Squad Work Incentives?

[saber]

Hello, new to the forum.

Lately, I've been trying to find good squads to join because the quality of game play jumps up dramatically. But often, people join squads and don't actually work together as a squad. I know some join just so that they can spawn with the squad leader, instead of travel from a long distance spawn point.

So, I did some thinking and came to this simple conclusion: provide an incentive to work in squads. I know there already exists benefits to working in squads (living longer, killing more people, etc), but if there was some sort of mechanism in the game to award extra points, not much (.5 points per minute) for squad members being within a certain radius of the squad leader, such as 100 meters, it would actually force people to stay together and fight together as a team. But what if people don't stay together? Well, the option already exists for the squad leader to kick members out, so that takes care of that problem.

But what if people accidentally venture outside of this "squad point bubble?" Well, they should be granted a certain amount of time to get back in the bubble, similar to the "Where are you going soldier?" warning, or else the extra points per minute time is reset...that or they lose some squad points.

This is just an idea to promote better team play as the game becomes so much better when you work with people consistently throughout a round. Any thoughts?

[hrpuffnstuff02]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

This is an interesting idea but a few things need to be sorted out. One might be a scenario where a teamate gets cut off from his squad by a sniper, tank, helicopter, etc. and therefore suffers the consequences (whatever they may be point wise) of straying outside the "Bubble." Sometimes it is necessary to stray away from your squad if a certain impending danger or necessary action comes to your attention. Perhaps you spot a tank or group of enemies flanking your squad and they are unaware (and you don't have time to type to the squad or don't have a mic);it then becomes necessary for you to take the initiative and head off those enemies or try to get your squads attention by halting their march and pointing out the enemy position. All in all I do think that there could be a beneficial incentive such as extra points for sticking together as a squad but it could get quite tricky in programing the scenarios under which the points would be distributed.
One idea might be a squad-based action taken by a squadmember that benefits the whole squad (ie. healing, reviving, resupplying). When a squadmember performs one of these actions on his or her squadmates, the squad itself should get a point or so for working together. Also, if a whole squad captures a flag, perhaps there should be a bonus for that squad having worked together to capture the flag.
I feel that situations in which you or your teamates save a great portion of the team by taking out an impending danger such as an incoming apc or tank, more points should be rewarded (perhaps based off of an assessment of the threat of danger imposed by sed tank/apc). This however, would be quite hard to figure out and could easily become jumbled and complex.

[saber]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

Yes, you're right that there exists many scenarios that would make it difficult to program to acheive the desired results. The simplest, I think, is to award these extra points to squad members who are within a certain radius of the squad leader and the squad benefits from each action performed, not a full point but just a fraction of a point. That or go with my previous suggestion but exlude the penalty point subractions; just award minute incentive points for being within a certain radius of your squad leader.

Thanks for reply. Any other suggestions to promote better team play?

[noobeffect]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

I like your idea, it would really attract me back to the ranked servers because ever since I started playing in the Tacitcal Gamer server (which is unranked, forces you to be in a squad AND follow orders or be kicked) it's been nothing but teamwork and such an experience in that server, but like I said, its unranked.

So my only suggestion to promote better game play is too enforce what TG has, you have to join a squad AND follow SL or commander orders or else be kicked. A lot would think this is a bad idea but once you have teammates that use the VOIP and work together as a squad, its really really awesome.

[Luis_Wu]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

There are a thousand and one ideas out there than can turn this already exciting game into to something boarding on classic. I like your idea Saber because it promotes squad cohesion. Include it with a few of the modifications suggested by hrpuffnstuff and we'd give the point system and rankings more meaning.

There could be other benefits from full squads too. A full squad might allow the spawn or use of other weapon systems like laser designators and mortars. It would be nice to have a small Unmanned Flying Vehicle at squad level. It could be something a full squad could launch once or twice per round.

I'm sure there are thousand of good ideas out there that can improve this game. All it takes is a little time and a lot of programming money. Perhaps if the job were outsourced to India.....

[saber]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

I think that this is something that can easily be implemented by DICE, just keep it simple and make the incentive worth it and the system will work. After rethinking it through, I think 1 point/minute would be a better incentive, since most games are around 15-20 minutes. An additional 20 points is pretty damn worth while, when most scores are usually within the range of 20-40. Everyone benefits: team players who are looking for fun and people who want points/stats.

I think the radius idea along with some of hrpuffnstuff02's suggestions would really improve gameplay: bonus points for people who are within a radius of the squad leader for cohesion and for various squad performances. Then, people will all want to be in squads!

[NoseKi||s]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

I like this idea too.. There's so many ways the game could still be improved teamplay-wise.

I hate to be a realist, but anything that you can do to earn points will sooner or later be exploited somehow. If they had this Squad Leader radius thing in the game.. we'd see half empty servers with squads just standing there earning that 20 points per round and the players wouldn't even have to be at their computer. So it would have to be more complicated than that.. good idea though.

Hope we'll see stuff like this in future patches!

I agree that there should be something added to the game that gives everyone a reason to fight for their team (10% point bonus to every player of the winning team?). Subsequently that would encourage team play (since that is the most efficient style of play). Now no one really fights to win the round if they're getting enough points just by "lone-wolfing".

[j4k3]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

i like the "squad point bubble."

[TotalBF2er]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

The answer is simple. Make a squad benefit from each other's points just like a group in a BlackHawk does. Everytime a squad member kills someone, and you are within the 'bubble' of the squad leader, you get a kill-assist. When your squad caps a flag, you also benefit, just like they do in BH.

At the least, why is it that if you cap in an APC, or vehicle, how come the players in the vehicle don't get credit like those in the BlackHawk?

[saber]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

I hate to be a realist, but anything that you can do to earn points will sooner or later be exploited somehow. If they had this Squad Leader radius thing in the game.. we'd see half empty servers with squads just standing there earning that 20 points per round and the players wouldn't even have to be at their computer. So it would have to be more complicated than that.. good idea though.

The thing is though, if you keep the points low, there really isn't a way to exploit it. The extra points is just an incentive to work as a squad....the icing on the cake, if you will. Want more points? Well work in a squad.

[Jeffrey_Dahmer]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

Rather than a squad bubble, it might be more beneficial to earn additional points by following orders.

For example, if the squad is set to defend a position, they get extra points for a flag defense, or for keeping the enemy out of a radius for x amount of time.

If you are supposed to attack a position, the squad gets points for having taken the flag or having entered a certain radius.

Repairs, etc. can all be handled this way.

I use the radius option because sometimes even the best of squads will get close to an objective, have a pitched battle, and get their asses handed to them. But since you are trying to do something useful as a team, you should be rewarded for it.

J.

[=HzC=Heinz]

Re: Squad Work Incentives?

some decent ideas in this thread that's for sure. when a squad works together in a game for the common good, there's no better gaming experience than BF2 right now, IMO.