Things I "love" about pub commmanders (rant)

FuleFule Join Date: 2009-06-04 Member: 67683Members
-Weapons 1, armor 1 and there are onoses on the field? Better research grenade launchers.
-No one has resources for exos? You have weapons 1, armor 1? That's right - research exos.
-~5 minutes in the game, no upgrades? Build a second command station.
-Still weapons 1, armor 1? Research flamethrowerzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

What about you? What do you "love" about pub commanders?

Comments

  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2013
    I don't mind it, I usually tell them politely why we should do X rather than Y.

    For example, some commanders like to drop CC before PG at our expansion, especially if I'm the only one there.

    I usually say "eh, mate, I won't build that unless we get phase gates, 'cause I might get killed and we'll lose the second chair and lose a lot of money"

    or

    "we should stop building extractor here, because it's the seventh time it went down, aliens aren't gonna let us keep it for long"
  • PaLaGiPaLaGi Join Date: 2008-01-03 Member: 63331Members, Constellation
    My biggest pet peeve is too much focus on securing the closest tech point to our spawn. ex. ns2_docking, we spawn in terminal and guy focus on getting phase gate and chair in cafeteria. It's 5 min in, we have no upgrades and are dying to cara skulks and haven't killed a harvester yet, but hey, at least we got cafeteria! Also at least half of your braindead teammates will think he's doing fine too.
  • DestherDesther Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165195Members
    Adrenaline before second hive
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Sentries as far as the eye can see.
  • halfofaheavenhalfofaheaven Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168660Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold
    edited March 2013
    Some pet peeves:

    - instant 2nd ip drop delaying phase tech and/or upgrades for no reason
    - 2nd CC before PGs
    - building stuff you can't hold
    - w1 before a1
    - EXO before JP
    - not researching mines (or not early enough)
    - building sentries, at all, ever
    - telling the team to just "hold what we have" as marine
    - no mic
    - not reacting to requests
    - no drifters
    - no nanoshield, ever
    - no scans, ever
    - no bonewall to save higher lifeforms
    - shade first without asking the team
    - lerk out for ages, no shotguns
    - flamethrowers as anything but the last upgrade
    - spores as anything but the last 2nd hive upgrade
    - random whips everywhere without GLs out
    - dropping a hive without a gorge inside or anyone around
    - building a shift in a hive location and spawning a mass amount of eggs before a 2nd hive
    - never stepping out the hive/cc, ever
    - not clogging/hydraing upgrades
    - spamming the map playing singleplayer warlord instead of finishing it OR turtling when you've lost (luckily we have concede for both now)
    - not adapting to what's actually happening in the current round and blindly sticking to one thing from the start
    - telling me i'm wrong on any of the above
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited March 2013
    Second IP can be pretty important in pubs, particularly on anything above 9vs9 as it only takes 3 - 4 marines being wiped at the same time to significantly damage your team's future map presence in an absolutely crucial stage of the game. Though it depends on the map too of course, on some maps you really need that phase tech fast to be able to hold on to any map control.
    - telling the team to just "hold what we have" as marine
    Also very situational, if you are marines and you have 3 PGs and you are sitting on at least 6 RTs, it's much better to hold and consolidate your advantage than to desperately try to push into a fortified hive which may put you at risk of losing PGs and whatnot. Of course though, if you only have 3 - 4 RTs then that's an entirely different situation all together.

    Also in general marines commanders should stress the importance of going out and killing enemy harvesters. I always tell my rines it's well worth dying if you can kill a harvester or do some other economic damage. (But NOT cysts, for the love of god I wish marines would just learn to ignore them, they're a waste of time unless theyre directly next to a harvester)
  • It's Super Effective!It's Super Effective! Join Date: 2012-08-28 Member: 156625Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    "My mic doesn't work, but I'm still good, trust me."
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    <The commander has been ejected>
  • eliotmateliotmat Join Date: 2002-12-01 Member: 10350Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I get it! By "love" you mean "don't love"!!!!
  • halfofaheavenhalfofaheaven Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168660Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold
    Xarius wrote: »
    Second IP can be pretty important in pubs, particularly on anything above 9vs9 as it only takes 3 - 4 marines being wiped at the same time to significantly damage your team's future map presence in an absolutely crucial stage of the game. Though it depends on the map too of course, on some maps you really need that phase tech fast to be able to hold on to any map control.
    Point is, you shouldn't pre-emptively spend res on that just because it might happen. You will, however, need phase tech and upgrades. I'm not making this thread an "early 2nd ip or not" discussion though, so if that's your thing, all power to you.

    Good call on the other points.
  • FuleFule Join Date: 2009-06-04 Member: 67683Members
    Oh, how could I forget the golden commander that I had on mineshaft as marines - round starts, 5 seconds of silence and places a robotics factory in central - instant eject. Wasn't green, but - come on man.
  • GarfuGarfu Join Date: 2012-02-12 Member: 145170Members
  • halfofaheavenhalfofaheaven Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168660Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold
    ChrisAUS wrote: »
    - People new to commander giving it a shot and people actually helping them out
    - Crazy stuff that commanders decide to do that make the game fairly different to play out than the normal game
    - Positive commanders who encourage the team no-matter how bad the game is going
    - People having fun and not complaining about the casual community
    You're doing it wrong.

  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    ChrisAUS wrote: »
    - People new to commander giving it a shot and people actually helping them out
    - Crazy stuff that commanders decide to do that make the game fairly different to play out than the normal game
    - Positive commanders who encourage the team no-matter how bad the game is going
    - People having fun and not complaining about the casual community
    You're doing it wrong.

    No fun allowed! Rabble rabble rabble
  • HughHugh Cameraman San Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
    - New commanders hopping in, not having a clue, and giving it a go
    - New commanders ignoring people complaining about a probable loss, while calmly listening to nice people helping them learn the ropes
    - New commanders growing into old commanders, and in turn helping new commanders learn
  • CrushaKCrushaK Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167195Members, NS2 Playtester
    - instant 2nd ip drop delaying phase tech and/or upgrades for no reason

    I want to eject every comm who doesn't build a second IP pretty soon. Suddenly we get base-rushed and he is wondering why our last respawn point goes down. Or expects us to hold a forward location with only one guy respawning every (soon) 10 seconds. Plus a second IP automatically contributes to marines grouping up in pub games similar to alien wave spawn.

    - w1 before a1

    Armor is only useful for forward marines for one attack. If nobody with welders is around or an armory is close, their initial benefit will be gone after one encounter. W1 can help them to end their first encounter before they even take damage and makes them more effective at denying enemy structures faster and conserving ammo. Plus A1 won't make a difference if the enemies are aiming properly, since it only matters for glancing bites.

    - EXO before JP

    Nothing wrong with that. If you get it early in the game, you can take advantage of that additional firepower before the aliens have proper counter measures. It's not like Exos rely on Jetpackers to be effective. It also allows to chew through defence that would be even too much for Jetpack teams.

    - building sentries, at all, ever

    If you are swimming in res, it can help your team with a forward push if used as offensive weapon. It also delays attackers and discourages them from fighting in a location (you can scare quite some Skulks away with it). Some additional DPS is never bad. The issue is rather that some people expect it to work as self-sustained base defence rather than an assisting structure.

    - flamethrowers as anything but the last upgrade

    I'll take Flamethrowers over Grenade Launchers any second. They can be really effective if you keep getting harassed by energy-depending lifeforms like Spore-Lerks, Bile-Gorges or Blink-Fades. Just fry them for a moment and they will have a hard time to get away from the rest of your team with such low HP. Plus they can hit multiple targets at once (great against forward alien bases with Whips and Gorge support) and destroy alien economy like a nightmare for the khamm.
    If you don't have a Jetpack, you don't want to go without the rest of your team, though.

    - spores as anything but the last 2nd hive upgrade

    Funny that you come up with this point and just a bit later with
    - not adapting to what's actually happening in the current round and blindly sticking to one thing from the start

    Spores are situational. When there are a lot of marines constantly besieging one of your locations and none of your other aliens can really push through, getting some Spores into the action can make all the difference. It loses marine formations up, breaks their focus (because they will be too busy looking for spots where they can avoid the Spores) so that other aliens can rush in, obscures their view and wears their health down so that they all go passively humping the Armory and also discourages them from pushing through a corridor with Spores.

    Bile Bomb may not be of any use if your Gorge can't actually get anywhere close to it's target location.
    Blink is more expensive and takes longer to research. Spores may help in the current situation much earlier and you may have more Lerks than Fades.

    - random whips everywhere without GLs out

    If you have the res to afford it and a single enemy is constantly going through a certain spot to cause trouble, you may catch him off guard with a Whip there and discourage his behaviour.

    - dropping a hive without a gorge inside or anyone around

    If it's in a secured location (aka far behind your established front line) or a Gorge is available somewhere else, you may as well drop it early. Every growing second matters, so better earlier than late. Of course only if the area or ways leading to it have been sufficiently scouted recently.
    - building a shift in a hive location and spawning a mass amount of eggs before a 2nd hive

    Not a mass, but spawning some eggs there can help to establish a frontline further away from this location than from your main base. It helps to control pub aliens a bit who would otherwise not go there.

    - never stepping out the hive/cc, ever

    I step outside of the CC to build or defend stuff, but I am usually always busy enough as khamm to not get out of the Hive. There is always territory to take, upgrades to research, Drifters to place, Bonewalls to erect, eggs to spawn and Cysts and forward outposts to create. And usually are my upgrades distributed and hidden well enough from incoming marines and usually at the Hive that is the hardest to get to.

    - telling me i'm wrong on any of the above

    You're welcome.
  • NeokenNeoken Bruges, Belgium Join Date: 2004-03-20 Member: 27447Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester
    To be fair, there are also a sizeable bunch of impatient pub players out there who start complaining the second you don't fulfill the exact building/tech pattern they desire, question every instruction you give them, and ultimately start blaming you for every lost engagement, even if you're showering them with medpacks.


  • halfofaheavenhalfofaheaven Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168660Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold
    edited March 2013
    Just realised I forgot my biggest pet peeve: selling built, powered extractors when they're under attack.
  • CrushaKCrushaK Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167195Members, NS2 Playtester
    Point is, you shouldn't pre-emptively spend res on that just because it might happen. You will, however, need phase tech and upgrades. I'm not making this thread an "early 2nd ip or not" discussion though, so if that's your thing, all power to you.

    I actually advocate the "Phase Gates can wait a bit, rather hold the location with player skill, forward Armory and constant by-foot reinforcements from my two IPs with an early Arms Lab"-strategy.
  • WoollySammothWoollySammoth Join Date: 2013-02-14 Member: 183062Members
    -Commanders getting all shouty and sweary 'cause the team is being out classed. I get it, we suck, that's right, but bitching about it isn't gonna make us get any better :p
  • DraptorDraptor Join Date: 2013-03-05 Member: 183721Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2013
    Yeah, but if you and a buddy are circlejerking in a vent while a lone Marine is taking down a resource node right next to you, you may deserve a little anger. If you're teaching your friend without green tags on, at least communicate the fact that my aliens are only going to be at 70% of full strength in a full game.
  • ResRes Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20245Members
    When playing marine, I could care less what the comm does, I'll play with whatever he is doing... and if we lose as a result of his badness, then oh well.

    As playing an Alien, I absolutely dislike any Khamm that goes with shade first and certainly willing to eject them. Pre-gorgeous patch, I didn't care that much because camo was actually useful.... now it just blows.
  • OhnojojoOhnojojo Join Date: 2011-08-01 Member: 113400Members
    Long story short:
    23 minute game, I was alien.
    Khammander was not AFK and had a mic but never talked and ignored everyone when they requested upgrades.
    5 minutes into the game, 2 harvester, 1 hive
    10 minutes into the game, no upgrades, 2 hives, 3 harvesters
    15 minutes into the game, no upgrades. 2 hives, 5 harvesters, bile bomb
    18 minutes into the game, camo, 2 hives, 6 harvesters, blink, gorge tunnels
    20 minutes into the game, camo, adren, 3 hives, 6 harvesters
    23 minutes, game ends...

    We had 3 hives, 6 harvesters and total map control....
    But somehow the commander couldn't be bothered to upgrade celerity, silence, cara, regen, leap, stomp, vortex, spores, umbra....

    He just kept spending resources on whips and shades and shit.

    The only reason why we won is because the marines were just holy-omg-wtf-terrible.
  • XaoXao Join Date: 2012-12-12 Member: 174840Members
    Ohnojojo wrote: »
    Long story short:
    23 minute game, I was alien.
    Khammander was not AFK and had a mic but never talked and ignored everyone when they requested upgrades.
    5 minutes into the game, 2 harvester, 1 hive
    10 minutes into the game, no upgrades, 2 hives, 3 harvesters
    15 minutes into the game, no upgrades. 2 hives, 5 harvesters, bile bomb
    18 minutes into the game, camo, 2 hives, 6 harvesters, blink, gorge tunnels
    20 minutes into the game, camo, adren, 3 hives, 6 harvesters
    23 minutes, game ends...

    We had 3 hives, 6 harvesters and total map control....
    But somehow the commander couldn't be bothered to upgrade celerity, silence, cara, regen, leap, stomp, vortex, spores, umbra....

    He just kept spending resources on whips and shades and shit.

    The only reason why we won is because the marines were just holy-omg-wtf-terrible.

    He was doing that on purpose because you were stomping marines without upgrades (probably stacking), only NS2 players can complain about this.
    ChrisAUS wrote: »
    having fun...casual community

    Fucking casuals, I had fun once and it was awful.

    - New commanders hopping in, not having a clue, and giving it a go

    This, so much this, I have back seat commed so many games for commanders who were first time/no idea but were listening and we've gone onto a win and talked later on in the RR about 1) how damn easy it is to comm once you get over a few misconceptions and 2) how damn easy it is to comm, you are a glorified RT dropper who cycles through fast phase, 2nd IP, mines, welder or delayed if good team onto a1/w1, press spacebar on requests and make some snap decisions to med or not to med and generally feel like a spectator. Comms in NS1 were literal godhands, none of the gifts from heaven like JP HMG SG welder mines happened without the comms direct influence, NS2 you click a button and remind everyone once in a while to spend their pres, much better system for newer players.


    - New commanders growing into old commanders, and in turn helping new commanders learn

    Too bad I've never seen this happen, I specifically remember wanting to join some peoples teams in NS1 because they were "comms" and they were damn good, reloing here and there, rushing upgrades with minor res, knowing you could trust they looked out for people on pushes and rewarded the base bitches with an early SG or JP/welder, lots of small things.

  • hozzhozz Join Date: 2012-11-20 Member: 172660Members
    edited March 2013
    Commanders who do NOT drop a second IP right from the start whenever more than 4 Marines are on the ground (if you do it when you realize need it, it's already too late).
    Commanders who think a second Hive is more important than adapting to the game and for example getting Shifts when essential, or Drifters. "Wow that fast second Hive in Generator is much more useful than holding Locker Rooms!!!!"
    Commanders not using Drifters.
    Commanders getting Bile Bomb before Spores or Blink (excluding situations when Bile is actually needed fast - NOT MANY!!!).
    Commanders using medpacks left and right instead only in situations where map control is affected. That stuff costs money.
    Commanders too cheap to get forward Armories in important locations.
    Commanders building structures in all corners of the base, especially the placement of Gates, IPs, and Armories in the most distant positions imaginable.
    Commanders who rush Shotguns without a good reason.
    Commanders who get an Arms Lab before an Observatory.
    Commanders who don't get that a FAST PHASE GATE PLACEMENT IS VERY OFTEN CRITICAL when Marines have just cleared a room.
    Commanders whining how shitty the players are, and at the same time making critical mistakes like not noticing that half of the team is in the respawn queue and they might need a second IP.
    Commanders not having IPs in at least 2 different bases.
    Commanders leaving the CC/Hive any time. You're doing something wrong then.

    Bonus points for doing the above even if the team asks you to stop it/finally get whatever they need.
  • CrazyEddieCrazyEddie Join Date: 2013-01-08 Member: 178196Members
    Xao wrote: »
    I had fun once and it was awful.

    You were probably doing it wrong.
  • ComproxComprox *chortle* Canada Join Date: 2002-01-23 Member: 7Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
    Well, since this thread is just a bunch of people whining and arguing I am going to lock it. Don't like what your commander is doing? Be nice and guide them. It's an easy way for them to learn and you to have a better game.
This discussion has been closed.