Returning to Rookie Servers
Skope
Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
Sorry if this question has been asked before.
So, as I'm fairly new to the realm of NS2, I'm not too good of a commander, but I would like to learn without having to replay the tutorial.
But, I've learned that a lot of people don't like Rookie Comms. Especially in higher level play. And I don't like ruining games in higher levels.
My thought was to get back to the Rookie servers to practice Commanding. But, I can't get back to those Rookie servers.
Is there any way to go back, or am I out of luck?
Comments
When you're satisfied, play a multiplayer game, but bring a mic. Be honest and upfront about your lack of experience. Ask questions when you're unsure about anything.
When the team inevitably abuse you, whether you're winning or losing, just eat the abuse - right or wrong; don't argue.
If you have prior rts experience, like starcraft or warcraft etc. it shouldn't take much more than 3-4 games to be competent imho.
This shouldn't happen if you communicate and are upfront about your situation, as Santa suggested. If it happens anyway, go to a server where actual decent people play.
But I would like to ask everybody to not abuse family sharing to bypass the progress/rookie system. Rookie only servers are there for new players to learn the basics and start to build up their own understanding of the game. They are not able to do so with even one veteran on the server. If rookies want to be teached they will join normal servers or visit the forum etc.
The experience gained from commanding at rookie only servers is very similar to commanding bots. You will learn the basic routines (like space -> e -> a to drop med packs) and strategies. But will still lack when it comes to communication and "team management". And rookies behave different than normal players or veterans.
So Santa is right about how to start commanding. Learn the basics via the tuts, available guide and videos, spectating and bot/rookie only games. And then get a microphone and join your favorite server you have played on before. Tell your team that you are unexperienced but would like to command and ask for their permission to do so. If nobody objects hop into the chair/hive.
As commander try to communicate with your team as much as you can and ask them for advise if you are stuck. Keep in mind your secondary job as commander is to make sure your teammates always know what's going on without having to check their mini map. So tell them if you spot enemies or need reinforcement at a position and so on.
Also take it with a grant of salt if you get blamed for a loose at the end. Even the best commanders usually take the blame for a loose no matter how well they performed. If it gets out of hand with certain folks report them to the server operator.
You say that you don't want to ruin the round for other people. That honors you and it is good to consider that, however, you can always check on what the ELO of the players is that are in your team. If you see that the average ELO is way above yours, you should most likely not trying to command unless the team is ok with it.
And while you are commanding, especially if people know that you are inexpierenced, many people will try to teach you things and what to do. While it is a good way to learn how to command by listening to them, it is very important that you only listen to the strongest players in your team (the ones with the highest ELO) and ignore the rest. Many people talking also means many different opinions on how things should be done. Don't care about what some random noobs tell you.
The skill new commanders usually lack the most is speed. Even if there is a high skilled veteran willing to assist you step by step in your commanding, you are very slow in doing those things which can quickly lead to frustrated field players. Learning some mechanical skill first in sandbox mode will help a lot here. (Mostly how to drop supplies (med, ammo, scan) fast), but also speed in placing buildings and research tech. So you can also learn beforehand in games with bots how to quickly access every building and tech you wish to research.
Generally, some experience in how the game works is needed for commanding. That is why you also become a better comm by simply playing the game on the field or watch videos of competitive teams. You will learn tech paths, structure placement and map knowledge. Many rookie comms sitting with their camera above their main base figuring out where to find anything and what thigns they should build or research while at the same time marines are not getting crucial meds or a good opportunity in which you could get a strong phase gate vanishes. This can easily avoided by getting some basic knowledge beforehand. When you have to think less about how to do things, when to do things or where to drop that phase gate, you have much more time for actual commanding.
And seriously do remember this: Most people on pubs have absolutely zero idea of what they are doing or should be doing. You will get blamed and ejected a lot, regardless how good you are. So don't care about that. Care about becoming better and ask yourself after a round what you could have done better or what high skill players would have done differently.
Also, are you playing on NA or EU pubs?
Yes, on NA servers there usually is a lot more talking going on, but the quality of it is usually very low. Therefore from my expierence it is much more annoying to command on NA servers. And probably more stressful for beginners.
The silly thing is that most of them want to be a backseat leader but are rarely willing to actually lead. This applies to commanding in NS2 and most aspects of American culture in my opinion.
Yes and no. It often has little to do with supiority. It is like how people talk about politics. People speak as if the decision makers are always wrong, and that they know what they should do. Americans seem to go out of their way to be vocal about what you are doing wrong, but they don't have a solution. The dunning Kruger effect is when they give you a solution but it is not a good one. This is not exclusively an American trait, we just seem to do it to the extreme.
The dunning Kruger effect is quite common in NS2 also.
Can't we just settle this the good old fashioned way with a EU vs NA match.
I'm sure both sides still have plenty of excellent players to form a team, someone might be able to cast this. Might bring some life into the currently sad state of ns2.
You'll have to select random pubbers, though, otherwise it won't be representative. Also probably play a bunch of games, not just one.
I'm sure Nordic will gladly evaluate the data we gather