14 replies to this topic

[Belisarius1]

Simple suggestion. Please give us a scoreboard indictor which shows players on both teams who are grouped.

Something as simple as this would work fine:

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As it is, 4-mans and pugs are often working at cross-purposes because 4-mans rarely type and pugs are blissfully unaware. Knowledge of the communication landscape in a game would go a long way towards shaping it.

This is useful for a variety of a reasons, particularly to pug players. First and foremost, it shows which players on a team are likely to be operating cohesively, and thus which group to follow and support. Offensively, it shows which enemies will be a threat, and what level of coordination can be roughly expected.

The general situation report effect is also not to be underestimated. For example, since players on TS rarely communicate in chat, it's common for “that guy” to begin pug-herding, only to lead his flock to certain doom because half his team is actually a 4-man and has its own ideas. Things would go differently if that information was available. In addition, if a drop turns out to be 4+4 vs 8, it really is quite reasonable that this might encourage the pug to communicate more in an attempt to not die.

The benefits are subtle, but important. The fact is that at the moment you just don't know, and so players simply assume a situation and do their own thing.

[Fuzzyhead]

+1

[MadPanda]

I wonder what happens when someone hits TAB and sees 1-1-1-1 on the enemy team and no numbers on his team... Sorry can't support an idea that leads to a worse game experience for everyone.

[Scraper]

I'd rather we just get the option for Prefix or Suffix added to names to show Clan/MercCorp/Company affiliation. Most premades are in such units anyway.

As to people dropping games because the other team has a group of premades... I call BS. It doesn't happen on any of the FPS games, it does affect people leaving lobbies when the same group plays back to back but it doesn't affect single matches.

[Belisarius1]

MadPanda, on 15 December 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

I wonder what happens when someone hits TAB and sees 1-1-1-1 on the enemy team and no numbers on his team... Sorry can't support an idea that leads to a worse game experience for everyone.

...what?

That's absurd, dude. For one thing, the "worse game experience", otherwise known as "getting ****rolled," is going to happen either way. If the pug knows what it's up against, at least a few of them are likely to take things more seriously. It only takes one or two guys deciding to play shepherd and people can rapidly pull together.

[MadPanda]

Belisarius1, on 15 December 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

...what?

That's absurd, dude. For one thing, the "worse game experience", otherwise known as "getting ****rolled," is going to happen either way. If the pug knows what it's up against, at least a few of them are likely to take things more seriously. It only takes one or two guys deciding to play shepherd and people can rapidly pull together.

Saying that "it's gonna happen anyway might as well know about it" is as wrong as wrong can get. Most people will be discouraged to see a premade on enemy team and just solos on their team. You are naive to think otherwise.

[Belisarius1]

To be frank... so what?

"Discouraged"? That's a pretty low price to pay, particularly in view of how discouraged they would be if they got their butts handed to them by a coordinated team they didn't expect. Why should people's heads be forced into the sand lest they... what... have a nervous breakdown and run oob in fear?

The only real risk is that people will actually disco. We know from the early days of beta - when games were frequently 5v8 and more - that it takes quite a bit to get a player to straight-up leave unless they're already afk farming. Facing a 4-man is not an instant loss, and very few players would treat it as such.

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Edited by Belisarius1, 15 December 2012 - 04:31 PM.

[LennStar]

Not to say that PUG does not mean bad. I often rank second or third in dmg in a light mech. Have 2 or 3 of these "PUGs" (e.g. 6MedLas Jenner) in your team and you can go against any 4-mech Assault premade.
The only real thread are the all-lights-SSRM(-ECM)-4-premades. Having a dozen SSRM firing on you kills anything.

[Kazzun]

+1

[Greers]

Somehow reminds me of another game which uses armored Vehicles

And there's a Suggestion-Forum where this would fit better.

On Topic: I don't see as many benefits as you do, but I'm totally indifferent if we should get this or not. If I'm be pugging I MIGHT stick more to my fellows, but as they are often spread into the four winds anyway I might not

[Elder Thorn]

has been suggested a bajilliontrillionmillionbillion times and not a single word abotu it by the devs.
I would like this, but i begin to care less and less about this game, just putting out all of my frustration about it into the forums today.

[Krzysztof z Bagien]

Elder Thorn, on 18 December 2012 - 07:00 AM, said:

has been suggested a bajilliontrillionmillionbillion times and not a single word abotu it by the devs.
I would like this, but i begin to care less and less about this game, just putting out all of my frustration about it into the forums today.

Sad, but true

[AlexWildeagle]

MadPanda, on 15 December 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

I wonder what happens when someone hits TAB and sees 1-1-1-1 on the enemy team and no numbers on his team... Sorry can't support an idea that leads to a worse game experience for everyone.

your point is irrelevant, as is now all you have to do is look at the top of your screen and see how many of your team mates are dead. So it does not change the user experience one bit.
I would rather see my lancemates and the mechs their using. just knowing their names is rather pointless.

[Tesunie]

I could kinda agree with this, but kinda don't? Does that make sense?

And considering I have seen 4+4 vs random 8... it isn't fun and I'd often times would like to know when the odds are stacked that much out of my favor. (Espesually when you get 4 Light ECM SSRM with 4 Atlas D-DCs... all ECM, SSRM and even more weapons... Kinda an uphill battle, and your legs are broken while you are trying to fight too...)

I would sometimes like to know when I have a premade on my own team though for planing. And yes. I have noticed Premades tend to ignore everyone else but themselves, and feed us to the enemy to make themselves look better. A little comunication can go a LONG way...

Personally. I don't care if I fight against a single premade if the other members are random. I don't like fighting against two premades on my random team. I think this is more of an issue with the Match Maker system than anything else. I personally would have prefered to have the two premade teams be automatically split and then random players added in from there. Not the two premades be placed into the same group vs random PUGs. There was a reason they moved 8 man premades to only fight other 8 man premades. And yet, people still somehow find a way around the system... so we still end up with 8 Pugs vs an 8 man premade (2 4 man teams who just happen to somehow work together and seem to all be well corodinated...).

AlexWildeagle, on 18 December 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

your point is irrelevant, as is now all you have to do is look at the top of your screen and see how many of your team mates are dead. So it does not change the user experience one bit.
I would rather see my lancemates and the mechs their using. just knowing their names is rather pointless.

Umm... what are you going on? Your point is irrelevant. He (Madpanda) was going on if he saw a four man team on the other side being marked by 1's on the enemy team and yet no team being marked out on his own team as being discouraging and possibly having it ruin other people's games. It's very related to the original posters remark...

[MadPanda]

AlexWildeagle, on 18 December 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

your point is irrelevant, as is now all you have to do is look at the top of your screen and see how many of your team mates are dead. So it does not change the user experience one bit.
I would rather see my lancemates and the mechs their using. just knowing their names is rather pointless.

I'd normally ignore gibberish posts like this but since you addressed it to me, I feel inclined to ask; what are you talking about?