WS's Observations - Part 2

[Wolf Shaman]

It's been a couple months since my last observations report I made when I was just a couple weeks into Ordo. For those who have not seen it, or would like a refresher on what I covered, You can find it here: http://forums.ordoimperialis.com/index.php?/topic/3061-newcomers-obersvations/

Be warned, It's quite a read, But it received alot of feedback and some supporting discussion as well.

And as typical with most of my posts on the boards, This one may be a bit of a read as well.

I had touched on Defensive ops in the previous thread I started, and it appears that things are still having problems in those same areas that I've written about, so I'm gonna reiterate them again in this post, as well as add a few more things to it that I have been noticing becoming a potential to a current problem.

Part 1: Defensive Operations.

Clustering:

Again, I'm pointing out the major problem of clustering in one area. People fight over the 'sweet spot' on the map by clustering in the same area and getting into each other's way, while at the same time making extremely tasty targets of opportunity for attacking forces Explosive based weapons. Nothing like watching 3-5 yellow dots disappear to a single explosion to make you facepalm. That is also typically when the big gap opens and the attackers push through and into the green zone leaving the few people who are defending the other side of the sim try to scramble to cover the hole.

People should be spread out at least 5+ meters apart on the ground. Not only does this prevent losing multiple ground forces to explosions, but it allows for quicker response to filling gaps in the line from casualties, and increases the angles of fire that you have against an enemy target. There has been plenty of times where everyone's camping in one spot waiting for the enemy to pop out and all the while, 20 meters to the left, you have a clear shot at the person.

The Migrating Mass:

Another issue: That big cluster of people tend to migrate together depending on where the attacker(s) happen to be running. Since this is typically people running to the south, that's where the huge blob of people are sitting. Simply put. Pick a spot, and stay there, moving to fill gaps in the line, but not constantly running from one side to the other. Watch your lane and be sure to cover your guys to the left and right of you.

Another issue I've seen with this, An attacker attacks for a bit on one side of the sim. EVERYONE runs to that side of the sim to try to shoot them. The die, respawn, and quick it to the other side of the sim where there is no defense, Make it to the green zone and shoot down defenders crossing open ground trying to cover the gap that Aryte's Death star can drive through.

Holes in the Line:

Yeah, there's a definite theme to this. You have friggin huge gaps in the line all the time. 10 people in the south, maby 2 in the center and 1-2 in the North. Now, If I was an opposing commander, I'd put a distraction force to the S to kepe them there, run a couple people to mid/south to provide cover fire for the troops I'm sending across the ravine, pick off the n defenders and NetTP everyone but a few to the North to flank the S defenders and assault/seize the wall. The N attackers would be the hammer, and the South the Anvil. Jet people on to the walls to cover the doors, secure the wall, and farm the hell out of defenders as they try to come out to repel us.

you spread out your defense, there's less opportunities to do this and provide more cover on the red zone, as well as being able to fill holes left by casualties, and provide reinforcements if need be to strengthen an area. And by Reinforcements, I mean moving a couple more people over there, not the whole line.

Running into friendly Line of Fire:

I have too many instances where there are people running in front of me, or jumping in front of me when i'm firing or about to fire on a target so that they can get a better angle for them to try and get the kill shot. This causes me to try and avoid hitting said person with my own fire, as well as interfering with a shot that might of taken the hostile out.

If you plan on shifting your position, Move behind people, and not in front of them. Dont jump in a manner that will bring you into the line of fire of the person to your left or right. Situational and spacial awareness. The minimap gives you a good idea if there's someone next to you, take a second to look where you're moving to to make sure you dont get caught in friendly fire or making the person you're moving past move around/avoid you.

Also, If you see fire shooting at the enemy from above you, There's someone on the wall shooting down. Dont jump/jet into their path to get a better shot at the enemy, They have it covered.

Layered Defense:

We have a wall. Dont see people use it that often. Most the time I see people make it past the wall is because everyone is down on the ground out front and got killed with the second line of defense non existent.

If you get shot, see that there's lots of spaces on the wall that can be filled, Fill it. 1/2 the force should be on the wall, and the other half on the ground.

"LAWLZ! I killed him most!" :

There is excessive amounts of showboating 'That was me! I got him! LOOK HOW AWESOME I AM!' style activity going on. It looks more like everyone is freelancing and running solo to try and get the high score to rub it into everyone's face. As stated all the time on vent when someone asks who got the kill: It doesn't matter, He's dead, get ready for the next wave.

Ordo is a Team. Not a Contest. You have people running back and forth all over the sim to try and personally shoot everyone they can. There's no need. There's no official kill counter that gives you the 'Shiny Imperator's Uber Medal of Pure Awesomeness +3!'

Everyone wants to be able to kill the person. Yes. That's one of the reasons why we're here. To kill shit. Just dont let that get in the way and leave vulnerabilities in the line, or fuel your ego with e-peen stroking. We're not defending anything on raids except the medic point. Get your body count there.

People having ADD on defense:

This is beginning to become a big problem. Someone stands still someplace for 2 minuits, and people start digging through their inventories for Arty to blast them with while constantly spamming vent with 'I Can has boomz plz nao kthx' over and over. OIC says wait a few more min before a decision is made, yet the person waits 30 seconds and blasts them with arty fire.

Someone is sitting in the spawn for a couple minuets, maby reading the rules, tweaking their settings, or caught up in an IM that just poped up, and People start bugging the OIC if they can run into the spawn and knife them. Not jsut once, But Repeatedly asking over and over.

Back when I started out, I would ask if the OIC would enact regulation IX-905b:

IX-905: Enemies may linger within the spawn as long as they wish; the only exception would be valid override by command on the basis of:

b. Enemy party idling, unresponsive, simply loitering.

Difference was, There was a 10 min idle limit back then, So I would ask between 10-15 min of them just sitting there w/ a gray cam, not waiting only 2-3min. Since the timer has been removed, I've sense ceased suggesting.

Keep in mind, the OIC will Authorize AND assign a person (if they do not do it themselves) To move into the spawn to take care of the individual(s) when and IF there is a call/need for it. The same goes for inactive parties outside of the spawn. Constantly asking over and over in vent/coms "Can I go kill him in the spawn?!!!?!!! Can I Mortar Him?!!!?! Can I rez my Adominator and Nuke him from orbit :D :D :D :D!?!!@!" every 2 seconds. Is not needed, and Frankly, is annoying.

======

Part 2: Comms - Vent and /2

There's alot of stuff that's passed over vent. Voice > Text. But alot of important information is not passed over onto the /2 comms side of things for those who may not be in vent or are in different channels during defensive actions.

there is also instances where stuff said over /2 is not too closely watched by those in vent. I'm guilty of doing both of these, and I'm working at improving on that.

====================================

Granted alot of this stuff I've posted is a repeat of what I've posted in the previous thread I linked at the top of the novel. The reason is simple; We have not fixed/addressed any of the issues. I'm trying to help improve the effectiveness of the group.

[Cyphre Iredell]

Showboating? Hadn't seen anything like that before, unless by some newer members doing so.

There is never a hole in the line if you have line of sight on the target. Doesn't make a difference where you are.

[Aryte]

Ah, this is the plight of every defensive officer's command. You raise valid points, to which I would hope everyone can appreciate. It is a responsibility of a defense officer to police these behaviors, but a general knowledge will go a long way in assisting that officer in presenting proper deployment.

> The migration concern: this, hopefully, will be less of a concern with the shifting of the terrain and implementation of Chronus. The current design utilizes the terrain to create blind spots, giving the desire to run amuck to try to get into the battle.

> Holes in the line: this is very prevalent during early hours and whilst defense is quiet. It has been a gift to people like Geodan more than once.

> Running into LOS: oh man, such a simple concept but so very true.

> Layered defense: again, this should be more improved with terrain. The trench line, in addition to earth works, to allow folks to spread out.

> ADD: this is something that peeves me from time to time. I agree, a lot, it is very obnoxious and it detracts from the commands given. "Can I do this?" brings a flurry of "OH IS THIS AUTHED?" Please let your officers TELL you when something is ok. If something is REALLY pressing, like "fuck, I could get that guy with a mortar, and he's sitting there shelling us. . hm." Your officer should be able to infer it important from simply notifying the officer "sir, X is behind the hill doing this." If not, IM them. It's very helpful.

[Hokusai Otsuka]

I agree with the constant cry of heavy artillery. It's just as easy to pop an IM and go. "Sentries are getting antsy. Give us something entertaining to shoot at. :D" They usually laugh and respond with "lol~k" and start charging again. However, that's not to assume everyone attacking will be as easy. IE some responding with "DIE FURRY BASTARD" or something of the like. But hey, you at least tried to be nice. And usually more often than not, if you're nice to hostiles in the sense, that you treat them fairly when they attack. Not "OIC they behind hill, mordar plz?", as that tends to irritate them into not coming back. They tend to come back, usually entertaining us with more people.

Lack of activity, or even simply having to call mustering during late hours is usually caused by abuse. Because someone ordered or bugged for artillery auth when it wasn't needed, and was used as the main source of defense, essentially annoying the person into not returning because they keep getting splattered mere meters from the spawn. It's been happening far less often, but those who it has happened to have become bitter and either use cheap tactics when they do come in sim, or just refuse to bother, thus keeping their sentries if they have a military away from Titan, leaving us bored with nothing to do. Hense why no one's hardly around.

Touching back on artillery it's self and what it is is fairly straight forward. Weapons like the Mk.2 Infernus 81mm Mortar, Pilum RPG (SRAW older equivalent), Adjudicator, or even additions to basic rifles. For instance, the Talon M12's M203 (Fulminata basic rifle), Titan Industries Barret REC7's M203, or SS's blast rifle with charged explosive. They too are considered not so heavy, but long range explosive artillery. And requires officer authentication to be used during a battle at our home or out in foreign territory. Though not as common, weapons such as the GE-M134 or it's equivalent are also considered heavy artillery, not because of explosive ordinance, but because of the sheer amount of rounds these weapons put out. Essentially "mowing" down anything that moves within the red zone.

What is not part of artillery, are hand grenades. I keep hearing people on vent or COMs going "are grenades authed?". There's no need to ask, they are designed with a cool down to prevent abuse. Grenades are limited by distance aswell, if you arc it high, it'll go farther, but it has it's limit.

Jet packing to clear cover is another form of abuse towards hostiles, as it gives us a perfectly shot each and every time. New guys may not be aware but the main use of our jet packs in sim is to clear ground or reach places quickly. IE the top of the outpost, main wall, ect.

Now granted, Not every hostile is nice, not every hostile is fair. And some are just plain greifers. But we need to play fair, and be an example of how other groups should act. How they should deploy their munitions, ect. Granted that's another thing that the IS is designed for, but not everyone is going to agree with little details on a grid wide scale. Though if most groups see us using basic rifles, they will usually attack with the same.

Common sense stuff is staying out of a friendly's line of sight, not rushing between sides of the sim, not clustering, ect. It's common sense, if you're close together, you're going to die together. Don't make the janitorium have to clean up your body parts, kay? :>

I'm done rambling now. c.c

[Sera Otoro]

many valid points here... i hope to see more of this kind of work from you again soon...

[Agares Tretiak]

Touching back on artillery it's self and what it is is fairly straight forward. Weapons like the Mk.2 Infernus 81mm Mortar, Pilum RPG (SRAW older equivalent), Adjudicator, or even additions to basic rifles. For instance, the Talon M12's M203 (Fulminata basic rifle), Titan Industries Barret REC7's M203, or SS's blast rifle with charged explosive.

Of those weapons listed, only the Mortar qualifies as an artillery weapon. The others are infantry based explosive heavy weapons OR a rifle with a grenade launcher. Not artillery.

Mortars can be rather tricky to utilize, really. Even with the "get:cam" command, directing a shell onto a target usually requires a barrage of well placed shells in the targets vicinity, and if the target runs to the other side of the sim while you're firing, so much for that. As defense OIC, if a mortar is required, I generally ask if anyone has been -trained- on one (read: academy course), first. If they haven't been, I will take command of one and use it appropriately. IF they have been trained, I tell them they are not allowed to fire, until I say to open fire with it. This is well within the realm of OIC abilities. THe OIC has the absolute discretion of when to deploy artillery, how much, and when, but they have the training to do so. Asking a lot to do this or this (something I've done from time to time in the past) can distract the OIC.

Heavy weapons and weapons with grenade launchers (M203s, etc) should be cleared by the OIC within the realm of heavy weapons. Especially the Pilum, which with massed fire, is overwhelming.

Our days of the "bunny hop defense" are mostly over. It only happens occasionally now, that I've seen, but it's still OICs and Officers in general to remind the defenders that the bunny hop isn't allowable, save maybe a handful of circumstances, which would still require the OIC to clear the use of jetpacks in that manner.

If early morning defense has holes, I recommend the following tactic in order to tighten your defensive line:

Order everyone to stay on the walls. This may seem boring and no fun, but the alternative of finding Geodan and an armful of SK inside the base should be distasteful to all of us. A tighter defensive line allows for a multiplier in the effectiveness of a small group of defenders. Also, OICs should try to get additional people on sim if an attack occurs. You'd be surprised how many people will show up for a little early morning action.

[Hokusai Otsuka]

True, but my main reason for classing them the same as artillery, is because they require the same authentication via OIC to be deployed.

[Mathieu Oller]

I agree with all of this. I personally am guilty of the jet packing ordeal. Initially I got the impression that it was to manuever around the sim and to eliminate the enemy in the air. I was, however, told otherwise and did not do it again. I have observed the holes in the line, running into friendly fire, and showboating. I think when anyone says to spread out, we all need to spread out, regardless of where the enemy is and how many there are. The friendly fire situation is easy to resolve - go BEHIND the person instead of in front of them. And if someone kills the enemy, they should just move on. I say nice shot in general when I see the enemy disappear. That's all I have to say :)