8 replies to this topic

[Sadist Cain]

It's generally acknowledged that outside of private groups on TS the organisational and command structure in game is lacking.

One particular thing that I find odd is that we're all automatically placed into lances, often splitting small groups and placing wildly different playstyles in the same bucket.

It's my observation that most every tactical/squad based game places everyone in a smurf bin to begin with, with the option to join a squad created/commanded by another player, often with a particular objective or specialised playstyle to be the aim of that squad.

It doesn't make sense to just lump players together with one another and hope their mechs and playstyles compliment each other perfectly.
It makes more sense if the player who wants to lead a light scout lance, lrm support or medium brawler lance can do so with those interested able to join and work together under that particular banner.

As it stands lances are pretty pointless for the most part and only there for the sake of it.

Of course some folk wont ever use it or want to join a lance but surely it would be a rather simple step in the right direction towards getting random folk to work as a more cohesive unit? Even for those not using the feature the benefits will surely be felt too.

Whilst I'm at it, lance voip would be a beaut in such an instance.

Edited by Sadist Cain, 25 August 2015 - 04:56 PM.

[Light-Speed]

It makes you wonder how some of the drop ships carry 4 lights to the battle while others manage to arrive with 4 Dire Whales at the same time, doesn't it?

Yeah, an option to have some time to talk over strategy while letting the team know what kind of "cards" we have would be nice.

What kind of moron commander expects victory by picking up random people in the army and throwing them at the enemy?
Even literally throwing the mechs into the enemy have a lower chance of risk
(100 tons of lrm badassery landing in front of the enemy with a fullblown cape, crushing an Urbanmech in the process and sending locusts flying... ok nvm).

Anyways, giving time to allow the team to to form into something that can be called a team is probably a good thing.

Hmm... that first sentence of mine gives me an idea.
As the ship with the lightest are probably going to fly the fastest, why not make an option that allows the lightest lance be the scouts/early skirmishers by letting them arrive ~3-4 mins faster? Match time can be extended to 20 min to cope with this (not that most matches last past 10 min to begin with). The rest of the team can discuss in the meantime.

[Deathlike]

I guess the question is this.. how would you go about setting this up properly in game?

This is a far tougher question than you'd think it would be.

I could understand if you wanted the algo to have some logic in where your teammates go in which lances, but you need to think this out more thoroughly before you respond to my question.

[Light-Speed]

Deathlike, on 25 August 2015 - 05:31 PM, said:

I guess the question is this.. how would you go about setting this up properly in game?

This is a far tougher question than you'd think it would be.

I could understand if you wanted the algo to have some logic in where your teammates go in which lances, but you need to think this out more thoroughly before you respond to my question.

I would give the players the option to have extended wait time. Then it'll be what the title says.

The switching lances code is already in game. Little change there.

Biggest problem will be, of course, trolls, but then maybe an additional piece of code that lets us vote who are trolls. Probably something that should be added to the game anyways, but more in terms of voting for who are the good commanders that we should listen to.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

The company leader can move the group members around. not sure if that changes spawn if you do before you drop though

[bad arcade kitty]

it changes the spawn,saw it on river city conquest recently

[Sadist Cain]

Deathlike, on 25 August 2015 - 05:31 PM, said:

I guess the question is this.. how would you go about setting this up properly in game?

This is a far tougher question than you'd think it would be.

I could understand if you wanted the algo to have some logic in where your teammates go in which lances, but you need to think this out more thoroughly before you respond to my question.

In its simplest form I could see it slotting easily into the ready screen at the start of a match by just having everyone starting out lanceless with a button to create & name a Lance which can include up to four other players.
Players can join by either invite or simply clicking to join the lance at the ready screen or using the battlegrid in-game.

Personally I think the amount of lances available would need to be closer to 4-6 in order to allow wiggle room
Selecting different spawns would be nice but not neccessary imo as it would take more work than is needed. All the groundwork is already in place for a system similar to what I've described, things just need rearranging slightly.

That's all I feel would be neccessary and doable at this time.

In all my filthiest fantasies though?

I would have targets locked by lancemates in a different colour to ordinary targets (Dark purple perhaps?) akin to Elite dangerous in order to better aid focus fire and coordination.
I would also have lance based voip as well as team wide available, along with a lovely command wheel for quickly designating orders to your lance.
I would also add in a healthy helping of more in depth game modes that are fun to play and encourage more complex strategy to achieve victory.

But those are my dreams...

For now, keep it simple, with what we basically have already. Just with more control and responsibility in the players hands along with streamlining the effectiveness of getting the right players together.

[Scandinavian Jawbreaker]

Deathlike, on 25 August 2015 - 05:31 PM, said:

I guess the question is this.. how would you go about setting this up properly in game?

This is a far tougher question than you'd think it would be.

I could understand if you wanted the algo to have some logic in where your teammates go in which lances, but you need to think this out more thoroughly before you respond to my question.

Well they sure make it look easy when you look how CW does it. Queue up, it finds a match, puts you to lobby, gives an x amount timer to set up lances, launch match. I mean they already have the backend and half of frontend for it...

[Lykaon]

Deathlike, on 25 August 2015 - 05:31 PM, said:

I guess the question is this.. how would you go about setting this up properly in game?

This is a far tougher question than you'd think it would be.

I could understand if you wanted the algo to have some logic in where your teammates go in which lances, but you need to think this out more thoroughly before you respond to my question.

Well idealy a more robust LFG system and public chat that assigns a channel to any public group formed would help (admittedly only if players use it)

Any solo player ( by solo I mean not in a player organization) who actually wants results would log in and hit the LFG tab and see a list of available groups to join.

Alternativley the Player can log in and start a group with a brief descriptor of what the group focus is intended to be.Even provide a checklist of focal points to be toggled on.(this avoids the need for profanity filters on group displays)

Options like clan or house afiliation for CW
What the team is looking for currently Brawler,Recon,Any,support light medium heavy assault
What game modes the group is currently selected.

With a interface tool like this even casuals would be able to log on and quickly find a group.