21 replies to this topic

[DaZur]

Okay... right off the bat I wish to avoid the "Chat users should get on ST" or "Comm users are elitist jerks"... If you can't play nice... play elsewhere.

I was playing (PUG'ing) last night and had a few matches where a teammate would text for help (or make a vein effort to text it while brawling)... or someone would say follow me / run my wing etc..

With this I struggled to figure out who was saying / asking for these things as hitting Q and trying to read the names was pretty rough while battling. This got me thinking about the IFF markers and how limited they were in regards to what they are and what they convey. As it stands now... they merely "mark" you as friendly or enemy and denote your location.

What if, the IFF marker could change its icon to also convey some instant information in the form of a status icon to convey a something about the Mech, it's state and possibly quick commends/requests?

Examples:

+ (First-aid cross) - To denote a friendly Mech is below 50% damage.
! (Exclamation point) - When a friendly issues a help / distress call.
^ (Caret) - Follow me command / request.

Granted this is pretty simplistic and I'm sure a more appropriate marker icon could be devised to provide the same information.

Imagine: You're on the battlefield you hear an audible alert (a beep or ding or something to denote a marker alert)... you look up and see a Mech with an exclamation point above them and by this you know without any text or chat that he's in trouble and needs help... you draw closer and see the marker change to a plus-sign and you know he's struggling and needs help fast...

Point I'm getting at is we all clamor for more battlefield information / situational awareness and this would simply supplemental what ever communication means you use to "enhance certain situational moments.

As I see it the marker has greater potential than just "marking" a Mech and could expand to be more useful.

Thoughts?

[Ryvucz]

Not a bad idea, I would recommend it being moved to the Suggestions section, though. =)

[smokefield]

agree. not a bad idea but needs polishing.

[Icebound]

Do want.

[DaZur]

Ryvucz, on 12 February 2013 - 12:44 PM, said:

Not a bad idea, I would recommend it being moved to the Suggestions section, though. =)

Yeah... It actually was supposed to be there but in my fervor of enthusiasm, posted it here by mistake...

[Voridan Atreides]

Yes.

Edited by Voridan Atreides, 12 February 2013 - 12:50 PM.

[DaZur]

[IMAGE REDACTED]

Not sure what icon THAT is but I'm pretty sure I don't want to offer assistance....

Edited by DaZur, 12 February 2013 - 12:54 PM.

[Voridan Atreides]

DaZur, on 12 February 2013 - 12:51 PM, said:

Not sure that icon THAT is but I'm pretty sure I don't want to offer assistance....

He has been posting that picture all over the forums.

[Ryutono]

This would be an excellent idea.



Ryutono

[BLUPRNT]

^+! Absolutley. This a great idea. Thank you putting it constructively

[Taizan]

Yes - using symbols like this is much better than different colors etc. Dark Age of Camelot did this pretty nicely for targeted enemies as well as in the chat and many colour blind players were thankful for it.

edit:
Moving this discussion into the Suggestions sub forum, whee it is more appropriate.

Edited by Taizan, 12 February 2013 - 01:01 PM.

[Corvus Antaka]

Good idea. Move to suggestions?

[zraven7]

This is actually a really, really good idea. This would honestly help even with voice-chat. I could see calling for help, then saying "I've got my alert up!".

Seriously, copy/paste this directly into suggestions.

[blinkin]

this is simple and will encourage much more teamwork. this definitely gets my vote.

[DaZur]

Taizan, on 12 February 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:

Moving this discussion into the Suggestions sub forum, whee it is more appropriate.

Thanks for the relocation efforts.

[Wolfways]

Isn't there something like this in the Battlefield games? Or maybe it was another game (It's been a long time since i played and i have a memory problem).

I'd like to see something like:
Press F1>In chat "Wolfways (E6) - Help!"
Press F2> In chat "Wolfways (D4) - Attack my target B"
Press F3> In chat "Wolfways (B5) - Capturing Theta"
Etc.

Edited by Wolfways, 12 February 2013 - 01:14 PM.

[DaZur]

Thanks for the feedback all...

For me it was one of those "duh"? moments when I realized how much information a single status icon marker could instantly provide and at the same time not being intrusive and breaking the immersion level...

Wolfways, on 12 February 2013 - 01:12 PM, said:

Isn't there something like this in the Battlefield games? Or maybe it was another game (It's been a long time since i played and i have a memory problem).

I'd like to see something like:
Press F1>In chat "Wolfways (E6) - Help!"
Press F2> In chat "Wolfways (D4) - Attack my target ©"
Press F3> In chat "Wolfways (B5) - Capturing Theta"
Etc.

That is pretty much the way I would see it working....

[focuspark]

I'd like to see the markers carry their letter designation all of the time. If you hadn't noticed, when you target an enemy mech it gets a letter designation which your entire team shares (A-H). I'd like to see those letter maintained all of the time, and for allied mechs as well.

It's easier to remember that H is the ECM Atlas and identify its location quickly without pressing Q.

The minimap should reflect this as well.

Edited by focuspark, 12 February 2013 - 01:21 PM.

[DaZur]

Q: Would it be too much for the icon to maybe "flash" or something to draw attention to it?

[Koniving]

I like this suggestion. It would have been really helpful in closed beta when I went without comms. It would be extra useful now. It would still be important to get that text message out when under an ECM field, though.