TheFatKidDeath

Gents-

Lately, I've seen some disturbing trends in game play on BF2 that require a return to the mission statement of Tactical Gamer. Primarily, from what I have seen, the issues deal with squads and squad leaders.

Examples:

1)Squad members, as well as many documented instances of squad leaders, simply jumping into any given vehicle and leaving said member behind. Why is this happening? A map appears on the upper right hand of one's screen which indicates where your squad members are located. Look at this screen before you enter a vehicle and wait for your team mate to enter! Or if that member is beyond a reasonable walking/sprinting distance go pick him up! Communicate with your squad members "Coming to pick you up Fat Kid", etc. Which segways into #2.

2)Members who take the squad leader position and don't communicate with the members! If you are unable to communicate and the reasons may be as varied as no microphone, a fear of speaking to strangers or battle fatigue or got moved to squad leader because the last one left the game, than don't remain squad leader! Quite frequently I've never heard a squad leader bark a command or talk it up. The game is all about communcation and the squad leader needs to be the most talkative member of the squad.

3)The infamous chicken squad (Hey that's a great gamer tag!). Those squad members who run around the maps like a headless chicken! Tighten those damn squads up! There should be no reason for any member not to be within a ten second sprint of the squad leader. A close proximity squad is more efficient, able to cover blind spots, spot and stop threats and bring down those flags!

A return to the fundamentals is in order!

-TFKD

Mateo

I haven't played in a while.

I logged in last night, and noticed that this was pretty much the scene. Frankly, there are alot of pubies on board, so I doubt anyone will read this rant and take it to heart.

The best way I found was to strike out as my own squad.

Lucky Shot

Agree with Mateo, I rarely run into this. I would have to guess though that's because I usually end up heading my own squads and the only times my squad gets strung out is when I am being too reckless on attack. I adjust and hope others would too. My current favorite is when I am providing a close spawn point, half dead, and trying to coax a medic to drop a pack before running into battle.

Lucky Shot

TheFatKidDeath

I'm not sure we can simply dismiss this behavior onto pubies who happen to land on our servers. I've personally noticed some TG gamer tags who are guilty of this type of gameplay.

Overwhelmingly the gameplay is excellent, remembering the basics never hurts.

-TFKD

ChIck3nL3gz

Hey now. Theres a reason why we in the Chicken squad spread out a bit. Its so therese less of a chance that the whole squad will be taken down by incoming air or a tank or enemy fire. We are always within close proximity of one another when it comes to assualting flags and such. But we've got a tendancy to spread out when moving over open terrain. I also split my squad up when moving through streets. I like to have 3 guys cover one side of the street and the other 3 cover the other side. Just ask the guys who've been to our practices, one of our movement drills is to split the squad up into 3 men teams and we split up enroute to the same objective; one half of the squad will take the left side of the street and the other half takes the right side. We've even been practicing in flanking where we have one team flank as soon as contact is made. Of course we haven't implemented it ingame much but we're working on it.

Also, its very hard to have any real organization when everytime you hop on the server you've got different guys in your squad. I try to get everyone to move as a unit but sometimes it doesn't always work out that way.

I've noticed a lot that I might have one or two guys in my squad who don't follow directions but trust me, I always try to communicate with my squad unless of course I've got the SL screen open and I"m doing somehting else like finding out where one of my squaddies ran off to and asking, "Hey, why are you over there? We're going here." And like its been stated before, generally its the pubbies who join my squad that run off and do their own thing.

Lately, especially earlier this week (Dahlian the night the USMC lost) comes to mind, I had at least two TGers from my squad off at the Main entrance when we were defending the Maintenance bulding. I hopped on VOIP and asked them to return to the maintenance building.

Most of the time I spend SLing I spend it in the SL screen keeping an eye on my guys to make sure we're close. Sometimes we get seperated, especially when one of us dies and we forgot to span on the last flag we took or spawn on the SL. But for the most part I've got most of my guys on my ass where they should be unless I take a few guys and send them somwhere else.

I admit, my SLing isn't the greatest but I try. I've never had anyone complain that we're too disorganized. I try to have set objectives and I've never had a problem communicating. I may not always have the best plans but I've never felt that we are spread all over the place.

Anyone else from the Irregs who've been in either my Irregs squads or Chickeny, or Chicken squads want to chime in?

If you don't want me to SL or see that I'm doing something wrong, let me know; hop in and help me out. I'm always on TS and I'll be more than happy to go into a channel on there so you can educate me on some stuff.

As for the whole SL leaving his entire squad behind in a vehicle, I've not done that. At least to my knowledge. Like I said, when I SL my SL screen is always open and I've got an eye on everyone of my guys. But if I have, I'm sorry. I always spam the "Get In" button when I'm in a vehicle. I've even done it in a tank where I already had a gunner. I can also tell you that I've been left behind many times, even after I've hit the "Hey, I need a Ride!!" button a few times. Heck, I've even been at the back of an APC sevearl times and just hit the "use" key to get in the vehicle as it's pulled away. So don't just blame the Chicken squad or the Irregs squad for leaving guys behind or not sticking together.

So if one or two people have left my side there just may be a reason for it. I actually took some of it to heart.

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Rules and SOPs

Mateo

Hmmm. Well, I was part of one of those squads too. It comes down to a question of trust, doesn't it? If I'm in a squad with a mix of =GsTA=, 7th, and forum regulars, I have to trust that we are all going to get to the same place and support each other.

Santa

I havent noticed dysfunctional squads as much, but what i am noticing becoming more and more of a trend is people making new squads when they could easily join a bigger, pre-existing one. This is more of a dysfunctional team. 2 and 3 man squads should only exist for special purposes like asset destruction, fast cap, etc. If you have 8 or 9 squads, mostly half full or less, expect to lose.

This doesnt mean dont start a squad if you want to squad lead. But if your squad doesnt really fill up within a few minutes, you should start to think about joining a larger squad to help your team out. A 5 man squad is much better than a 4 man, and a 6 man is much better than a 5 man.

WhiskeySix

If you're SLing, always say "hi so-n-so" when so-n-so joins the squad, and then request a kit for them (even if it's "whatever kit you're best at").

A) it's friendly

B) it establishes that they're a welcome part of your squad

C) it establishes that you (as SL) are in charge and are actively involved in guiding the squad

that usually sets the tone for me... i don't think i can remember a time when someone intentionally ignored my orders as SL??

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Shiner

Agree. The other issue I've noticed since RO was released is that some of our most dedicated SL players are now less commonly seen in BF2. This means new people are having to stepup. It also means there are less "recognizable" squads around which I think is contributing to the shattered squads Santa is noting. Things should improve as we all learn and get our player mix back in balance.

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icky

I am guilty of doing some weak SL and CO jobs myself, but I do it because of the something is better than nothing law. Lately I've been sick quite a bit, so I don't talk too much and I probably sound like hell when I do talk, but someone's gotta do the job.

Standard rules apply, though. If you can do a better job, then you should be leading a squad.

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TheFatKidDeath

Some good and valid points. The thread was somewhat started so hopefully the guilty would read and absord the concerns and are not directed at anyone one player.

wushuhero

I dont trust the TG tag, why?

well first of all most TG members are on the forums so I know IF I should trust them or not, second I see alot of people with TG tags who have never posted in these forums, so how shoud I know that they have ever read the forums and all the rules and SOP's. Alot of people are join the TG community just for a reserved slot. This brings me to another point, I think the Admins should start encouraging the less active SM's to come to the forums a little more often.

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"The Taoist sage has no ambitions, therefore he can never fail. He who never fails always succeeds. And he who always succeeds is all- powerful." -- Lao Tzu

ingame name: Zuiquan1

Lucky Shot

Ugh... I have absolute trust in the TG tag. Why? Because when I see the tag, I know that I am going to have a better experience then when I don't see it. I know that their will be communication, teamwork and a desire to win over a desire to rack up points. There are few exceptions where I can't say this is the case and because of this, I object to that line I quoted. I am sorry to hear that you have problems believing in the TG tag. If you do spot people who are not living up to the TG Etho's, by golly, pm an admin.

Lucky Shot

wushuhero

ok I trust the TG tag alot more than most other tags, BUT there are exceptions

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"The Taoist sage has no ambitions, therefore he can never fail. He who never fails always succeeds. And he who always succeeds is all- powerful." -- Lao Tzu

ingame name: Zuiquan1

TheFatKidDeath

I did not post the thread so we could personally attack other players (pardon the pun) gameplay. The comments were general in nature, an observation if you will. I'm reasonably certain everyone is on the same page when it comes to style of play. That is why we play TG servers.

The intention was to comment on a generalized form of gameplay, with some specifics thrown in for good measure and hopefully improve our play.

Perry had some good comments and feedback - too many individual squads, is a good example.

-TFKD