As time goes by and Project Reality progresses it seems as if teamwork has not disappeared, but instead deteriorated to a newfound low. This is becoming increasingly more noticeable on servers with minimal to no server administration present to keep people in check. Because of this lack in teamwork, it has forcefully made players think twice before Commanding a team obviously making it simply not worth the effort. It's not suprising why very few people Command anymore.
As being an avid Commander and Squad Leader, I have payed particular attention to the efforts and coordination of teams over a large period of time. Ranging from bearing witness to the worst possible senario unfold, to the greatest amount of teamwork where a Commander does not even need to speak a word. Simply because the team works with such an extreme amount of skill, fluid coordination and situational awareness. But even some of the best squads that had ever been made were brought to a screetching halt by one simple occurance...
What could this occurance be? At first it seems harmless enough as it happens all the time. But when nothing is done about it, it can bring a whole team down. This occurance is when a "lame duck" player becomes a squad leader by choice or by random selection after the loss of the previous leader.
Now when I mean "lame duck", I mean when a player ends up as a Squad Leader taking charge of three to five other people and do not participate in any way to advance the squad in a tactically logical role. Thusly, these players stagnate uselessly taking up the Squad Leader position without an Officer kit and cripple the efforts of an entire team.
These "lame duck" players are generally identified by:
- Refusal of utilizing the Officer kit to establish a rally point for the squad and generally using requested kits as they please.
- Refusal of teamwork and coordinating efforts with thier Commander or Squad Members.
- Refusal of any means of communication with the rest of the squad, by not using their microphones and/or not typing in team/squad chat.
- Refusal of any means of communication with the commander, by not using their microphones and/or not typing in team chat.
Typical scattered, uncoordinated and teamwork lacking Squad Members. Notice how the squad does not own a Rally Point and the Squad Leader is in the middle of nowhere. Also there is no designated objective marker identified on the map to indicate any intentions of teamwork.
<Note: I was about to take a screenshot of the scores between Squad 1 and Squad 2, but the round had ended abruptly as the last Cache was destroyed. Squad 1 Had something like 3,000+ teamwork points. They had destroyed up to about 5 caches and remained in the city almost all round. Whereas Squad 2 had only accumulated 300+ points by the end of the round and pretty much remained in disarray.>
It's quite obvious that many players have encountered these sorts of people. The problem is that a majority of players that end up as a member under these types of Squad Leaders refuse to do anything about it. Usually ending up becoming lazy themselves and not contributing to anything useful and randomly wander maps as loners on thier own terms. This is not the essence of Project Reality and is by far one of the most ironic if not completely illogical situations to persist. This sort of issue stands right next to the well known case of players being able to One-Man-Armor aswell, but that's a different subject.
But what can we do about this? Currently it remains an uncontrolled situation that negatively impacts Project Reality, taking the purpose of teamwork and coordination and throwing it right out the window. The remedy is quite clear, as it should have been this way a long time ago. Limit the available kits to Commanders and Squad Leaders.
- Commander:
- Only Available Default Kits - Officer, Engineer.
- Only Available Requestable Kits - Officer.
- Squad Leader: (Squad Leaders with two or less Squad Members.)
- Only Available Default Kits - Rifleman (Scope), Rifleman (Ironsight), Medic, Engineer.
- Only Available Requestable Kits - Sniper, Special Operations, Crewman, Pilot.
- Squad Leader: (Squad Leader with three or more Squad Members.)
- Only Available Default Kits - Officer, Engineer.
- Only Available Requestable Kits - Officer, Crewman, Pilot.
Take note that the Engineer kit is the only default kit available to Commanders and Squad Leaders. This is done with good reason though, as to enable the CO or SL to Repair/Demolish a Command Post. This is mostly because the "Demolish Order" does not effect the Command Post. Not only that, but it will also permit Squad Leaders to utilize the Engineer kit while in armored squads if necessary.
The purpose of this is to crack down on "lame duck" players that have completely no intent on performing Squad Leader duties in both moderate and large infantry squads. This will not interfere with 2 man Sniper and/or Spec Ops squads. Also this method will still offer Squad Leaders with the ability to request kits that will allow them to interact with vehicles such as Jets, Helicopters, Tanks, APC's or AAV's. Squads that are structured differently and would have a conflict with these guidelines are most likely "hybrid" squads and thier combat effectiveness is at best... Questionable.
I would expect this to only help the Project Reality experience at this point. Unless people would much rather play with Squad Leaders capable of selecting whatever kits they want, running off with a Marksman kit and getting nothing done in the process.
