1. The player quits the game out of boredom, frustration, or confusion before ever experiencing what PR is really about.
2: The player stays with the game but takes a very long time to learn simple lessons about how to stay alive and work properly with a squad or the rest of the team because they didn't have many, if any, real mentors helping them learn the ropes.
If you agree; Post any Ideas you may have for how this can be fixed.
If you don't agree; explain why.
(If you don't care; there are plenty of other threads you could be reading right now
)Here is the Idea I have that I'd like to share.
NOTE:
On paper this may sound slightly alien to PR as something to implement or even impractical as an idea; but in the end I'm absolutely sure this idea could be both practical and beneficial for the future of PR and I have seen it work in other games before.
Commissioning:
The basic premise is that players who are experienced and mature and would like the opportunity primarily to serve as a trainer for newer players and alternatively to indicate that they are a competent leader in a pubbing server could apply to be an "officer" in PR.
This would not be something automatic (based solely on stats), but rather something you apply for and get either approved or disapproved for. A panel of 6-8 extremely experienced and mature volunteers from various time zones and languages across the PR playing community would review the simple applications to become a PR Officer. Roughly 5-6 months before starting the system the Dev's could initiate private back end stats tracking so that this panel of people could review the stats of the players applying (even the players themselves would not be able to see the stats). Players could include references or an essay or whatever they feel would prove to the panel that they are mature and experienced as a PR player.
Players who apply to this system would understand that; as a Officer in PR they are supposed to be setting an example for the game so any abuse of the title or immature actions can warrant the loss of the rank. If they don't like it; they can simply play as a normal player. There would be a simple system so anyone who notices abuse of rank can simply take screenies and report them to the proper authority.
I want to emphasize that the ONLY reason I see a real NEED for this system is that new players would benefit greatly from having it. Either in the manual near the beginning or in the installer as a picture you could show what the indicator looks like and tell the new player, "Players with this symbol next to their name are volunteer trainers and if you join their squad during a game let them know you are new and they will help you out".
In addition this would also be a nice indicator for experienced players of reliability. eg I would be much more willing to get in a chopper with one of these guys or as a commander or squad leader I would know which squad leaders I can count on.
PROS:
-Helps greatly with training new players and gives them a sense of community
-Good indicator for players which squads they should join
-Will help to show which people you will be able to count on to act maturely as a squad leader, armor crew member, pilot, or whatever
-Stats padding would be impossible/pointless
-Promotion is mostly qualitative
-Can be permanently revoked if abuse is reported; thus providing a good incentive for people to not abuse this
CONS:
-Would require people to volunteer as officers
-Would require a group of 6-8 dedicated guys who are willing to review applications on a consistent basis
-Would probably require some sort of behind the scenes stats tracking to help the panel review applications
Conclusion:
If this were implemented, it of course would not be perfect (nothing is). The biggest demand of this system would be dedicated volunteers, something I believe PR has quite a few of. The system would essentially be very simple as it only adds one single rank into PR. The idea here is not to establish any sort of hierarchy in game, the officers do not get any sort of personal benefit from being an officer, and they cannot get the rank by simply only being good or extremely experienced; assets spawn at normal times for them and essentially they are just regular players with a little bar next to their name. The system would have its own checks and the rank would be thought of as a privilege as opposed to a right for those who have qualified for it.
If you ask "But why?"; I would say that this would be an enormous benefit to the game and it would help it move from something small and only vaguely known in the gaming world; to a game where even the random stranger can come in and become a part of the experience much easier than they can now; provided they are cooperative and somewhat mature. I feel new players right now coming in to the game are often looked down upon when at the same time they don't have any sort of established avenue to learn how to play the game after they have learned the rules from the guide. This would hopefully fix that.
Finally IF you read this idea as a WHOLE feel free to post two things:
1. Do you think this could work? (along with why or why not)
2. Would YOU YOURSELF be willing to be an officer and help train new players and serve as a role model and leader for those learning the ropes? (whether you have the experience is not the relevant question just assume you have reached that level already)
