(edited by ManSlayer.8650)
Commander status option/squad size indicator
Great ideas. Another thing that would be nice would be to be able to see a commanders stats ex.:
Success rate in taking towers, SM, etc…
Area of expertise: EB, BL, PVE, etc…
It could help players determine who they should follow and if it’s a transfer commander, how good they are.
Anyway the more stuff for squads I say the better :-)
Lady Minuit
That would be nice too, but I bet that takes a while to implement since anet want to balance everything and don’t want it to be abused or grief in any way. If they actually implement that, that would be awesome, its always better to have more information on the battlefield.
Great ideas. Another thing that would be nice would be to be able to see a commanders stats ex.:
Success rate in taking towers, SM, etc…
Area of expertise: EB, BL, PVE, etc…It could help players determine who they should follow and if it’s a transfer commander, how good they are.
Anyway the more stuff for squads I say the better :-)
I agree we need a more robust commander interface, controls, and information. However, I’m reluctant to see a solution implemented wherein the stats suggested above are attached to the commander. This could lead to a situation where a small minority of commanders lead the lion’s share of the players due to having the most stats. Though this may seem a no-brainer at first glance, it has some potential pitfalls:
1) Let’s say you have Commander A who has captured Stonemist 100 times and Commander B who has captured it 10 times. Who’s the “better” commander? I would hazard a guess that many people would choose Commander A, right?
What if – in those 100 captures – Commander A never once stuck around to defend Stonemist Castle, losing it to the opposition within minutes of having captured it and earning no points for your server?
What if Commander B, on the other hand, defended Stonemist Castle to the death all 10 times, helping to earn significant points for your server? Now who’s the better commander?
To throw another monkey wrench into the equation, “better” is completely subjective. For players who’s only concern is earning WXP, karma, and loot, the zerging Commander A would be the “better” choice. For those who are more concerned about playing to the objectives of WvWvW by capturing and holding fortifications to earn points, the defensive Commander B would be the “better” choice. A simple “Captured Stonemist Castle X times” doesn’t really tell you much.
2) What about new Commanders who may be very capable leaders, strategists, and tacticians? Compared to the veteran Commanders, they will not have had as much opportunity and time to build up an impressive array of stats. Does this mean they’re bad commanders? No. However, with the tendency of players to gravitate towards big numbers, these new Commanders may never get the chance to prove their worth since their stats won’t compare favorably to the veteran Commanders.
Stats can be misleading or not accurately reflect the full capabilities of a Commander. By relying on stats alone (which is what would happen the majority of the time if implemented), it would lead to a culture of elitism among Commanders in which they are trying to one-up each others’ stats rather than playing to the objectives of WvWvW.
That said, I agree with the OP’s suggestion of adding color-coding to the Commander icons as a visual indicator of their focus: attacking, defending, roaming, rallying. I see value in that suggestion by giving players a clue as to the mindset or approach of a given Commander. Players can then choose to follow Commanders based on how their own goals align with a given Commander’s goals. If you’re a more offensive oriented player, you follow the red-colored icon of the attacking Commander; if you’re a more defensive oriented player, you follow the blue-colored icon of the defending Commander, etc.
Of course, then the onus is on the Commander to remember to change their icon color based on what action they’re undertaking at any given moment. This could lead to confusion if a Commander who was previously defending goes on the offensive but forgets to change their icon color.
All-in-all, though, the Commander system could definitely use some improvements.
So many souls, so little time. ~ Kraag Deadsoul
Agree with the OP, simple and effective. Also maybe right-click on commander tag on map gives option to join their squad or something.
To Kraag, I guess they could employ elo algorithm , or glicko 2 algorithm (what they are using for calculating rating for severs in WvW) for all of us in WvW, and we can all see commanders’ ratings. It would be fair and cool for personal reference, but I don’t know if anet gonna make commander boardcast their ratings for all of us to see, the same reason why they don’t include inspecting gear in the game.
to WBL, we actually do have squad options by clicking the icon on the big map, but not much people know about it, left alone use it. The thing about squad is, it doesn’t really do anything in WvW/ PvE, except hiding others commanders tag. with that said, joining a squad right now is worst then not joining one. Hopefully with a number next to the name, commanders will urge people to join their squad as it show a number of force of that area.
one more thing they can add is joining squad on mini-map. Hopefully they will let us join squad via mini map so it will be easier for us to join.
Another thing that would be nice would be to be able to see a commanders stats ex.:
Success rate in taking towers, SM, etc…
Area of expertise: EB, BL, PVE, etc…It could help players determine who they should follow and if it’s a transfer commander, how good they are.
I strongly disagree with this. For instance, you just bought your Commander’s Compendium, you have basically no experience in commanding a squad. The question is, how will you get these experiences? No one would follow a commander who never captured anything.
The first thing I want is to get higher req for buying Commander’s Compendium, 100g really does not show off your skills when you can buy it for real money. It should be for example 100g+250 badges…
Another thing that would be nice would be to be able to see a commanders stats ex.:
Success rate in taking towers, SM, etc…
Area of expertise: EB, BL, PVE, etc…It could help players determine who they should follow and if it’s a transfer commander, how good they are.
I strongly disagree with this. For instance, you just bought your Commander’s Compendium, you have basically no experience in commanding a squad. The question is, how will you get these experiences? No one would follow a commander who never captured anything.
The first thing I want is to get higher req for buying Commander’s Compendium, 100g really does not show off your skills when you can buy it for real money. It should be for example 100g+250 badges…
I think Elo or Glicko ranking would be fair regardless of experience, instead of success rate and area of expertise, but if the commander have a ranking, everyone else also need a ranking score so the score would remain relevant and accurate.