Get rid of the commander target ability

also make command orders dissengage after 2 mins. Any order is obsoleet in that time and it's better to not clutter the screen.

 

I agree with the majority here. Only one target per player, only static targets and maybe only on the minimap. In addition make the cam and mini radar only spot enemies in a direct line of sight and only as long as they stay within it. Otherwise you have another wall hack. It always made me feel bad when I had fragged a marked player because I felt it was unfair - especially on district. If it is limited on LOS then the enemie players now when they are spotted or not.

 

First off, I don't like this "1 target per player" thing. If you, as a commander, notice that there are multiple enemies around, but can only give 1 target to your entire squad, that's pretty dumb. The current system may be somewhat overpowered, but at least give the comm the ability to individually select multiple targets.

IMO the balance between both ideas would something like this:
Following someone's idea of giving attack orders on locations, enemies would be automatically spotted in a radius around this attack order, with spotted being the yellow blinking-in-and-out diamond thingy. The comm can help his troops locate the enemy (roughly), but you don't see the exact location of the enemy. Buttsechs ensues and everyone is happy

Red thingy is attack order, green radius is where the enemy would become automatically spotted. Attack order is static. Radius thingy size may vary

 

that doesn't sound so bad beerdude: so that targets any things that were in that area when you first clicked it until they leave the area?

 

I like. High five!

Perhaps the spot radius can varry based on currently researched level? Researcheable Comm abilities ftw!

 

Only one minior problem there:

Artillery. You often target target(s) far far away..

But good idéa, I hate when I have 20 red crosses on my hudscreen. It's makes you aim for red crosses and not Northen Faction scum!

 

I like

and for arty, we have scouts. Hell yeah they could be usefull for this

 

In place of "attack this location" could it be "aggres this location"

 

You can always press f space s to cancel the orders. Then you have none on your screen.

 

Ye, but, then those who doesn't do it, get a free wallhack, so to win the match, you need to use it.

For even if you hate Heroes in WarcraftIII, you need 'em to win.

 

Signed. One less thing for people to whine at the commanders about. The games are more fun without getting stuff targeted for you anyways

 

Maybe just have it for vehicles and buildings? Those you can spot a mile away, you cant hide a vehicle... effectively, and buildings are only effectively spotted for mowtars and artillary.

 

Beerdude suggestion works as is.
The mass target currently helps so much in stand stills.
If they enemy is held up in one place, Beerdudes target idea is great.
The thing isn't a mass target for everything in the map, just a place you need to cap.
I know that the target system is a bit of a wall hack, but the system needs to have some advantage.

 

Signed to remove it, and implement a "Attack in this location".

 

Vote: Location only commands. Leave the cam and radar alone. Any number of commands.

Side Bar: Not that I'm advocating this, but if the command could only give unit commands at a squad level it would reinforce squad level team work and be a more realistic command structurewise. Less RTS like though.

 

Do this. Hack the databases if you most! This will make things.. More fun

 

It's bullshit if this gets removed.
The commander can see the exact location of the enemy, he could technically force a order on that location at all times, instead theres something coded to make the life of a comm easier.

Knowing the exact location of the enemy doesn't always help, especially if he has your exact location. How about you guys stop relying on things that allow you to be effective by yourself and focus more on teamwork, this feature promotes teamwork and its such bullshit the comm shouldn't be able to do this, he can see them already for crying out loud.

 

Almost everyone in this thread seems to think of it from a "OMG I GOT LEET CS:S SKILLS AND I WANT TO USE THEM" point of view.
If we look at it from a commander point of view, then it's nothing more than a necessity.
In what RTS game are you not able to mark targets for your units?
In my opinion, the commander already does too little. It doesn't matter if your commander does everything perfectly, if the team sucks, you still loose.
The only way that is good is because i can just blame my team every time i am comm and loose.

 

The reason I want it removed is because you HAVE to spam attack orders in order to be a good commander. There is no alternative to attack order spamming. There is no gameplay in it either. Just spam, spam, spam.

 

How about some alternatives?

Make it so scouts who use their binoculars to scout a unit (including infantry) would give an attack order on it to their entire squad--not just put it on the map, but create the red triangle and everything. This would be a very nice ability for scouts; it would make actual 'scouting' (rather than sniping and sabotaging) something useful for people to do.

This might require a skill slot. It could take a few moments holding down the button with the binoculars focused in the general area of the enemy to target them; they'd be a bit like the Crysis binoculars, which I thought worked well and are a logical ability to give to scouts.

That way, comms don't have to give attack orders, while scouts get something else useful they can do. Another thing to like about it: It encourages squads to stick together, and rewards them when they do, since it makes it easier for the scout (hiding in a position with a good view of the area) to reveal every single enemy they face so they can react and fight as a group, with the scout switching to their rifle when necessary.

This is a good point. Often, as commander, you have to order someone to attack a specific person -- to take out a potential ninja, to stop a tank before they get in, whatever. Move orders are not enough for this, since they don't necessarily have the urgency of an attack order. Relying on voice is not an option -- no matter how annoying it is, there are commanders without voice, so the built-in comm orders have to be able to cover everything essential (which ordering attacks certainly is.)

I do think it can be annoying for the comm to have to do it, and it gives too much of an advantage to teams with a more experienced comm (though I have absolutely no sympathy for people who hate comm targeting because they think it detracts from their 1337 skillz -- team games shouldn't be about 1337 skillz, and the impact of individual player skill should be minimized in favor of things that encourage and reward cooperation). But there are valid reasons why attack orders could be problematic to remove.

That's why I think a better solution is to 'water down' the importance of comm attack orders by giving the ability to scouts as well (who will have to have a line-of-sight to the enemy to target them, of course, but can generally get that using binoculars and hide.) An added bonus to this is that if scout targeting is silent, and comm targeting has a message and/or different colored/different-looking diamonds, then comm attack orders will be more likely to mean something -- one of the problems with the current comm targeting system is that it's hard to tell if an attack order means "It is absolutely vital that you kill these people right now", or "I am randomly spamming attack orders on everything in the area for all of my units in hopes of giving them an advantage."