As in, will players be actively encouraged to join a Squad, and make sure each role is equally and properly fulfilled?

No, but that topic was asked and discussed already. Most disagree with that kind of gameplay (me too). Why not post 1 thread with all your questions?^^ Thats easier

edit: Found something like that http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/keeping-the-squads-lore-friendly.55149/

As it looks right now, no...

But i hope you get incentive to stay with your squad somehow

No.

Lobby shooters are not about teamwork. They are about instant gratification. Thats why they are changing match timers from a 25 minute countdown to a 5 minute between capture points style. If you havent got point a in 5 minutes, game over. Find another one where your not getting farmed by a guild. BTW this should really please guild players. Join up with friends, win every game in 5 minutes, get bored, and log out after 30 minutes.

I thought they weren't trying to make a lobby shooter?

Nope. There won't be. Both the devs and the community have firmly rejected this.

I would be happy to be sold a lobby shooter (even though I don't like them) if only we'd focus on squad-based team play. At least for some factions.

But this is not going to happen.

Squads, in this game, are merely a UI enhancement. You can see where some dudes are, highlighted in blue. That's all. There is no intrinsic meaning or value to a squad.

The reason for this is fundamental to the game itself. It's not "it's just alpha", it won't be fixed because it is deliberate.

This will be a tactical game, squads are the best way to go naturally

I still hope there will be encouragement to stick with your squad (i know hope is the first step on the road to disappointment), but we are missing a lot of features and "infrastructure" to make that happen.
We should have:

• When forming a squad via warband access to a panel where we see a much more detailed list of our squad mates and the squad leader to see their loadout selection prior to the match (yes we have the tiny symbol to see what class they are but that's not that helpful if we have more than 5 weapons)
• Like above but accessible from within the game (ideally in the menu where you can switch the squad, but that is less important than the one from before the match where you can discuss load outs with your team before the match start)
• See health and armor status of all our squad mates fixed on the HUD next to our team member list (and not as floating healthbars), this should be mandatory for squad leaders and support classes and optional for the rest
• Status icons of team members on the HUD
  
• Multi-channel team speak
• And for PUGs or people who don't like to chat a quick comms rose switch between faction wide and squad internal (with quick orders like "member XYZ" "flank left/right" "stay here" "scout ahead" where you first select the member by a number, which is the position in the squad, or whle squad and then the order)
  
• (put your suggestions here)

I think that the squad leader buff should also only be active if a minimum amount of 5 players from one squad is sticking together (not arm length close but in the general proximity to each other), it could then be a little bit more noticeable (in terms of visuals and effect on stats), too.

How much bigger emphasis you want for squads, isn't this enough for you?

You allready get "bonus" xp if you "follow" orders and get a buff when you are near the squad leader what more do you need?Free wins?