Re: Medic system
Posted: 2009-04-18 13:19
It's a good idea to look at how the system might be abused/misused or generally break the game in a bad case. Because people do manage to get that done...
1. Medics would become very valuable assets, so asset wasting becomes a danger. If even one medic spot is taken by a player who's not interested in teamplay or doesn't know what to do, the team is at a very big disadvantage, similar to what happens if the team gets a pilot that crashes an assault plane on takeoff.
2. Operating alone would make it too hard for medics to survive on some maps. I'm particularly thinking Insurgency maps, coalition forces only survive there due to moving with their squad. A lone medic in an ambulance vehicle, let alone on foot, will probably never make it anywhere.
3. The actual gameplay for medics might not be very fun then. In the current system, medics also get to participate in all the other stuff that happens - they participate in firefights with their squad, they storm flags, etc. For a dedicated medic under this proposal, the game would just consist of walking/driving to a squad, healing them for a minute, going to the next squad, rinse and repeat. They wouldn't really see any action, even if their loadout remains the same as now, they'll be killed immediately by any squad that sees them. I am just not sure you would find that many players who are willing to spend entire rounds in a role where they should avoid enemy contact. Case in point, the 0.8 commander, the position is empty like 90% of the time now because commanders must stay in the command post. Not saying medics would be that bad but I think the current commander situation proves that players want to be at least a bit in the action.
4. While creating more realism in the sense that wounded squad members would be tougher to heal and somewhat of a liability, it would also detract realism in the sense that lone medics moving through the battlefield are unrealistic.
This isn't me trying to diss the idea, I've just learned to look at the possible negatives of any proposed systems. I really like where this suggestion is going, not in the least because it would make resupplying occasionally a greater priority, something squads don't have to think about that often now.
1. Medics would become very valuable assets, so asset wasting becomes a danger. If even one medic spot is taken by a player who's not interested in teamplay or doesn't know what to do, the team is at a very big disadvantage, similar to what happens if the team gets a pilot that crashes an assault plane on takeoff.
2. Operating alone would make it too hard for medics to survive on some maps. I'm particularly thinking Insurgency maps, coalition forces only survive there due to moving with their squad. A lone medic in an ambulance vehicle, let alone on foot, will probably never make it anywhere.
3. The actual gameplay for medics might not be very fun then. In the current system, medics also get to participate in all the other stuff that happens - they participate in firefights with their squad, they storm flags, etc. For a dedicated medic under this proposal, the game would just consist of walking/driving to a squad, healing them for a minute, going to the next squad, rinse and repeat. They wouldn't really see any action, even if their loadout remains the same as now, they'll be killed immediately by any squad that sees them. I am just not sure you would find that many players who are willing to spend entire rounds in a role where they should avoid enemy contact. Case in point, the 0.8 commander, the position is empty like 90% of the time now because commanders must stay in the command post. Not saying medics would be that bad but I think the current commander situation proves that players want to be at least a bit in the action.
4. While creating more realism in the sense that wounded squad members would be tougher to heal and somewhat of a liability, it would also detract realism in the sense that lone medics moving through the battlefield are unrealistic.
This isn't me trying to diss the idea, I've just learned to look at the possible negatives of any proposed systems. I really like where this suggestion is going, not in the least because it would make resupplying occasionally a greater priority, something squads don't have to think about that often now.