After playing through 45 levels of combat both in space and on the ground, solo and in teams, I think the game could use a system of Targeting Icons like WoW has.
The reasons for this is that teamwork doesn't just create itself out of the blue and since not everyone uses VoIP software (e.g. XFIRE; Teamspeak; Ventrilo) and not everyone uses the Chat interface, it would do a world of good to be able to inform the team of the best tactics to employ in every given situation and since I see that as the duty of the Team Leader, he/she should call the shots.
After playing through 45 levels of combat both in space and on the ground, solo and in teams, I think the game could use a system of Targeting Icons like WoW has.
The reasons for this is that teamwork doesn't just create itself out of the blue and since not everyone uses VoIP software (e.g. XFIRE; Teamspeak; Ventrilo) and not everyone uses the Chat interface, it would do a world of good to be able to inform the team of the best tactics to employ in every given situation and since I see that as the duty of the Team Leader, he/she should call the shots.
What do you guys think?
Good idea. Never played Wow (but I read the link), this would help.
Come to think of it, I remember we were once able to put way-points straight unto the map itself and they'd appear as 3D bouncing arrows. I wonder what happened to that feature... perhaps the Devs pulled it out because they're looking into revamping the whole system and adding Targeting Icons?! :D
First let me apologize for rezzing this thread. Thought it would be better to bring this one back up with the existing dialog than to start over.
I love what Cryptic has done with the season 3 bug fixes and feature enhancements. Really looking forward to future iterations of this great game.
One thing is missing and that's obviously raid icons. I usually fly in a group (PUG or LAN) and it's come up multiple times that we could be more effective if there was some way to communicate primary and secondary targets on an opening attack.
There are three ways that I see which could enhance group play in this regard:
1) Give us the ability to "tag" an enemy ship using a raid icon
OR (and probably simpler overall)
2) Assign a unique identifier to each NPC ship in a group (squadron). Number the squadron while you're at it, although it wouldn't be absolutely necessary. The text above the NPC unit frame would show this unique ID. Squad 1: Ship 3
OR (Cooler, more Trek)
3) Assign random ship names to NPCs. With a little tweaking it should be possible for Cryptic to generate ship names (as it does in the Ship builder or whenever you buy a new ship).
Coordinated attacks are a big part of the fun in STO. Using different abilities together properly in a group setting can make a huge difference in terms of damage and surviving.
Please Cryptic, give us some way of sharing target info. "Third Warbird from the right" doesn't seem very Captain-ish to me.
I think raid icons would help tremendously, especially for those groups where voice comm is not being used.
Plus it makes it a little less difficult to keep your kill orders right if you don't have to remember all the names of the mobs.
Instead you just have to remember the icon and its number in the kill list.
I think raid icons would help tremendously, especially for those groups where voice comm is not being used.
Plus it makes it a little less difficult to keep your kill orders right if you don't have to remember all the names of the mobs.
Instead you just have to remember the icon and its number in the kill list.
Kill Skull first
Kill X second
Kill Diamond last
Indeed. Some may say that this feature is useless given the relative ease of PVE space combat in general. That being said, those who enjoy advanced difficulty levels and perhaps even elite will benefit greatly from such a feature.
Cryptic has stated that they want to improve STFs and promote 5 player group play. What better way to promote this than to give us the tools to plan tactics appropriately?
On another note, NPC ship info in battle needs to be slightly more intuitive. In the heat of battle, it is often difficult to see what debuffs/buffs a target may have on them. To assume an NPC is energy drained and to know readily that an NPC is drained are two different things.
Historically, in Trek, ships were always able to determine the damage level and weapon status of ships before a battle and during. My suggestion is to replace the existing debuff/buff icons over NPC name tags and make them more representative to what is actually going on and perhaps switch their positioning to make them more apparent. Like raid icons, this improvement would contribute to players playing the game intelligently rather than just pew-pewing endlessly until a kill is achieved.
Comments
Good idea. Never played Wow (but I read the link), this would help.
I love what Cryptic has done with the season 3 bug fixes and feature enhancements. Really looking forward to future iterations of this great game.
One thing is missing and that's obviously raid icons. I usually fly in a group (PUG or LAN) and it's come up multiple times that we could be more effective if there was some way to communicate primary and secondary targets on an opening attack.
There are three ways that I see which could enhance group play in this regard:
1) Give us the ability to "tag" an enemy ship using a raid icon
OR (and probably simpler overall)
2) Assign a unique identifier to each NPC ship in a group (squadron). Number the squadron while you're at it, although it wouldn't be absolutely necessary. The text above the NPC unit frame would show this unique ID. Squad 1: Ship 3
OR (Cooler, more Trek)
3) Assign random ship names to NPCs. With a little tweaking it should be possible for Cryptic to generate ship names (as it does in the Ship builder or whenever you buy a new ship).
Coordinated attacks are a big part of the fun in STO. Using different abilities together properly in a group setting can make a huge difference in terms of damage and surviving.
Please Cryptic, give us some way of sharing target info. "Third Warbird from the right" doesn't seem very Captain-ish to me.
What do you guys think?
I think raid icons would help tremendously, especially for those groups where voice comm is not being used.
Plus it makes it a little less difficult to keep your kill orders right if you don't have to remember all the names of the mobs.
Instead you just have to remember the icon and its number in the kill list.
Kill Skull first
Kill X second
Kill Diamond last
Indeed. Some may say that this feature is useless given the relative ease of PVE space combat in general. That being said, those who enjoy advanced difficulty levels and perhaps even elite will benefit greatly from such a feature.
Cryptic has stated that they want to improve STFs and promote 5 player group play. What better way to promote this than to give us the tools to plan tactics appropriately?
On another note, NPC ship info in battle needs to be slightly more intuitive. In the heat of battle, it is often difficult to see what debuffs/buffs a target may have on them. To assume an NPC is energy drained and to know readily that an NPC is drained are two different things.
Historically, in Trek, ships were always able to determine the damage level and weapon status of ships before a battle and during. My suggestion is to replace the existing debuff/buff icons over NPC name tags and make them more representative to what is actually going on and perhaps switch their positioning to make them more apparent. Like raid icons, this improvement would contribute to players playing the game intelligently rather than just pew-pewing endlessly until a kill is achieved.