Jump to content

Pick Up Games (PUGs)


Totem Arts

Recommended Posts

16 minutes ago, boxes said:

I am considering that voice chat will only be restricted to the commander, and leave it for the commander to decide 3-5 other players in their team to be allowed to use voice chat. All other players will interact the same way as public games, via q-spots and text chat. This should clear comms much more, and at the same time it won’t sacrifice too much merit that comes from unrestricted voice chat.

However I've noticed that 80% of the match q-spots get ignored. This is because its just up there on the top-left while it is important to keep your focus on whats in front of you. Same as with team chat, they get easily missed by multiple people q-spamming, making them go out the list.

I do not know a way on bow this can be improved other than a hud offset option to help a tiny bit. I do however am planning to make a separate topic suggesting a change to q-spam in the following week. Just need to find time for it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Totem Arts Staff
43 minutes ago, boxes said:

I am considering that voice chat will only be restricted to the commander, and leave it for the commander to decide 3-5 other players in their team to be allowed to use voice chat. All other players will interact the same way as public games, via q-spots and text chat.

As much as I wanted to have comms restricted, we can't ignore the importance of callouts.

Remember the post Akbaro made for having a siren for rush alerts?  In a way I liked the idea to have something to notify your team you found a rush.  Until we get something added that allows a player to notify their team with a ping, noise, or visual effect, rushes will be difficult to counter.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, boxes said:

voice chat will only be restricted to the commander, and leave it for the commander to decide 3-5 other players in their team to be allowed to use voice chat. All other players will interact the same way as public games, via q-spots and text chat.

This feels like a step back when really players on both teams need to help moderate their own teams in regards to voice chat. It might be better to mention to all players before they're split into teams the guidelines to using voice chat during a PUG. (Whatever they become)

How player's can help their team:

  • If someone starts to vent or complain about a specific enemy player, or the enemy team, then your team and you need to ask that the player shuts the up fuck about it. 
    • Start with a polite ask and work your way down from there based on your teammates cooperation. (or lack of) 
    • Ideally it should be the Commander asking the player to chill, with the rest of the team echoing the commander. 
      • Otherwise communications will become chaotoic if anyone/everyone starts to sound off due to one negative bich.
  • Even between games, this is not the time to start venting or complaining as this can seriously impact your team for the next game.
  • If team mate becomes vocally unruly then Commander should start a 'Survey' stating the unruly players' name so the player can be muted
    • Name and shame the toxic one
      • Allows other team to be made aware that issues are arising in voice chat
    • 3 Strike rule to being muted, third strike = instaPUGban

Examples of Negative/Toxic Voice Chat:
"Its over" - Should not be said before half the base is destroyed

"Keep getting sniped" - Instead of just stating you are being sniped to the point where your frustration vocalizes into your teams voice chat, point out the location of the sniper is or track down the sniper yourself with another team mate.

  • Player A "Its not looking good"
    • Player B "We can still do this"
      • Player A "No we can't"
        • <'Player A' continues to refuse the possibility of victory, hampering the team via communication disruption>

"Fuck this (<insert>)" - No, fuck you for being a fuck. 1 Strike. 

Rough draft 1

  • Like 1
  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wasn't here for the last set of PUGs so I missed whatever went down, the couple I have attended before never felt toxic to me (but again, I've not played that many so I may be an anomaly)

For my two pennies worth:

I'd be sad if comms were limited only to commanders, one of the reasons I like playing a PUG is because of the flow of communication, the ability to contribute and strategise on the fly with my team and the odd bit of cheeky bants between matches. I think removing this would make the experience much drier.

That said though, I agree with Quincy, if toxicity really is an issue, I think it is at least worth a trial run, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator

Missed out on the last two weeks of writeups, been busy.

Player list from 1/12/18 (from Husker):

Spoiler

PUGteams.png.fbe2237f960128dfc8d3181598b32de0.png

Player list from 8/12/18 (from Lavadragon):

Spoiler

PUGteams2.png.2d07d62fbcea351429a25c715646dded.png

NOD PUG PART FOUR - 15/12 

@Ryz (3) vs @TONY-STARK (2)

Match 1: Walls (Winner: Ryz - Nod)

Both harvester survive. Nod decides to rollout with a bunch of SBHs straight to Barracks. GDI rolls out MRLs/Meds and a early chinook for plateau control. GDI gets more field control early but the SBHs sneak into GDI's base undetected. The SBHs outside C4 the Barracks and shoot it, dealing significant perma damage. Nod starts pumping out Arties. GDI gets pushed back quite quickly due to a lack of field repairs. Nod gathers the Arties and shells Ref to death. The Arties get pushed back by a infantry dropoff on the plateau. Nod transitions to a Apache heavy composition and clears plateau. Nod tries to LCG chinook rush but it fails to deal damage. Nod gradually kills off GDI's AA towers and pumps tanks into GDI's base. It explodes.

Match 2: Lakeside (Winner: Tony - Nod)

A large force of Nod infantry runs into the Barracks early, causing Nod to fallback to defend. The barracks gets saved but GDI loses their harvester. Lack of funds prevents GDI from rolling out Meds. Nod rolls Lights and Arties into the field uncontested. GDI tries to chinook rush Nod's ref but opts to use Gunners and fails to kill. Nod's tanks in the meantime kill off both of GDI's guard towers and their Ref. Nod masses Apaches and wipes Nod's base.

Match 3: Canyon (Winner: Ryz - Nod)

Both harvesters explode. GDI tries to humvee surf which fails. GDI also runs a ton of random infantry into Nod's buildings but fails to deal any significant damage. GDI manages to delay Nod's rollout enough to roll out Meds. Nod plays defensively and pushes GDI back using superior field repairs. In classic Canyon fashion, GDI's base gets shelled to death.

Match 4: Field X (Winner: Tony - Nod)

GDI starts with the traditional grenadier rush into Nod's ref. It fails to deal damage and Nod decides to engineer rush with the people who defended the Ref. This rush gets intercepted with a second grenadier rush. Neither manages to make it through each other. Nod rolls out Arties/Lights and GDI rolls out Meds. GDI forgets to purchase field repairs but defensive tanking prevents GDI losing too many tanks. GDI gathers together and defensive buffs through Nod's tanks. GDI wipes the field clean and Nod immediately responds with Stanks. GDI plays perhaps a bit too defensively and fails to adequately scan the field despite a early callout. The stanks roll into GDI's base undetected and kill GDI's AGT. GDI tries to Gunner rush but this gets spotted and shelled to death with Arties. Nod in the meantime shells the crap out of GDI's Ref and PP, killing the latter. With the increased prices and barely any income, GDI is unable to gather enough Meds to push back the field. GDI surrenders.

Match 5: Eyes (Winner: Technically Ryz? - Nod)

GDI loses their harvester and Nod saves theirs. Nod spams Arties. GDI rolls a few Meds and tries to APC rush. Nod manages to get a break on GDI's PP with a LCG and spy Havoc in the meantime. The APC rush fails. Nod's Arties shells GDI's few tank and hammers GDI's buildings. Nod buffs and kills GDI's Ref. The server crashes in response. Whelp.

Player list from Minji's stream:

Spoiler

PUGteams3.png.fb33a6c39b319ea6fb3be5c697429356.png

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Moderator

22/12 NOD PUG PART FIIIIIIIIIIIIVE

Player list from from Minji's stream: 

Spoiler

PUGTeams.png.2e6c308ff2e5c52993adbc0f5610fa81.png

Missed out on last week's write up. Been building a new PC and overclocking it. Linky here if you're interested.

 

29/12 Last PUG of 2018 - The Battle of the Yoshi's

@BlazingYoshi (3) vs @yosh56 (2)

Match 1: Flakeside (Winner: Yosh56 - GDI)

Both harvesters survive. GDI rolls mass Meds against Nod's mass Arties. The arties gradually get pushed back, being unable to finish off low HP Meds. With assistance of a flanking Humvee, Nod's field repairs dies off with the Arties. Arty restock holds GDI back and manages to push them back to centre hill. GDI manages to get vital kills on Nod's field repairs, allowing GDI to breakthrough Nod's tankline. GDI pushes up and pressure Ref, but fails to armour break. GDI does manage to sneak a Humvee to Airstrip during the chaos and kills it with infiltration. With no economy, no tanks and no infantry control, Nod's base explodes with minor resistance.

Match 2: Islands (Winner: Yosh56 - Nod)

Standard fare Arty roll by Nod. GDI pushes a few gunners and MRLS to hold Nod back while waiting for Meds. The Gunners and MRLS are unable hold Nod back and Nod starts shelling Ref. In the meantime Nod players start walking inside the Barracks uncontested. The Barracks takes a armour break. GDI tries to push out with Meds but gets shutdown. GDI shells WF and Ref and gets a armour break on the latter. GDI manages to break the siege with Meds and Mammies with a defensive buff but Nod counter rushes with Mendozas. Once again, GDI has no presence in within the infantry tunnels and gets the Barracks undetected. The Barracks dies. GDI pressures Nod's buildings with their tanks but lacks the numbers to kill. The tanks get cleaned up and Nod locks GDI back in base. Nod shells the Ref down. GDI tries a last ditch rocket rush but get intercepted and killed off. GDI surrenders.

> Rebalance:

Match 3: Volcano (Winner: BlazingYoshi - Nod)

Nod loses their harvester, GDI saves theirs. GDI rolls Meds and Nod with Arties. GDI tries to pressure from outer route, Nod pressures from Tiberium cave in response. GDI grabs a armour break on HoN and diverts forces to clear out the Tiberium cave. Nod wipes the tanks on outer route and hammers the WF and Ref with Arties. The outer route Arties get cleaned up before armour break but Arties in the cave pressure PP and Bar, achieving heavy perma damage on Barracks. GDI manages to breakthrough the cave tanks and pressures Nod's PP. A Hotwire manages to sneak into the HoN but gets detected from their offensive mining. HoN gets saved albeit with heavy perma damage. Nod remaxes tanks and pushes both sides again, killing the Bar and PP. WF and Ref die shortly after.

Match 4: Walls (Winner: BlazingYoshi - GDI)

Both teams gets their harvester. Nod tries a Buggy surf. I get a Deadeye from a crate. The surf gets called out and I kill off SIXTY-SIX PERCENT oh yeah that's right of the players trying to surf. It gets shutdown and GDI reinforces plateau control with a early chinook dropoff. The RenX gods are pleased with my performance and decided to provide me with a Sakura spy. GDI also manages to kill off a SAM site. GDI starts pushing Meds to farm harvester and Gunners to plateau to pressure their buildings. GDI sneaks a Hotwire to Nod's PP, dealing heavy perma but no kill. GDI continually pressure Nod for a while and eventually decides to Orca rush. Nod tries to SBH rush but GDI strikes shortly after they leave. The rush kills the HoN and PP. GDI also got a spot on the enemy commander buying a SBH and has base defenders scanning for SBH. GDI throws a second wave of Orcas at Nod's base killing the Airstrip and Ref before the remaining SBHs can kill off the WF.

>Rebalance: 

  • Sgt.Snips -> Yosh56

Match 5: Storm (Winner: BlazingYoshi - Nod)

GDI all-ins on Nod's Harvester and grabs a kill on their turrent. Nod does the same, getting a kill on GDI's GT. Nod's harvester survives. GDI's harvester dies but only after receiving their income. GDI pushes Meds and Nod pushes Arties and Flamers in response. The Arties shell GDI's base from a distance, while the Flamers hold GDI's tanks back. GDI manages to kill the Flamers but a second wave of tanks locks GDI back in. A offensive buff on Nod's Arties bursts down GDI's Ref. Nod continues to roll Flame tanks into GDI's base, gradually killing off GDI's expensive units. GDI eventually crumbles.

Player list from Minji's stream:

Spoiler

PUGTeams.png.7f3ed05815b2c5991cc836417bf055b5.png

 

Happy new year to everyone - except for @yosh56 who is obviously a cheap impostor of the actual Yoshi, @BlazingYoshi.

Edited by Xeon Wraith
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 10 months later...

this site https://status.discordapp.com/ exist and if discord tells you something is wrong its likely affecting more people @Mystic~

even if someone gives you a pass to the server you wouldnt be able to play because no comms, no commanders, no teams, literally no players since we dont know who wants to play to give the pass to

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Just a suggestion what we could try in a pug: the commander of each team divides the players in sub-teams at the start. So we would have 3-4 sub-teams with each having about 5 players or so. The commander could call them squad alpha, beta, gamma, delta (1,2,3,4 works too but doesnt sound cool to me). Then it would be easy for the commander to assign tasks like "squad alpha defends harvester" and "squad beta and gamma makes officer rush to ref". This is currently almost impossible to coordinate. The commander could also pull off different rushes in parallel. If there are some specialists in the team, such as a really good sniper they could be playing independently so that they can join whatever squad needs support in a given situation. I think that way the pugs could feel more like real clan matches and are much tighter coordinated. Hope you like that idea, what are you thinking guys?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, daOpa said:

Just a suggestion what we could try in a pug: the commander of each team divides the players in sub-teams at the start. So we would have 3-4 sub-teams with each having about 5 players or so.

There is nothing really stopping commanders from doing this already.
 

There are a few problems with dedicated squads in the pug.

  1. Only 1 voice channel - squad organisation would have to be through text chat, which is slow and you have to be standing still in order to type.
    You dont want to be clogging main voice with 3-4 squads all trying to separately communicate with each other.
    They would have to join a different program like teamspeak with a different push to talk key. While also being on discord with everyone else, to be really effective.
  2. Most maps there are only 2-3 areas
    - Field (Field north, Field south, etc...)
    - Infantry path
    -Base
    Do we really need 3 squads all tanks and repairs on the same field path? Most matches players self regulate into either infantry or tanks already. Then if we dont have enough of 1 or the other, either the commander or another player will and do ask for help. (Some people don't like having to be forced into a position, and then others just ignore it)
  3. I feel like this is another thing the commander has to micromanage
    -You have to pick your team, or at least partially
    -You need to control the harvester
    -You need to be with your team always, just in-case they need commander powers
    -You need to dictate the overall plan
    -You need to come up with rushes, or listen to good plans from your team, and then organise the rush
    -And then on top of all that, you need to actually play the game too.
    -Having the commander put people into squads and then the squads having to move to a separate voice program is too much imho.
    I already have to force move half the server onto the correct team with console commands during the warm-up, because people cant get into their head that (Team 1 GDI, Team 2 Nod)

We already have a short list of people who command, i don't want to throw more at their feet. 

 

With all the said. I do believe each team should have some sort of small squad of individuals (2-3) to self organise themselves. We already have a handful of people who do that already (Kaunas, Nomad, Lavadragon, to name a few). Having a small group of experienced people who can infiltrate, flank, support, and fill in when needed is very helpful to the commander. 1 less thing on their plate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So 1st of all: I agree that the commander has a lot on his plate, but I would argue that (1) squads actually reduce micromanagement and (2) I have a suggestion for that coming below.

So to my 1. point: It is for the commander quite easy to say "squad 1 buy meds, keep nod locked in, squad 2 do gunner rush on obi" or whatever. Without squads this is currently impossible and yes in that situation (currently) some ppl would buy a med and some ppl would try to pull off a gunner rush but in my view it is oftentimes quite chaotic and by chance sometimes it works out and sometimes it just doesn't. Concerning the communication in one channel: the squads do not have to talk more than the individual players talk now so I think that discussion is irrelevant. Furthermore, the squads can be defined before the game actually starts so that is no big deal in my view. And yes, this can all be done already which is why I would suggest that we just try it one time to check if it's fun.

And now concerning to my 2. point: what about we have one additional role which we could name "1st Officer" or something like that. The commander will assign this role to someone and the 1st officer then can do the buffs and the other commands. So the commander then can just say/write "cruise missile on nod tanks pls" or something like that and the 1st officer is doing that for him. If the commander is not happy what the 1st officer is doing he needs to be able to assign the role to another person or have the freedom to not pick a 1st officer at all. Any thoughts on this one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

the whole purpose of being commander is that he control that moment you delegate his authority its feels like modern warfare or battlefield. so if a commander says lets do a gunner rush and the first officer objects than what.
the element of surprise is key in Renegade and the first responders are also key. Above all else its about having fun.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

  

On 8/11/2018 at 9:02 PM, Fffreak9999 said:

 

Team 1 Commander: @Davidbeast

Team 2 commander: @Xeon Wraith

Score: 3 - 0 (Team 1 wins)

 

Match 1: Complex

Victor: Nod / Team 1

Demo Download Link: Complex PUG Demo 11/08/2018

1.thumb.png.27eeabc262723eb1546ead726f70b475.png

Both teams contest for silo, GDI manages to infiltrate HON but fails to get an armor break. Nod rolls out with artys/lights/flamers, GDI with Meds, MRLS, and later mammoths. Both fight for field control for the majority of the game, with Nod having the upper hand most of the time due to raveshaws being uncontested. Airstrip gets chipped down to 40 HP from a buffed tank push, while all of GDI's buildings get armor breaks with Refinery taking the most damage, at 21HP. Eventually a Mendoza destroys the GDI Refinery from the outside with a little arty support. GDI tries one last push with an offensive buff, but fails to do any significant damage, and Nod snowballs to victory.

 

Match 2: Islands

Victor: GDI / Team 1

Demo Download Link: Islands PUG Demo 11/08/2018

2.thumb.png.e276bbb35b9998e72e7389b09aec0e93.png

Neither team ends up infiltrating each other's base at the start. GDI rolls out with Gunners, 1 MRLS and some hotwires while Nod gets Arty/Tech/LCG. Nod pulls out on top in the first engagement, but fails to armor break the GDI Ref. Meds with Sydneys push out, and a back and forth battle for field control ensues with no buildings taking any armor breaks. GDI eventually locks Nod in with a massive ball of tanks, and destroys the Nod ref. An Ion at the end of the strip with tanks hitting HON sealed the deal. Nod attempted an SBH nuke with outside C4 on WF, but ended up getting caught.

 

Match 3: Field X

Victor: Nod / Team 1

Demo Download Link: Field_X PUG Demo 11/08/2018

3.thumb.png.df0a10a6911cbcfebcd00a0ea792df69.png

GDI attempts two consecutive Grenadier rushes, both fail to get an armor break. Nod's Rocket rush ends up running into GDI's second grenadier rush, and fails to get an armor break as well. GDI however loses their harvester, while Nod saved theirs. With the extra funds, Nod is able to hold field for nearly the whole game minus one med push that reaches the Comm center and slightly past the upper bridge, but falls apart due to lack of repairs. With low credits, GDI is unable to contest the field, and also cannot contest Mendozas camping the tunnels. WF goes down from artys, and GDI surrenders. 

Turn this into an info sheet and also part-bot for the more obvious lines.

The rest is on Each Commander to fill out and once both Commander's forms are reviewed, one button confirmation for the reviewer = bot auto posts into this thread. @Agent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...