46 replies to this topic

[Kjudoon]

I KNOW MY PHONETIC ALPHABERT: https://youtu.be/RFmJjlAaSow

For when you just dont care anymore and have lost your mind.

[Leone]

So, as far as I can see, the best way to focus fire a team is by appealing to their better natures and calling out things like 'Charlie, Atlas, Open CT.' or 'E5, Jager open right side.' This will invite all your teammates to participate in downing that mech, as each strives to show their team spirit by claiming the kill. These orders are short, succinct, and offer a tantalizing glimpse of future cbills should someone listen.

Remember, if you wish to lead your team, give them oppourtunities they want to follow. Once they have fallen into that habit and have learned that your directions ma very well lead to extra kills, then you can start making calls like 'Someone help, this Crab is killing me!' or 'Focus fire that Blackjack.'

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 13 August 2015 - 03:27 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Leone, on 13 August 2015 - 03:25 PM, said:

So, as far as I can see, the best way to focus fire a team is by appealing to their better natures and calling out things like 'Charlie, Atlas, Open CT.' or 'E5, Jager open right side.' This will invite all your teammates to participate in downing that mech, as each strives to show their team spirit by claiming the kill. These orders are short, succinct, and offer a tantalizing glimpse of future cbills should someone listen.

Remember, if you wish to lead your team, give them oppourtunities they want to follow. Once they have fallen into that habit and have learned that your directions ma very well lead to extra kills, then you can start making calls like 'Someone help, this Crab is killing me!' or 'Focus fire that Blackjack.'

~Leone

trying hard to point out the damage of the enemy a bit more

but man talk about rude players in yesterday 3 matches

the team was kinda in a panic mode when we got swarm from both ends and out base was attacked by a light.

my team highest damage player was like cursing saying the team is a bunch of morons and he specifically said my commanding skills and my mech suck.

I mean come on, you were a noob once.

We lose together and win together

yes my mech overheats a lot and only deal like 250+ dmg with a few assists. I was the last guy standing when I was killed. And moving about to assist while calling out commands

the other was back in Viridian Bog but we were kinda caught by surprise because the enemy used a few ECM mechs to mask the assaults like the King Crab and Dire Wolf and in a weird place like in Bravo 3 and Bravo 4.

Initially the team could not figure out the King Crab and the bodyguard. But when I was following a teammate who when to a corner and later back up did I see the actual face of the King Crab (Boss) and the Hellbringer Prime (Bodyguard). And worse the Dire Wolf Prime was just behind. And the Daishi pretty much shred me in a face to face combat of lead vs laser vomit.

Again my teammates was not happy with my commanding skills.

[MechWarrior3671771]

"player was like cursing saying the team is a bunch of morons and he specifically said my commanding skills and my mech suck."

Ignore him. It's not MWO unless some moron is bashing his own team.

"Again my teammates was not happy with my commanding skills"

Yah, so you screwed up. Its not like they were willing to step up. So easy to throw rocks from the sidelines. I would rather have a poor drop commander than none at all.

Learn from your mistakes, keep trying, and you'll do better. The reason we have so few shot callers in pug drops is because pilots are scared of failing. But success is the child of hundreds of failures.

Edited by Fenrisulvyn, 13 August 2015 - 05:07 PM.

[Chocowolf Sradac]

Fenrisulvyn, on 13 August 2015 - 04:53 PM, said:

"player was like cursing saying the team is a bunch of morons and he specifically said my commanding skills and my mech suck."

Ignore him. It's not MWO unless some moron is bashing his own team.

"Again my teammates was not happy with my commanding skills"

Yah, so you screwed up. Its not like they were willing to step up. So easy to throw rocks from the sidelines. I would rather have a poor drop commander than none at all.

Learn from your mistakes, keep trying, and you'll do better. The reason we have so few shot callers in pug drops is because pilots are scared of failing. But success is the child of hundreds of failures.

couldn't agree more and it's really not that difficult to drop call once you get the hang of it. For a drop caller it's more thinking of a strategy knowing either to stick to that strategy or adjusting the strategy based on the situation

as for Using IS names for the clan mechs I personally think it would have been really cool if your piloting an IS mech and you target a clan mech you see it's IS name and not it's clan name

[Dragoon20005]

Fenrisulvyn, on 13 August 2015 - 04:53 PM, said:

"player was like cursing saying the team is a bunch of morons and he specifically said my commanding skills and my mech suck."

Ignore him. It's not MWO unless some moron is bashing his own team.

"Again my teammates was not happy with my commanding skills"

Yah, so you screwed up. Its not like they were willing to step up. So easy to throw rocks from the sidelines. I would rather have a poor drop commander than none at all.

Learn from your mistakes, keep trying, and you'll do better. The reason we have so few shot callers in pug drops is because pilots are scared of failing. But success is the child of hundreds of failures.

Chocowolf, on 13 August 2015 - 05:19 PM, said:

couldn't agree more and it's really not that difficult to drop call once you get the hang of it. For a drop caller it's more thinking of a strategy knowing either to stick to that strategy or adjusting the strategy based on the situation

as for Using IS names for the clan mechs I personally think it would have been really cool if your piloting an IS mech and you target a clan mech you see it's IS name and not it's clan name

well it a good thing we have nicer guys here who are willing to help a commander noob like me

this is the aim of this Commanding Officer 101 guide

to learn from other commanders and be a good officer and lead the team.

I have a rough idea of the possible combat areas in some maps but because of the lack of or not enough of C-bills

I only using a Trial Dire Wolf B

but at least I am training up the mech XP so once I purchase the actual mech

I will be able to unlock all the skill trees in one shot.



A quick off topic question

Is it a good idea to buy a la carte the Dire Wolf and Timberwolf from the Wave 1?

https://mwomercs.com/clans

can't afford the whole package and will prob only use the Dire Wolf and Timberwolf more often so I will purchase both of them. Or maybe even go for the Warhawk to save more.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Dragoon20005, on 13 August 2015 - 05:41 PM, said:

A quick off topic question

Is it a good idea to buy a la carte the Dire Wolf and Timberwolf from the Wave 1?

https://mwomercs.com/clans

can't afford the whole package and will prob only use the Dire Wolf and Timberwolf more often so I will purchase both of them. Or maybe even go for the Warhawk to save more.

Might be just as well to use MC to buy them, especially if you already have a chunk laying around. Clan mech sale this weekend, all are 35% off for MC or C-Bills. And THAT is how I'm going to add SCRs to my inventory!

Back on topic!

I like using the phonetic alphabet. One problem. We have to use those letters for grid squares, AND for mech call out letters. It may get a little confusing if I call out "Bravo, IV-Four, in Charlie 3". Etc.

I'd recommend keeping it that way in PUG, anyhow, but if you get a team up and want to standardize, it might work well to assign words (maybe names?) to the letters for callouts, and keep the phonetics for grids. Or vice versa.

For instance, "Billy, IV-Four, in Charlie 3". Or "Boulder". Use a city name (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, El Paso, Fresno, Galveston, Houston, Irving, Joliet, K.C., Louisville, Monroe, New York, and so on...). Use people's names. Something like that. Standardize it.

But for PUG play in general, you're just gonna have to stick to what works. Some folks like using greek alphabet. Neat, but Alpha and Alfa sound exactly the same. Beta, Gamma, Phi, Psi, Xi, etc, might all sound unique, but who knows WTH Latin alphabet letters they correspond to. Otherwise, I'd call stuff out in Russian alphabet, and no one would ever play with me again. :-/

Hey, OP? You're doing GREAT, by the way. Keep that stuff up! I only went on two drops tonight (late night at work), but in both cases there was good text and voice communication, and both were ROFLstomps for our side (PUG v PUG). It helps. A LOT. And over time, I'm certain it will show up in your overall C-Bill and XP net.

Edited by TheRAbbi, 13 August 2015 - 08:54 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Dragoon20005, on 11 August 2015 - 07:56 PM, said:

Seems like everywhere I have look for a guide on Commanding Officers 101 guide.

I can't seem to find any guide here

Recently I tried my hand leading the company in 12 v 12 PUG matches and turn out ok in some matches and won them with half of our team alive.

while others are plain downright massacre of the whole team.

Instead of typing the commands on the screen. I am using my Turtlebeach headset and using the in game VOIP to comms to the teammates.

I not sure if I am using the right lingo for gird location (eg: Echo 4 for E4) and also calling targets eg: Bravo Dragon for Target B and it is a Dragon. Correct me on this.

When we got a rough location of the enemy or if I got hit by enemy fire. I will usually say "contact" and then the possible source of the shot that was fired let say Delta 5 for D5.

If I need any help if i am under fire. I will try to comms to the team saying "Taking fire, need assistance Echo 3"

In maps like Viridian Bog, I will ask the team to take your positions at D4 area before we strike on the incoming enemy.

once the enemy arrives I will call upon the targets to focus on


when my teammates spotted the enemy and call upon the location. I will reply "Roger that"



If you think I am missing a few points here.

Do help me along to improve this guide or to include your own guide


Thanks
Regards
Dragoon20005

This is a good description of proper communication. Command is a bit different than that. You're using the correct jargon by the way. For command, I recommend you take better look at the maps, and devise strategies. You know your team is gonna have 3 mechs of each weight class, and during the prepping for match screen, you can even see the variants. So you know your forces, and you know your enemy's forces. If you know the terrain better than they do, you hold the edge.

As long as you come up with a plan that is not "Rush center as a death ball", you also have another edge on your enemy.

Issue your commands clearly, and if people disobey, don't get angry with them. Remind them that going off solo suicidaly like that is just going to end with their quick death. Hop onto TS and group up with more people, this will let you practice commanding better, and you will more likely encounter people that have been leading for longer, and you can learn from them.

Leone, on 13 August 2015 - 03:25 PM, said:

So, as far as I can see, the best way to focus fire a team is by appealing to their better natures and calling out things like 'Charlie, Atlas, Open CT.' or 'E5, Jager open right side.' This will invite all your teammates to participate in downing that mech, as each strives to show their team spirit by claiming the kill. These orders are short, succinct, and offer a tantalizing glimpse of future cbills should someone listen.

Remember, if you wish to lead your team, give them oppourtunities they want to follow. Once they have fallen into that habit and have learned that your directions ma very well lead to extra kills, then you can start making calls like 'Someone help, this Crab is killing me!' or 'Focus fire that Blackjack.'

~Leone

Here's something to keep in mind OP. Sometimes, people will get confused about whether you meant their left torso, or the torso to their left when they are shooting the mech from the front.

One thing I've used very often is "Visual Torso". When I core out a side torso, for example, the left torso on a cataphract, I will call out "India, Cataphract, Visual Right Torso". Which tells my pilots that when the mech is staring at them (more likely to happen), they should should to their own right.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 13 August 2015 - 09:23 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

TheRAbbi, on 13 August 2015 - 08:49 PM, said:

Might be just as well to use MC to buy them, especially if you already have a chunk laying around. Clan mech sale this weekend, all are 35% off for MC or C-Bills. And THAT is how I'm going to add SCRs to my inventory! Back on topic! I like using the phonetic alphabet. One problem. We have to use those letters for grid squares, AND for mech call out letters. It may get a little confusing if I call out "Bravo, IV-Four, in Charlie 3". Etc. I'd recommend keeping it that way in PUG, anyhow, but if you get a team up and want to standardize, it might work well to assign words (maybe names?) to the letters for callouts, and keep the phonetics for grids. Or vice versa. For instance, "Billy, IV-Four, in Charlie 3". Or "Boulder". Use a city name (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, El Paso, Fresno, Galveston, Houston, Irving, Joliet, K.C., Louisville, Monroe, New York, and so on...). Use people's names. Something like that. Standardize it. But for PUG play in general, you're just gonna have to stick to what works. Some folks like using greek alphabet. Neat, but Alpha and Alfa sound exactly the same. Beta, Gamma, Phi, Psi, Xi, etc, might all sound unique, but who knows WTH Latin alphabet letters they correspond to. Otherwise, I'd call stuff out in Russian alphabet, and no one would ever play with me again. :-/ Hey, OP? You're doing GREAT, by the way. Keep that stuff up! I only went on two drops tonight (late night at work), but in both cases there was good text and voice communication, and both were ROFLstomps for our side (PUG v PUG). It helps. A LOT. And over time, I'm certain it will show up in your overall C-Bill and XP net.

i have yet to load any MC into my account

so it may seem logical to get the a la carte of the mechs since i dont even own any mechs yet

135 dollars for 3 primes and 6 variants and 9 free mech bays is ok to me

if i were to use MC, i need at least 150 bucks worth of MC to buy the same number of mechs and the bays


as for team and calling of location

i try to stick to one location to converge

but when we get under heavy LRM and sniper fire they just panic even thou i gave the command to take cover behind buildings in river city.

[IraqiWalker]

Dragoon20005, on 13 August 2015 - 11:41 PM, said:

but when we get under heavy LRM and sniper fire they just panic even thou i gave the command to take cover behind buildings in river city.

This comes from a simple aspect of 99.99999999999% of the pilots in this game. Their inability to stand still. I swear, as an LRM boat, I have gotten more than 90% of my kills, because of pilots that refuse to stand still.

They duck behind cover, forgetting that even if I lost line of sight, I still have 2-3 salvos in mid air headed their way. So instead of staying behind cover for another 10 or so seconds. They get slammed by the first mid-air salvo, panic, and run out. Where I proceed to re-acquire lock, and rain on them until they die of it.

Same with sniper fire. People love to poke out. Yes that ERLL of yours sure did 6 damage to my face. How are you enjoying the 30 points I pumped into you from my dual gauss?

People can't stand still for more than 5 seconds.

If you can get the sheep to calm down, and herd them properly, you'll be able to win. If you can't.... well, I don't need to tell you how those matches ended for you.

[Rogue Jedi]

one thing I have not noticed mentioned yet is try to be polite, and ^{(unless in a unit drop where you were nominated drop commander)} give suggestions rather than orders.

I have been in drops where someone starts the match by saying something along the lines of "hello f****** mor ons", then proceeds to swear at us when we disregard his requests, especially when we do not follow him (or her) in a suicide charge into an established enemy firing line with most of the team out of position to help.
strangely every one totally ignored instructions from that player.
After a match like that I will send of a report backed by screenshots if the player is offensive enough to justify it


if you offer a strategy players will often respond positively, issue orders especially if backed by threats, swearing or insults, not so much.

I probably do not need to mention that here as most of the people who are likely to read this are more mature than that, but it still is worth mentioning.

[Chocowolf Sradac]

To answer your question of whether to go Direwolf or Timberwolf I would say Timberwolf is the much better mech as despite PGI's attempt to nerf it the mech is still quite viable. Most teams can not move at the speed of a Direwolf and when piloting all clan assaults you really need good map knowledge to get to good firing positions as fast as possible as the fight will most likely be in progress by the time you get in position Especially in community warfare seeing clan assaults is quite rare unless almost the whole team is dropping in them mostly because of their sheer slow speed.

All Clan wave 1 and 2 mechs are currently on Sale for Cbills and MC in game for %35 off which is quite significant so I would grab some clan mechs while they are on sale

going either any clan package or al la carte gives you the Invasion variant Prime which has the invasion color scheme along with some other goodies if you went with a package. Like heroes this grants you a %30 cbill bonus which is very nice as it does stack with premium time that has %50 for a total of an additional %80 increase to your cbill income

however do be aware of the sale going on as you can get wave 1 or 2 mechs in game much cheeper at the moment. This weekend Sale does not apply to Al la carte or any clan package so it's only applies for in-game C-bills or MC

Edited by Chocowolf, 14 August 2015 - 06:29 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Rogue Jedi, on 14 August 2015 - 04:28 AM, said:

I have been in drops where someone starts the match by saying something along the lines of "hello f****** mor ons", then proceeds to swear at us when we disregard his requests, especially when we do not follow him (or her) in a suicide charge into an established enemy firing line with most of the team out of position to help.

I forgot that these specimens of failed genetic experimentation exist on the internet.

So yes, be polite. It's embarrassing that this needs to be stated when the average age of MW:O players is above 21.

[MechWarrior3671771]

"when piloting all clan assaults you really need good map knowledge to get to good firing positions as fast as possible"

This is good advice. A hurdle slow assaults must overcome is that once you commit to a direction, its very hard to adjust if you discover you have chosen poorly. If you're not familiar with the maps, it means you'll be dying early and often, and that's not only unfun, it slows down your learning curve.

Edited by Fenrisulvyn, 14 August 2015 - 11:34 PM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Chocowolf, on 14 August 2015 - 04:48 PM, said:

To answer your question of whether to go Direwolf or Timberwolf I would say Timberwolf is the much better mech as despite PGI's attempt to nerf it the mech is still quite viable.

If by quite viable you mean the best Mech in the game then yes, you are correct, all the "nerf" did was bring it down to the point where it is the best Mech by a small margin rather than a large margin, so ideally it wants another minor nerf to bring it down to the point where 50% of the player base would suggest that another Mech is better

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 14 August 2015 - 11:39 PM.

[Chados]

I love this post!

Some of the best fun matches I've had...even those lost by a wide margin...have been the ones where these dudes with a clue take the VoIP and start trying to herd cats. Don't stop doing it-I really do listen...seriously, I do. And I try to get in a position to lend some hardcore close support to wherever the pileup is at. Sometimes my nascent skills just aren't up to the challenge but your words are not wasted no matter how it might look on the radar screen.

There was one guy with the handle "PBR Streetgang" last night who sounds exactly like Bruce Willis (I'm not making this up, I swear) and it was great listening to him. We got slaughtered because the other team was all Clanners with unit logos and they were just better, plus we were fighting in a total whiteout, and our people simply weren't coordinated. I got cored out by a light I couldn't even find (God, how I want that seismic sensor module....) less than a minute in, and everyone fell like dominoes, but he kept right in it to the end and never lost his cool. My hat's off to him and all the experienced players who try to bring order to the madness of a PUG queue drop. Thank you for trying.

[Chocowolf Sradac]

Rogue Jedi, on 14 August 2015 - 11:38 PM, said:

If by quite viable you mean the best Mech in the game then yes, you are correct, all the "nerf" did was bring it down to the point where it is the best Mech by a small margin rather than a large margin, so ideally it wants another minor nerf to bring it down to the point where 50% of the player base would suggest that another Mech is better

Yup and I believe the Timber is still considered a Tier 1 mech. I know even when the nerf bat came down my timbers didn't leave my dropdeck but to be fair I'm a die hard Timberwolf fan from the early Mechwarrior days

[IraqiWalker]

Chocowolf, on 15 August 2015 - 09:17 AM, said:

Yup and I believe the Timber is still considered a Tier 1 mech. I know even when the nerf bat came down my timbers didn't leave my dropdeck but to be fair I'm a die hard Timberwolf fan from the early Mechwarrior days

It's still a tier 1 mech. Possibly, THE Tier 1 mech

Edited by IraqiWalker, 15 August 2015 - 04:17 PM.

[LMP]

I am a complete rookie and I do nothing but PUGs. One time a guy in the game started telling us what to do and it was really great because we crushed the enemy team with such ease. I wish more of the experienced people would take command in PUGs like that guy did because it worked great, was really fun and I think I actually learned something.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Word of advice, LMP: It usually works alright, but not ALWAYS. It IS possible that the person giving orders is A.) not very good at it, B.) much more try-hard than his/her PUG teammates, or C.) at least not as good at this as the orders-giver on the other team.

But USUALLY, if you're not very comfortable with the map and the mode and the mech and all that, and someone else is trying to organize, you'll be well-advised to follow lead.

Some things to look out for, to tell you that you have a Lima Delta spouting orders? Unnecessarily condescending tone, insulting the PUG players (generally, OR individually), insulting/blaming/shaming teammates post-mortem ("We'd have steamrolled if you p***y PUGs would have pushed when I told you to!"), or giving some really ridiculous advice ("PUSH WATER NAO ALL TWELVE OF US!" on Forest Colony, "Let's just wait here inside the caldera" on Caustic Valley, etc). Basically, anyone acting like your Destiny fire team leader...

(YES, cheap shot. NO, not taking it back.)