This needs to be here
Jm69hsp.jpg
This needs to be here
Jm69hsp.jpg
You need me again, sweet lips?
Yup. Never mind the sausage, sell the sizzleOriginally Posted by EsotericReverie
(A paraphrase of Terry Pratchett, discussing CMOT Dibbler's sausage-inna-bun sales technique. Said sausages were said, by Dibbler, to be "made by pigs".)
"[RPS] Public platoon. Indar."
Is enough. Avoid giraffe in-jokes.
Oh I was in Mumble, I just wasn't able to communicate. Also I think that I missed about half of all warnings and instructions because at first I wasn't sure which were actual commands and which were just suggestions and general discussion.
I've taken part on some of the RPS Arma Tactical Tuesdays, so I'm well aware of the advantages of listening to Mumble!
I'm looking forward to getting back in-game.
I'm excited about flying a Gal again. You may find me exclusively organising Gal drops once I'm back as PL. It will be amazing. Promise.
That was amazing! Your PhD marathon nearing it's end?
We got Amerish. So happy you guys!! Thanks for joining tonight. Our hard work paid off and I hope everyone got some good fights.
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On what seemed another casual night on Amerish, Ridebird coordinated with the other outfits, and we soon were aiming to deny the continent bonus from the TR. At the end, not only did we achieve that, but we actually managed a continent lock. Cheaper aircraft all around!
Purple Giraffes of Awesome to Ridebird, the platoon, and to our allies who made it happen: UBAD, BURP and PVL who joined in our platoon, MDK, ISK and all the other outfits that coordinated so efficiently and effectively (sorry if I forget some names) and all those who fought alongside us. Let the cooperation only grow stronger.
PurplePinkGiraffe.jpg
Very, very true.
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God, this thread makes me wish I'd have played more Planetside lately...
I had an idea yesterday that we tried out briefly. How about we run with two platoon leaders on regular days?
BL1 - macro/comms leader. Controls where the outfit is going, communicates in /leader and with other outfits, uses /orders to try to affect the zerg.
BL2 - micro/direct leader. Controls what the platoon does/which squad goes where (if needed), if a class or vehicle is needed and such.
I think BL2 should be the PL in-game so he/she can change the plwp for enemy sunderers etc. BL1 can just say where we are needed anyway. BL1 needs to be SL in bravo.
May I also strongly suggest that everyone that leads certs command chat and orders? It truly is a must going forward for us, I'd say. Even if we just use it a little, it is immensly helpful to work with others at all times. It's not always needed - if we are defing Indar for example - but other times it's awesome. This also means everyone needs to start communicating in /leader when they are leading - regardless of the night. If I'm on I will likely fulfill this as comms officer or whatever.
May I also suggest that we step up our game a bit and try to aim for more cont locks and get off Indar a bit more? That means coordinating more and trying to stick together more. I believe we can do it with the help of other outfits.
Last edited by RIDEBIRD; 20-02-2013 at 08:57 AM.
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This sounds excellent, all of it! I'd like to try this sometime.
That sounds really good. I approve of all points. And there's something related that I want to bring up.
After playing for a couple of hours yesterday (before the cont lock) I started to think a bit about the outfit and how we're playing. We've really started to step up our game when it comes to macro-management. We're usually going for strategically significant targets, coordinating with other outfits (major kudos to Ridebird for arranging that yesterday, the reinforcements came at just the right time), and so forth.
But I think that there's a lot more we can do on a micro-level. Not really talking about BL giving order to squads (although that is very nice in some situations), but more about stuff like staying together in smaller groups, pushing towards an objective as an unified squad or just letting everyone else know what you're doing.
For those who weren't playing yesterday, we were defending a tower (was it Krux? Can't really recall the name) against several TR outfits. It was a losing battle but we managed to slow the cap down and hold until we got reinforcements. Which was really well done, don't get me wrong. I was proud of us for not giving up. But during the fight, it seemed like we lost a lot of concentration and started fighting more as a group of lone soldiers than an outfit (DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to criticize anyone, I'm just as guilty as anyone of doing this). Which wasn't very effective, while we managed to hold on to the base we did it with the tip of our fingers. Personally it felt like I was mostly charging out, killing a couple of enemies and desperately trying to stop an overwhelming force. Which just is bad for morale.
So my suggestion would be that we try to work a bit more in groups, even on casual nights. I'm not talking about breaking up in separate channels (even though we shouldn't be afraid of doing so if the situation demands it), but just sticking together with a couple of other in the squad/outfit. Maybe make sure that we have at least one medic in each group. And simply hit objectives as an unified unit rather than as single individuals. Simply speaking, what we've talked about for stratgir but trying to implement it when playing more casually as well.
We have a lot of really good players, who can and will get the job done, and it seems like we're not really playing to our true potential. Just changing the playstyle of the outfit a little would probably make us much more effective. And, at least from my point of view, more fun as well. I'd rather fight a losing battle were we're giving ground slowly and in a controlled manner than just barely holding while micro-zerging.
So, that's my two cents. What do you guys think about this?
(Further disclaimer, I wrote this before rushing to uni, so I haven't proofread it. Sorry if there are any parts that's unclear)
Seems clear enough to me, and it is also a point that I and many others have raised recently. (Thanks for bringing it up again!) We are getting better at this too, but it requires a different mindset to what many are used to from other shooters.
This is not ArmA or Operation Flashpoint, and shouldn't be played as such, but neither is it Quake or Unreal Tournament, and should probably not be played as such either. The impulse to run off on your own is very strong in this game, since it feels so much like a "regular" fast-paced shooter. If the pace were a bit more measured, a more methodical playstyle would probably emerge. Don't get me wrong, I really like the feel and the pace of the game, but I think it does reinforce the solo play behaviour so common in the AAA FPS world. It really makes a difference if you can manage to stick together though.
I believe this must be the SL's responsibility, at least initially. SLs must push their squads to stick together until we've been doing it for long enough for it to become the natural thing to do.
If we want to bother, that is. I certainly do, but I'm not sure everyone in the outfit agrees. There are some differences in opinion re: how much we should emphasize organisation/efficacy versus relaxed fun.
Fully agreed SirHoc - that attack was awful. I really did not coordinate it at all because I was occupied with directing all the other outfits as well as us.
I have taken a role in leader chat as a dude that say "let's go do this" and people actually listen. That has also made me somewhat of a "spider in the web" (direct translation of a swedish expression that probably looks hilarious to brits) that needs to talk to the others constantly and make sure we all have our targets/work together.
This is also why at least I need someone to actually lead the platoon. Making people sticking together is for sure something along those lines.
While I have stepped my macro game up significantly lately, that also has meant I have reached my multi-tasking breaking point - which is real good fun to be honest. I love challenging that particular ability because I find it fun, but I have noticed myself simply not being able to do it all. Direction and leadership on a ground level has been lacking.
That's why I thought of my system -and it was right after the shitty attack on Crux. I mean, I wasn't directing sunderers or anything there, I was just trying to make The Plan come together to get the lock on a macro level with a lot of other people. That's bad and why we need a second PL during these kind of ops.
I think we REALLY need to focus on sticking together more on the micro level. Always bring a buddy and such. I know I run off alone a lot and I am an awful offender of this, but we should try to group up a bit before going anywhere really.
Splitting comms solves this issue. No need to dress it up or lie - it does. It just autofixes it since the squad is an actual squad and you can see the people you're talking to and keep check of them (almost everyone can have a decent idea of their 11 buddies). If we don't want to split, we need to make this part work somehow.
--
And again it comes to organization/efficiency vs. "fun". In my opinion we should be ready to do ops on the daily and coordinate with others, as well as follow orders and have a dedicated, vocal, leader that is in CHARGE. That means we listen and that person takes charge, however he or she does it.
Do we still have a lot of people that are strongly opposed to this style of play? We seemed to have more people sticking online last night then usually for example, so hopefully I did not scare anyone away.
But I think it really is about time we get to the root of this, and especially the regular majority - after all, the people that play often and are a majority (we are) should decide this for the rest of the outfit. Or we just take a vote I guess and let democracy settle this.
What do you think?
edit: Talking about tuesday, friday, saturday, sunday (not one stratgir has happened on sundays so might as well scratch it) by the way - mondays are silly, wednesdays are zergy and thursdays are highly organized. I think we have a good spread of sillyness/relaxed play (two days) and one day of highly organized squad play. The rest should be a compromise that does not effect our tactical and strategic ability - meaning we should still be able to coordinate with others at all times, stick together as squads, and make sure we have good direction on the ground.
Last edited by RIDEBIRD; 20-02-2013 at 10:00 AM.
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And another thing about what kind of outfit we want to be - I think we should focus on infantry ops via gal/sundy without the necessary heavy zerg (I just find it so dumb and that LAs DO have a use) but always be ready to switch to tanks, and have pilots that want to fly to be in the air almost constantly.
I think our greatest strength in this is flexibility, and that we don't necessarily have to limit ourselves as many other outfits (Enclave, CONZ, BRTD, MDK) do just because infantry and lock-ons is the counter to everything. Tanks still have a place goddamnit! Sarons4all 2013.
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Yeah. No need to shift our style.
Infantry focus (inc Gal and Sundy movements) but quick to bring the Mag-based-pain. Air (libs especially) as and when we need it, but nothing dedicated.
That beign said, however. If anyone wants to dedicate themselves to being a Scythe scout (not air superiority) when I BL, they'd be totally welcome...
Also: Ride, I think you've found yourself where I was that night Cortosis was BLing and I was dealing with /command chat. A two system of an outfit leader / liason and a BL can work. Personally I try to do the whole lot when I can, but the downside of that is I am not on the ground (I usually just sit on a Flash or in my Sundy. I now have a "mobile command vehicle" loadout for my sundy...) and am totally reliant on people relaying what it's like out there.
I'm up for com liaisons when needed. I find that I enjoy knowing what other outfits are up to, and getting a glimpse of the greater strategic situation. I have done it for ReiOnryou and Ridebird. And I'd also like to volunteer for SL for this Thursday. Not feeling quite ready yet (after all, this is my first FPS, as I've said before), but I think it's about time I get my feet wet.
On the tactical side, Sir Hoc raises some valid points. We need to operate as cohesive squads even on casual nights. It doesn't have to be on separate channels, but even stuff like moving in dedicated sundies/gals means that we arrive in a cohesive, concentrated fashion, and can move as a unit. Always move with a back up. Cover an objective from at least two sides. Always try to flank, so have one group fix the target, and another one flank. Keep our distances, so we don't move into eachother's firing arc. Don't let the medic in first. And always have more than one sundy at the ready. Unless moving in an armour column, a sundy with mineguard or blockade armour is preferable. Also, MAXs, not just for biolabs.
Very interesting, read this thread lately. I like all the comments made by the previous few posters.
I wouldn't mind doing BL some nights when someone else is handling the general direction of the outfit and coordination with others. Wouldn't mind doing SL on Thursday either, although I've led two weeks in a row now, so it might be time for me to step aside this week.
EDIT: also, Eclectic: Having limited experience from other shooters is really not that much of a handicap here, I think, since Planetside is so different from many other games. You just need a decent understanding of this game to be effective, not a deep understanding of FPS mechanics in general.
I gotta say guys, I haven't played in a little while and I probably won't be able to for another week or so what with work commitments, but from everything I've read here I'm really looking forward to rejoining the platoon.
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