Commander awarding good team players..
Timmythemoonpig
Join Date: 2003-11-08 Member: 22407Members
Join Date: 2003-11-08 Member: 22407Members
Just a suggestion, perhaps its been already covered.
As a commander one of the most frustrating aspects is when troops refuse to obey orders, refuse to build important structures, run off ramboing, etc..
In an attempt to increase the level of teamplay and thus make the game much more enjoyable for everyone perhaps the commander should be able to reward the better teamplayers (rank, promotion, medal, star beside their name, enhanced weapon, something along those lines)..
And perhaps punish players who refuse to do anything to help the team (just off the top of my head, 'deactivating' their suit so they can only move extremely slowly for 30 seconds, or something to that effect)
I think it would be fairly simple to code and might have some very positive effects on teamplay..
As a commander one of the most frustrating aspects is when troops refuse to obey orders, refuse to build important structures, run off ramboing, etc..
In an attempt to increase the level of teamplay and thus make the game much more enjoyable for everyone perhaps the commander should be able to reward the better teamplayers (rank, promotion, medal, star beside their name, enhanced weapon, something along those lines)..
And perhaps punish players who refuse to do anything to help the team (just off the top of my head, 'deactivating' their suit so they can only move extremely slowly for 30 seconds, or something to that effect)
I think it would be fairly simple to code and might have some very positive effects on teamplay..
Comments
Giving the commander that kind of power (especially to punish troops) is a very dangerous thing. I think it's best to design the gameplay so that the troops have an incentive to do what is best for the team.
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.. while I agree it is potentially dangerous (he can also slap down 5 tf's for no reason), I am sure the whole concept of having a commander in the first place in NS1 was considered too dangerous by some because the game hinged on it.
He is the commander after all, he should be at least able to reward better players through a system easier than trying to drop a HMG on a moving target, without the little 14 yr old cs rat waiting in base for the last 10 mins screaming for weapons trying to grab it.
Perhaps if you could prove yourself as a competent commander (some kind of stats system, where after 20 wins as comm you get an 'unlock' a la battlefield 2) where the unlock could be the ability to reward (and also maybe punish).
Just suggestions...
If you don't like the guy, don't give him any toys, refuse to med him, etc etc.
I had an idea
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=8597011503519555584&showtopic=101928" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index....howtopic=101928</a>
but comments seem to indicate it was not fleshed out properly.
I keep picturing clicking on units in Company Of Heroes and giving them an upgrade.
But I think it should be a conversation.
JJJ1 is right, positive incentives win hands-down in virtually every way when compared to punishments. Besides, this is a game. If a player is unable to do what it takes to contribute in one way or another (be it by rambo'ing and dominating, or building lots of nodes, or whatever) just ban him. You don't need that kind of person in your server. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" />
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I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've had only <b>one</b> responsive player on my entire team.. none go to waypoints, the whole base is unbuilt.. actually most of my commanding tactics over the years have been built on the fact that only half the team will listen. I am pretty calm about it but my god I have seen so many commanders completely just loose the plot, flip out, and quit, rightly so, entire teams of experienced players without an ounce of teamplay between them. As you can probably guess I play on the pub servers, yes, those ones. Actually I did encounter a few servers, like wireplay, where guys had good teamplay, such a massive difference.
It took me maybe the best part of a year to witness someone actually Weld me in the game without me having to ask, even on wireplay, years into the game and still having to ask/beg for welds each time..
In NS2 I am pretty sure you are gonna have herds and herds of hyperactive, rebellious little 14 year old cs players with absolutely zero notion of teamplay. I guarantee it will be a commanders nightmare.
Anyway I am getting carried away here.. it would be nice to have a way to reward players other than trying to aim SG's at them.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Make ranking badges and medals of honor in particular categories. Or phermones or psedo-pods of honor in the Kharaa's case.
Make them for team work, fun, and especially randomly silly ones. May I suggest such categories as "Long Distance Runner", "Excited Engineer", and "Helpful Healer" ... and just about anything else you can think of that fit with trying to reward players for those things you want to see alot of in Natural Selection.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If a commander wants to reward a particular player for good team work, other than the game itself counting, perhaps the commander could "vote yes" on that player gaining a badge or title of honor. Teams could do the same for their commanders. Reward each other with honor that gets carried with you from game to game, gaining recognition and building community. Not dissimilar to the constellation or custom icons I've seen beside some peoples names.
Good teamplay rewarded by gaining a medal to your stats? Perhaps even to your armor or carapace?
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/marine.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::marine::" border="0" alt="marine.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tsa.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::tsa::" border="0" alt="tsa.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
as stated above, i think rewards would be good, but punishments are a bad idea. imagine that noob marine manages to get in the commchair and punish everyone before getting ejected....
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Yeah but you don't seem to grasp the fact that this happens all the time. Games are lost because someone new jumps in and spams TF's everywhere. People jump in the comm chair and recycle everything. In fact frustrated commanders have actually done stuff like that, I remember once, after half a dozen or so phase gate attempts on a hive I got so frustrated I just recycled the armory, in some attempt to stop the morons humping the damn thing till they had every drop of ammo, not surprisingly it worked.
People really seem to forget that many new people will be playing NS2.. remember the early days of NS1? I do.. we were lucky to get a commander who built a TF in the base.. as was the fashion in those days..
Its so simple, if a comm gets into a chair and 'punishes' people, he was going to fu-k up the game anyway!
The punishment could be very simple aswell, I guarantee it would promote a hell of a lot more teamplay.
Reward good players by giving them toys to play with <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
The only thing that would assist is that the score system be fixed so the most active and team friendly players get more points and show at the top of the score board so its easy to check whos been naughty and whos been nice, and check it twice....
Then you don't necissarily have to screw up their gameplay, just make them aware that they could be playing in a manner more suitable.
Score points are arbitary anyways, why not use those?
We all know that we're just looking to maximize our fun playing with each other. Fun with others, not at the expense of others, right?
Now, you could allow the game ITSELF to reward people who build stuff:
1. As they build something it emits power that "heals" people building it. So if they don't build anything, they auto-don't get ######! hehe But in the battle if they are building remote stations, they are being healed so when they are done building those turrets others die while they can kinda get back into the action "refreshed" [a healthy pause]. Also, the attentive comm could still make the choice to drop ammo and health to the guy who was covering your ass while you were building.
2. Maybe after the TF is up, it will have a central power line that "emits power" for the turrets [doesnt it already kinda do this?]. So, when building the turrets/ammo station/whatever else, your guy heals and kinda feeds off that power for 20 seconds or so afterwards, that way they can keep building more [since they are healed some] or kinda rush back into a battle full bore and slam dunk some action as a reward too [not just "get health" which might bore some people].
And for those who choose to not build, they just get to watch others get a "power up" or something and die sooner then others. It would automatically penalize people for not building, but not really "hurt" them. They would just be missing out on something cool like a 15 second plasma charge for their weapons from the powerline going to the turrets, that the builder recieved.
3. It would be a positive reward system which works well for animals and humans alike in real life, and if someone chooses to stand there, then they just miss out. The person guarding the builder is also not mistaken and handed a penalty because they didn't build themselves. They would just "know" that they wont recieve a benifit specific to them, but the comm can give them something if they choose, so it does not remove any power from the commander either!!
Good team players should be rewarded with a thrilling experience :]
Good team players should be rewarded with a thrilling experience :]<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In a perfect world everyone is a good team player, but this is the planet earth... hehe J.K.
I think they are trying to stir up ideas on how to reward people who build. I say anyone who builds a structure gets some sort of reward like basic healing or a power/weapon/armor boost of some sort. People would be diving in to build stuff during combat! Would be a good idea if something worked on a basic level- *shrug*
If you ask me, the compromise here is making it <b>waypoint</b> based. Say every ten waypoints you rack up gives you a little blue star. Maybe for every star, he gets an extra 1 point for everything he does. That way it's reflected in his score.
If you ask me, the compromise here is making it <b>waypoint</b> based. Say every ten waypoints you rack up gives you a little blue star. Maybe for every star, he gets an extra 1 point for everything he does. That way it's reflected in his score.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's a good idea, except then how would the server know that you didn't go to the waypoint because you saw a gorge and decided to smoke it, and you *DID*, but now you don't get a "star" because you did not go to the waypoint? Even when the game starts out not everyone goes to the one waypoint. They usually split up 50/50 each way to get different areas, then the people that didn't go to the waypoint direction wouldn't be treated fair? And not everyone goes all the way to the actual waypoint. Alot of the time, I go into the room where it's at but I stop to cover a door on one side, so even if I die the builders know they are coming.
The only thing I could think of to kinda use your idea [which I like, but was tryin to figure out how to use it] would be to make the waypoint easier to access for the commander, then people who are running free in the map. So if you are in the area the commander wants you in, they have a quick key that gives them access to drop items to your area fast! But those who call for health /ammo/whatever around the map cause they went running off on their own, the commander has to scroll the map to find them in a slower manner, so it does not cut them off, but it does kinda penalize the time. Basically it would prioritize waypoint areas = the people near them! If your near one the comm has fast drop access and whatever [shortcut key like F9 or somn], but not near a waypoint means having to wait a little.