Like the idea of assigning someone as a field op when you com. I've been doing a bit of comming, and at least my clan's server, TrailBlazers, I've won dawmn near every game. Regardless, when I'm not comming I play that role. Of course to varing degrees of success. Like someone mentioned before, some marines are going to ignore your orders because your not the comm and run off. When I comm, I always look for a couple leaders and have them rally the squads for hive attacks. I'd really like to see some visual key to be added to assign, think it would be nifty feature, particularly for clan battles.
Anybody ever hear that old quote, which goes something like "There's nothing in this world more dangerous than a second lieutenant with a map and a compass."?
That's the feeling that I get whenever I play on the pubs. Seeing as how I exclusively play on pubs, I get this feeling quite often. Having an incompetent comm (which happens quite frequently) is a horrible occasion, but if one goes Sarge, then you can almost negate the problem.
I got into the Comm chair for the second time in my NS career theother day (I am usually just a Grunt, a position I find better and more morally justified than comm [see above quote]) and immediately I start getting flamed for not doing everything perfectly. Luckily, I was playing with a bunch good players. WHICH IS A MIXED BLESSING! I don't know whether ya'll realize it or not, n00bs aren't the only source of frustration for a comm... any of you **** who are experienced and decide that the comm isn't doing things in exactly the right way tend to flame, which leads to bad things...
Anyway, lucky for me, one other veteran took up a post as Sarge, and helped smooth things between me and the rest of the team. He got them to stop flaming me, and then introduced me to some interesting tactics I'd never heard of before (I am a grunt, and don't pay attention to tactics often).
Sarges are a comm's best friend. Always. And, reward your sarges, giving them shotties or HA or pretty much whatever they want. If you picked a good one, he'll not spam you for random things that he knows you don't have the res for.
So, having been inspired by this example, I decided to do the same. In pubs, as was previously posted, sarges have an immediate impact on the efficiency of the team. Things go quicker when team members have an immediate person commanding them, instead of a disembodied voice that occasionally reqards them, or punishes them (guard self). I helped out a noob commander, and helped coordinate the team. A few rambos persisted, as they always will, but hey, these things happen.
So, Sarge are a godsend. As a comm, encourage them.
As a side note, playing DoD is a great way to get into the proper mindset for NS, as it encourages teamwork.
I can agree. Even if you are the only one following an experienced player, i
find that, as a noob, my aim seems to somehow become better(yes, its true)
when ive got someone saying "good job with the skulk, lets keep moving,
alright , now take a right here, some Offense Chambers up ahead..." .(it helps if they have an aussie accent <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> ) It
makes me feel all warm and fuzzy in side to get complimented, compared to
"OMG u stoopid noob! u died now wereallguna die this suxz00rzezzzz!
OMG!!!!111!!11!!"
So....If you are a vet, PLEASE try to help out the guy standing at ase
wandering around by telling him he can follow you...or something. It really
helps. And if you are a noob, (Like me) follow the comms orders. If the comm
wont order you, dont wander off, try and follow someone who looks like they
know what theyre doing. At least that way you wont get "pwned" alone <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> .
There shouldn't be a "sargeant" for the aliens, as they exist with the 'hive mind' - they are a decentralized, instinctual species. " It's each Kharaa for itself, gestating, evolving, and behaving according to their own objectives."
Since the aliens aren't really a highly intelligent species, they shouldn't be able to see the Sgt directly. "But for the unifying presence of the bacterium and hive sight, they would be little more than aggressive (and cunning) animals."
The marines should have more hierarchy, since they are a military organization. Personally, I'd like to see a slightly different model for the Sgt, but that's a matter for coders. But the idea of an icon above them and on the scoresheet works.
I'm a pretty good, if not fully experienced com... I've commed less than 10 games but won more than half of em... I've had a couple good sarge experiences and a couple bad ones.
bad sarge experience: was on that map with the RT behind a weldy door real close to marine start. I put the RT there, they build it, then I give them the next waypoint to another RN close by, and this guy starts saying over voice that he's not moving till I put 'towers' there, and everyone else is staying around him. I explain to him I'm trying to give him an order to go to another res nozzle so I can put up another tower. eventually I figure out that he meant turrets, which are relatively pointless at that node early in the game because A) hurting for res, B) it's a 4 seconds' walk from base, C) it's a really confined space, and D) aliens cap res nodes so quickly that the time is too valuable to waste. anyway, long story short, it turned out this guy was talking all authoritatively but it was like his 4th time playing, and since people listened to him there was no way we could win. I asked if somoene else wanted to com, then switched teams and proceeded to gore him repeatedly <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
good sarge experience: I hopped in the com chair on hera and started doing my work, and my teamie Death Incarnate starts giving me advice at every waypoint I sent people to -- turret blind spots on res nodes and TFs, where to go next, where an obs would be helpful, etc, without ever questioning my waypoints or orders. He even came up with the final siege strategy to finish the last hive. Without him, we definitely would have lost, and I learned a lot more since he was advising me too.
yeah, the moral of the story: the sargent/lieutenant/whatever needs to organize the troops and offer advice but ultimately trust the judgement of his superior officer =P
edit: I should admit that I'm a "bad sargent" sometimes <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo--> last night, random put me on the alien team, and like 5 minutes into the game I was still the only one who went gorge and put down a RT... so I thought to myself, "this round is not gonna be fun with 2 RTs the whole game," so I switched. The marines were being no smarter. Like 10 minutes into the game, the RT count was still 2 vs. 2. I would repeatedly go to empty res nozzles that no aliens were ever going to come to, waiting there for 5 minutes asking for a RT and not getting one. while I stubbornly waited at a res, though, our base was almost destroyed... it forces me to wonder, should I have trusted my com or were we doomed from the start?
I've been advocating the squad leader position for a long time. Its really important to have squad leaders helping the comm out. It really all boils down to the communication required int eh game between teh marines and the commander. The problem is finding out who is the squad leader in a bunch of marines. In my opinion, you need to show the commander you're capable of getting the job done, let him know your limitations, and then go. For example, in the beginning of a match, tell the commander "I want to go take area "x", is it okay if I take two men with me to secure that area?". When the comm gives you the OK, do it. The commander will know that you can lead people and will choose you to do more serious tasks in the future. Also you will be helping everyone else on the team moral wise, and the commander organizational wise.
Comments
XL
Anybody ever hear that old quote, which goes something like "There's nothing in this world more dangerous than a second lieutenant with a map and a compass."?
That's the feeling that I get whenever I play on the pubs. Seeing as how I exclusively play on pubs, I get this feeling quite often. Having an incompetent comm (which happens quite frequently) is a horrible occasion, but if one goes Sarge, then you can almost negate the problem.
I got into the Comm chair for the second time in my NS career theother day (I am usually just a Grunt, a position I find better and more morally justified than comm [see above quote]) and immediately I start getting flamed for not doing everything perfectly. Luckily, I was playing with a bunch good players.
WHICH IS A MIXED BLESSING! I don't know whether ya'll realize it or not, n00bs aren't the only source of frustration for a comm... any of you **** who are experienced and decide that the comm isn't doing things in exactly the right way tend to flame, which leads to bad things...
Anyway, lucky for me, one other veteran took up a post as Sarge, and helped smooth things between me and the rest of the team. He got them to stop flaming me, and then introduced me to some interesting tactics I'd never heard of before (I am a grunt, and don't pay attention to tactics often).
Sarges are a comm's best friend. Always. And, reward your sarges, giving them shotties or HA or pretty much whatever they want. If you picked a good one, he'll not spam you for random things that he knows you don't have the res for.
So, having been inspired by this example, I decided to do the same. In pubs, as was previously posted, sarges have an immediate impact on the efficiency of the team. Things go quicker when team members have an immediate person commanding them, instead of a disembodied voice that occasionally reqards them, or punishes them (guard self). I helped out a noob commander, and helped coordinate the team. A few rambos persisted, as they always will, but hey, these things happen.
So, Sarge are a godsend. As a comm, encourage them.
As a side note, playing DoD is a great way to get into the proper mindset for NS, as it encourages teamwork.
-AB
A 'sarge' will say: Uh oh, an onos, we'll need shotties.
The other type says: ONOS, gimme shotty!
find that, as a noob, my aim seems to somehow become better(yes, its true)
when ive got someone saying "good job with the skulk, lets keep moving,
alright , now take a right here, some Offense Chambers up ahead..." .(it helps if they have an aussie accent <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> ) It
makes me feel all warm and fuzzy in side to get complimented, compared to
"OMG u stoopid noob! u died now wereallguna die this suxz00rzezzzz!
OMG!!!!111!!11!!"
So....If you are a vet, PLEASE try to help out the guy standing at ase
wandering around by telling him he can follow you...or something. It really
helps. And if you are a noob, (Like me) follow the comms orders. If the comm
wont order you, dont wander off, try and follow someone who looks like they
know what theyre doing. At least that way you wont get "pwned" alone <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> .
Compliments on nice kills, good jobs, go a long way to promoting a team spirit. This should translate across perfectly to the Marine team.
Since the aliens aren't really a highly intelligent species, they shouldn't be able to see the Sgt directly. "But for the unifying presence of the bacterium and hive sight, they would be little more than aggressive (and cunning) animals."
The marines should have more hierarchy, since they are a military organization. Personally, I'd like to see a slightly different model for the Sgt, but that's a matter for coders. But the idea of an icon above them and on the scoresheet works.
bad sarge experience:
was on that map with the RT behind a weldy door real close to marine start. I put the RT there, they build it, then I give them the next waypoint to another RN close by, and this guy starts saying over voice that he's not moving till I put 'towers' there, and everyone else is staying around him. I explain to him I'm trying to give him an order to go to another res nozzle so I can put up another tower. eventually I figure out that he meant turrets, which are relatively pointless at that node early in the game because A) hurting for res, B) it's a 4 seconds' walk from base, C) it's a really confined space, and D) aliens cap res nodes so quickly that the time is too valuable to waste. anyway, long story short, it turned out this guy was talking all authoritatively but it was like his 4th time playing, and since people listened to him there was no way we could win. I asked if somoene else wanted to com, then switched teams and proceeded to gore him repeatedly <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
good sarge experience:
I hopped in the com chair on hera and started doing my work, and my teamie Death Incarnate starts giving me advice at every waypoint I sent people to -- turret blind spots on res nodes and TFs, where to go next, where an obs would be helpful, etc, without ever questioning my waypoints or orders. He even came up with the final siege strategy to finish the last hive. Without him, we definitely would have lost, and I learned a lot more since he was advising me too.
yeah, the moral of the story: the sargent/lieutenant/whatever needs to organize the troops and offer advice but ultimately trust the judgement of his superior officer =P
edit: I should admit that I'm a "bad sargent" sometimes <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo--> last night, random put me on the alien team, and like 5 minutes into the game I was still the only one who went gorge and put down a RT... so I thought to myself, "this round is not gonna be fun with 2 RTs the whole game," so I switched. The marines were being no smarter. Like 10 minutes into the game, the RT count was still 2 vs. 2. I would repeatedly go to empty res nozzles that no aliens were ever going to come to, waiting there for 5 minutes asking for a RT and not getting one. while I stubbornly waited at a res, though, our base was almost destroyed... it forces me to wonder, should I have trusted my com or were we doomed from the start?