The Save-your-butt Commander

Doombringer

<div class="IPBDescription">and how he goes unappreciated</div> The scenario:

A new game starts, players divide into their teams. The usual hoo-ha stuff. The marines all spawn in, ready to fight, and... tada! Everyone calls for a commander. Some defiantly announce, "I'm not going comm, I suck!" Seconds pass... minutes pass... skulks rush, marines lose valuable time...

This is when I usually take the comm chair, because my team desperately needs infantry portals (at least) to keep the game going. The problem is, overall, I'm not a very good commander. I don't have voice-comm, so that right there makes things more difficult. Still, I make a go at it, try to comm as best I can and advance towards a hive. Sadly, because I'm not too "on the ball" when it comes to commanding, my teammates feel it necessary to flame me up and down because of it.

My whole point here is.. if you're not going to comm, and nobody ELSE is going to comm.. don't yell at the guy who finally gets the balls enough to sit in the chair and at least TRY to win the game. This also goes for the commanders who hop into the chair to continue the match after a "good commander" leaves because he's frustrated with the team or r/l issues pop up.

Desolation

I don't think most people understand how much a commander has to do, so they think he's not doing anything good for them and flame him for stuff when there are very little resourses. I hate it when people just wait in the marine start until he gives them stuff, then go out and die 30 seconds later only to respawn and repeat the process.

Morose

Amen. I'm often the "backup comm". I can build stuff very well. I know where to place turrets... I know what upgrades to build and when. Problem with me is that I can't keep track of all the marines in the field which is VITAL if you want to win decisively. So if you see me in the chair, be prepared to lead your squads from the ground and shout alot. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> But if you flame me... I'll just logout of the chair and say, "show me".

GreyPaws

Heh you think thats bad? Try being in a game when you announce "Ill go COMM Marines please stay at spawn and defend" and some moron runs for the chair and takes it, drops 2 inf port, (if youre lucky theyll drop an armory) then they drop a TF (thats when I feel like beatring their skulls in) then 5 min into it when theyve wasted 25 +19 +19 +19 and all the marines are yelling "Lets take this" or "Rush the hive" and the noob gets frustrated and hops out and you gotta get in and take up the slack..... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->

Terr

Last night I was playing with an absolutely wonderful Marine team, as far as teamwork goes on pubs. Basically we battled the two-hive aliens for the better part of an hour, and were holding them out of their own Waste hive on Tanith. (They controlled all the other resourcers, and we still had it when I left) I was part of a strike group (Heavies with welders and such) Who were advancing toward the fusion hive. I was out of ammo, other teammates were starting to say it too... and our commander had hopped out on the grounds that "It's better to have another man on the ground."

So I walked all the way back, jumped in the chair, and dropped health and ammo, very amused to see my teammates saying: "Where's Terr? I thought he was with us. Need ammo, comm!"

The problem being that on a 0.4 ghz computer (for all those kids who probably never encountered the mhz measurement <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> ) I can't really command with any degree of response time. That's why I'm the backup-but-not-best commander... Takes me five seconds just to get the screen to stop moving when I look somewhere.

RigRMortis

agreed...i've seen it too, then someone comes in and starts the name calling...weak

TomCerul

I, of course, completely agree that some marine players seriously need to learn how much stuff costs...

I appreciate folks who will take the command chair when they are new and obey more experience players. I was in a game where everyone who knew how to command was having mouse issues. (mine was that the menu choices wouldn't stay selected.) So we threw a newbie with voice comm in the chair. It wasn't the best but it was the best we could field. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->

"Command, hit the space bar, see my flashlight?"
->"uh, yeah"
"Take this nozzle. First menu, on left"
*Clunk*
"Excellent, now place a phase gate somewhere in this room."
->"what?"
"second menu, third item, I think"
->"Ahhhhh..... this?"
*clunk*
"yep, thanks"


In related discussion, I'll jump on the comm chair if there is any doubt about who's doing it and throw down a couple spawn points while voice chatting that if anyone wants the chair, they can have it.

domesticxdispute

That happens to me way too often. I've learned a bunch of things from watching other good commanders do their work, so I can usually get the job done, but I would really much rather be out shooting aliens. My commanding also usually goes to hell after 3/4 of the game, mainly because I don't seem to keep track of things well and the aliens take back their hive before I can get some people there. I also hate when people don't do what they're told and then flame ME for it.
When you've been attacking a hive the last 5 times you died, you don't need a waypoint <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->

death1

Everyone should be required to sit in the big chair for at least one miserable loss... it would certainly educate the jarheads and make it easier to deal with when they're back out in the field. A lot of times after the game has been lost but there's still 30 minutes to an hour of fighting to do, we'll encourage someone new to take the chair for the practice...

-d$

hoju2

I'm a learning Command, I have recently begun winning games and the only thing that can really keep me from putting up a huge challenge if not beating the aliens is bad losses by my team. Anyway, this one game I was doing a fine job. The main base had good defense and we had taken a hive early game. Unfortunately before we took that hive I ordered the Marines to search for an open hive at the actual hive location. (I now either figure it out from the early Skulk rush direction or send only 1 Marine to find the hive.)
But because I had lost a couple of men trying to find the Hive, one of the players continually berated me and convinced everyone I was retarded until they booted me. It took about 3 minutes to get another commander in, the guy who berated me, and we lost the initative and later lost the game.

The next game, this guy had left because of frustration, and no body wanted to Command. Everyone was telling me to Command but of course I was banned. Marines, no matter what, give your Commander a break, its a HARD job.