Well, here's a question. How shall the game deal with overpopulation? Really, in a month there will be a lot less Orks than SM\CSM And eldar will be an underpopulated faction no matter what. So, a question arises: what will be done to make sure less-populated factions have a chance, considering that "Underpopulated" doesn't always mean "Hipster pro-gamer" faction. Will there be NPCs that spawn in squads when population is not enough? Will there be resource issues for overpopulated ones? "It takes a competent officer to command a Panzer division,but take a genius to supply one" - Heinz Guderian 416 Armageddon steel Will there be EXP issues for overpopualted ones? Squad control issues or anything else? Or will an overpopulated faction ZERG JTHERS TO WARPGATES ruin the fun?
Never liked the down state in guild wars 2 when you die, impossible to solo more then 2 people when they keep ressing each other.
I just hope the game won't turn into another "lay-fest" AKA War of the Roses (I agree with taking some good bits, though). In my opinion the combat should be brutal on its own, resulting in definitive deaths most of the time, and when people would be brought into the "injured stated" it would be caused by bleeding out, and not being able to stabilize their wounds, and even then when they'd be ressed their characters would be penalized with decreased speed and accuracy, henceforth players would be encouraged not to act recklessly. Executions could be divided into: - fast execution - a point blank shot to the head, or a melee weapon to vital part of the body = less XP - epic execution - like a "sync kill" in DOW2, takes more time = more XP One thing I wouldn't want to see implemented is when execution is disturbed by another player, the laying down victim being still alive - e.g. WotR - stabbing someone into face multiple times, but the kill not counting, because it doesn't pass the 5 second limit which qualifies a valid kill. I also hope we're going to see some encouragement from game mechanics for players to be organized in squads, I don't mean anything symbolical like Battlefield squads, etc., but Assault squads synchronizing their jumps onto enemies, Berserker bands, and a bunch of Howling Banshees rushing towards your post in tight-knit formations. Dealing kills, damage, and moving through the frontlines close to your squad-leader could reward players with essentially more XP than usual, and the effect could multiply by a small fragment with every squad-mate willing to operate closely with the rest of his squad.
Now, there is a good point. being within squad coherency should reward the squad. Perhaps being out of coherency means a debuff, less accuracy, damage etc as you are essentially 'broken', and an xp lessening (instead of a bonus for being in coherency).
Wall of text incoming. Squad bonus sounds good, but debuffs... not so much, as that sounds easily exploitable or breakable. Also, what would constitute coherency? Would it be like morale in DoW? or just require the squad to remain in close proximity? If the latter, you run into problems when your group wants to not go in as a "proper" squad and wants to be more like a kill-team, as the assault marine might break coherency after a jump while his team mates (devastators and tac marines) are trying to support him from range, for example. If the former, you run into problems with enemy teams spamming some morale breaking weapons, and possibly going in as a concerted group of soloists, thus giving no chance to apply such debuffs to them (assuming they're not using snipers to screw with you in the first place). All in all, I'd say the best thing to give for squad based combat is just experience or resource bonuses based on kills or objectives done with your squad-mates, this way there is no real downside to a squad, yet no requirement to be in one either. And also less bitching about possible kill steals from team mates as everyone will benefit from helping each other instead of it turning into another K/D farm game. Also, if I've misunderstood your intent, I apologize. Feel free to explain what you were thinking as I could have totally missed your point.
I imagine each squad of let's say a dozen of players having a squad-leader, which would act as sort of a beacon for the rest of the squad. Kills caused within a certain radius around the squad-leader would reward those members of the squad within with bonus XP, and temporary bonus dependent on the selected class (melee bonus for Slugga Boyz, accuracy/defense bonus for tactical squads, etc.). We're not talking about something utterly necessary, just a sweet little bonus that could offer the edge needed to decide an even battle. The radius would expand with more kills/assistances scored by those squad-members within, and after some time, if a squad ceased to battle, the radius would start to slowly decrease. In my opinion any kind of a system that would encourage players to sort themselves into squads by classes would make the gameplay a much more enjoyable experience rather than confusion of all classes running around the battlefield just to score some hits. The game should reward those who plan and play tactically, and "using head" being just as important as battling skills. Just imagine watching the battlefield zoomed out, enjoying the same strategy aspects present in Dawn of War 2, and other games.
I clearly don't want passive(without direct control) execution in PVP .. although it looks awesome it's a very annoying feature in DoW2 MP.
You missed the point, but just a little. Firstly, a squad should be made up of 'like' troops. you don't have a devastator, tac marine, and assault marine all in the same squad (though it sounds like the start of a horrible or great joke). This feature would encourage that behavior, as well as get the squad to rally together and function as a squad. Admittedly, the buff would be better than a debuff, though I think a combination of the two would work too. It would also discourage solo play. It's an MMO, group up! Besides, there are 'things' in the dark.
