Now you can get you first skill for free without so much as exhibiting the minor intellectual skill of being able to join a squad, the need to join a squad - at least for newbies - is very small indeed. Most newbies see the accumulation of squad points to be of minor interest as they themselves can't use the points so with the introduction of this no-effort free skill, this has given them one less reason.
I think the idea is to implement a commander feature where the commander can issue objectives to squads. Upon completion the squad is given a number of points.
First skill was always an incentive to join squads, wasn't it? I mean squads are supposed to be teamworking tools - and it might be better if we get one squad per team on a public rather than 3 squads filled with people who don't know how to use them. Frustrating, but good... What Beerdude said sounds cool tho
I noticed that too. Maybe it was set that way for testing. If not, please put it back to the way it is in 2.12.
Cooldown squad skills have been talked about so they get used more often. Things like recon/squad heal ext.
You could let the commander use all the squad skills, and make them work within the squad's radius, which would increase as the total distance from the squadleader to each player decreases. That would be a good incentive for keeping the squad together.
There is no point. Squad leaders cannot give orders because they are instantly overwritten once the commander spams targets. New players are not aware of the squad aura bonus, or even what the star icon on the minimap is. Most new players don't understand what rank points or squad points are for, or how to get them. Due to the non-linear gameplay style of Empires, sticking together in a squad is impossible. If a squad member dies, then he/she must often spawn a far distance away from the rest of the squad, and has to take a lot of time to travel back. The only way to keep a squad together is to have the squad leader driving and APC, which is not always possible.
with squads giving the free skill, players just fill up the squads with no interest in where their squad is or being part of a squad. squads that work together now (2.12) get pleanty of skill points and i find this is really helpful, especially on commander maps. why should someone that doesn't want to work in a squad at all join a squad, and get any benefits from it?
I think we would see squad leaders giving more orders if we made all the commands ("attack this location", "move to this location etc...") bindable from the controlls menu. Hell, everything in the f menu should be bindable from the controlls menu (but turned off by default... except for squad leader commands)
The system is being reworked in order to better foster teamwork, and make all classes useful contributors to their team. What is currently implemented is a quick fix intended to prevent those who join squads from gaining a significant early game advantage over those who cannot or do not know how- the squad system rework will not be in 2.2.
Well, maybe not from the Controls menu, but you've been able to bind "F Menu" options to keys for over a year now. There is no excuse for Squad Leaders to not have at least the two SL Abilities bound to keys.
Two ideas to help this squad 'issue' 1. accumulate squad points faster (more incentive to work together/join a squad) 2. (this one will need developing) Give commander control/ability to change squad(s) or place people in a squad at the bare minimum. Individuals could still leave a squad or change to another (yes you could get griefed by a comm) but why would noobs purposefully leave a squad when they dont even seem to try to join one. Another possibility to solve this is to be auto-added to a squad when you join a team. First come, first serve basis. Then those that wish to simply change to another squad or form their own can do so as they are spawning for the first time (like usual)
what are you talking about? there is a pretty good excuse, its called a user friendly interface. I have all that crap binded using that method but if we're going to see the vast majority of squad leaders doing this stuff we have to make the f menu binds accessable TO ALL. It's these little things that can drive newbies away.
How is that so much different then just giving people the free skill and then having people who what to squad up join a squad? Me personally have always disliked the idea of forcing people to join a squad for the free skill. It adds no element of teamwork since you don't have to stick together after you join the squad and just another one of those benefits that vets have over newbies.
Free skill, Human and Game Help, OrangeBox's achievement system Firstly, glad that people feel as passionate as i about any potential short-sighted changes in the 2.12 system of squading, but very glad to here that the essential keyword *teamwork* has not been forgotten. Humans > Software Here's a point here i'd like to remind the developers: This is a game that has a *human* element, don't think there is always a software solution to all your problems. Take Falcon's valid point re' squading up for instance - How about the squad member use there own brain to either chat, voice or the "F" menu to call people to action (in this case squading up). If you really want to foster teamwork lets try to remember that good squad leader is one normally more experienced that will instruct his troops not only on the simple "go kill this" crap, but also as an in-game oracle. I'd like to see if we could get all the active clans and community members assisting in this way. Free skills Back to the "2.2 free skill" thing, basically i was just highlighting a point that i believe that a *skill* should be *earnt* so as "annoying" as it is for veteran players to squad for skills, for a newbie, it gives them a sense of reward for just simply working out a game mechanic - something that i know i've heard valve talk about in there video blogs. Help and achievements Perhaps a way to solve this is to have a "garry's mod" style help tip system that pops up at the side suggesting things a newbie can do and perhaps use the OrangeBox's achievement thing to mark off what they've done and what potential skills/tactical they can achieve. I'm intrigued as to the reworking of that squad system and look forward to it in future betas. Boobies Oh and can however it is please stop spraying the piccy of the awesome boobs, i've died far to many times now. You cunt. Cheers
I have to agree with Lithium who's hit the nail on the head: User friendly/intuitive interface. Basically if you don't know of the existence of the "F" key, your already at a disadvantage with a game mechanic that should be a tad more overt (see my post above re "garry's mod tips" thing). Plus for a good amount of people manually editing a .cfg file is either unknown, complex or can't-be-arsed (<-me). How about this insane idea, a new dropdown in the Keyboard config dialogue called ....um... "Squad Leader" that actually let you config this stuff? I for one would actually then give squad orders and watch the point flow in! Cheers
