Another Commander Thread: Squad Leader Needs a Leader

[LithiumFox]

For the past year I've been trying to figure out why I can't seem to focus when I'm squad leader any more.

I'm not a terrible squad leader, but I suffer from the following symptoms now:

-Lack of thought: I don't have ideas on where to go and stuff
-Lack of communication: i won't say a word for a while, because I'm too busy trying to figure out where everyone is and where to go
-Tired: I get bored pretty fast now.
-OMG fine you keep complaining we'll do it your way.


I was confused, though. I've actually gotten more mature. I've calmed down a lot more since i first started playing, and i don't believe i was a horrible squad leader when i first played. Now it feels like I can't even get my squad to be anywhere near me, and i stutter a lot more when i play. At first I thought it was just because I don't have my ADHD meds anymore, but I also realized some other things that might be more of a reason.

No commander. At least, no longer one that actually tells me what to do. Usually, in the past, I would confer with the commander where he wanted us to be. From there, i would pick the best way to get there, tell my squad what intel he had, and then proceed. If we ran into issues, i'd talk to the commander again and see if we should instead do something else.

The thing about the commander is, though, is that when he/she spoke to me, i felt obligated. With my squad members, if they say something, i almost tune it out due to the lack of intelligence of some of the people who play.

Now half the rounds we don't even have a commander, because no one seems to give a **** anymore. No longer does it end up being a really big battle anywhere. Now it's just a bunch of lonewolfing 1337 Navy SEAL squads who think they can win the battle for everyone.

I kinda miss the good ol' days of Ejod where one team was all in the city, then the other team was all at gas station, then they'd have a long range super battle to the death....

I know that the commander position is not one that everyone WANTS to play, and that you feel it's not something people should HAVE to play, but i also think that it is something that should be required. If the teams both agree not to have a commander, then yeah, the game should be balanced. but I also believe that if one team has a commander, and the other does not, they should be ripped to shreds: ESPECIALLY if it's a conventional force.

(Ex: China vs. US)


Yes, UAV's are important, and people in the commander position can be real jerks, but we have that new mutiny system now, i believe the commander should have a little more power over stuff. I don't exactly know what to be honest.... but there has to be more incentive than the UAV's and ****....

Anyone can go commander for 10 minutes and do that, then they jump right out. =/

To me, this just seem ridiculous. I don't know... just feels like without a commander, instead of feeling like a team, i feel like im a seperate squad out their fighting for my life while the other squads all are being stupid and stuff.... =/

Anyways, i haven't had a rant in a while. I just really think there has to be SOMETHING to fix the commander spot. hasn't felt important since they got rid of the "FOB" requirement for squad leaders... =/

Im not exactly the most intelligent player out there. I kinda run around quite a bit more than i used to.... but... idk.. just feels like there is some kind of issue without a commander... and some of these maps just don't have the... luster the old ones did. (Im sorry... but ghost train is still amazing in my mind. as was ejod.)

[Rudd]

when I haven't got any ideas on what to do, I just follow another squad and help them do whatever they do

(Im sorry... but ghost train is still amazing in my mind. as was ejod.)

well, I am working on 2 maps you might like, they aren't the same but they have some of the old spirit imo.

[LithiumFox]

hm. I like that idea Rudd.

And oooooo O.O sounds amazing.

[C. Jones]

I play as the squad leader roll 99% of the time i'm playing, I like to play AAS theres less down time i'm not looking for a cache or waiting for a cache marker, I always have a place to be, As for you fighting alone with just your squad, I agree with you completely. In some games, I have my squad on the front lines and everyone else sitting at the FOB or main, they're not doing anything and it really sucks the fun out of the game. Commanders ... I don't use them unless I want arty or something so I kind a find them pointless, Although, Ive never been a commander in PR

[doop-de-doo]

When I'm burnt out on SLing, I go SM because it helps me re-associate myself with what SMs go through. It also gives me a chance to practice my fighting skills. In another scenario, I'll find a defensive position that doesn't require as much intense thinking and do my best to watch our team's back.

[Dude388]

The Commander is one of those roles like the Medic.

If your doing your job right, no one notices you...but do it wrong and suddenly everyone wants a piece of you.

I enjoy playing Commander, but my issues have always been the SLs, not my Commander abilities. Sure at times I feel like a glorified office assistant (can I get you a cup of artillery Mr. Squad Leader?) but it's the times when it seems no one will here what you have to say.

For example, as Commander I had one SL that was constantly requesting Helo transports without realizing there were none up (lost them to one inexperienced pilot and the other two to players trying to fly too fancy) I told the player that transports were down and that I'd see if I could reroute some APCs to perform a pickup. All I got back was "Can you send a chopper?".

Other times I get SLs that blatently regect orders to do their own thing (be they good or bad) and then request for artillery and UAV flight over them and cuss me out because I delcine them.

So in short, it's not what the Commander gets in abilities that frustrates me...it's what I get (or don't get) from my team.

[dtacs]

-Lack of thought: I don't have ideas on where to go and stuff
-Lack of communication: i won't say a word for a while, because I'm too busy
trying to figure out where everyone is and where to go
-Tired: I get bored pretty fast now.
-OMG fine you keep complaining we'll do it your way.

Have you ever watched Lost? Remember when Jack is doing spinal surgery and makes a mistake and Christian just tells him to stop and count to 5? I do exactly that. Saying 'give me 20 seconds to formulate a plan' is often all you need to get back on track.

Oh, and I have one thing to say in regards to getting bored: when in doubt, alt+f4 out.

Yes, UAV's are important, and people in the commander position can be real jerks, but we have that new mutiny system now, i believe the commander should have a little more power over stuff. I don't exactly know what to be honest.... but there has to be more incentive than the UAV's and ****....

Anyone can go commander for 10 minutes and do that, then they jump right out. =/

To me, this just seem ridiculous. I don't know... just feels like without a commander, instead of feeling like a team, i feel like im a seperate squad out their fighting for my life while the other squads all are being stupid and stuff.... =/

Some people simply go commander and use it solely for the UAV. There is nothing wrong with this. Think of the commander in this situation as an intelligence gatherer rather than giving orders to squads. Some people get pretty pissed off when they realize the commander isn't going to...command, but its still a viable option. I occasionally do it if theres nothing else to do, and a bitchload of infantry squads IE Fallujah.

[eMeRgEnCyLeMoN]

I agree that the commander is in many ways underpowered and/or unnecessary, unfortunately.

On no-mumble servers, the commander can still serve as a link between SLs, but unfortunately usually SLs on these severs are usually used to working independently as a squad, but not with other squads and assets as a team. Occasionally you will get a good commander and good SLs that will work together, but it's quite rare.

Mumble, especially on TG, has almost made the commander position obsolete due to SL chat. This expansion of communication shouldn't be a bad thing, but it DOES bring to light how little power the commander has besides telling X to go Y.

One of the only situations when a commander is still quite viable is when all or most of the team is an organized clan. The commander only works here because there is a mutual respect of abilities between the players, and SLs will do what the commander asks.

I don't know if the solution to make commander relevant again would be to give him more powers/abilities, or give him more control over kit/asset usage by the team. Something needs to happen though, because for most servers where there is no SL mumble, squads are more and more becoming independent "spec-ops" entities trying to individually achieve their own objectives.

[joethepro36]

Mother of God, a post I completely and utterly agree with with, Lithium. I've recently been finding it harder and harder to squad lead myself and having the same problems. I'm getting hesitant in decision making, caving into my squad mates demands against my wishes and stuttering a lot more while leading. I think my problem comes more and more down to an increased sense of pessimism in my playing. I used to think very optimistically about playing and would typically act like I can rely on my teammates a lot. This of course means more attacking, more taking chances and generally less boring or mundane things to do etc.

These days however I spend about 75%+ of my time doing the more boring jobs like defending an objective or constructing the team's FOBs. I'm also much, much more reluctant to trust my teammates, I constantly think (unless I know the guys personally) that our team will fail without superior numbers. I suspect this is partly due to having played on stacked servers but mainly due to things like the new spawning changes which demand a greater standard of play from the players.

I do go commander a lot of the time though and it is far better than being a squad leader, much less stressful. Typically most of the squads will ignore me but when I do get a few squads working with me, I've practically won us the game because of the coordination, particulary with mechanised infantry.

[Psyrus]

I can't say much about the commander position because I still miss the days where you needed a commander to accept build orders... ah those were the days... your team would actually have a real advantage if you had a commander. *fades off to reminisce about the good old days*

But as for a squad leader Lithium...

I suffer from the following symptoms now:

-Lack of thought: I don't have ideas on where to go and stuff
-Lack of communication: i won't say a word for a while, because I'm too busy trying to figure out where everyone is and where to go
-Tired: I get bored pretty fast now.
-OMG fine you keep complaining we'll do it your way.

Just get back to the basics:
- You're in charge, they listen to you or they find a new squad. Trust me, 90% of people choose option 1, and you didn't want the guys who choose option 2 anyway

- When you're wondering where to go, there's only 2 real choices for decent players: Attack or Defend. On AAS this means attacking or defending flags, and on insurgency it is [as bluforce] attacking the cache or defending the firebase you set up ~200-250m from the cache marker & [as insurgents] defending the cache or attacking known enemy firebases. That's it, that's the secret to effective squad leading. Don't go sit on neither assault or defense and you'll have no issues!

- As for your comms issues there's only 1 thing to figure out: Are we on attack or defense. You then say that, and lead your squad to it. If they're not with you, ask them to fall in and if they don't: Caps Lock -> Manage -> Kick. You'll then have plenty of time to tell them where to set up and which arcs to cover.

And well, bored or having squad members get bored... it's not BC2 and I'd assume you know this, so if you find the gameplay boring perhaps it's time to take a miss on PR for a while. I refuse to play the following maps because I find them less interesting than grouting my bathroom tiles:
- Yamalia
- Silent Eagle
- Dragon Fly
- Iron Ridge
- Qinling
- 0.917 Barracuda

This way I get to take healthy long breaks from PR when the maps I don't enjoy turn up and I can rejoin and have fun in the maps that I do enjoy .

[dtacs]

- Silent Eagle

You lasted a new record of like 10 minutes today, we capped Central and we were workin on Tunnel Complex when the server crashed

Defending is for pussies or those who can't handle leading under pressure.

[CallousDisregard]

Defending is for the future minded and attacking is for the present minded.
You need both or you will lose.

Is anyone interested in this ?
https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f10-pr ... ining.html
It would need about 60 ppl to contribute and give a place for COs to get a handle on the basics w/o having to play "used car salesman" with SLs to get them to follow orders in a timely fashion.

[Psyrus]

You lasted a new record of like 10 minutes today, we capped Central and we were workin on Tunnel Complex when the server crashed

It is just... so... painful. And actually I lasted 2+ friggin hours on the Chicago server one night with SamEEE and some Italian guy who sounded American. I stayed just to prove to myself that I wasn't irrational and it really was akin to eating glass, and I turned out to be right so the 2 hours of boredom were worth it

Defending is for pussies or those who can't handle leading under pressure.

I know you're joking but man, even saying stuff like that jokingly gives people ideas

Maybe I should refer them to the dtacs guide of awesomeness that went over so well... much like a dropkick