Squad Leader Archive

Squad Leader Changes

How disappointing. I dropped this profession over a year ago and I'm not sorry I did. it proved to be a complete waste of my time and I see that nothing has changed. I can't express in words what a huge let down this new template is. Over the last couple of years that I participated in the SL forums and play tested the profession myself there have been literally a hundred or so fantastic ideas on ways to improve the profession, and this template ignores every single one of them except the group way point idea. So tell me genius, if the NEW SL doesn't have to be the group leader to benefit the group, what you have done is encourage players form double-headed teams that are sure to conflict and not get anything doen. So one leader leads the group, while the other "leader" buffs the group and what happens the LSL sets a group waypoint? Will the first leader argue with him, or will he just follow orders from the REAL team leader who's probably a Jedi for all you know. That means you're not a "leader" now and never have been. You can't have two many chefs in the stew. You have to pick ONE leader and just one and every has to get in line behind him, or you don't have a "team" you have a "commitee" and while your' arguing over it, the real leaders will get move on and accomplish something without you. Who ever came up with this has no experience in real leadership and is a little confused about the use the terms here. No wonder a commmunity search never turns up other players playing this profession. What a waste...

Here's just a few of the things that we've changed:

Squad Leaders no longer need to be the group leader to benefit the group.

[Look, when you set a chain of command, and then create a second one what yo have done is stated that the former position is unimportant to it's role. You encourage others to circumvent the authority of poth positions by playing off like parents and totally undermine the leadership potential of either position. What you have done is transform the squad "leader" into a mere group buffer, and personally if I just wanted to serve others, I'ld join the Red Cross.]

This allows groups to have multiple Squad Leaders in a group and puts their leadership abilities based on skill and not just in a name.

[no, what it does is make too many chiefs and not enough braves. So tell me since SL is not a combat prof and can't match any other combat prof in the game, when you have a group full of SL's, who's going to do the fighting for you? The only way something like this would work is with very LARGE groups and last I checked the size of a group is limited, and all the SL's involved would have to be on the same page and well coordinated like a command structure to mutually benefit the handful of fighters you'll outnumber. There is no such discipline in SWG and there never will be. The reason for this is discipline in the ranks is based on punishment and rewards and this is not possible in an online game.]

Multiple Squad Leaders can combine their skills for greater group enhancement.[wonder twin powers, activate!] More Squad Leaders equals more buffs!

[okay "more" is not the same as "better". You have encouraged players to make a mess of their groups and I don't expect this will last long. People will get fed up with the hassles it will create and quit the prof. Just search the game, you'll see what I mean.]

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New group waypoint ability that works on the ground and in space.

{This is in essence a navigational tool used by the group coordinator to direct his team. So tell me, who's the leader? Maybe the Squad Leader will just follow orders, so he's really the Squad-Second-In-Charge]

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The Squad Leader skill set concentrates solely on group enhancing abilities and while they do include a full set of combat skill modifierss (defense, accuracy and speed) a Squad Leader is still strongly encouraged to pick up another combat profession skill set to flesh out their combat abilities.

[Did yo catch that? You're still worthless by yourself and you always will be. This methodology ruins the potential for really exciting squads. Very small squads in a general army don't accomplish much at all. Small squads in a SpecOps community do. SWG has small squads, often very small. The best role for a group that size is a commando squad or somthing similiar. Well, Commandos have no special abilities of anykind, another brilliant decision, so that means that a commando squad leader is just another joke and won't be able to defend himself. This guarantees that there will be no Commando Squads in SWG, ever. What a waste.]

All the passive abilities of the Squad Leader have been removed and changed to active buff abilities. This will make it easier to understand exactly what benefit is taking affect when. Also Squad Leader's no longer need to be the group leader for their abilities to take affect. This allows them more flexibility to benefit the group even when they are not the "official" leader as well as allowing multiple Squad Leaders in a group to combine their abilities.

[Benefit? Your thinking like a sixth-grader. I know, you'll say "this game is made for sixth graders!" So why requier a credit card to play, which yo have to 21 or older to hold? Paradoxes endless unreconcilliable paradoxes. Why does it all have to be so hard?]

New Group Buffs

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Let's take a look at the new group buffs:

[Okay, just for the record, Strategy is your plan. Tactics are the means you use to execute your plan. The author of this model is clearly confused.]

Steady Aim (Strategy I) - Enhances group accuracy.

Call to Arms (Strategy III) - Enhances group armor ratings.

Volley Fire (Strategy IV) - Gives group members the chance to bypass enemy armor.

Tactics (Tactics I) - Enhances group defenses.

Blaze of Glory (Tactics III) - Gives or enhances the chance to score a critical hit.

Double Time (Tactics IV) - Reduces cool-down times for group members.

Boost Morale (Leadership IV) - Enhances group Action/Mind regeneration.

Form Up (Mobility II) - Enhances group movement speed.

Retreat! (Mobility III) - Significantly enhances group movement speed for a short duration. All other combat actions are prevented while this ability is in effect.

Charge! (Mobility IV) - Significantly enhances group movement speed for a short duration. This ability places the Squad Leader at a heightened risk by reducing their defenses.

"Attack is a strategy of defense. Defense is a strategy of attack" -SunTzu

[This implies offense as a defensive measure and force security while in movement (offense). The author of this model neither understand leadership nor warfighting.]

I'm glad I dropped this profession and have kept forcused elsewhere. it's clear to me that if this is the big revamp we've been waiting for all this time, that it's going to be a huge waste of my time because whoever is making decisions for it doesn't understand the role and is only thinking of superficial game mechanics. It's a crying shame shame to see such potential thrown in the garbage.