Commander mode

[Skouperd]

Ok, some of you guys have ventured in to play the commander, most of you have not. This is my views on it after playing a good couple of hours on it.

In summary, I think it is really cool with just some functionalities missing which I think will make it even better. Let’s just talk about the functionalities that are missing:

1. The commander does not have the ability to spot enemy on the map like it was able to with BF2. I find it strange that they will have 3d spotting in the game but not normal 2d spotting in the commander mode.

2. Communication with the squad leaders are very difficult, right now, it does not appear as if there is any VOIP capabilities for the commander, resulting in the commander having to type the messages. I understand why this is the case as not all tablets have the ability to VOIP as well.

3. The zoomed in map has a lot of "fog" on it, I would like a slightly clearer picture of the map.

4. I would like to be able to see the name of the players / baddies as well, currently, it just shows up as red dots and nothing more.

Now, what does commander mode do:

1. The commander's toys are obtained by capturing certain flags. If the team controls a flad, then the commander can use that flag's special powers. Special powers include things like:
- Infantry scan (a scan revealing all enemy infantry to everybody else for a couple of seconds)
- vehicle scan (see above, but for vehicles)
- Gunship (this launches a gunship which can act as a spawn point for soldiers)
- Cruise Missile (this is really cool, it gives the commander the ability to launch a missile, and not any missile, a really hectically powerful one with a massive blast radius to any point on the map).
The cooler the toy, the more difficult it is to keep that flag. This really brings about a new dimension to the game.

2. The commander has access to certain functions:
- UAV which reveal all enemies in it's radius, similar to BF2
- EMP which basically blocks the enemy's UAV from revealing the good guys' position
- EVAC which screams a message to the people on the ground to evac a location for whatever reason (more than likely to warn them of an incoming missile)

3. As the squads follow and accept the commander's orders, the commander gets "points". These points racks up and give the commander access to other cool stuff specifically focused to help the squads, these things are:
- Promotion of squad, that "last man standing" thing, as your squad stays alive and kill things, you get infield bonus perks, the commander can "boost this" by promoting your squad
- Supply drop, as the name says it drops supplies, the cool thing, you can also change kits when you are at a supply drop. This I think will eliminate the need in clan games to suicide and spawn as engineers when the tanks spawn.
- Vehicle drop, either a quad bike, or a jet ski (I think) depending on where it is dropped.
- Reinforce squad, this allows the squad to respawn in a fraction of the time it normally would. Again, I think this could be used as a nice competive advantage on the battlefield.
So this is very much a case of, "help me help you" kind of symbiotic relation.

4. If squad leaders follow the commander's orders, they get bonus points and the commander will most likely reward those squads.

5. What I have figured out thus far helps with the points of the commander is the following:
- evac orders given
- squad orders accepted
- people making use of supply drops (i.e. the more you use it, the more the commander can supply you)
- points for kills (missile strikes, gun ship strikes etc).

So yeah, I recon a lot of people will find the commander mode boring as it does not allow you the ability to participate in the battle in FPS mode, but I do like how it brings another level to the game.

Commander mode is available, (which I've played on thusfar) in both conquest and rush, so can I kindly ask that if those modes are being played on GRRR server, that the commander mode be enabled. I think that as soon as there is a non-commander game mode in the queue it will not allow the commander position to appear.

I would also recommend that whoever has the power to influence the league settings, that we push for the commander to be allowed as it really adds a different dimension to the game and I would imagine a competitive edge to GRRR.

[Skouperd]

sorry, one more thing that I forgot to mention is something called "high value players". A high value player is somebody that has a kill streak of 6 or more (I think). Once they have that, then the commander can select that individual (or vehicle) and make it a "high value target". That basically lit that individual up like a x-mass tree for I think 45 seconds. If you kill the HVT, then you get added points and the commander get some extra points as well which he could use for things like squad upgrades and what not.

[Paul]

Woot I think I was a HVT the other day, I was getting messages on my screen "The Enemy has targeted you"

[Skouperd]

I had a classic case yesterday where I was playing commander and this one jet just owned my team. He became a high value target and with some encouragement everybody started going for this jet. The jet did not last much longer and this guy's kill streak of 20 was broken. So yeah, I can imagine that the HVT thing will become quite useful on public servers.

I think they must have released a patch yesterday because I am able to talk to individual squads using in game voip and I can hear the whole squad talking back as well.

BTW, just a comment, I've looked at the GRRR server every couple of minutes, not once did the commander mode pop up, I think there is something still wrong on that server in that regard. (I looked even when the map being played was conquest)

[Paul]

OK fuck me, this is the most unsatisfying thing ever!!!! If you played commander 24/7 for like a year you might get the badges/Assignemts!!

No fucking squad ever listens to you, I have been playing commander a bit lately I have not received 1 not 1 god damn leadership ribbon!

For you noobs you 1x Leadership ribbon for every 10 orders that the squads follow! But do they? No! Even if I see a squad heading to a flag and tell them to attack it they don't accept so they cap the flag but BF say "Fuck you" you did nothing!!!


And can I get cruise missiles off? Yes 1 every hour because the god damn noobs can't hold the flag long enough to load up a bomb that pretty much can only kill people who are totally blind

And do people use your supplies? No! Drop them near a tank to heal them during a battle and they run away! Thank god for stupid camping snipers, they don't move so you can get points if you drop a crate on them.

The most points I get is to randomly tell people to EVAC that gets you 10 points!!!

[Hubris]

Ya I agree Paul, Commander's success is way too dependent on people being team players.