat of battle you can relay the appropriate info to your team.

Similarly, use comms to relay valuable info to your team such as "Assault lance Delta 3, under ECM". In this way your team knows the approximate number and strength of the enemy, their location, and that currently lrm boats will not be able to get a lock.

5) Comms still work once you are dead, so spectators can still relay valuable info to the rest of the team.

Edited by mailin, 04 April 2015 - 12:20 AM.

[Virgil Greyson]

Comms are also not designed for family guy soundboards.

[Bloodwitch]

A Alpha - al fah
B Bravo - brah voh
C Charlie - char lee (shar lee)
D Delta - del tah
E Echo - ekk oh
F Foxtrot - foks trot
G Golf - golf?
H Hotel - ho tell (i use Hodor)
I India - in dee ah
J Juliett - jew lee ett
K Kilo - key loh (kee lo)
L Lima - lee mah
M Mike - mike (maik)
N November - noh vem ber
O Oscar - oss car
P Papa - pah pah
Q Quebec - keh beck
R Romeo - row me oh
S Sierra - see air ah
T Tango - tang go
U Uniform - you nee form
V Victor - vik ter
W Whiskey - wiss key
X X-ray - (ecks-ray)
Y Yankee - yang kee (yang key)
Z Zulu - zoo loo (zou lou)

1 One - won
2 Two - too
3 Three - tree
4 Four - fo-wer (foh er)
5 Five - fife (fyf)
6 Six - siks
7 Seven - se van / sev en
8 Eight - ate / ayt
9 Nine - nin
10 Ten - ten?

"Alpha to bravo, enemies at four o'clock, delta five , i'm at your six, dinner is ready at seven."

~From my notes and to the best of my knowledge, may not be perfect but works.~

Also, as an example, seeing a BNC and a BLR and want to tell your team?
Use banshee and battlemaster or (k.i.s.s.) "two assaults".

Parts without armor (damaged mechs): critical or crit

center torso: CT (see teh)
side torso: ST (use left or right)
rear (use rear CT/ left or right ST)
legs (left or right, there is no rear leg)
arm (left or right again)
cockpit (i didn't came up with that.. you know how to spell that, right? like brat pitt only with "you know what" (like a rooster, you jerk). for rare ocassions such as legged and/or shut down/disconnected mechs or Hunchbacks and shadowhawks in general)

example: "charlie six, Atlas, Crit CT and right leg"

If you have a lock so does your team, look at the letter above the target box.

example: "help Bravo, target bravo"

Edited by Teru Kojima, 04 April 2015 - 06:27 AM.

[B0oN]

I am calling for a vote to sticky this !

[Virgil Greyson]

Rad Hanzo, on 04 April 2015 - 06:04 AM, said:

I am calling for a vote to sticky this !

How do we vote on this? Is there a button? Or do we just say DO EET in here?

[Piney II]

When I'm dropping PUGs, I've noticed that the team that actually uses the comms to coordinate wins more often than not. Don't be mic shy....use the comms.

[mailin]

I completely agree Piney, which is why I was compelled to write this. I know I have a lot more fun and the games are better when a team uses comms. Also, I often found text chat difficult to read while driving around at 150+ kph and avoiding enemy fire.

[P H O X]

I want to put a big neon blinky sticker with warhorns and fancy arrows to what Teru Kojima said.
In the heat of the moment a D3 could too easily become B3,C3 etc.

This Natocodes are there for a reason

Edited by Polarphox, 04 April 2015 - 08:50 AM.

[mailin]

The NATO codes come in handy, but I find as long as I use a word that obviously starts with the letter the team tends to understand me. For instance, I still think the proper code for J is Jell-O.

[Madcap72]

Piney, on 04 April 2015 - 06:36 AM, said:

When I'm dropping PUGs, I've noticed that the team that actually uses the comms to coordinate wins more often than not. Don't be mic shy....use the comms.

On the flip side, I've noticed that a lot of losing matches, people with comms, who never said a thing all game, are vocally negative at the end of a losing match.



I've never understood what trying to trash talk people at the end of a match will accomplish, when planning at the begining would have avoided losing.

[Sandersson Jankins]

Honestly, you can make up words for the calls and it works fine. A lot of times instead of uniform for U, I'll call (and others too!) "underwear" or "your momma" for Y! good fun.

Or you can use an archaic WW2-era US system. A lot of times I'll call "enemies pushing hard up dog 2!" and people will be like lolwhat dude are you stoned?

Can't help it boys, I'm a WW2 nerd as well as a huge BT nerd.

[Romeo Deluxe]

Hey! My name is on Teru's list.

In pubs you only have to remember the first 12.

[GTV Zeratul]

Isn't "nine" supposed to be "nine-er"? To avoid confusion with five.

[mailin]

Probably, but there aren't that many maps that have a nine, with the exception of Alpine and Terra Therma.

And I also say Dog instead of Delta.

[MechWarrior3671771]

As a RL LAV-25 gunner, I would add one thing from experience:

Don't be a Chatty Cathy. Keep your communications tight, don't ramble on or add extraneous information when one phrase will do. And put the most important info first:

"Contact. Delta 3. Heavies"

NOT

"hey guys I think I see a light and a heavy... er... make that 2 heavies... they are moving toward...uhm... the tower over in...wait lemme check...Charlie... no... Delta 3"

Edited by Fenrisulvyn, 07 April 2015 - 08:53 AM.

[Gagis]

Teru Kojima, on 04 April 2015 - 05:39 AM, said:

9 Nine - nin

Aviation and military radio guides recommend using "Niner" instead of nine in the phonetic alphabet, which makes distinguishing the number easier even if the first half of the word becomes garbled.

[mailin]

Saying niner just feels so unnatural though.

One question I have though, is what happens if you're on TeamSpeak and use the voip software in game? Do your TS friends hear you twice?

[Richter Kerensky]

Virgil Greyson, on 04 April 2015 - 04:56 AM, said:

Comms are also not designed for family guy soundboards.

You're right, they're designed for JOHN CENA

[Sandersson Jankins]

mailin, on 09 April 2015 - 12:47 PM, said:

Saying niner just feels so unnatural though.

One question I have though, is what happens if you're on TeamSpeak and use the voip software in game? Do your TS friends hear you twice?

Only if you have the same hotkey bound for both program's voice transmission. Or I guess if you don't use a hotkey in TS.

[mailin]

I thought so. I have teamspeak set to voice activation, so yeah, I guess they'd hear me twice.