Guild Wars 2

I have a commander tag, and command regularly and have seen many flaws in the commander system that I believe would be easy to change. Many of the flaws where stated before me but I will repeat them to show my support for their implementation.

1. I would love to have colored tags, (or guild symbols,or colors)
2. I think that the squad system really needs an update to make it more useful. Changes could include showing all the names of the people in your squad and being able to kick them.
3. I would really like to have guild tags that could be acquired with guild merits or guild influence and given out by the head of the guild only.

I am really glad that this discussion was started, and hope that changes can be implemented to the commander system

As a follower of commanders in WvW, I have noticed the following:

1. They do not get enough credit for at least trying to manage the zergs that tend to clump on them.
- I would like to see a system that rewards commanders for commanding and doing well. Maybe provide extra incentives when completing objectives and events with squads. I don’t want to see the commander tag abused so it is important to tie it to something that isn’t simply loot related. It would be more helpful to tie it to things like reduced cost for upgrades, improvements, free blueprints or upgrades to superior blueprints, extra supply carry, etc. It would be nice to see it depend on whether it was a defensive or offensive success too.

2. Multiple commanders confuse players.
- Multiple commanders are important to create multiple points of attack and/or defense. I agree with others that tag shapes and colors would help to boost the visibility and viability of multiple commanders. (see my previous post related to this)

3. Squad metrics
- While you can’t prevent anyone from just following a commander, I think a commander should be able to designate a squad size (up to a set limit) and see basic information about the squad. The interface I am thinking of would be similar to those at the end of activities in PvE. It shows a list of players, their ranks, and then has totals at the bottom. The list of players should be scrollable or some way to see all the players, rather than the current limit of like 10 or 12. I do not know what a commander would want to see in total other than supply capacity and supply carried, but others probably have better thoughts on that topic.
Others have suggested being able to kick people from the squad, which theoretically could be possible through this interface, similar to switching teams maybe.

I have liked a lot of the suggestions so far and these are just my thoughts.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

In my opinion starting it from scratch would make the commander better in the long term, some small changes will make ppl happy, but not for long. If you’re able to put a whole lot of new features (which will be discussed here) into the commander, it will let ppl get exactly what they expected from it, a tool for leading a raid and not only a symbol over the char and on the map (for what it’s mainly used now).

Commander system changes:

1. Currently a tag is on or off. A third category would be good: Guild only. When that is selected, the tag is only visible to members of their guild
2. Increase supply check radius
3. Allow commanders to unclaim structures when there are no buffs. For example if a person claims a tower but gives it no buffs, a commander should be able to unclaim it.
4. Make it earnable. It should be a base of 100 gold + a certain number of WvW achievements to use it in WvW or a certain number of PvE achievements to use it there.
5. The tag should be account bound

@Devon- if you were to only make one change initially, I’d say it would be the ability to only show tags to guild members.

Short and simple:

1. Increase the radius of /supplyinfo please.

2. Ability to change color of commander tag and to be able to set to Guild only so only guild members may see.

3. Ability to turn on some sort of block siege deployment from other players in a 600 radius – gets annoying when dropping a ram and griefers drop 3 trebs on top of it.

4. increase /supplyinfo radius

5. Increase /supplyinfo even more

6. Increase /supplyinfo much more.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

I would prefer small improvements in the short term. (Then again, I’m not a commander)

My reasoning for this is the following:

Most of the requested changes here so far seem to be relatively simple improvements. And some of the more time consuming ones may very well be managed by some of these smaller fixes as well.

For example: I can see lieutenants being a more difficult fix than multiple commander tag-colours. But if we have the tag-colours we can have one commander telling group A to follow the orange tag, group B to follow the green tag and the rest of the zerg to follow him. (The blue tag) Doing effectively the same thing as the lieutenants would.

But perhaps you could tell us what will probably take a lot of programming time and what is much easier to do?

If a player is in a commander’s squad and the commander uses a waypoint, it would be nice if a dialog box appeared to the players asking if they wish to also port with the commander.

This would be beneficial in two ways.

1. More incentive for player to join commander’s squad.
2. This will also help limit commander suppression in chat.

sephiroth.4217:

Short and simple:

1. Increase the radius of /supplyinfo please.

2. Ability to change color of commander tag and to be able to set to Guild only so only guild members may see.

3. Ability to turn on some sort of block siege deployment from other players in a 600 radius – gets annoying when dropping a ram and griefers drop 3 trebs on top of it.

4. increase /supplyinfo radius

5. Increase /supplyinfo even more

6. Increase /supplyinfo much more.

also an aoe circle on supply info would be nice so people can see if they are in the radius

Since most of what I would suggest has already been put up…maybe a commander rating tool. I just moved to a new server so a tool that could let us comment on ALL commanders in that server would be kinda cool and useful. Commanders could even look over the comments to see what they could work on.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

If we could get colors now, I’d be content to wait for more down the road. Multi-color would be my #1 priority and since we have had the current system for so long, I don’t see the harm in waiting for the rest so that it can be properly implemented.

style.6173:

5. The tag should be account bound

i think nobody is thinking about the downsides to this. there are some commanders most of my server will not follow but i don’t know their alts. I would rather it stay character bound so that i don’t have to get wiped a few times to realize how bad the commander is I can just recognize the name.

You should keep /supplyinfo to get information from people outside the squad. A wider ranger for this command is needed. The infos of squad members about supplies, blueprints and traps should be available all the time for the commander in a window and be updated all the time. I would also welcome a command like /siegeinfo to obtain informations about blueprints and traps the players around me have.

Ability to turn on some sort of block siege deployment from other players in a 600 radius – gets annoying when dropping a ram and griefers drop 3 trebs on top of it.

Such a feature would be nice. Maybe the commander can select certain players to have the permission to place siege, too.

Angrod.4103:

Since most of what I would suggest has already been put up…maybe a commander rating tool. I just moved to a new server so a tool that could let us comment on ALL commanders in that server would be kinda cool and useful. Commanders could even look over the comments to see what they could work on.

this sounds good in theory but will bring the trolls out and will mostly be a popularity contest not an actual measure of skill

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

“larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?” <— Leaning more towards either.
This relates to living story vs expansion to an extent; if we had to choose between the two, expansion is a more popular decision due to (besides the obvious, permanent contents) how much more depth it would bring to the game all at once.

I would love to have Squad as seperate tab, like contacts or guild tab.

Please do a long term fix and announce it for the community to get excited about it and can take comfort in knowing a good change is coming. It seems there are a lot of things players are in agreement here that would make things better.

It would be really nice to at a minimum to add the color feature now and changing the radius on the supply check to be larger.

I personally do not like the idea of ranking commanders. I believe the community already does that to some extent on their own. An environment needs to exist where anyone can learn and become a commander without an enormous barrier. I know for me, if I don’t like the commander I will make note of their character name and not follow them next time I see them. People come and go from the game all the time, so there needs to be a way for new people to come in to the fray to see if they enjoy commanding or not.

Make the commander tag have the option of GUILD ONLY, perhaps have it show as a different color to those in that group. While you are at it, for WvW groups with the commander tag … give the option for increased group size beyond 5 (something better than “join squad”.

As it stands the system is completely and utterly useless. We run in havoc size groups in WvW so we don’t fit in a 5 man group. So either we struggle to make the group system work or have to turn a tag on and confuse the stray players on a map into thinking we are a zerg to follow.

The two suggestions should be both easy to code and something fast tracked. There will always be bad commanders and allowing guild only showing would alleviate that problem.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

Long term, the commander system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt.

Why? Because we really honestly need some sort of a squad UI. And not just a crappy squad UI, a full fledged one that lets you re-arrange groups, track supply, set objectives and draw permanent things on the map and everything.

Short term, limit the changes to easy quality of life fixes.

• Extend the radius of /supplyinfo to at least 600
• Un-hide other commander tags when you are in a squad (if possible, give the squad commander a different icon)
• Allow commanders to change the color of their tags or make them invisible. (Only if this will not be a significant drain on resources for the overhaul.)

All the commander tag is at this point is a waste of 100g as I can lead without the tag. However the potential can still go further.
When it comes to the commander system, there are so many things that could be improved.

We need a better way to improve functionality and organization.
In WvW typing “/supplyinfo” is ok but if there was a more instantaneous button (Which in turn will help newbie commanders understand) it would help.
And a larger radius to count from. Asking people to stack on me takes precious seconds (Especially when certain people don’t know what that is and they have full supply) If it was a full 1200 radius it would be improved.

When it comes to organization, I need to know who is in my squad or who has supply in my squad. Or even more important where everyone in my squad is.
9 out of 10 everyone in my squad is in the same voice chat and guild but It will still help organization. That way when I ask “What is your location” or “Where?” I know where.

A commander needs its own chat channel in both WvW and PvE – Or its own separate color where people will see its a commander talking, clearly, and no one else. As well as no longer limiting the amount a commander could speak. Sometimes I would be telling people what to do in the team chat then I would have suppression during a crucial moment.

A commander also needs a way to stealth/hide the tag. It will separate a public commander, from a private commander. Where a private commander will lead the same amount of people but under the radar…since more and more spies are being used in WvW…having under the radar commanders is more convenient. And to that being able to customize the tag as to what his priorities are might help more.
For instance: an Offensive commander would have a CrossSwords for a tag, a Defensive commander will have a Shield tag, a Roaming commander will have the regular Blue tag etc etc… The server I’m on, some commanders use their tags as a point of them tracking enemy movements in WvW or even a rallying point where people need to be!
It will allow people to say “I’m the defense commander for this BL or keep while you take stuff offensive commander” Better organization.

The commanders need their own server based strategic and cross map chat that they can only see when tagged up. So they can type to each other without all back clutter of map/team chat. It could allow them to communicate across maps.
(Or just allowing chat channels to be created by users would suffice)

A commander needs a way to alert every player except the enemy to rally at a fixed point. The commander placing icons on the map only helps for those in the squad. Which is fine, but those icons are not good if they can not capture the attention of players like pinging on the map.
If a commander could do a ping on the map that every friendly player could see it would help out some.

In PvE a commander is the focal point for an event most of the time. Guild mission, Temple, Boss…what if the presence of a commander influenced rewards (just one commander) what if it also influenced the boss to aggro to that individual as the commander is “the head of the snake” so to speak.
I don’t PvE much but it would be interesting to fight a boss that takes that into account.

In PvE a commander is necessary for guidance. That is why in PvE there needs to be some way for people to find a guide easier than looking on a mini-map. Maybe a way in the LFG finder to find people that are tagged up and join their squad for events throughout the world. And when the commander is tagged up, they must title what they are tagged up for or their tag will automatically track the current or most recent event they have done while tagged up.

Squad List – +
Simple enough…we need a visible list of who is in each squad.
It will look much like the simple party interface which is without portraits but it will show their level and class. – As a commander there could also be a supply count in the same bar showing how much and at the top of the list show a total of supply.
Making the “/supplyinfo” command useful for roaming commanders who have no squad or dedicated group to be in.
The Squad list will also give the location of each member in it, each member will be apart of their own party. And the Commander can replace, organize, kick, and prioritize each party and member to his/her liking…even sorting each member by class/level/rank

I can keep going on lol.

Since so many has added great ideas, I just wanna add one small idea to the “Tag Scout”.

Depending on the number of people in your squad, you can tag X amount of Scouts. You need atleast 10 people in the squad to have a Scout. Those tagged Scouts, can get unique abilities for their role. None of their new abilities are able to harm or kill a player, they need to be out of combat to use them.

An example: AoE Spotter — When a Scout uses this, it makes every enemy hit by the AoE visable on the map for the whole Squad for X amount of time. It has a cast time and long range, also provides WvWXP and sometimes bag of reward depending on success.

letting commanders lock down their siege for example putting down a ram and restricting it to people with 4 or higher ram mastery tiers would be nice, it would stop people who don’t know better from jumping on them without mastery and it would also solve the huge issue of servers creating accounts on other servers to grief their wvw through jumping golems off of cliffs and turning siege to face the wrong way.

also some sort of commander tier system would be great, perhaps that ranks up in response to feedback from players in their squad rather than just earn x money or do x in wvw, i have a document with the names of commanders i trust and the ones i don’t which works ok for me but isn’t ideal, especially for new players that may end up following a troll commander and come away with a negative view of wvw as a result, perhaps even add a long term meta achievement requirement to activate your commander tag in WvW so that you at the least probably know what you are doing before you tag up.

Though (I imagine) these would be very tough to implement…

*An ‘announcement’ system for commanders that acts as a ‘pop up’ or flash in the middle of the screen for a few seconds /announce or /an RETREAT to DEPOT
*A way to promote LT’s in your squad with a marker similar to the commanders, but only visible by in-squad members.
*Being able to see your squadmates either as dots on the minimap and/or a different color name tag in game. Some way to spot a friend in a melee when told to move as one.

I’ve played many games over the years with a largescale PvP focus. There are a number of features that I find alarming haven’t been added to the game and that’s where I would start.

For starters, commander tags need to be more obtainable. We have account bound ranks coming, why not just give anyone rank 100 a commander tag and give individual players the ability to ignore tags if they want to? Create a new tab in the ignore window so it’s easy for players to remove them from the ignore list if they want to.

Another key feature I miss from other games is guild assigned tags. A guild leader should be able to assign certain tags to individual players. They should be able to assign the symbol that player will display. This allows guilds to more easily play together because only guild members would see their tag. It would also allow guilds to do more coordinated functions in a larger zerg because it would be easier for them to follow individual tasks instead of being random zerger #4783781.

If you’re short on time, the first 8 symbols you should add for guilds to assign would be the 8 different classes.

The other main thing I miss from other past games is target priority. We already have party wide targeting, but why can’t the commander choose a squad wide target? Or assign multiple targets that players can toggle between?

just tear the whole thing down, commander tag as its state now is just ugly.
for starter:
- many commander refuse to tag up if the condition is not favorable to them
- commander tend to destroy defenses as many of them obviously doesn’t know tactics and tend to hog majority of the populace leaving defenses vulnerable.

so my sugestion to improve this:
- make the commander system by vote, this way we can be sure the commander is a capable player not some run off the mill zerg head. it adds drama and get the community together (stretching it a little too far but i think its a good change)
- like all the comments above, differentiate the tag appearance so it will be easier to recognize.
- add a “super commander buff” to the outnumbered (with buff and stuff) that will boost some morale and deny not tagging up when the server is down
- commander specific ability (instant wall repair, order artillery barrage or something like that) it will make the commander more like commander

well that is all i can think of right now, not really a fan of commander myself since i usually roam alone. i am my own commander

I would love a way to turn off commander tags on screen and on the minimap, and maybe a way to whitelist certain commanders.

-Give people the capability to see the squad count on a commander or give people the capability to see the player count surrounding the commander.

Been a few times as a commander for pugs that I have had very little people around me and it would be nice if other people knew that versus having one tagged commander pulling the group.

-Also commander objectives, allow them to be set. Some commanders are on home defense building siege, some are out there assaulting. Would be nice if you could broadcast the intention of your command.

have attention to guild system while at it.
known issue now guild chat dissapear each relog, while other chat doesnt.
how does it feel when you talking to somebody and he changes alt , then you wait from his/her reply but they never answer.
this goes the same issue with multiple guild chat function.

it supposed to support multiple guild, dont punish us for being on multiple guild, chat should be coloured or marked with tag and coloured when talking to specific guild, and guild leader and officer can chat on different colour to make something important, like “guild mission group up at this wp”

also please allow guild leader / officers ability to mass mail or mail multiple time to guild member.

titanlectro.5029:

Long term, the commander system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt.

Why? Because we really honestly need some sort of a squad UI. And not just a crappy squad UI, a full fledged one that lets you re-arrange groups, track supply, set objectives and draw permanent things on the map and everything.

Short term, limit the changes to easy quality of life fixes.

• Extend the radius of /supplyinfo to at least 600
• Un-hide other commander tags when you are in a squad (if possible, give the squad commander a different icon)
• Allow commanders to change the color of their tags or make them invisible. (Only if this will not be a significant drain on resources for the overhaul.)

Keep in mind he just said you can’t have both. We can get a quick set of changes and then it moves to the bottom of the priority stack for a loooong time, or we might be able to get a single hard reboot/rebuild.

Given that the means of access is flawed, the functionality is minimal, and potential for excellence is great, I’m hoping for some idea of what the Devs feel could be accomplished with burn-it-down-&-start-fresh go at it.

How great can we actually dream here?

Cyhann.2609:

I would love a way to turn off commander tags on screen and on the minimap, and maybe a way to whitelist certain commanders.

Yeah, whitelisting changing the icon would be very handy.

I don’t mind trying out new commanders from time to time, but if I have direct experience with a proven champion I’d love to be able to pick them out of the ‘corn-chip clutter’.

I have some concerns to bring up for all those asking for ‘skill’ or vote based to gain access to commander tags or additional commander abilities.

What is to stop unethical large guilds from voting up their members and down other commanders? Or on the more organized servers the ruling wvw Council banding together to promote select commanders while voting down any commanders that don’t toe the line?

Such systems are easily manipulated by large groups and could be abused to usurp control because guilds x y and z want to call the shots for the server and proceed to wreck all rival guild’s commanders ratings.

Plus overall one has to wonder over the logic of proving you can command before you can command. We all have to learn at some point and as I mentioned any voting system can be manipulated and it would generally be horrible for any new commander to get bored so far down they have no chance before they can even start to learn. For game longevity this would slowly but surely kill wvw as there would be less new blood coming in to replace any experienced commanders who leave the game either temporarily or permanently.

That being said I wouldn’t mind a feedback function that allows players to rate a commander and leave notes on it for the commander. But it should be for that commanders eyes only and have no impact on anything else in the game. Being able to see your overall rating overtime so you can see if you are improving. The comments should be subject to all the normal oversight and ability to report abuse.

- Colors. (yes, it’s been said)

- Buffs for being in a squad or near a commander. EX: When a commander completes an event (this works for WvW and PvE) ALL players either in the squad (increase squad size with this?) or near the commander gain buffs to: stats? movement? gold drops? magic find? (E&W)xp? for an hour or something. Maybe group events specifically for PvE, can’t remember if WvW events are group or not.

- Commander chat. A chat only open to be used those who have a commander tag active. Anyone with team chat visible would see commander chat. Bright color like Cyan, or have it vary by commander’s tag color.

- Let us see active events near a commander regardless of our distance from them(in the same map). In the sense that when we look at the map we will see the circle of the event and be able to hover over to see which event they are doing.

Teraphas: I think the idea isn’t to make a perfect solution but to just generally improve the quality of commanders. Ever since the Jubilee gold’s been a lot easier to obtain and commanders are much more common. I don’t think people should be able to vote commanders down, necessarily, though they could be reported if they troll. Right now anyone can get a tag for 100g, regardless of what anyone thinks of them. At least if a guild votes up some people, those people have the support of their own guild. I also think the vote system should be separate from the current system, so people who don’t have experience can continue to use the current system and prove themselves with spontaneous zergs, while the vote system can be used for more serious strategy and tactics, in general. No matter what the system there’ll always be flaws, but I think this improves on the current one.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

Short-term improvements really required:

1: Changeable color markers (including invisible, so commanders can do a /supplyinfo without actually showing a tag on the map)

2: Greater radius for /supplyinfo. As it is right now, the radius is what, 100 units? So hard to use when trying to check supply on the run or just before engagement near a keep/tower. You want all the ranged squishies to stack on the frontline? Ouch.

3: Greatly reduced or completely removed chat suppression for commanders.

4: More visible commander icons (should not decrease in size as the commander moves further away.) Make it work like T-targets.

5: Suppressible visibility to those within current squad to make leading guild groups easier, and allow use of the T-targeting system as intended – to target foes.

After that, take however much time you need to make sweeping overhauls. This would do us well enough for the foreseeable future.

(Actual squad utility functions would be nice eventually, but we kinda have workarounds for things like group composition and party creation that we can handle for now.)

Start from scratch.

Commander and squad system has so much unrealised potential. It needs to be more like a raid system used in other games so more information is readily available on screen by being in a squad. (And not just to the commander either)

Squad members need to be able to see more health/buff bars (maybe lock it to simple more when you enter a squad to make more room ) and UI needs to be adjustable and moveable.

Short term:

1. Guild Only tag visibility.
2. Color options for the tag.

Long term:

1. scouts/guards/sub commander titles in squad.
2. loot/xp/gold share to scouts/guards.
3.visible markers on terrain for movement. Sort of like arrows we have for movement skills.
4.commander only channel.
5. scout/guard channel only visible to commanders.

I am posting from the other side, I understand that commanders are both required in WvW and occaisonally in PvE. On my server the number of PvE commanders who have spent 100g for tags just for the notice-me factor is absurd and leads to stupid situations like the supplied screenshot (that is behemoth). The number of those commanders who are seen in WvW is extremely low to zero, on the flip side the WvW commanders never feel the need to gain attention outside of WvW so there is a definite divide on how the two communities perceive the commander tag imo.

Something needs to be done about the method in which tags are gained or alternatively they need to be split between WvW and PvE and both functionalities altered to suit ( I am a fan of a complete tear down and rebuild of the functionality). It would also be brilliant as someone else suggested to whitelist or blacklist tags in the interim so they do not show up on the map clutter.

i agree with most people here that the commander icon should change based on experience. a very simple way to do so is the change the color of the tag based on the rank of the commander.

i.e. rank <1k is blue tag, 1-2k is bronze tag, 2-3k is silver tag… etc etc.

Pve ranks should be different from WvW tags. Let the people with a tag decide if they want a wvw tag or pve one and change the look of wvw one based on their rank. let the pve one be based on achievement level? something among those lines.

Forgot this had started. What I wrote in the CDI process thread was:

1. Squad should be an actual group with icons showing all group members like in raid groups in other mmos.
2. With the functionality added in 1. maybe restrict no. of squad members to say 30 maximum. It has also been suggested to make the size adjustable. I would have more than 30 at maximum though because it will help reduce larger scale zerging.
3. Members should be able to see where other members are on the map as with the current 5 person grouping system.
4. Tag should be able to be turned on for group members only to see, not the rest of the map (with the option for everyone on the map to see it remaining).
5. Info for each player should include supply.
6. It should be account wide, if you can make fractal progression and world xp account wide you can make this account wide.
7. Reduced chat suppression. Its ridiculous that commanders who have to type commands in map chat for those not in voip are subject to the same chat suppression as other players.
8. Some sort of commander ranking system, there is a clear problem with troll commanders that this would help combat.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

When I’m working on process improvement projects once we’ve worked out what we want to change we divided them into quick wins and longer terms goals. You should do the same. I imagine this is fundamental to any process improvement project. Quick wins will show the player base that you are making changes.

I’m sorry if I repeat anything someone else has said.

1. Commander tag colors – pick one of 6 or 10 colors, this is an area where you could get commanders to pony up points or gems for additional colors and icon styles if you were so inclined as well. I know many a commander who would love to have a black or pink icon.
2. Commander ‘tooltip’ – Allow commanders to provide a short blurb about what they’re doing… 20 characters max — “karma train” / “keep repair” / “ruins flip”, and make that blurb appear when someone not in their squad hovers over the nacho. This would allow commanders to display their intent. They could also convey info like a voice chat channel they’re in or something.
3. Privacy settings — There should be a minimum of the following (increasing visibility, Guild includes Party+Guild for example): Party, Guild, Friends, and Public. Please do NOT remove the enemy’s ability to see a commander tag at all times. Targeting officers and leadership is a valid tactic in any war and if your party is relying upon a commander that’s a risk you take.
4. Supplyinfo range increase -OR- add a UI component for commanders that shows supply within 1200 range in something like real time, just put it next to the personal supply in a different color.
5. Merit Tags — Only allow players who are at least rank X to buy a commander tag. Provide an alternate method for PvE commanders to get a tag that’s only usable in PvE.
6. Visibility settings — Let me hide commander tags, similar to privacy settings (Guild, Friends, Public). I’m iffy on this because we usually want more information instead of less in WvW and not being able to see a commander on the map may not be worth the convenience of being spared a ton of tag spam. But there are some times when I don’t want to see the 3 other tags. This would have to be done really carefully otherwise people will never find and follow new commanders.
7. Commanders show up in LFG — Use the LFG system to make it easy for people to find and join a commander’s squad. Let it work across battlegrounds, and with the privacy filter. For example, if my guildie is running with Guild privacy for a guild event I should be able to find him using the LFG system as long as I’m in WvW. If I am running with Public privacy on then anyone should be able to see me in WvW LFG and join my squad with the push of a button. It should show my Commander tooltip in the LFG entry. I should be able to see which BL they are in, and it should be accurate. Ditto for my friends and party members.
8. Commander Mastery — Trait line for WvW. You could require commanders spend X points to get the tag, which would be rank 1, then subsequent ranks would do things like provide allied NPC guards with bonuses, show map draw to the whole squad, etc or otherwise increase the utility. Allow some rank to show Righteous Indignation timers from a further distance — everyone who is serious is already counting down 5 minutes from the last flip of some camp/tower or uses monitors apps to get this information anyway. What this shouldn’t be is a reason why you have to have a commander tag up in order to be effective, none of it should scale past 1 commander, and it shouldn’t be beneficial for anything other than possibly NPC impacts, information gathering, or utility. Allow the commander to promote up to X people as “scouts”. These people can also draw on the map and place icons on the map that the squad can see in order to mark enemy groups. No commander damage/vitality buffs or anything, just information.
9. Finisher – Give commanders a special finisher they can use when they have their hat up. Like a giant dorito that scales in size with the number of allies nearby.
10. Someone mentioned a Commander channel and I think its an awesome idea. With the privacy settings you would still hat up and be in the channel without showing yourself to the world, and bring your party / guild / zerg in to help others. The problem, as always, is that it could be abused by enemies.. enemy abuse can be pretty rampant in WvW but that’s another can of worms…

Would it be possible to consider improvements to the target marking and targeting system in conjunction with Commander tag improvements?

Instead of building from the top down please consider building from the ground upwards, improving basic group functionality with basic things like a party leader being marked a different color on map, allowing individual and group target marking and then carry those ideas upwards, culminating in improved Commander tools?

Nike.2631:

titanlectro.5029:

Long term, the commander system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt.

Why? Because we really honestly need some sort of a squad UI. And not just a crappy squad UI, a full fledged one that lets you re-arrange groups, track supply, set objectives and draw permanent things on the map and everything.

Short term, limit the changes to easy quality of life fixes.

• Extend the radius of /supplyinfo to at least 600
• Un-hide other commander tags when you are in a squad (if possible, give the squad commander a different icon)
• Allow commanders to change the color of their tags or make them invisible. (Only if this will not be a significant drain on resources for the overhaul.)

Keep in mind he just said you can’t have both. We can get a quick set of changes and then it moves to the bottom of the priority stack for a loooong time, or we might be able to get a single hard reboot/rebuild.

Given that the means of access is flawed, the functionality is minimal, and potential for excellence is great, I’m hoping for some idea of what the Devs feel could be accomplished with burn-it-down-&-start-fresh go at it.

How great can we actually dream here?

I don’t think he said hard and fast “you can’t have both.” He was making a point about resources and time.

I think, “hack in some quick solutions, then work on the total overhaul” is not unreasonable. Even if all they did was increase the range of /supplyinfo (changing one value in the code) and make other tags visible when you are in a squad (a logic change), that would be enough.

However, instead of each of us making our own assumptions, lets ask the Devs directly:
Can we get a few QoL fixes, and then wait for the total overhaul?

If we are making wishes, aside from those already mentioned, it would be great if there was a command attached to the tag that gives you a body count on the map the commander currently is on.

/numbers … Or something like that.

i wish to see commander tag not easily purchasable by anyone but obtained by skills and level of player development in game. Colour of Tag can determine these various ability / achievements.

Yes but how do you measure that? Wxp levels? I know people at 400 wxp who couldn’t lead people out of a paper bag. And anyone can mindlessly follow a Zerg and grind levels. Hours in WvW? Better, but could still be the same thing….

Maybe a commander personal story that’s quite challenging? Complete a series of quests (that teach WvW as you progress) then when you complete it you can unlock the tag (still 100 gold)?

Hey all,

My suggestions are all focused around making my life as a commander easier. *Selfish i know

My guild runs mostly tag less these days because we have found all the tag does is bring pugs that in the end either die or make the strats harder to pull off. (unless they are on VoIP) So i would like tools to command the troops.

1: Guild only tag
– Been asked for many times so +1
2: No commander buff icon
– It would be nice to not have to run a tanky build being a commander
3: Markers in the world
– I would love to have a beam of light that i can place on the terrain as a point of where we are going to hit/meet/etc. This would also allow better use of flanking tactics as you have a clearly defined point of reference.
4: Squad management
– Some kind of squad management is important as the commander here because of the 5 camp combo field and party priority.
5: Party Leaders icon would be nice
– More of a blue sky request but thought i would ask anyway
6: Commander chat server wide
– To make it easier to work out who is going to respond / call for backup
7: Squad information
– Information on screen without commands would be nice for squad supply etc
8: Quick commands to chat
– I would love the ability to like Alt Click on a camp/tower etc and it say heading to X

That is my list

Have a good one

Belenwyn.8674:

There are several features I would appreciate to have in WvW and PvE:

1. Different colors for the tags:
   This would simplify the organisation if several independent squads are on the same map.
2. Sub-commanders: sometimes the commander has to divide the forces into smaller units to give them special tasks. This would facilitate to do this and to keep track of the different units. Players can follow the sub-commanders to fulfill the duties.
3. invisible tag: This would help guild-driven squads a lot. Outsiders are nozt confused by guild commanders and guilds are not confused by palyers follow them but not connected to the guild.

There are also features needed especially for WvW:

1. Commander interface: It should provide the (sub-)commanders important details about the squad like total amount of supplies and blueprints including traps. It would also appreciate an option to visualise where the members of my squad are. A button would be nice for the map to switch through different options for the whole squad and subunits led by a certain sub-commander.
2. *Tag for scouts: This would make it much easier for me to see where my scouts are. maybe you could provide a certain command for the chat that scout can easily report important messages to the commander and the tag of the related scout is blinking.*
3. More functions for the commander to maintain the squad like closing it or kick some people. More symbols i can put on the map would be also nice to direct the subunits.

In regards to 2, which i have underlined, like this idea but maybe a commander could set a tag on someone that is only visible to him/her? That player could turn it off when they no longer wanted it.

Just a few suggestions that would improve my life as a WvW commander. All of these have already been suggested.

• Custom tag colors
• LARGER /supplyinfo range
• Option for guild only tag, or an Art of War upgrade to grant guild only tag privileges.

DevonCarver.5370:

Okay, so before we get too far into this discussion, here is something else to think about:
Would you rather see us make some number of small improvements in the short term and larger changes long term or just tear the whole thing down and start from scratch?

To be a bit more specific, we could probably do something like multicolor markers without too much work, although it is not a given, but that would likely be the extent of things for a long period of time.

Players like immediate changes, so if there is something you can do quickly while working on larger update to the system. Then I think people will find it worthwhile.

Things like colors are a given change that could be made. Also thinking about the scope of this, being that it is far more than simply a tool for WvW as it turns out. Perhaps allow acquisition of the commander tag outside of WvW map (as far as I know it can only be bought in WvW currently).

Also, regarding acquisition in general, I think that while the price of 100g seems reasonable to an extent, gold is a resource you gain automatically, if we think what the significance of a commander is it should be acquired in a way that shows the player has not only been playing for a long time but is experienced with the game type he wants to use the tag on.

So for example,. in PvE you could buy the commander tag with a combination of gold and laurels, in WvW the price would be gold and badges of honor (perhaps reducing the gold cost from 100g slightly and replacing it with some amount of the other currency). I am not sure if it would be possible, or even useful, to unlock the tag separately in different game types as well. I think that commander tag should be the sign of an experienced player, in their chosen game type, not just a rich one. Granted if too much emphasis is put on this it may promote elitism which would be undesired.

Also given that someone may want to use different characters to command making unlock (regardless of if it across all game types or separately for PvE and WvW) account wide. If you wish to retain a resource sink then maybe allow different colors or additional icons to be purchased for additional gold fee.

To close off, as a sort of a disclaimer, the suggestions regarding changes in acquisition are made without considering what impact it would have on players who already have their tag. But in my opinion if some sort of compromise must be made there to facilitate change then I at least would be fine with it.

There is much that can be done with the commander system to improve it.

The first and most important in my mind is changing how to get the tag(or adding in additional methods) 100gold pushes many good potential commander’s away from attempting to try their hand with the blue chip. Personally I believe commander should be something you eventually get as long as you invest enough time in guild wars.

Suggested New Methods to Get the Commander Book
-comes in every Massive Achievement Chest.
-Meta Achievement that rewards the book(complete each world boss, capture stone-mist x times, etc..)
-Crafting it. (Gift of mastery + something else?)

For the Commander system itself the squad system is in desperate need of a revamp, as well as commander commands(something many commanders don’t even know about) Additionally I would like to see a hierarchy that would allow one squad to command in multiple tasks and work hand in hand with parties.

Squad suggestions
-new squad menu that displays each player on the commander’s screen by a profession icon.
-If players are in a party their icon turns blue and is grouped with fellow party members. (if not all party members are in the squad it puts a +x at the end of the group of players for each not in the squad.)
-Commander can select a party in his squad and give it orders, (click the party group or hot-key then call target or set a way-point on the map. )
-Commanders can designate captains in the squad that will have a smaller icon visible to those in the squad.

Finally I would like to see a alternate guild Commander, (something researched through the guild ui) that works similarly to the standard commander with the exception that only guild members can see it.