Squad Leader Archive
Thread: A solution to the new 8 max player group.
Ackehece wrote:
Oberon131313 wrote:
well, it is official*.
"<@Brannoc> *JavelinCatcher* CU Question: Currently the maximum number of players allowed in a group is 8 on TC-EP3 instead of 20 like we have on Live. Is this intended? If so, why?
<@Keldarin> We changed the group size to 8 to allow better balancing of the game. We can craft a more fun and tactical experience when we have a reasonable limit to the size of player groups."
Personally, I'd love to see a MSL able to increase the size of a group, if this 8 person group thing sticks.Although,I'm a little worried about the ramifications of this, since I really enjoy the yacht parties we do on my server, and you need to group to go up on a ship...not to mention the enjoyment from a full group in other things.
*note: official is in the loosest term of the word, and is subject to change without further notification
Jemus - they instituted a new system for boarding yachts and large vessels. You no longer have to be grouped to be invited but only those in group can operate the ship, everyone else can just mingle (they said up to 30 people in a group on the yt1300). They also have created a kick from ship command where the own can kick anyone their ship.
ooh, thanks for the clarification Acke, I just got DSL at my new place, and havn't done anything with space on TC yet.
I still really hope we can get SLs to allow more people in the group.
Dark_0ne wrote:
I am assuming therefore that an 8-man group of combat professionals should be able to do anything in the game - Detah Watch Bunker, Corvette etc. etc.
Somehow I doubt this is the case at all !!
QFE
The platoon idea is great, and there was something similar about SLs commanding multiple groups way back when Vemnox(sp?) was the correspondent, so this idea has been around a while.
Of course, they HAD to cut the group size down to 8, because with all the new icons in your HAM bar and the way the group window is now it almost takes up more screen space with only 8 people, imagine if they left it at 20!
But if they didn't mess with the UI so much in the first place for the CU, they wouldn't have had this problem. 
WornTraveler wrote:
Wow, I really like this idea. I have been getting the first and last skill sets of SL to aid my guild in combat, but if this sort of the thing were added to the master box I would gladly drop rlfleman and go for MSL. I REALLY like big groups where everyone is actually together accomplishing a single objective, and this would really give people a reason to be Squad Leader as well. Hopefully wouldnt make it a FotM, but most people are still complaining that they can't solo, so I doubt that'll be a problem.
I doubt SL will ever be FOTM simple because most players prefer to make their own characters strong vs helping each other. I hope SL evolves into a mixture of passives, temp buffing, 1 or 2 crowd control skills that do debuffs on the opponents and communication tools. Thats prett much what we should be IMO, group waypoints, platoons, radar jamming, perhaps formations with bonuses....
.I like the idea overall, but I think there is one aspect missing that may have contributed to lowering the group size. Namely Solo groups. Before you could have your 20 "teammates" running around the Galaxy and still get the xp bonus for being in a "group." It did not matter that they were killin things on Dathomir and you were on Endor, you were 'grouped.' I mention this solely for the fact that it has probably been considered, and they may try to use it as ammo to shoot this down, or dumb it down with something less than what is desired by the playerbase. I would offer the following to this already great idea:
1) A 'Platoon' consist of 4 full 8-man teams with a Master Squad Leader in the main group.
2) The other 3 teams have a Squad Leader with at least Novice Squad Leader.
3) A 'Reinforced Squad' could be 3 8-man teams with a Master Squad Leader in the first group and at least Novices in the other two.
4) A 'Squad' could be two 8-man teams with a Master Squad Leader in the first group and at least a Novice in the second.
5) Whenever the joined teams get separated by say 2km, the teams go back to 8 people. This would help at least for those who would try to get the bonuses, but have no intention of actually teaming. This could even be if say 4/8 people on a team get separated, that group breaks off from the main party. However,if 2 people from both groups in a 'Squad' get left to train, AFK, etc. the main party stays together. ****An exception may be if the Raid leader could assign 4 or so players to go on "Patrol" to try and find the enemy.****
If any bonuses were to be added I would think the best way to do this would be to add them (def, acc, dmg, etc.) each time you combine two groups. This way you do not need to find 4 Novice SL to get them, but an 8-man team is not overly powerful either. Also grant them like the current buffs (i.e. Rally has a range limit), so all 16 people have to stick together. However if you are able to find enough for all four groups, the Master Squad Leader is then granted special 'Platoon Leader' buffs that have long recharge times to help keep balance in mind. These would last a little bit longer than normal, but would not be able to stack on each other. I.E. "Your squad leader finds a weakness in the enemy's 'armor' and your damage output is increased."
The ability to talk to every one in the combined group I also agree with. While you could technically set up a channel, I think it would be less hassle to have a special chat channel that is created like the current group chat. With a range limit on buffs, and keeping the combined teams together you could all just shout in spatial anyways, so an extra channel to communicate to all would be helpful. Also all team leaders with the ability would be able to send group messages to their groups, but only the "Raid Party" leader would be able to send system group messages to the whole Party.
I am pretty new to the Squad Leader profession in SWG, but was in the US Marines for a bit, so when I saw this I was inspired to write down these ideas. In the Marine ranks, a Platoon consists of 3 squads and a Platoon Leader; a 'Squad' consists of 3 "Fire Teams" and a Squad Leader; a Fire team consists of 4 Marines with a Fire team leader. While getting that detailed may be too...erm detailed, I think the ideas above reflect the constitution of the Platoons I knew for 4 years. The amount of people comes out to about the same, and there is more room for versatility if you only have room for a 'Squad' and not a 'Platoon.'
Anyway, that is how I feel about this although I did not expect to be able to write out so much!
Semper Fi fellow Squad Leaders!
Ehor Khun