Function of the Squad Locking System

[Jevski]

It stops morons from stealing kits from the sqd.
Motar sqds do not require 8 players. Have them join another inf sqd, instead of being lone wolfs in mine.
Players with no mic keeps rejoining after being kicked, same goes for players who dont teamwork.

I rather have players lonewolf without being in a sqd, than being in one, so that they cant take kits that teamworking sqds can use better ie. HAT, Grenadier etc.

So yes, locking it does promote teamwork.

[CR8Z]

I believe that locking squads is a good feature, and should not be removed.

However, I agree that locked squads can inhibit team work, while also sometimes encouraging it. It's a case by case basis, much like several situations that arise with this mod and in this community.

I think it should be left up to the server admins and their communities to decide how the squad locking feature should be utilized.

[Christie.Front.Drive]

I can see both sides of the coin, but I'd say leave it as it is. The benefits of having the option of locking your squad outweigh the drawbacks. For every goof that joins your squad, takes a sniper kit and leaves there's five times your squad mate CTD'd and needs you to save a spot for two minutes.

[Gracler]

Like Jevski says it prevents people from exploiting a squad and just join for the kits so you constantly have to manage the squad by kicking the same person.

However I do think that servers should enforce a "no locked squads for more than 10 seconds after creating your squad during briefing" which would give you just enough time to invite your friends and then you would have to unlock for the rest of the public until the timer runs out and the game starts.
Then people can not monopolize assets like they do today, but players wouldn't be able to continue to harass a squad leader by leaving and joining because locking would be permitted during game play and stealing kit's can't be done during briefing (at least I think It can't?)

I don't know how many times Iv'e joined a new match (during Briefing) only to watch 6 or 7 locked not full squads with a few friends doing there own war. When I see that I simply quit PR because It feels like the teamwork feeling already went out the window and people only care about themselves and there friend from school.
If the briefing of a map fails with horrible squads the game is already lost in the sense that there won't be much teamwork happening if any at all.

/sits back and waits for the CAS people to flood this with "I DON'T WANT NOOBS IN MY SQUAD" aka "IT'S MINE. MY OWN. MY PRECIOUS"

[camo]

I think its good as too often do you see a "sniper squad" left unlocked and so people join just so they can get kits and then go off lone wolfing. The squad leader of that squad just wants to snipe and has probably never squad lead before and just lets the players run around. This is obviously not good for teamwork so maybe if the squad was locked these players would have joined a more active and useful squad.

The issue of why there are 3 sniper and recon squads is another issue entirely but i'll leave that for later.

[Steeps]

One tank on a map: 8 man squad if you couldn't lock it.

[Psyrus]

One tank on a map: 8 man squad if you couldn't lock it.

Could just be part of the ARMOR squad, because it's not like APCs are really transporting troops left and right anyway

[Careless]

One tank on a map: 8 man squad if you couldn't lock it.

One tank on a map: six, maybe longwolfing, but active infantry guys who go out and kill enemies with HATs and AA's, and two blind, deaf, ignorant retards driving a 8 million dollar tank.

fix'd

[dysin]

i'd dislike seeing it removed, or even altered. one or two locked squads doesn't present much problem. if you're locking it off at 2 guys, that's pushing the privilege. all i'm saying is leave the choice to the players and admins.

[Nugiman]

Locking squads is important.

1st, things like CAS or Tank squads should be locked if there are enough people to take control over vehicles. CAS squads also may have 1-2 spotters.
But you've probably seen these CAS squads with 8 men inside, 2 of them flying, 1 spotting and the rest lonewolfing around, taking advantage of having a squad where they can take "the cool kits" with marksman, engineer and so on? This is not useful at all, so these squads have to be locked.

2nd, if you have ever led a 8-men squad you know that its sometimes somewhat exhausting. You can be lucky and have 8 guys that are totally following your orders. But in the heat of battle you cant check what your squad mates doing the whole time, sometimes someone joins in and doesnt talk, doesnt follow orders or anything.
Its sometimes better to have 6 men in your squad by your side then 8 men where 2 of them roaming around in the middle of nowhere. To prevent this "stress" squadleaders tend to lock their squads when the size has increased to a level of good working squad. (mostly 6 people)

[Rudd]

I'm with Sharps on the sentiment, however there are legitimate uses for the lock and I don't think there would be a way to do a time limit or something like that.

If you are a tank squad, it doesn't mean you can't have infantry with you, they can follow the tank with a jeep which can increase everyone's survivability. The main downside is that the squad leader has to be one of the dismounted men, otherwise you aren't using your assets to full potency (no rally point, no CAS etc); this makes it unappealing to people who make a squad because they actually want to use an asset. A tank working inside an otherwise infantry squad actually works quite well.

On a map like Kashan, you do want to have all the tanks together, this means any extras in the suqad will be very lonely infantry, however two extras driving a logistic truck and carrying an AA kit? Suddenly, your tank squad became a hell of a lot safer with repairs and anti air cover.

Locking is best used when you are saving a squad slot for a friend or someone who has disconnected and is coming back.

The only squad that needs to be locked is the transport squad imo, because the radio traffic is alot heavier and will usually be about events happening far away from you.

[Christie.Front.Drive]

As long as the ******** are locked away in 2-man squads where you can't accidentally join them trying to work as a team it's a-okay with me.

[Careless]

Locked squads force people to lonewolf on the long run

The elitist/nationalist jerks lock themself up leaving other people vurnarable

[matty1053]

What I hate. When people with tank squads. They have like 4 tanks spawned. And they lick at 4 players. Makes me mad.

I was a recon SQL once. I got banned for having 4 man locked squad. Don't get it

[Gracler]

Result:
+ Enough squad room for everyone to team up.
- The SL who can't handle a full squad won't make a squad or they won't be able to keep it together for long.
+ SL's would have the control to kick out only those players that deserve to be locked out.
+ SL's would have absolute control over the kits in their squad.
- SL's would have to micro-manage there squad even more.
+ SLs would become more valuable overall to players because there is a dependency.
- Giving more power to one guy in charge of 7 could easily sink the ship if that one person is incompetent.
+ Demand for communication between the SL and player would promote team work.
- It would also add extra "noise" that didn't used to be, but I suppose good old squad-chat could make this doable if the SL reads it.

- Players could still manipulate to get the kit they want and leave, though unlikely if they get to use it anyway.
- SL's could in a backwards way still lock a squad off by perma-kicking/blocking everyone.
- More demanding role on a SL to think about the kits they need.

The least important here I think is the perma-kick idea, but if it is possible I don't see any reason to be against it.

Sorry I had to punch a few holes in your pros there.

Also I don't understand what you mean by perma-kick? Do you want the SL to be able to perma-ban, temp-ban or just kick?


I actually like the idea of locking not being allowed, but I just think that it would create an even less desirable role as squad leader.
You would end up with 7 people that you would have to manage which I have to say very few players are able to do. Most SL's just give out general orders and lead by example and after a massacre or two they quit because they can't handle the imminent repercussions. Then the squad is leaderless with a bunch of zombies in it not knowing what to do.

Squads could be minimum 5 so that the SL had to deal with only 4 people. Even a tank squad with just one tank should accept those 3 extras. Two of them could use a logistic truck for repairs and FOB's and the last one would be 50 cal gunner.

[saXoni]

Also I don't understand what you mean by perma-kick? Do you want the SL to be able to perma-ban, temp-ban or just kick?

He means from the squad. If a player has been kicked x amount of times out of the same squad, he will not be able to join the same squad again.

[Heavy Death]

Lel. Toplel. I dont play PR because the lack of TW and when i join a server, EVERYTHING is locked. I come to the forums and there is arguing left and right about why everything is locked.

Oh boy. DH very fast.

[Psyrus]

For those who are hell bent on locking, just remember to be equitable, with 50 players in 9 squads it should average 5.5 players per squad.

If you assume that there are generally about 2 full inf squads (hopefully more), that's 34 players in 7 squads, which is still 4.85 players per squad. So every time Trans or CAS or tanks or APCs or even selfish inf squads lock at under 4, you're putting more burden on every other squad leader, AND you're increasing the likelihood that people won't be able to join a squad because they'll all be full or locked.

If PR could implement no locking under 5 players [through python] I'd be a happy camper, but I know a large portion of the other players disagree with me so I'll just slink back to my utopian ideals and go commander when all the inf squads are full/locked and I can't create my own because there're JETS, HELI-CAS and TransHeli squads, all locked at 2 players [leaving the rest of the team needing to average over 7 players per squad]