“To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is [i]more[/i] difficult.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.
With many competitive games, be it against another player or an AI, a combatant such as I finds themselves often asking whether the traditional ‘all guns blazing’ method is still valid. I for one do not think so. It pains me to see the team I have been put with losing due to stupidity, a problem some gamers find themselves faced with all too often. However, I do often play with friends in any sort of chosen grouping the game can offer, solely because it allows me to take control.
The job of a leader is to direct his people to success, and success is all too important in the modern gaming society, which is why I like to be in a position where leadership is possible. This allows for a coordinated movement in which there is a good chance of success, and if the leader is worth his position, the win can even deliver the results precise to what is desired. K/D can be everything, and when everyone knows that there’s someone covering their back, they can perform at a more focused level.
However, not everyone takes a liking to a chain of command, and often the chain can be broken due to faulty headsets, or lack of communication all together. To combat these problems in ‘Destiny’, it would be almost essential to have a ‘quick combat communications system’ where the player can issue basic commands using a simple, Portal 2-esque point-and-click method. Highlighting a team-mate and either pointing out an object/opponent or visual way-point on the terrain would be very useful for instructing your team, and it wouldn't be hard to incorporate into the game or to even use.
I would like to put this idea up for debate using the poll system, to get an idea of whether people would find it useful or not. If you do have a better suggestion, please leave it in the comments section below.
The second point I would like to make is the importance of encouraging leadership. I’ve found that many people do not like being ordered around by strangers, and I don’t blame them. However, most of the time it is to help the players in question, and refusing requests due to a stubborn mentality can result in match losses on multiple occasions, continually. On the other hand, people can take orders from strangers, but only from people with a high ‘rank’, because in their opinion, higher amounts of time spent on gaming means a higher tactical intelligence. Most of the time, this is not the case.
This is why people should listen when team-mates offer advice, and that you should judge on the worth of the advice itself, not on the worth of who it came from, it may just lead to a better result at the end of the day. A way to encourage the acknowledgement of advice could be something in-game too. Many multiplayer games show a player’s name above their ‘avatar’ and include a clan tag or additional information about the player. Next to, above, or below the name could be included an icon given to those that have been recognised as good tacticians. Completing a series of challenges or achievements could be needed to receive the prestigious award, or perhaps there could be a system in which the players themselves recommend people for the award and the recommendations are then confirmed by members of Bungie staff, or volunteers on the Bungie website.
This is another idea up for debate in the comments below, so leave your own opinions on the topic of leadership. *A poll on the icon debate will be uploaded separately http://www.bungie.net/7_Cool-Headed---Secondary-Poll/en-us/Forum/Post?id=60531653&path=1 .*
Thank you for reading, Fedezzer
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To those who voted on this post but didn't on the second, I have updated the post^^ to hold a link to the other poll.