Removing the map Icons

[viirusiiseli]

Has removing icons on the map ever been experimented with?

Would it give a good balance of teamwork, immersion, and game play to remove the dots on the map? It seems it would feel more natural and realistic.

IRL, you would not just know who is where at any given time, but you would have general knowledge of the area.

I would support at least being able to see your squad leader, or squad mates. Or the medic icon popping up on the map when you request one.

When I think about the possibilities, it would really focus your world down on communicating with your squad, and the SL coordinating with other SL's more on comms. Also, it would slow the world down a bit with imperfect map navigation.

I kind of like the idea of the "Fog of War" it would give, and the communication that would have to take place. Make things less predictable.

This would lead to massive teamkills.

[TheAndrew1987]

it would be hell on earth, i think we just have to ignore this unrealistic feature for the enjoyment of the game

[viirusiiseli]

That is the kind of things they said back when we talked about them removing the minimap in the corner of the screen.

Without minimap you can still check where friendlies are, if you remove map markers for friendlies, you can not.

[sweedensniiperr]

That is the kind of things they said back when we talked about them removing the minimap in the corner of the screen.

Great comparison...

[solidfire93]

i like the idea but i dont know what the effects are going to be on Friendly fire and TK's

idk how IRL this thing works !

[a3dboy1]

This would lead to massive teamkills.

People said same things about lack of nametags for 65+ players. Somehow players adapted and there is no massive teamkills.

I think that removing Smurfs from map is a good way to force people think and analyze more. In order to make it "newbie friendly" the map would show only SLs positions with huge numbers as it is now. Squad members dots would be removed though. But such change requires intense testing on the Dev side and I am not sure whether Devs haven't come out with such feature before...

But I understand that vocal minority here on the forums doesn't want any changes because that would put them in the boots of scrubs as they would have to adapt to new mechanics. Really selfish of you.

[Murphy]

Players adapted to the loss of nametags but did so using what now? (the answer is maps)

[viirusiiseli]

People said same things about lack of nametags for 65+ players. Somehow players adapted and there is no massive teamkills.

Yeah nah, the teamkills that used to not happen on close range are a normal occurrence.

Someone comes around the corner, they don't see the nametag and shoot you. It happens all the time so...

[Cavazos]

It might be a good change.

I avoid most of my team kills through target identification, and if I can't tell what it is while it's far away I won't shoot it.

Only a few times I use the map as reference to verify friendly or foe since it takes so long to verify.

[Murphy]

So you mean to say you never SL, obviously. You mean that you never check your map for what's going on? You must be a one man army taking care of everything across the map, or maybe you spend a lot of time in the wrong spots enjoying the scenery.

[Fir3w411]

Ah yes. Let's remove what last little hope we have of not being teamkilled. Bumbling idiots who don't check maps are the reason why the majority of TKs occur right now.

To remove the map is to remove everyone's eyes. You are blind if you can't see where friendlies are on the map. Removing it would increase teamkills and increase the already present horrid comms.

Just imagine if you removed maps right now and had someone doing mortar. They would either:
A). Spam comms trying to see if there are friendlies in that position in which if they don't get a reply continue to spam comms. (eventually leading to B)
B). Not even ask and just fire-at-will resulting in TKs

To compare removing of the map to removing of name tags makes little sense, too. You are blinding everyone by doing the fore. Removing the latter you simply remove identification with direct sight (nametags even take a second or two to show up as well).

[solidfire93]

i dont have a problem in killing and identify the enemy !
i double check so i be sure to avoid Friendly fire !

but i must admit that i got confused at Ulyanovsk and killed a Friendly !

Russian outfit extremely good in Bush and jungle combat !

i say leave it as it is ! even with the icon's we still have Tk, and it happen often...

everyday we get a lot of new players to PR and i think that's the reason we see TK !

imo it has nothing to do with icon's on the map !

[Jacksonez__]

Just imagine if you removed maps right now and had someone doing mortar. They would either:
A). Spam comms trying to see if there are friendlies in that position in which if they don't get a reply continue to spam comms. (eventually leading to B)
B). Not even ask and just fire-at-will resulting in TKs

How about mortar squads change their way of thinking to fire upon request - not randomly. In real life mortars don't fire blindly: there's a designated spotter squad or they wait for fire support requests from infantry squads.

Would be 10/10 idea and force mortar squads to use actual spotter again and rely on other squads + commander intel. Mortar squad's fault if they fire randomly at hot-spots which might be crowded by friendlies.

inb4 "NERF MORTARS AGAIN HNGHHHHH" comments.

E: Although I think commander should see where e.g squad leaders are located on the map. How he's able to organize stuff if he doesn't know where his troops are at?

[Fir3w411]

How about mortar squads change their way of thinking to fire upon request - not randomly. In real life mortars don't fire blindly: there's a designated spotter squad or they wait for fire support requests from infantry squads.

This isn't real life.

Would be 10/10 idea and force mortar squads to use actual spotter again and rely on other squads + commander intel. Mortar squad's fault if they fire randomly at hot-spots which might be crowded by friendlies.

When did mortar squads ever regularly use their own spotter? The most you would ever get is a 1337 sniper telling you they'll spot (obviously not).

And since the commander has been made as unappealing as one could have ever imagined, no one goes commander. Squads don't ever call in shit so you're left with no other alternative than to mortar anywhere you think there's enemy.

Since 1.3 came out I have noticed two very clear things: Commander role is filled less than ever. And dedicated mortar squads are nonexistent.

[Jacksonez__]

This isn't real life.



When did mortar squads ever regularly use their own spotter? The most you would ever get is a 1337 sniper telling you they'll spot (obviously not).

And since the commander has been made as unappealing as one could have ever imagined, no one goes commander. Squads don't ever call in shit so you're left with no other alternative than to mortar anywhere you think there's enemy.

Since 1.3 came out I have noticed two very clear things: Commander role is filled less than ever. And dedicated mortar squads are nonexistent.

it was just an idea, yeah I know this isn't real life. If it's not broken, don't fix it The current system works just fine in my opinion (map with icons)

usually the mortar squads where I have been, the squad leader asks around squads and commander for targets. Commander UAV + mortars = deadly AF.

[Murphy]

It used to be that mortars required a firemission request to remove the "black screen" that was blocking players from just firing away as they do now. That first iteration did not sit that well with many players and they eventually changed mortars to the system we have now, which may be a lot less realistic but for gameplay it flows a lot nicer. A lot of times you would have the mortar SL asking other SLs to just toss a firemission request at any random place just to use the mortars and support them, so this is one of those things (like the main topic of this thread imho) where gameplay and realism need to meet somewhere near the haflway point.

(UV also sucks now compared to how it used to be, diff topic again)

[Cavazos]

So you mean to say you never SL, obviously. You mean that you never check your map for what's going on? You must be a one man army taking care of everything across the map, or maybe you spend a lot of time in the wrong spots enjoying the scenery.

Just because you rely on a map all the time to do IFF, doesn't mean I have too. It's unnecessary for me. For some people, like yourself perhaps, you can't tell the difference and rely on that map. That's ok too.