WO:P Pre-Canned Comms

[CptTrips]

Perhaps with the new game you could explore a new communications model.

Many games operate through pre-canned audible messages the player can select from a menu.


Advantages: 

1.  The internet is full of tards.  If your game has a broad audience it may include young players that should not have to deal with the crap you'll get on open vox and open text.  Tards will skirt any word filter, and you would need armies of mods to police every game.  By locking down comms to structured communications, game critical information can be exchanged in a controlled manner.

2.  Younger players may feel less intimidated in this mode as you can't tell their age when they are sending pre-canned messages. 

3.  Programmatic controls can throttle abuses of the message frequency and prevents other degenerate behavior more deterministically than word filters.

4.  Programmatic messaging could have other advantages like map persistence. (More on that later.)

5.  Pre-canned messages facilitate communication for players who have difficulty being understood when speaking English.

6.  It could be designed so that specified wingmen or squad members have vox enabled.  Or they could use TeamSpeak.

7.  Pre-canned comms reduce network traffic.

8.  You could have open text and vox available, but perhaps it should be off by default and have to be specifically enabled and a warning message read and verified "accept!".


OK.  I'm just brainstorming here, so I may not have thought of everything....

There would be different modes and different methods of invocation. 


*Tactical Messages

This is like range vox.  Only players is a certain range would receive these. 

-Check Six.  An oldie, but a goodie.

-Distress call.  You are in deep kimchi.  HELP!  The players icon would flash red on the clipboard map and over their plane.   

- Request Support.  Not actually in grave danger yet, but could use backup.  You may be going in to drop troops and need cover.  You may have spotted a group of enemy near you and you are looking outnumbered.    The players icon would flash yellow on the clipboard map and over their plane.   
 
- Bingo Fuel/Ammo.  Sorry, can't help much.  Maybe RTB. The players icon would flash black on the clipboard map and over their plane.   

- Damaged.  Sorry, can't help much.  Maybe RTB. The players icon would flash white on the clipboard map and over their plane.   


-OTW.  Cavalry is coming.  The players icon would flash blue on the clipboard map and over their plane.   

-Salute, WTG Team, etc....


*Strategic Messages

These are messages for the entire team.   Most of these are viewed on the clipboard map as map pins and notified via audible message.

-Base under attack.  An oldie but a goodie.  Base is flashing on map.

- Enemy Base Targeted.  A red map pin is stuck at the base that a player wishes to get help in attacking.  Pin will fade away after (15 min?)

- Troops Requested.  A green map pin is stuck at the base that a player wishes to get troops delivered to for a capture.  Pin will fade away after (15 min?)

- Supplies requested?  Base defense requested? Etc, etc.

[edit] Forgot to mention...I assume you would right-click on a base on the clipboard map and select a choice from a pin menu. And maybe a player can only have two active pins at any one time to avoid abuse.


$0.02.

,
CptTrips

   

[Volron]

So long as they cannot be spammed like crazy, it could work.  When they first introduced this type of thing in World of Warships, the spam was real, real damn annoying.  Filled up the chat buffer instantly too boot.

[CptTrips]

So long as they cannot be spammed like crazy, it could work.  When they first introduced this type of thing in World of Warships, the spam was real, real damn annoying.  Filled up the chat buffer instantly too boot.

Yeah, you have to account for that. 

But anything programmatic can be controlled.  Frequency can be throttled.  Excessive use can be programmatically tracked.
The tactical messages would be throttled like maybe every 30 sec.
A player could only place two active pins at any one time. 
A base can only have one pin of a type at any one time so 50 people won't be able to stick an attack pin in the same base.
Etc, etc.
Far more controllable that the raw sewage of  open text and vox.

[popeye]

Since there will be no runways, don't think "RTB" will be needed.   

Troops, supplies, base under attack....who knows?   

[CptTrips]

Since there will be no runways, don't think "RTB" will be needed.   

Troops, supplies, base under attack....who knows?   

True.

I guess I was expanding my brainstorming to what might fit AH too. 

[Volron]

I just had one idea for a "Negative!".  Kilo Mike Alpha! 

[CptTrips]

I just had one idea for a "Negative!".  Kilo Mike Alpha! 

 

[Shuffler]

I just had one idea for a "Negative!".  Kilo Mike Alpha! 

Lima Oscar Lima

[bustr]

If open VOX and text is available, does that mean not toggling it on, the new player only sees and hears pre-can'd comms? I understand the benefit to fulfilling a younger demopgraphic's experience and expectation for game comm style. And giving them a shield to protect their sensibilities while they acclimate.

In the AH MA world, as chaotic, confused, and irrelevant communications are much of the time. Hearing real people pass on local environment information over VOX is superior to it rolling by on text pre-can'd while you are wading in the deep doodoo. Flying spotter in a storch for a tanker who you have never talked to before, is not going to work text only like telling him "1500 to your 2 oclock". Especially while I typed it having to auto level my plane and loose orientation to the enemy tank. My guy who this was the very first time I've ever seen that player in the game, just got towered. Sure pre-can'd check 6 works becasue it's unique with a single stark meaning. And during the era of Shane who I discovered was hearing impaired only years later, he only texted when not in combat and rarely sent check 6 in the time I knew him. One very Lone Wolf superman AH pilot, and I can see pre-can'd comms in FPS style games. Where ultimately in a crowed of your guys you are still a lone wolf becasue they are tailored to appeal to that in our younger demographics. It's designed to appeal to their real world interpersonal dysfunctions to get a buck out of them. FaceBook is a master at it. Fortnite realized with Gen-Z the pendulum was swinging back to cooperative games and has two kinds of arena, cooperative and lone wolf KOTH. One of the secrets to Fortnite's popularity.

When I watched hours upon hours and weekends upon weekends of our game's competitors videos to understand how their terrain builders created the tank level micro terrains. Those games impressed me that teamwork was optional while the game was core tailored to an FPS mentality lone player. Those games came into the industry as Millennial's became the target demographic. Lots of can'd comm while it was obvious 3rd party VOX was in use. AH3 is a multiplayer community that happens to appeal to and support lone wolf players who prey on the communal players as they capture flags. At this juncture our open comms are a bit off putting and ch200 being disabled shows Hitech is looking at the issues of communication in the MA. Turning us into a pre-can'd environment seems a first step to us not being a face to face community with any sense of being part of AH other than piu, piu, piu. Kind of like a room full of Junior High kids using their phones to text each other rather than speak face to face. That was a real problem back when millennial's were in Jr. High. Gen-Z want to do activities as group members while contributing to a cause. And the millennial's parents are garrulous old ferts who like to talk at each other's face.

[CptTrips]

If open VOX and text is available, does that mean not toggling it on, the new player only sees and hears pre-can'd comms? I understand the benefit to fulfilling a younger demopgraphic's experience and expectation for game comm style. And giving them a shield to protect their sensibilities while they acclimate.

<Shrug>  I spent the last 10 years playing Battlefield daily with the text buffer closed and I would generally mute most players who tried talk on vox.  And even if I didn't mute them I never turned on my mic.  I don't feel like I missed anything.  And I assure the action there is as intense or more than in AH.

I could just see on the map where people were going to.  It wasn't hard to guess what the plan was.

Canned messages like:
"Attack this target!"
"Defend this target!"
"Need ammo!"
"Need medic"
"Enemy spotted!"
"Request Orders!"
"Affirmative!"
"Negative!"
"Thank You!"
Etc. were all players needed.  There was team, country ,and cross-country text channel, but I never bothered with it.  If you have time to type a bunch of stuff, you aren't shooting enough.  And I'm in combat, I certainly don't have time to read it.

For hearing impaired a setting could flash the text on screen instead.

Of course you didn't have a 20 minute climb out in Battlefield.  Maybe there is more time for a chat in AH.  But it seems like
maybe the WO:P is going to have a more focused game-play style with less dead time to fill.  More like a round of Battlefield. Hence this suggestion.

[Edit] I do also play with certain friends occasionally in Battlefield with the party system.  We will use a separate TeamSpeak server.  But those are specific friends who I know won't annoy me.  Mostly.

,
CptTrips






 

[bustr]

You just made my point to who's interpersonal dysfunctions games like battlefield were purpose designed to leverage to get a buck out of. Now 10 years later you want Hitech to make you comfortable in this game which is different than that genera. You do have fellow travelers who are primarily lone wolf players in the MA who have spent years trying to get perma squelch with an unlimited list, range eliminated, and even VOX eliminated entirely. I still remember the first time I watched two teenagers sitting at the same table texting each other not looking up at each other. Seems like an empty way to live life.

[CptTrips]

You just made my point to who's interpersonal dysfunctions games like battlefield were purpose designed to leverage to get a buck out of. Now 10 years later you want Hitech to make you comfortable in this game which is different than that genera. You do have fellow travelers who are primarily lone wolf players in the MA who have spent years trying to get perma squelch with an unlimited list, range eliminated, and even VOX eliminated entirely. I still remember the first time I watched two teenagers sitting at the same table texting each other not looking up at each other. Seems like an empty way to live life.

Sigh.  We just can't discuss this as a possible design issue without you having to try and make this personal?



 

[ONTOS]

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