Nemarus Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The satellite scoreboard is a great little piece of UI that communicates a lot of information across a team which would otherwise have to be typed out--something that is very difficult (and dangerous) in GSF. It is especially helpful for helping PUG's coordinate efforts. Right now the satellite scoreboard UI shows three pieces of information: 1) neutral (white), held by allies (green), held by enemies (red) 2) contested (flashing), or uncontested (not flashing) 3) 0-3 dots indicating presence of turrets As far as I can tell, for enemy-held satellites, #3 (turrets) is "last known", representing the last "glimpse" you had of the satellite based on sensor/comm range. My suggestion is to add one more data point very similar to #3 (turrets): Include a small ship icon next to each satellite indicating if at least one ship is defending it, where "defending it" means the ship is close enough to the satellite to prevent capture progress. For enemy-held satellites, this indicator would follow the same "last known" rules as the turret indicator dots. How would this improve gameplay? On defense: For allied satellites, the new indicator could make it easier for a team to coordinate defense. If the "ship is defending" icon is not present, then the team will see that someone needs to go stay by the satellite, especially if no turrets are present to prevent capture. Conversely, if the "ship is defending" icon is present, that frees up other teammates to open up their flying a bit and engage enemies, or to go help at other satellites. And if the defender falls, they will know quickly, so that someone can return to the satellite. This would be an improvement over the present situation, where you're never quite sure if someone else is defending the satellite, so multiple people end up orbiting it "just to be safe". On offense: For enemy satellites, the new indicator would allow a team to know when a satellite is truly vulnerable for capture. Multiple teammates could then converge on the satellite to increase capture speed. It would also help new players understand why they are not capping if a defender is still present--especially if he is hiding close to the structure of the satellite. In all of the above scenarios, the new "ship is defending" indicator is not giving us access to data we don't already have (so long as it is limited by sensor/comm range, like the turret dots). It's just making it easier and faster to process that information, and to share it out with teammates without having to type in chat. This is already information premades have, share and use while talking on voice. By including this one little piece of data in the UI, PUG's would have slightly more even playing field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Chrome Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 i can see the merits of this, however i feel the UI would get bogged down pretty heavy by this. not to mention alot of times on my gunship i will stay 13-15k away from the node to guard it so to the enemy it will look like it is unguarded in your scenario, people complain about Gunships too often already i can only imagine how they would react when they see the turret is "unguarded" and i blast them before they finish 2 turrets off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sentawan Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) I agree that this would add to coordination. It would help pugs quite a bit and allow people worried about objectives to know whether they need to get on the node or can kill capping enemies at distance off the node due to having a friendly in cap range. As time goes on... people are generally aware by the minimap and observation whether or not someone is defending a node, and people are becoming aware that nodes can be captured unless one person is very close to it. So... in the long run this may be moot. On the other hand with the current minimap, it is very difficult to tell how many if any are close to a node. It gets obscured by the node indicator. So, something like this would help. I know I've had many problems trying to count the number defending a node, due to the minimap problem, in order to tell whether or not it is safe to travel to another one to cap or defend. Edited December 13, 2013 by sentawan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemarus Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 I agree that this would add to coordination. It would help pugs quite a bit and allow people worried about objectives to know whether they need to get on the node or can kill capping enemies at distance off the node due to having a friendly in cap range. As time goes on... people are generally aware by the minimap and observation whether or not someone is defending a node, and people are becoming aware that nodes can be captured unless one person is very close to it. So... in the long run this may be moot. On the other hand with the current minimap, it is very difficult to tell how many if any are close to a node. It gets obscured by the node indicator. So, something like this would help. I know I've had many problems trying to count the number defending a node, due to the minimap problem, in order to tell whether or not it is safe to travel to another one to cap or defend. Yeah, the minimap is just too small and cluttered to really give you peace of mind about whether a satellite is defended by a ship or not. Between the node itself and the turret dots, it's just very hard to tell. I just think that, considering how far BioWare has gone to automate many of the basic communication PUG's need to have, this one addition would complete what is needed for understanding your team's state in a match of Domination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemarus Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 i can see the merits of this, however i feel the UI would get bogged down pretty heavy by this. not to mention alot of times on my gunship i will stay 13-15k away from the node to guard it so to the enemy it will look like it is unguarded in your scenario, people complain about Gunships too often already i can only imagine how they would react when they see the turret is "unguarded" and i blast them before they finish 2 turrets off. Guarding is different than holding. Your Gunship may be in position to pick people off, but if you miss and they get to the satellite and get behind it, they may capture it before you can get there in time. The real key of this indicator is to help you know when you need to go and hold the node vs. when you can fly farther afield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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