by Skouperd » Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:58 pm
Fly, you are right with regard to the communication. It is a fine balance between chatter and valid intel. (More on that later.) I don’t know if it was just me, but it really felt as if the team in that last match just shifted into a higher gear, I mean the ticket counter was 115 to 160 against us and we ended up winning that match with 30+ tickets.
Regarding communications, I am all for communicating valid intel, and things like, “I’ve been stabbed” is in my opinion valuable intel as that not only reminds your squad medic that you are down and that you need a revive, it also tells them that there is somebody very close to you. We could even take it one step further, if I had to choose between the following two options:
“I’ve been stabbed at concrete hill” versus, “I’ve been stabbed by Chaos” I am not sure which one I will prefer, I am tempted to say the latter, because if the medic does go in to revive you and he does kill somebody, if that somebody is not Chaos, then he knows there is one more baddy around. The medic should know exactly where everybody else in his squad is in any event as such location is not that important here, and if he doesn’t know where you are, he can see you on the mini map, if he cannot see you on the minimap, then he can see you on the bigger map, point is, location is not that critical in this instance. The counter argument, if you say “I’ve been stabbed at concrete hill” then perhaps somebody from the other squad on the opposite side might have a shot at that person, but I find it unlikely. So if anything, “I’ve been stabbed by Chaos” should give your fellow squad members sufficient information. As we learn to play together, and distinguish each other’s voices, and learn where each other is, then communication will automatically come down.
The problem is when we are losing, and we all hit panic stations and everybody is starting to shout out orders while that is exactly the time it is critical to keep quiet and rather wait for your squad leader’s orders. But in the game yesterday, the SL cannot give their orders without two other people giving other (and conflicting) orders, how can we expect that we all work together then? Everybody in the squad is extremely experienced players, and as Mega once said, when you are dead, take that 15 seconds to assess the situation. Don’t just go rushing in, calm down.
If I could break down a rough guide on who is to give what kind of communication and approximately how much of the TS should be filled with it, then this is more or less the breakdown:
1. Commander relaying attack / defence orders, 5% (“Alpha squad spawn at “B” and attack “C””, “Bravo defend “B””, “Charlie squad, help Bravo squad with that APC”, “Everybody, let’s regroup at “B” and attack “C””, “We need to preserve our ticket bleed, need more medics”, “Lee, how is it going with “B”?”, “Voetsek, what is happening at “B”?”)
2. Squad leaders keeping the squad together 10% (“Murgs, pull back a bit you are too far forwad”, “Slodaz move forward a little bit”, “Shadey you cover that door, I’ll cover this door”)
3. Squad leader giving orders 10%, (“Bravo squad, let us advance a bit forward”, “Alpha squad, get bodies on the flag”, “Squad, hold your spawn, wait for me to get into position”, “Murgs spawn assault”, “Shadey, take the UAV”, “Jono, ninja around to “A””, "Ok Alpha squad, spawn on Paul and go for the flag, Paul, hold your spawn”,"Slodaz, dart the APC, Murgs, help Slodaz".
4. Squad members 50%, (“Paul, I am reviving you in 2”, “I’ve been sniped from concrete hill”, “2 enemies moving to “C” via dirt road”, “Murgs, drop me some ammo”, “Squady, I am waiting to spawn”, “UAV is up”, “UAV is down”, “The 2 guys that ran to concrete hill is down”. “Sensor mine on us”, “APC darted”, “one shot in on the APC”, “APC being repaired by 2 engineers”
Now as one will expect, the squad members will do most of the talking on TS sharing valid intelligence, the key though is that squad members should try and distinguish between “orders” and “intelligence” and only give “intelligence” in a clear and concise manner. Also, when your squad leader is talking, listen to what he is saying, orders from the squad leaders should always take precedence over any intel a squad member may have. If after the order the intel is still relevant, give it then, but give your squad leader time to talk first. All the squad leaders have very distinctive voices, (and commanding voices), so it should be very easy to hear them speak when they speak. Even if it ain't your squad leader talking, but the other squad's given them the curtousy to keep quiet so that that squad could hear the commands as well. When I have my commander hat on, I normally try and wait for a gap in TS before I speak, and if I really have something urgent to say, I normally ask for some silence before speaking. Saying that, I am also guilty of giving "inteligence" or "squad member talk" when squad leaders are trying to give orders, and that is something I'll try and work on as well.
Fly, you are right with regard to the communication. It is a fine balance between chatter and valid intel. (More on that later.) I don’t know if it was just me, but it really felt as if the team in that last match just shifted into a higher gear, I mean the ticket counter was 115 to 160 against us and we ended up winning that match with 30+ tickets.
Regarding communications, I am all for communicating valid intel, and things like, “I’ve been stabbed” is in my opinion valuable intel as that not only reminds your squad medic that you are down and that you need a revive, it also tells them that there is somebody very close to you. We could even take it one step further, if I had to choose between the following two options:
“I’ve been stabbed at concrete hill” versus, “I’ve been stabbed by Chaos” I am not sure which one I will prefer, I am tempted to say the latter, because if the medic does go in to revive you and he does kill somebody, if that somebody is not Chaos, then he knows there is one more baddy around. The medic should know exactly where everybody else in his squad is in any event as such location is not that important here, and if he doesn’t know where you are, he can see you on the mini map, if he cannot see you on the minimap, then he can see you on the bigger map, point is, location is not that critical in this instance. The counter argument, if you say “I’ve been stabbed at concrete hill” then perhaps somebody from the other squad on the opposite side might have a shot at that person, but I find it unlikely. So if anything, “I’ve been stabbed by Chaos” should give your fellow squad members sufficient information. As we learn to play together, and distinguish each other’s voices, and learn where each other is, then communication will automatically come down.
The problem is when we are losing, and we all hit panic stations and everybody is starting to shout out orders while that is exactly the time it is critical to keep quiet and rather wait for your squad leader’s orders. But in the game yesterday, the SL cannot give their orders without two other people giving other (and conflicting) orders, how can we expect that we all work together then? Everybody in the squad is extremely experienced players, and as Mega once said, when you are dead, take that 15 seconds to assess the situation. Don’t just go rushing in, calm down.
If I could break down a rough guide on who is to give what kind of communication and approximately how much of the TS should be filled with it, then this is more or less the breakdown:
1. Commander relaying attack / defence orders, 5% (“Alpha squad spawn at “B” and attack “C””, “Bravo defend “B””, “Charlie squad, help Bravo squad with that APC”, “Everybody, let’s regroup at “B” and attack “C””, “We need to preserve our ticket bleed, need more medics”, “Lee, how is it going with “B”?”, “Voetsek, what is happening at “B”?”)
2. Squad leaders keeping the squad together 10% (“Murgs, pull back a bit you are too far forwad”, “Slodaz move forward a little bit”, “Shadey you cover that door, I’ll cover this door”)
3. Squad leader giving orders 10%, (“Bravo squad, let us advance a bit forward”, “Alpha squad, get bodies on the flag”, “Squad, hold your spawn, wait for me to get into position”, “Murgs spawn assault”, “Shadey, take the UAV”, “Jono, ninja around to “A””, "Ok Alpha squad, spawn on Paul and go for the flag, Paul, hold your spawn”,"Slodaz, dart the APC, Murgs, help Slodaz".
4. Squad members 50%, (“Paul, I am reviving you in 2”, “I’ve been sniped from concrete hill”, “2 enemies moving to “C” via dirt road”, “Murgs, drop me some ammo”, “Squady, I am waiting to spawn”, “UAV is up”, “UAV is down”, “The 2 guys that ran to concrete hill is down”. “Sensor mine on us”, “APC darted”, “one shot in on the APC”, “APC being repaired by 2 engineers”
Now as one will expect, the squad members will do most of the talking on TS sharing valid intelligence, the key though is that squad members should try and distinguish between “orders” and “intelligence” and only give “intelligence” in a clear and concise manner. Also, when your squad leader is talking, listen to what he is saying, orders from the squad leaders should always take precedence over any intel a squad member may have. If after the order the intel is still relevant, give it then, but give your squad leader time to talk first. All the squad leaders have very distinctive voices, (and commanding voices), so it should be very easy to hear them speak when they speak. Even if it ain't your squad leader talking, but the other squad's given them the curtousy to keep quiet so that that squad could hear the commands as well. When I have my commander hat on, I normally try and wait for a gap in TS before I speak, and if I really have something urgent to say, I normally ask for some silence before speaking. Saying that, I am also guilty of giving "inteligence" or "squad member talk" when squad leaders are trying to give orders, and that is something I'll try and work on as well.