10 replies to this topic

[MalazanSapper]

So - I had a bit of a nightmare last night. Some fuzzy bunny was going down & things were all hectic & I had to be somewhere to fix something - and throughout the whole thing I'm hearing a feminine android voice saying, "Help Requested!" over and over and over ...

Upon returning to reality & my caffeine IV - I got to thinking how absolutely useless that function is in game. These are the scenarios I've experienced for the most part ...

1 - Teammate uses function when down to 1/3 health & all alone - you hear it with enough time to turn around, run over & watch the fireworks right before you get added to the deathball.
2 - A pair of guys on your team believe themselves to be the VIP and continuously trade off hitting this button in the hopes that more of their comrades will stick with them than the other guy - while heading in completely opposite directions at every opportunity! Result_ Two slightly smaller deathballs!
3 - Its just spammed repeatedly in an effort to keep the team together. It may even work effectively from time to time but its fuzzy bunny annoying as hell!

To conclude the above - I can see why this function exists - but its not translating into anything reliable in game. In fact, I'm starting to consciously ignore whomever is asking for help repeatedly, just on principle. Unless its a fellow C-class and I take pity on my brethren!

We can drop fuzzy bunny stupid & completely useless holo emotes - why can't we also drop something useful_!

Like a rally flag/waypoint marker - so that when half your team is dead from the opening skirmish - you can back off & drop it - so they know exactly where to head when they respawn. I know you can see teammates on the HUD - but you have no indication where the real action is and have to boost all over to get back to the fight. If the survivors can stay alive and get to a defensible point - drop the flag - and a shiny flashy symbol shows up on the HUD, similar to viewing the EU & silo markers. Only visibly more obvious - colours cycling perhaps - and above all - SILENT!!! I'd say lets have an actual flare shoot into the sky too, but I doubt anyone but the enemy would notice - so lets keep it on the HUD.

I know that friendly health bars degrading are a good indication of where the action is. Its also unlikely that anyone outnumbered can survive for long enough to worry about rallying the team again. So its highly situational - but I've convinced myself a mechanic like this would do more to avoid deathball stomps than the current options we have. Ya know, the one that just makes everyone who respawns charge towards the "help requested" guy who is about to be creamed 4v1 - arriving just in time to get added to the junk pile.

An addendum or alternate to this suggestion - would be why can we only view through the eyes of our killer when waiting to respawn_ Why can't I cycle thru MY team and see where they are & in what situation - so I can get there faster & vaguely forewarned_!

DISCLAIMER - I am fully aware its a bit late in the day to be having ideas for this game ... hence poll option #2 ... also this may have been dealt with before. Apologies if so, I'm jumped up on caffeine and wanted to get it out there because hearing Hwk voices in my dreams is disturbing and I wanted to share that with all of you - plus I couldn't be bothered to search for it!

[TwentyFirstPilot]

What would stop people from spamming waypoints_

[hoghead]

[Flifang]

I use the help requested button as more of a "To Me," button. if I'm going to die ill just type it in afterward to warn my team.
Get's frustrating seeing two teammates run into an unwise situation (a reaper and a tech) go in solo against  tech vanguard and grenadier.
if only they had just friggin waited!

[spo0n]

I once saw a teammate repairing with no enemies around, and wanted to test something.

I pretend to look down the corridor and "see" an enemy.  I start backing off (getting closer to my teammate) and press the second part of the combo, so they stop repairing and run farther away, me "covering" their retreat.

It was interesting, the buttons allow you to look at locations and say "this is important for some reason, figure it out" and if you use them in a clever way other people and decipher what you mean.


That being said, there used to be an ingame map (by pressing "m") where you could click on an interface button then click on the map and it would have a big "team rally point" message that is as apparent as the "go to aa" once a battleship launches in siege.  A patch broke this and it has never been put back.  You couldn't really spam it as you had to sit still for a few seconds and hide or else some enemy would pick off the "afk" enemy.  I once took a pack of noobs and led them around a missile assault, once that nav poped they all RAN to it.  I don't know if anyone on my team knew if it was an automatic feature or that I was leading them, but I got picked off kinda quickly (too lazy to hide) and decided to stop.

[DaNodnarb]

Cool idea, but it would either be abused or ignored for the most part as it is now. I can't count the number of times I have sat on the AA in siege mode, spammed it and continued to watch my teammates collect eu when it isn't needed. Perhaps adding points for simply looking above your teammates head and performing addition/subtraction would be a greater feature to add_ Two thumbs up for the latter...

[ZeroSteelfist]

I actually like the Help Requested option, if I see one I try to respond to it based on contextual clues like health bars, radar hits and such. If I use it it is likely because I just ran across the majority of the enemy team and haven't been engaged yet, and tagging just one enemy with Q would be insufficient. I try to avoid it if there is no hope of my survival and it will just lead another player into death.

That said, rally points would be welcome in my book. I like most tools that facilitate teamwork and being able to coordinate is a good thing.

[dorobo]

I like it.. It might also mean.. fuzzy bunny up here you fuzzy bunny faster cause there's a three guys here with low hp!

[MalazanSapper]

TwentyFirstPilot, on September 18 2014 - 08:05 AM, said:

What would stop people from spamming waypoints_

Have them sit on a timer - say 20 secs - only allow one to be dropped per team at anytime_

It'd be easier to set limits into the item use itself - than getting people to stop spamming Z_!

[MalazanSapper]

ZeroSteelfist, on September 19 2014 - 01:37 AM, said:

I actually like the Help Requested option, if I see one I try to respond to it based on contextual clues like health bars, radar hits and such. If I use it it is likely because I just ran across the majority of the enemy team and haven't been engaged yet, and tagging just one enemy with Q would be insufficient. I try to avoid it if there is no hope of my survival and it will just lead another player into death.

See - I'm all for Help Requested - if everyone used it like you!

But if they did - I wouldn't have made the post ...

[Hell_Diguner]

Good idea, though consistently working voice chat would be even better.