Squad Leaders and Platoon Leaders, STOP muting/ignoring Command Chat- and use TEAMWORK

I keep telling the new VS leaders from soltech on mattherson to type their coordination but they clearly are not even looking at the text box. I have my people in TS3 so I can hear about every other word in the command channel. I'll be damned if I'm going to call clear comms so I can listen to someone (who is not identifying their outfit) talk about what they want to do on a different continent.

LEADERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO TYPE

If you're an average player I can see how the typing aspect of the game may seem like an annoyance. No excuses for leaders.

Hmm a command rank system that allows this utility based on earning the right to from your previous leadership experience. Brilliant. Can we get a command rank system in the roadmap finally?!?!

Are we talking about that chat where everyone rages about how their outfit is the best and no one else is carrying the weight/screaming for everyone to leave/attack the crown asap/they need support at ______ because they **** the bed and everyone needs to drop what they're doing now now now and **** you if you don't because you don't know what the **** you're doing and everyone is a *** who *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** chat?

I dunno. Might keep it muted. Its utility is of questionable value at times.

Now if they made a channel that different outfits could be added to for purposes of coordination across inter-outfit alliances forged from mutual respect and desire for teamwork? There we go.

Or, you could have the game auto - lower the other channels when Command channel is active.







I must say guys, this is a bit depressing in all honesty. It seems to me that if this is really done simply out of convenience- it's a missed opportunity. You mention that the discipline doesn't exist to use it properly- but that's all i encountered- at least before the merge.


It's seriously a shame when a in-game function like this is deemed so difficult to use , and "too easy to access" that new and upcoming squad leaders and platoon leaders get shut out. I honestly do not think that the Leaders text chat can serve as the be-all end all.


Something we all agree on is the system is due for improvements- but it's really a serious shame it has to be this way.

The devs really need to see this topic it seems...because this is a basis for one of the fundamentals of the game.

Considering the Servers were merged to deal with low populations- you'd also think the amount of leaders would be reduced, making it a bit more acceptable to use the voice comms- but from what i'm hearing, there's really no will.


...it seems i'm going to have to look forward to the next MMOFPS(they don't come around very often, as we all know ), to eventually attempt to fulfill my dreams of working with forces far larger than what PS2's enviroment is ...likely to facilitate , one way or the other, currently.


You know, there's more to this than just the above also. There's the immersion factor as well, even though that is minor. One of the things that i appreciated about MAG's comms is that it was set up to be quite authentic- in real life, you would not text chat every single thing to another Platoon Leader, or company commander.

...This really, really hurts the random platoons, and those who don't use clients of the sort. If you only use your specific comms that your Outfit has set up, you will be limited by how many forces you command.

-And that puts a hard eventual cap on the potential this game can reach. The outfit system is not intended to be restrictive in this manner..


It also is sad- i suspect that of the multiple groups that use TS and so on- if they fixed the in-game VOIP, it would still get no use due to people's preference now for the clients their outfits use. And with multiple Outfits seeking to merge others with them and grow- and the amount of random non-outfit platoons decreasing in this game-(I've seen it, and I' lead random platoons) - there are several structural problems this will cause.


It seems our limits aren't just on the implementation side of things, but the usage can also limit us, indirectly..

The former volume sliders on names would have let you deal with that problem, before they removed it.

Furthermore, if you have that issue on Command Chat- you're punishing victims, those who do want to work together, for others. They can easily spam Leader text chat also- and as a matter of fact, if i wanted to promote a outfit- I'd spam links on Leaders text chat- as that's something people can actually copy and paste. Sort of like what i hear people are doing on one or two of the other servers....

Understandable on the muting thing- but I don't understand your point about "tryhards"
I've never actually heard someone refer to the map's grid system, at all -

But you know what? That's what it's there for- for our benefit. So you consider someone who actually attempts to use a too to help give a description a try hard? I don't think that's really fair to Leaders.

it is good practice to give a proper description of where enemy forces are located, and to do proper sitreps. If you label leaders tryhards, they are going to stop being detailed , and that will influence them in far more than voice comms


I cannot see how this will help the already-decreasing Leaders of this game.

it doesn't really matter given the current state of the game- but should we not do everything we can to spread proper usage of it?
One of the appeals of Planetside2 is the large armies- and frankly, while for many 48 man platoons might seem large- those of you who come from PS1(not me) , or MAG(like me)- or any other MMOFPS have seen just what large groups working together are capable of. If it doesn't matter, than that's implying the ...appeal of this game, doesn't truly exist as the game is in it's current state. I'd say it's not optimum, - but I would not say the game is in that bad a shape, for that type of work.



The farm mentality is ...strong, i've noticed- however, I would like to hope that there are others like me, who aren't in this game at all for the farm- but for the role that only Planetside 2 lets us play.




















I fear that for things like this , while the devs move at a slow pace regarding this sort of thing- if the community doesn't do what it can on this front, it'll turn off the part of the playerbase which came here specifically for this.

Perhaps that amount of the playerbase is small- and this the game won't suffer with us not finding what we came here for. (Every other MMOFPS as far as I know, is currently in decline- or has run their course. )

I've probably used the command comms in Helios TR more than anyone. There's a few misconceptions here I'd like to put to rest:

Leader comms is not the way to gain respect. People don't respect talking, they respect action. If you want other players to respect you as a leader pick hard objectives, and succeed in taking them.

There's not that much to coordinate. Right now I feel like the only coordination I need is to insure there's enough force on each of the two major fronts.

Outfits tend to coordinate with each other directly. After a certain point you learn who is actually worth working with. It's easier to speak to them directly rather than share that conversation on Leader Comms.

The split side of that is that many of the guys in the Comms don't get it. There's always that guy that's like "WTF!? Why are you there?" I'll tell you why, because I feel like it! Maybe I haven't been there in a while, maybe that's where my platoon wants to be. After several months of leading day in and day out you realize it doesn't really matter where you go, as long as you do it well and have fun.

You have to worry about snitches. I stopped using the orders command because the enemy always knew our strategy when we do. If I say we're going to have fun and mass libs, there will be a full platoon of max's at that area when we get there. They follow our platoons as well. All ofthe important decisions have been pulled back to private comms because of this.

Finally, things do get complicated with so many channels. At one point I had Mumble, Teamspeak, and the in game comms going at once. So yyeah, if you need to know what our platoon is doing, I'd rather you just type it. Most leader comms are not urgent. Chat should work fine.

Random players couldn't care less, people buy command channel to feel special..

If this game wasn't f2p people would start using it because the trash players would leave.

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I have only seen value from it. -But then again, i've been fortunate enough to not encounter those who would cause others to decry the tools we have.


As for your outfit channel idea- would that not hurt the rest of the playerbase which isn't part of outfits? something else needs to happen, otherwise that limits things.
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Very well- it seems this is a structural problem that the community's current stance on isn't going to solve. I just wish there was a bit more...of an effort to avoid the indirect issues this will cause. And I'm referring to the general picture- a poorly implemented tool- then people mute it. The thing where even when this is fixed- it won't solve the other problems, one of which seems to be people are leaning towards outfit-only operation, in some shape. I'm not seeing a lot of pressure for voice comms in general, even in a fixed setting. The lack of a desire for a immersive experience. - I'm seeing more issues here that run deeper, and it saddens me.


..There's more to this than just the Squad Leader command channel.

I'm going to go ahead then and start to refrain from using the voice comms- after all, if my proper usage of it with a few other platoons is going to fall on deaf ears, despite our actual coordination and discipline and willingness to make this work for the same of the game, and so people can have a good time- and if we aren't going to be able to work with outfits because they have their own ....systems set up that only include them and their own joint ops that are picked out - then i'd rather not just "tick off" the other leaders of outfits and platoons who want to do their own thing.

This is indeed a issue caused by the not-so-great initial implementation, but there's that, there's the above issues, etc- there should be more of a voice asking to solve these problems. Or, i would think there would be on this game, of all things..

-Tippership Commander

.. I see..

What would it take to improve the coordination to another level? If this is the current state of PS2- where it ends up as a "going through the motions" scenario, then that tells me there's a failure if that scenario ends up more effective for capturing territory and so on.

You're right about it though- i feel a little bit like that when I an leading, all the time- that it's just a matter of keeping checks and balances.

I once used the Leader voice comm to get 4+ platoons to hit the TR on Esamir- somehow, they responded by pulling the majority of the server population to Esamir- and Esamir was the server's most heated fight- but with so many platoons running around- and Queue's maxing, while it started out as a macro-strategic chess game, it ended up where the battles were reflective of the World population- which seems to happen at a certain point when you have enough forces on a map clashing.



Some of these things- wouldn't be solved by improved comms though. Such as the going-through-the-motions problem of keeping other forces in check


Someone above mentioned in PS1 it was set up to be more social. that surprises me , as while I would not mind friendly banter with other platoon leaders- the ..community of the game really seems like it would- and does frown on that sort of thing in PS2.

i dont mind having to make sense of it- that's what people at that high a level should be doing, almost...

as for easily being accessible- there's nothing wrong with a TON of leaders. you just can't have people who dont use it for it's purposes. if someone want's to lead- they should be encouraged to make full use of what they have, to lead

Iam glad you put some thought into this.

Command chat in a nutshell:

Here is the thing OP: Command Channel? Only really good for lolz with the TR at least.

I was on last night, the outfit I am part of ran a night long open platoon. 48-36 people from the time I logged on until the time I left. I was Charlie lead for 5 hours of that op (The whole time I was on) our platoon leader used command chat to relay what we were doing, where we were going etc. at regular intervals. It benefited us (And I'm rounding up here) Zero times.

No one acknowledged us to help us I don't think (Or that I recall, nothing that stands out). Only time we went to join a fight was when we noticed it on the map screen. Only time we called reinforcements we did so using Teamspeak.

Only meaningful things I've seen come out of Command chat, is times we've compiled some outfit heads who shall remain unnamed (You know who you are) saying that they were the alpha and Omega, and the rest of us were complete morons, as decreed by them, as they were divinely recognized as the leader of the TR.

Seriously... it's good for a laugh, but I rarely see it used for what it's meant for.

...This sort of thing seems to heavily differ from server to server, and also based on what outfits run around and how they operate on each server...sigh.

We need to support it being expanded then- I use it for what it's meant for- and granted, we could play this game without it easily, we all know that...

they need to tweak it somehow...

Bump for thoughts- this is still pretty...core to me, in the larger scheme of things

any ideas for fixing it so it gets used properly and actually used?


It can certainly be done- other MMOFPS games handled it with ease....

i join the public platoons for gameplay/strategy reasons and I get annoyed so fast. It's just a bunch of guys bsing. Just talking about the game and what they r experiencing "ahh i just pwned this tank, hey what u think of this gun?" yadda yadda yadda. It's all stuff that i dont enjoy listening to. I dont like listening to guys talk. idk why but i dont enjoy it at all. All i want is orders, attack this point with these guys/vehicles and ride/drive in a sundy/gal etc.

Then people have out of game chat they also run. So u have those guys talking also. I dont know how people do it or enjoy it.
I dont want to chit chat with anyone, i just want an order and to know what's happening with the war.

I leave platoons after 20 mins cause i start to feel myself go towards the dark side. I have serious issues and im not sure if other people do to. (seems like most people enjoy chit chatting in chat) Personally, I like to play the game because i think fighting with and against other players is way more fun than npc's, but i dont want to hear about anything that isn't an objective.

On one hand i feel like an azz but on the other hand i dont because i accept it as my own flaw, and because it doesnt effect anyone else. It only punishes me because i leave the platoon. I still remain in the area and help but it's not the same cause i lose the orders/command.

Idk if this effects anyone else (how many chats u can sanely have active), but for me i try it but after a bit i have to turn it off. I know it's my own personal issue but i dont know why. I like interacting with players in the game, but not actually talking to other players. what the hell is wrong with me,=? oh and im totally happy all the time and am very social in real life

which makes it even weirder lol..

TLDR
somehow this was gonna lead to a connected hex within the topic but my subconscious just ghost capped my brain

The best solution I have ever seen is simply to have coms procedures. This is organizable at playerside level.

...but wouldn't it be better at game-orgnized level?



MAG made it so not everyone could talk to everyone, for example. That might be a bit much for PS2, but a hard revamp of the way the basic comms work as far as squads talking with others go could help

i have never encountered that on Jaeger/Waterson...... a individual mute slider for a player would let you mute someone who doesn't use it for what it's for- as i've said

Update : After events today involving multiple platoons on my side fighting enemy platoons merging - i have this to say in conclusion.

When you're fighting 3 or more enemy platoons- guess what? if they are non-outfit , they aren't using Teamspeak.

They are using the Command Channel Chat the devs gave us. And when you're doing something complicated- you do NOT always have the time to type out paragraph after paragraph in Leaders Text chat.

So while i implore those of you who hate it, to give the Command Channel a chance-(read my former posts for reasons why) if you can't clear your own platoon comms- and absolutely can't stand someone using it, EVEN to say only one sentence or less - then mute it.

Do not shut up every single Leader on your entire faction- that is doing a disservice to those who want to use what the devs gave us. It's not right, and in some cases, it's denying us a ability that the enemy can still use- And you want to know the worst part? The enemy does use it. To great effect.




And no, the answer is NOT :join a outfit and use teamspeak: or **** - That is immature, and i don't understand those who take that position

..that's not really fair to all the other leaders

Bump for thoughts- i have been studying for finals and haven't been on PS2 as much.



I'm curious why in this game, people are loathe to clear comms in their own platoon to hear command channel when in a lot of platoons they have platoon chat cleared only for the PL to speak- normally.

I have a suspicion it's due to teamspea- which means this is a self fulfilling problem brought on by the userbase itself- by resorting to teamspeak(not saying it isn't useful or can't be used to greater effect, despite me not having used it in this game) - Leaders would rather poopoo the command channel, off of that alone- which snowballs into the other issues hurting non-outfit platoon leaders like me who use the command channel, and others.