Squad sizes

[rabbidrabbit]

How about bumping up the squad sizes to 64 or larger?  What's the benefit to having a squad when so few are on at a time?

[Duedel]

Hmmm we are actually 29 people in the squad. We are lucky cause we have many player which are online very often so i would say we are about 4 - 14 online everyday.
But I guess other "big" squads have not so many player online even though they 32 at total.
I would like to see an increased size of squadmembers but i rather would like to see "Gruppen" i.e. a superior device which can contain up to 4 or 5 squads.

[Meatwad]

The 81st has right now 52 members split into 3 wings; tactical, fighter, strike.  Only problem is on squad night is having to repeat orders over and over again for the few that dont listen lol

[Seeker]

Punt

[thrila]

LOL! wrong thread!:D

[Reschke]

So rabbidrabbit I am curious about how you start these monster squadrons. Don't take any of this as a flame or a pissing contest; I am wanting to hear your ideas and ask a few questions.

Do you wait till you have 64 members or do you have a time frame of say 1 week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks to get the 64 members? If you don't get those members then what? Just because you reached 60-63 members you squadron gets disbanded? I am a long time veteran of AH and have just recently started a squadron. I can't say that I would want to be over a group that large. As Meatwad can probably atest to it gets really old having to repeat yourself over and over; at least it does for me.

Right now my squadron (VF-17) has only 2 members in AH. I would like to have more than that and I have posted recruiting threads in the squadron forum. I have had a few that expressed interest but for whatever reason we were not a good fit with each other and that is something that I want in a squadron. A group of tight knit people that can have fun and pursue a similar interest in a game.

I do like the idea that Duedel had for getting a number of squadrons together into "Gruppen" or "Fighter Wings" or whatever.

[rabbidrabbit]

I'm not sure what you are trying to say Reschke.  All I'm saying is we should increase the max possible size of squads so that those who don't play non-stop can be welcome.  With a size limit of 32 most all the members have to be rather active in order for the squad to stand any chance of functioning as a squad.  This tends to descriminate against the majority who are periodic players.  The realities of the internet and time are that you are lucky if 1 out of 4 of your members can be about at any one time.  Most of the time the odds are much lower.  The effect of this is squads seem to have a rather limited use.  I would think multiple squads could work together by sharing a channel  Duedel.  That would solve most of the problems but I guess there might be a better way to encourage teamwork other than the mission planner.

[Reschke]

I tend to disagree with the thought below.

This tends to descriminate against the majority who are periodic players.

Quite the opposite in my view. For example before I started VF-17 I was a member of a squadron called Luftjagerkorps (LJK was the short version). Anyway at the largest we ever were we had 16 players and of those between 6-12 were active on a weekly basis. That is the type of squadron I am attempting to build here now and I hope I do it right because I damn sure don't want to build a lame squadron.

Now if this thread is about the "mission planner". The one we have is as good as any other I have seen in the other online games that deal with WW2. I think it is a good bit better than what is to be found in WW2OL with the exception of the amount of informational text you can put into your missions about the targets and such. If you can come up with some pretty good ideas I bet hitech and Pyro would at least listen to what you have to say.

Good Luck and thanks for the thread to talk about this. I still want to hear your ideas about squadron length and how long you have to build up the mega squadron before its disbanded.

[weazel]

We had 70+ in JG2 Richthofen split into three wings, in my experience a large squad becomes too impersonal and is a nightmare to keep running smoothly.

Most people play games to have fun, a large squad is a LOT of work and cuts down the "fun factor" in a hurry.

[rabbidrabbit]

"I still want to hear your ideas about squadron length and how long you have to build up the mega squadron before its disbanded."
-Reschke-


Because a squad reaches a certain size it must be disbanded?  Why would there be some sort of time requirement??

I have no clue what you mean.  I'm not saying every squad should grow in size beyond what they feel comfortable with.  I have run large organizations in the past without trouble.  The trick is always quality over quantity.  I am also not saying that all players are more part time than full time.  There is a mix and I'm pretty sure the avg time played per month per player is rather low.  You built a squad of players who are quite active.  There are plenty more who play a couple hours per week but would appreciate being part of a vibrant squad.  The crux of my arguement is based on the avg time per player per week.  It tends to preclude having any meaningful numbers on at a time for many squads..  How many times have folks been removed from a squad for not being around much to make place for someone who is?

[Reschke]

What I mean is how long does the squadron CO have to get to the 64 player mark as you mentioned in you first post here? Also if said squadron drops below 64 players must it be disbanded?

I think that if you "require" squadrons to reach 64 players then you need to have a requirement or else you still have squadrons like the ones I have been in that only say they are striving to reach 64 players and stay at (whatever #) forever.

I still think that Duedel has a very good idea and I will expand on it a little bit by taking something from WW2OL.

Say you have 10 Luftwaffe squadrons. Why not have them semi-organized into Gruppen and then into a "High Command" using the staff of the different squadrons. You have the same thing with Allied based squadrons also. This still gets you a sort of oversight committee that will either "approve" or "disapprove" missions for the individual squadrons and they can send out the orders to all the different squadron members to see who would like to fly in the mission. This way you still use the mission builder but you do all the admin functions outside of the AH system.

You never know it might work better. As for how many times people have been removed from squadrons for not being active is always subjective to the CO and the XO of the squadron. There have been times I have seen guys only in name on a roster but they are active 1-4 times a month. Then I have seen someone who is never there stay on in a squadron while another person may be there each week then miss one week and get canned. It varies from squadron to squadron and is entirely up to the CO and XO.

[Wotan]

a squad ovr 32 is just over kill. We had a squad of 4 and it was great 3./JG 2 is at 22 now with about 16 active. We have np functioning as a squad and having fun and being successfull in the main.

64 squad = those mass gangbang base rapes

A semi-organized coalition. Take mag-33 or at one time KAG (Knight Axis Wing).

You can have more then 1 squad with the same name so if you need 64 have 2 squads same name with a set squad channel like 188 or whatever.

I really dont care what the squad limits are 32 64 128 etc but I dont think HT ought waste his time on it. Theres ways around it.

My 2 cents.....

[rabbidrabbit]

"What I mean is how long does the squadron CO have to get to the 64 player mark as you mentioned in you first post here? Also if said squadron drops below 64 players must it be disbanded?"

-Reschke

I don't think I ever said that.  All I said was by allowing 64 in a squad many squads would be able to have enough on at a particular time so that they may function as a squad.

"I still think that Duedel has a very good idea and I will expand on it a little bit by taking something from WW2OL. "


I agree


"You can have more then 1 squad with the same name so if you need 64 have 2 squads same name with a set squad channel like 188 or whatever.

I really dont care what the squad limits are 32 64 128 etc but I dont think HT ought waste his time on it. Theres ways around it."

-wotan

I wasn't aware of that work around Wotan, but does it not stand to reason that this would just be an integer change in one or at worst a few locations?  about 5-10 mins work I would expect.

My intent is to help people be more involved in the game.. something thats worth HT's time.  Peeps should not feel compelled to leave a squad just because they don't play often.