Infiltrators definitely need more to do. They need a unique task that gives them more purpose; more value. So, I say give them the ability to mark enemy leaders (SLs & PLs). To gain such an ability, an Infiltrator should have to first activate special terminals that are located in out of the way structures. Buildings that are not part of any main complex and, thus, until now, offer no incentive for players to ever visit them. (An example of what I'm thinking of is the building located just outside the Esamir NC Warpgate and North-West of Northern Weigh Station. There's a radio tower attached to it.) Anyway... these building would be used by infiltrators to gain intel on the positions of enemy leaders. Inside (or beside) each of these buildings, there would be a terminal that, once activated, boosts the radar capabilities of a faction's infiltrators. The range of the radar would be limited, however. But, within that range, infiltrators would be able to mark any enemy leaders they spot (with the Q key). Once an enemy leader has been marked, they'd become a prized target for infiltrators to assassinate. The rewards for killing one would be a significant exp bonus AND a point towards a special stat category ('Assassinations'). Regardless of the benefits, though, hunting down leaders would be fun as frick. I doubt this game mechanic would distract infiltrators from the primary objectives. More likely, it would enhance the experience for everyone: infiltrators would be more valued (and feared) on the battlefield, being a leader would become a more exciting job (more risk involved), and platoons/squads would be encouraged to protect their leaders. I'd also like to see the squad/platoon leader role expanded upon. The devs really need to add more abilities to make the role more useful and fun to play (and less of a exp gain handicap). However, that is another topic for another thread...
More thoughts Enemy leaders spotted within an activated radar's range will receive a special icon above their head. This icon will only be visible to infiltrators In addition to the 'leader marking' ability, the radar enhancement could also extend how long a target stays marked: 5 seconds or so? This benefit could extend to all friendlies, regardless of their class, and apply to all types of enemy targets (so long as the target is marked within the radar's range). Activating three specific radar towers in a triangular position could offer an even greater benefit. I'm not sure what that could be, though. Perhaps, it could be a boost to the radar range of all friendly units within the center of the triangulated radar towers.
Would be awesome, although it should have more of a practical purpose, like as in killing a squad leader would get rid of all the squad's waypoints, while killing a platoon leader would get rid of every single waypoint in the platoon. That way infiltrators can be a great tactical tool for the team. Also people would think more carefully about becoming squad or even platoon leader, as well as the team thinking more carefully about transporting their leader or protecting their leader, since having your waypoints get messed up can be a pain in the *** for teams playing tactical. Also maybe it could also destroy any spawn beacon in a squad or platoon (depending on which leader gets killed). It would make for a whole lot more tactical thinking.
I don't think removing the leader's waypoints is the right choice. It's hard enough to get people to follow directions, as it is. What you suggest would probably just frustrate people. The game mechanics need to encourage people to work together, rather than piss them off. There needs to be more positives to stepping up to be a leader. Making the job even tougher and less appealing will only hurt the game overall. You have touched on the core of it all, though. An assassinated leader has to mean something more than just extra points for a skilled infiltrator. It needs more weight. IMHO, the key to making this work is to give platoon leaders (not SLs) a passive ability or two. Nothing op. Just something that makes an assassinated platoon leader worth giving a damn about. What that could be... I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps... a PL could add a small boost to exp gain for his/her troops... or a slight gain to point capture rate... or... ? Regardless, I'm absolutely certain that the leader role - especially the PL - needs more TLC from the designers. If they want to improve the meta game and get more people playing (and stay playing) they'll need to improve the PL role. Good leaders make or break the experience for the majority of players.
Makes me think... they should give us a way to identify SLs and PLs visually. There's even a place for another small XP bonus there. That's enough for me.
If you give the some way that platoon leaders and squad leaders are worth more exp and are more visable because of their positon, they should also get some perks for being a leader. Such as exp for their platoonmates kills, or at least be more durable.
Yeah if you are going to punish 12 men or 36 men based off you killing one guy those 1 guys need a perk for staying alive. They should also get more xp based on them rooting the infiltrator out.
What would you "support"? How about objectives captured give bonuses to squad leaders and platoon leaders. This way farming does nothing but accomplishing a goal does.
Well, as long as having a two man squad, the squad leader shouldn't have any noticable perk, and shouldn't be noticably more exp from him. I'm meaning those true commanders with the 40+ platoon coming ontop of your position. I'd place a bit of a glow on the leader, possibly a glowing dot on the map when he reveals himself(fires//getsspotted) give an extra 1 or 2 exp per minion he has, and a few extra HP.
Ya, the perks should only go to the platoon leader. This would encourage more players to group up into platoons rather than independent squads. The inf should still get an exp bonus for assassinating a SL, but a PL should mean something more because they're less common and more important. It needs to mean something to the rest of the platoon so they'll all want to treat the PL like a VIP. Keep him/her protected. To a degree, anyway.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......... Kill one guy, he can't use his mic for the 10 seconds that hes respawning, might have to reset the waypoints while waiting those 10 seconds out, get double exp for it. This isn't a very constructive suggestion and its borderline gimping us to not receive any more attention after its implanted due to it "being enough for now."
sounds nice... until you realise every platoon/squad leader is (or after this would be) inside a vehicle.
Ideas are like sentences. They need a little proofing before you post them. (sigh) So few people take pride in their ability to communicate with words these days. I get the impression that some folks just mash their keyboard, slip in a few "lulz" or "MOARs" (or some other ******ation of the English language) and then hit ENTER. Why bother? It doesn't make any sense. All it does is make you look lazy and/or stupid. Sorry. Sloppy writing is a pet-peeve of mine. I figure that if someone can't be bothered to check their spelling and grammar, I can't be bothered to hold back my criticism.
Then I believe your own post can be improved a little, I've had a stab below: The rest was good enough I fully agree with you and I've hated watching the written form collapse since the introduction of SMS. Alas we are fighting a losing battle and I even get official, work eMails now with such abominations as "pls" and "lol" in them. Looking forward to people picking out mistakes in my own post but at least I've tried!
Perfection is NOT required on a video game forum. No, sir. I'm talking about a standard level of competency and effort here. Thank you for fixing that, though. Irony is fun, eh Btw, I wasn't picking on anyone in this thread. My comments were aimed at the worst offenders. Peeps who can't even get the titles of their threads right... or take that extra couple of seconds to fix the words that are underlined in red.
Perhaps the Dev's will eventually come along with making a better version of what we spoke of here.. /endtread
