Follower system for your favorite Commanders in-game
CobraCommander
Join Date: 2012-07-30 Member: 154472Members
Join Date: 2012-07-30 Member: 154472Members
Please UWE, please Make a system that lets you favorite Commanders you enjoy playing with for Marines and Aliens. I was playing with an Alien Comm all day today and what separates him from the rest is that he always goes shade first and it's really awesome because I get more kills which = more fun playing with him vs. the expert marines who don't see me coming hehehehehe. I added him as a friend but he never accepted my request. So I came up with the idea of having a system to look up your favorite Commander whose currently Comming. It'll be just like the Favorite Server section.
It would also be great for Comms to have fans, right? Create a stat system that keeps track of everyone's favorite Commander after UWE creates the in-game follower system. Just like the stats mod that keeps track of player scores on the ground. This will give Comms more reason to perfect the <b>art of Commandering!</b> which = more fun. Come on, this promotes good safe commandering. ;) Give them more attention pleaze!
<!--coloro:red--><span style="color:red"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>TL;DR Post your +1's in support of an in-game Comm follower system so you can get in games with your favorite Comm. Then a Top Comm tracking page to see who is the most popular Commander in NS2.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
Request to Mods and Gods: please keep this in General so it gets more attention. Thank you.
It would also be great for Comms to have fans, right? Create a stat system that keeps track of everyone's favorite Commander after UWE creates the in-game follower system. Just like the stats mod that keeps track of player scores on the ground. This will give Comms more reason to perfect the <b>art of Commandering!</b> which = more fun. Come on, this promotes good safe commandering. ;) Give them more attention pleaze!
<!--coloro:red--><span style="color:red"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>TL;DR Post your +1's in support of an in-game Comm follower system so you can get in games with your favorite Comm. Then a Top Comm tracking page to see who is the most popular Commander in NS2.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
Request to Mods and Gods: please keep this in General so it gets more attention. Thank you.
Comments
But I do think this CommTracker or CommFanning system would be pretty neat.
sounds like a very skulkish attitude :P
sounds like a very skulkish attitude :P<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
LOL!
What I would like to see is a way to promote Commanders. Having a follower system is perfect for that!
What say you UWE?
Not so much in the form of a request to UWE, but a request to server-admins.
One match I had, was awesome - lasted for 86mins, both teams exhausted when the battle ended.
My (Alien) comm was a guy called Alf, and Steam shows tons of pages with Alfs, so I couldn't add him to my friendslist.
So how could I increase the chance that we meet on a server?
We could introduce a server-prefix, like <!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->[Commander Friendly]<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> for the server-browser....pretty much like we already have a <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->[rookie]<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> prefix.
A server labeled like that, means:
- a place for commanders to find players that are willing to work as a team (< because that's why they joined this server in the 1st place).
- a place for team-players who want to find a decent commander, and get orders.
It works both ways, a hybrid of pub- and clanmatch/tournament-servers.
That's the basic attitude, for each such server, while the level of gameplay varies just like it does now on pubs.
The only exception is, that real rookie-commanders are adviced to first gain experience elsewhere (the rookie servers). :P
Rookie players are welcome, though...as long as they know the basics of the game. They want teamplay, they'll get advice ingame, and get skills in no-time - no more rookie.
After all, a good team knows how to handle newcomers, imo...it's all a matter of adaptation and respect, which are wide-spread throughout this community (thankfully!).
More details about what's to be expected on the server, can be scrolled in the ingame server-messages, for example.
...at least, that's what I would like to propose, untill maybe we have some sort of filter.
And this way, no need to "stalk" people :D
Once in a while I stumble upon a really good comm who talks and is friendly and encouraging towards his players and it makes the experience soooo much better. I would very much like it if I could favorite a comm, so I could play with him again. Great idea.
I hope the dev reads these posts and hope more players talk about it. Comm following needs to happen.
It would come with the danger than some new guy who wants to get into commanding a bit is immediately ejected just because some other guy on the team has a higher score. And if nobody gives you a chance at commanding, you can't actually push your score. It's also open to abuse where people will just upvote their friends, regardless of whether or not they are good commanders.
I doubt you would see such a system implemented due to the first issue mentioned. Devs certainly don't want any mechanics that scare new players away and could cause a bad attitude in the community.
If someone likes the way I comm, that's cool, and if I see you from time to time on a server I'm playing, sure, I'll friend you... but I don't want to be stalked just because I sometimes get in the comm chair :/
I thought about a "rate your com" system, but this is better actually as it doesn't have the flaws :P
I doubt you would see such a system implemented due to the first issue mentioned. Devs certainly don't want any mechanics that scare new players away and could cause a bad attitude in the community.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I disagree. My idea inspires elitism... but perhaps elitism is required in a delicate situation such as this. In a public game, who deserves to command? The most experienced person does. In a pub noob server, the answer is different. Every NS2 game starts off with a quick call for a commander. The decision on who will command isn't something you take likely- It's the next 20 minutes of ~18 players. This is where we benefit from elitism- Your commander shouldn't be the one with the most playtime, or some benign leveling system, it should be the hard earned approval of every player. The commander might get this through excellent leadership, making people laugh, or just plain winning.
Let's say you see two candidates. One had 200 likes, and one has 40 likes. Who do YOU want to command for your serious game? Sure, the guy with 40 likes will be bummed out, but hey, not everyone always wants to command.
The second part about the system being abused, as in friends upvoting a commander wouldn't matter though, because if the feature was prominent enough, it'd be like a youtube video. You couldn't make a fake commander even if you had all the likes in your friends list, especially seeing that the cost or ticket to create a fake commander would be a copy of NS2.
Let's say you see two candidates. One had 200 likes, and one has 40 likes. Who do YOU want to command for your serious game? Sure, the guy with 40 likes will be bummed out, but hey, not everyone always wants to command.
The second part about the system being abused, as in friends upvoting a commander wouldn't matter though, because if the feature was prominent enough, it'd be like a youtube video. You couldn't make a fake commander even if you had all the likes in your friends list, especially seeing that the cost or ticket to create a fake commander would be a copy of NS2.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I want the one who wants to command the most to command.
What we really need is more time to find a commander during the beginning of the match.
Commanding is fun and like High said, it's not for everyone. Some are born to lead and others are born to take orders on the field. We gotta find these comms and pin them at the top so we can play with them. The top 500 comms who are fun to play with and the Top 10 comms who never break and will have opportunities to join any <u><b>E-Sport</b></u> Clan they want. They'll make lots of money in the <u><b>E-Sports</b></u> scene too. First we gotta glorify Commanders and give them more love, because this one person is very important. That's the Marine/Alien Commander.
The best comms can also sell training services like they do in Starcraft. I never play comm, so I don't know how complex it is for either side. If it's complex to play comm, then bring in Live streams and training sessions to train newly aspiring comms.
So you're telling me I can choose from a list of Commanders I enjoyed playing with in the past, join the server they're in so I can have the most fun and enjoyment in Natural Selection 2? Sign me up, Scotty!
Beats choosing a random pub server and hoping for the best. Chances are you'll join a decent game, so it's not that bad, but I like this system because it'll increase my chances to the sky.
You want to get attention by placing your name on some arbitrarily decided billboard for all to see in order to feel special? Then say that.
This also needs to be relegated to the suggestions forum before everyone decides to start posting their suggestions in general chat, and it gets flooded with them.
Commanding is fun and like High said, it's not for everyone. Some are born to lead and others are born to take orders on the field. We gotta find these comms and pin them at the top so we can play with them. The top 500 comms who are fun to play with and the Top 10 comms who never break and will have opportunities to join any <u><b>E-Sport</b></u> Clan they want. They'll make lots of money in the <u><b>E-Sports</b></u> scene too. First we gotta glorify Commanders and give them more love, because this one person is very important. That's the Marine/Alien Commander.
The best comms can also sell training services like they do in Starcraft. I never play comm, so I don't know how complex it is for either side. If it's complex to play comm, then bring in Live streams and training sessions to train newly aspiring comms.
So you're telling me I can choose from a list of Commanders I enjoyed playing with in the past, join the server they're in so I can have the most fun and enjoyment in Natural Selection 2? Sign me up, Scotty!
Beats choosing a random pub server and hoping for the best. Chances are you'll join a decent game, so it's not that bad, but I like this system because it'll increase my chances to the sky.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A: 85% of the time if you join the server your "favorate commander" is playing in, they will not be commanding, because while commanding is fun, it's also more stressful, and most comms are very hit and miss for how often they choose to jump in the chair.
B: It's creepy, I don't care if people like how I comm, I REALLY REALLY don't want people anonymously stalking me. At least with friending someone I have say in the issue.
C: Specifically regarding a "rate your comm" type of thing. People who do not command are idiotic at rating the quality of their commander. I'm an EXTREMELY experienced NS player, and an experienced commander... This whole thread comes out of you wanting to play with commanders that go shade first. For me, when I play under a commander that drops shade first, I immediately click the eject button, and if I'm having a bad enough day I'll then leave the server. Shade first is basically like a 6 pool in SC2, it's not a "real" strategy, it's a gimmicky all in. Not only that, the best commanders I've played under recently were very unpopular. The most cost effective strategies in NS2 leave very little res for dropping turrets and upgrading shotguns and giving marines things that are fun. Phasegates come late, JUST as they are needed so weapons 1 can be squeezed in first. Command pod is dropped just the moment before the prototype lab is ready to be dropped. Beacon needs to be used a lot. The most strategically effective way to play the game feels unsafe, razor thin, and nerve wracking... and yet I'll see a team get WAY more kills and push WAY further than they would if they didn't have W3 A1 at the 7 minute mark, and STILL blame the commander for a loss, because he didn't have res to drop all the garbage they wanted since he was too busy making them combat effective.
I can respect the vocal elements of commanding, telling marines where to go and what not... However, watching Hugh's videos on commanding... To tell you the truth, Hugh is at best an average comm. He's strategically and tactically fairly weak, and the stuff he promotes about positive thinking and talking other players up all the time and what not, it's nice, but it really doesn't make him a better comm. I use the orders system quite a bit while I'm commanding personally, but I don't build psychological profiles of each of my marines, and tell them they're wonderful beautiful snowflakes, and telepathically know that they haven't figured out yet that their primary job in the game of NS is to secure res nodes, always, and forever. I feel bad when I have to tell marines assaulting a hive to actually shoot the hive. There's just generally a skewed perspective of what it means to be a comm in NS. The fact that I'm sitting in the command chair shouldn't mean that you have no map awareness, it just means that as much as possible I'm making sure you're getting the upgrades and equipment you need to deal with threats as they are coming. The analogy I hear again and again is "herding cats". The last ###### thing in the entire world I want is a bunch of cats running off and doing everything except what they're told to and what they're logically supposed to do, telling me I'm bad at commanding because I didn't sing them a goddamn lullaby, and trust me, that's a VERY VERY common occurance.
Good commanders are rare, and they're really only appreciated by other good commanders. I can do things that would make underlings feel more safe and special, but unless the teams are incredibly stacked for your side you're going to lose anyways. Feeling safe in NS is not the same as being safe.
I find myself commanding games most of my playtime since release and it has been full of mixed experiences.
Like other players from the beta I found myself doing it because I just wanted someone who knows what they're doing to be in the commanding position.
It didn't take long though to realize that my leadership part of my personality and my interest for strategy and tactics made it damn fun and fitting as well.
Here comes the less fun part. Most of the time, the players on the server are not very interested in or capable of following simple commands.
This is expected, I'm on a public server. I'm on the internet, I know the drill. There's one thing that can be really annoying though and that's what SwitftSpear touches on in
his post. Being blamed for not winning the game for my team when in fact pretty much everyone on my team loses way too many engagements and tend to be at the wrong place
at the wrong time. This paired with lots of people constantly asking (or a lot of the time, demanding) things like shade hive, exos, grenade launchers early in the game when they already have weapon upgrades, robotics factories and other things that's just way out of place and unfitting for the moment when they ask for it.
Fact is that most players who don't play commander have no idea what it's like and how it should be played effectively. It's like all other things in life, you
have to do it yourself to really understand how it works. This is why promoting good commanders in a public play scenario is kind of a bad idea. I've seen players being happy
about a nonresponsive commander building turrets and turtling in his base for 30 minutes and I've gotten ear beatings for losing the game when 5 marines with weapons 2 or 3 couldn't kill a hive because they were too busy looking at their feet or killing each and every cyst in the room despite me saying "Shoot at the hive, just shoot at the hive" over and over again like a broken record player. Most frequently I get people nagging at me for upgrades and the likes while I'm busy grabbing every res node on the map because the other commander is not doing a good job with his map control. Map control wins you the game, it might not win you the game within 30 seconds, but it will in due time. Most players on the field are not very aware of this at all. They just see what instantly benefits them; weapons, mutations and so on.
With this said I'm not bitter at all about this. The game has been out for two weeks, that's nothing. I still command and I still enjoy it.
When I realize I've got players without a shred of aiming abilities I just come up with some silly tactic to put them all in so we all can have some fun.
This topic though, is about a system to track and rank commanders in public play.
Tl;dr I don't think this is a good idea because the players that will be voting the commanders up will not have a good understanding of what a good commander is.
Steam friends works great because the commander that's being befriended can choose if he's interested in playing more with the player that's friending him or if he
just wants to do his own thing. Whether this is due to the player being bad or some other reason, you may choose yourself!
This idea encourages WAY too much elitism (not even all from the commander themselves, but their legion of fanboys that will yell at others to get out of the chair). As others have mentioned it creates a super creepy stalkerish environment, and even further encourages team stacking. You join a game where you know a commander you know is great is playing but teams are even? Guess where most people would be likely to go. I'd even go so far as to say that most people would avoid playing on the other team and just wait in the lobby for a spot, and it even encourages rushing to the side of the good comm.
On top of that, it alienates too much of the player base and makes commanding for the first time a far more intimidating ordeal since you are being 'rated' and will have people heckling you since their favorite comm happens to also be playing but you had the audacity to get into the chair/hive.
I honestly hope this never gets implemented. Friends list or get out. Though I could see adding a "recent players" list so you could more easily find people you just played with to make it easier to send friend requests.