Given the fact that players are going to organize themselves regardless of whatever mechanics are put in place by IB, the trick is to find a system that works with the players rather than against them. As there are going to be potentially 100 or more targets, I think we can agree that there needs to be some way to filter out at least some of the targets, otherwise we’re going to have to look at 100+ little red dots.
I know in my previous ‘idea’ threads I have proposed entire game play mechanics in epic, 1000+ word essays. This is not that thread. Rather, I just want to express some ideas/concerns that Naiba and I were tossing around on Discord, and leave the panel open to discussion.
Here’s the premise: Given that there are way to many little red dots to worry about, there needs to be a way for players to easily organize themselves into a group and focus on only a small portion of the little red dots.
Players in a squadron will probably only have a hud indicator that tells them who’s in their squadron, possibly who the leader (if applicable).
There can be metrics given to each player based on their performance in a squad.
There can be two types of squadron leaders. First, some guy sitting in a cap ship looking at the battle a-la Homeworld (which would be awesome, IMO) and he would be telling various blue dots what group of red dots to focus on. A second type would be of course some guy in an interceptor leading his friends/randoms into battle.
Once targets have been selected by squadron leader, all other red dots disappear/turn yellow or something to de-prioritize them.
There can be some sort of metric in place for squadron leaders, such as a system that automatically kicks the leader if they don’t make any progress in destroying enemy infrastructure vs losing their own, generated every 10 minutes or so, encouraging good behavior.
The metrics for the leaders can be tied to the performance of the squadron, so if there are noobs or trolls, the ‘grade’ is curved.
Bad metrics = no leadership for a while, or maybe it would be up to vote. If the team is losing, maybe it’s time for better leadership.
Leaders that are part of the squadron should be more laid back, as they can only affect the the squadron they are in, and probably in a group of friends.
Well, that’s what we thought of. Let’s brainstorm some ideas/discuss old ones.