Perhaps I'm trying too hard and like the idea of being special. But one must try. I've seen the arguments against veterancy and have to agree with them. I've also seen the arguments that being able to choose what units you can use is a bad idea, and although I think that could be worked on, I also think that that's a bad idea. Still, I like the idea of being special, and aside from HATS, and visual modifications, which are a wonderful idea, having a specialized benefit is appealing. This is where the commander shines. So here's my idea. Have the commander be able to equip 1, and only 1, component that gives it a benefit in game. I don't know whether this should be implemented as having all of them available to you, or having to earn them, but I like the idea of having to earn them, as it promotes sticking around. In the earning sense, here are my thoughts. All players either begin with, by default, or through completing a tutorial, not necessarily the best, but a very effective component, like, build speeds for the commander are 20% faster. Then, as things progress, and the player earns more awards, you give them more components that aren't exactly better, simply because they are so different. For example, a component that give the commander an anti-air turret, or torpedoes, or a better gun, better radar range, better vision range, or decreases build cost for the commander by 10% (less than the build speed benefit), auto-healing, escape pod. There's LOTS of ways you could approach this. In other words, similar to TF2, what you unlock isn't necessarily better than the original weapon. It simply might fit better with your play style, or give you the edge in a specific theatre of war, or give you an extra security for your commander. The most important aspect is, this only effects your commander, and no other unit. Therefore, no slippery, or at least, not to a large extent, and it still allows you to personalize yourself in a way that actually effects the game. Thoughts?
This has all the same draw backs as the ideas you mentioned up front, the only upshot is that it "only" affects the Commander, it's still all the same issues in the end. No thanks. Mike
I don't like the idea of anything gameplay-affecting being accessible to some players and not to others. No unlockables. That being said, a commander upgrade is fine by me, so long as it is treated the same as unit tech or whatever. Like in-game upgrades or whatever. The only thing I don't mind in terms of persistent play is ranking-up and stats/leaderboard in the metagame or ladder play or something. Being ranked higher than another player might give your username a colored border or something, but as far as affecting gameplay? No no no please no.
I dont see how this will affect gameplay that much. As he said its just a different playstyle. In zero k its the same. There is no best com. Even the default strike com you get when you start playing isnt bad neither is it good. They are all pretty much equal. Its more tradeoffs than having a actual advantage.
I think that suiting the commander to one's needs is always good. That being said.. the commander with building bonus will be always chosen. Unless, of course, there will be a modification allowing one's commander to eliminate the other commander from fight before the building buff gives any real advantage. The only buffs than may work are: -increased reclaiming speed; -increased underwater speed; -increased repair rate of other units; -cheaper cloak (if the cloak even takes place); -smaller, harder to hit frame and higher movement speed traded for some hefty hp amount; -flak cannon instead of the regular gun - hits only flying units; Do you guys think that those will disturb the gameplay in any way? I also like some unlockables - having a long-term goal is nice
Any modification that is significant enough to impact gameplay would negate the idea behind having equal toolboxes and balance. By adding variables that impact gameplay outside of the actual game, it becomes very difficult to balance. If it's not significant enough to impact gameplay, then I would question whether it would be worth the effort to put it in. Certainly there will be mods out there to cover this type of desire, but I would doubt that would be part of the basic game based on the feedback seen through the forums so far.
The ingame commander upgrades in Forged Alliance work very well and add depth to the game, so I'd like to see a version of this (gun upgrade, engineering upgrade etc). As for anything unlockable, no no no no no. Just no.
The idea of upgradable commanders is awesome and I think it worked well in SupCom, but these upgrades need to be given to all the players and not unlocked. (unless it's unlocked per match, like tech levels) I also think the idea of having a couple (but not to many) mods is much better than just 1. Such as 1 weapon mod, 1 engeneering mod and 1 defense mod. Just a though, but maybe the commander should not just be some unit who cowers in your base for 98% of the game. If aggressive players give him an upgraded weapon, he should be powerfull enough to move in with the grunts and deal some damage. Obviously if he gets toasted you're out, but I think they should definately be more beefy than in the past. Thoughts?
A common adage in SupCom was something like "Your Commander has the build power of two engineers, and the fighting power of twenty tanks. Guess where he's going to be more useful.". Being able to effectively use your commander offensively was an important part of not sucking at the game.
Maybe it's because I never played sup com competitively, but as a casual game player I always saw my commander as a paper thin really big easy to hit target... if that wasn't the case then man I was playing wrong. XD Definately make it more obvious that your commander is capable of much more than that then, however you do it!
