CO spotting and why it makes my head explode.

[Gahlas]

PoE has been out for a while now and players are evolving to fit the mod's roles with extreme efficiency. Everyone knows to sit back in their dingo with the double zoom, how to keep their tank up, etc. The commander which many people previously viewed as severely nerfed due to the removed UAV, Arty and Scan is now used to spot targets all across the map. This might seem great in theory but for me it totally ruins the game.

If I remember correctly, these CO assets were removed to promote tactics, flanking and removing the over all unfairness of these god-like powers. Leaving the CO overhead spot in its current form totally defeats the point of this. As it stands now the commander just spots randomly across the map locating anyone trying to flank around troops or hit a backflag. This ruins the game play by making it so players don't have to bother with actually trying to locate maneuvering enemies themselves or defending backflags. Am I the only one who finds the fun of locating the enemy themselves or moving around undetected being ruined? On top of all this it gives off a horrid constantly repeating message that gives me a head-ache and totally kills any immersion.

How can it be fixed? Personally I would like to see it completely removed but here are some ideas. I am no modder so I don't know if any of this is possible.

1. Make the spots visible only to the commander so he MUST relay info to the SLs.
2. Remove the spotting and re-add the UAV but only make the spots visible to the CO.
3. Limit the number of spots the CO has. Make it something like 5 a minute so only critical targets may be spotted.
4. Remove it all together
5. Last resort if nothing else can be done, remove the noise. I would rather see it fixed some other way though.

[Melee]

lol... I knew exactly what you meant from the title of your post. When that "enemy spotted" message is getting spammed repeatedly it's enough to make you turn the sound off. I agree that it is a good idea to restrict the message to the CO and make them rely on verbal communication with the SLs.

[Iamthefallen]

A good fix IMHO is what I said in the other thread:

1. Let the CO be able to place enemy markers like those you get when you right-click on the command rose.
2. Remove the sound effect when CO spots.

This way the CO can easily communicate "enemies here" to a squad without resorting to moving the squads order marker.

[micbur54]

I with you Gahlas,I cannot stand the noise.After awhile it just becomes useless chatter to me.

[DrunkenPirate]

The problem is most people just spam spot everything they see, you need only spot targets that are of relevance. If a squad is advancing on a flag I will spot enemies on the flag, not some sniper back at his main.

[Soulless]

I've never had a problem with it. Usually too busy killing or dying to really notice.

[Rick_Slick]

Yeah, I can't do much against the spotted enemies from the spawn screen anyway, so I just ignore it.

[corporate]

It can be annoying when the CO spots everything. The CO's best bet is to spot the key enemies or one enemy among a squad and then rely to SL's verbally.

I would be opposed to UAV. The lack of UAV is one of POE's greatest strengths.

[ThePenguineer]

What?!?!

You mean candy doesn't drop from the sky every time I CO spot?

Here I was thinking you guys could taste the rainbow...

[khaerus]

I've never found myself to be distracted by the spam-spots either. Have you "sensitive" types tried turning down your game voice-over volume?

Other than that, I'm not much for fiddling with the game mechanics too much (or at all) but COs need to learn how to use the tools effectively without driving their men mad...

[Soulless]

What they should do is make a deal. You kill more and I'll spot less kinda thing.

[snooggums]

After playing PR (now even kit requests are limited to the requester!) and not seeing anything but Admin messages I have to say the POE spot spam is distracting as all get out to the point that I have to ignore it so it does no good. Khaerus, you mentioned turning down the voiceover, I'm not sure where to find that option as I would like to simply turn it off.