[Discussion] Fleet Command - Deaf People and FCing.
- Thread starter NKato
- Start date
Someone posted this in the Reddit thread: http://www.realmofdarkness.net/pc/sb/sw/ackbar/1
What if we could create a TEST/Star Citizen version of this to run on a laptop connected to Mumble?
What if we could create a TEST/Star Citizen version of this to run on a laptop connected to Mumble?
My fear is two.
One: If there isn't tools to highlight areas on map/radar and almost draw on the map sorta deal, then it'll be difficult to convey information to the fleet, as text is otherwise slow.
Two: If the person manages to perfectly convey information, then there's still the problem of sending back messages quickly - how will this happen? If there is a shortcut command to post stuff like "retreating...", "Have taken damage", "need backup" then that'll help.
If we're talking about true leading here, as in, one guy is issuing all orders that unquestionably has to be followed, then giving back information is less important, but that's a hardcore way of playing - I'm sure they'll be people up for playing like this though.
Conclusion: We don't know yet if it's possible, but it certainly can't be counted out.
One: If there isn't tools to highlight areas on map/radar and almost draw on the map sorta deal, then it'll be difficult to convey information to the fleet, as text is otherwise slow.
Two: If the person manages to perfectly convey information, then there's still the problem of sending back messages quickly - how will this happen? If there is a shortcut command to post stuff like "retreating...", "Have taken damage", "need backup" then that'll help.
If we're talking about true leading here, as in, one guy is issuing all orders that unquestionably has to be followed, then giving back information is less important, but that's a hardcore way of playing - I'm sure they'll be people up for playing like this though.
Conclusion: We don't know yet if it's possible, but it certainly can't be counted out.
AntiSqueaker
Space Marshal
I think that it would be fine as long as delegation is in place.
Purely hypothetical scenario 30 v 30 battle, no capital ships. Nkato is FC, I'm second in charge. Nkato tells me general instructions (Attack Constellations and Retaliators first, have 1st squad tie up their dogfighters for instance), which I relay into more specific squad by squad instructions. Nkato then keeps me updated with stuff and more general instructions, which then gets relayed to the appropriate people.
The only problem I forsee is rapidly changing stuff. Like in the middle of combat, I don't think people will have time to check their text chat and reply. Which means that squad leaders/Nkatos delegate will need to be able to think on their feet and react.
Purely hypothetical scenario 30 v 30 battle, no capital ships. Nkato is FC, I'm second in charge. Nkato tells me general instructions (Attack Constellations and Retaliators first, have 1st squad tie up their dogfighters for instance), which I relay into more specific squad by squad instructions. Nkato then keeps me updated with stuff and more general instructions, which then gets relayed to the appropriate people.
The only problem I forsee is rapidly changing stuff. Like in the middle of combat, I don't think people will have time to check their text chat and reply. Which means that squad leaders/Nkatos delegate will need to be able to think on their feet and react.
Okay so, you'd probably want all squadrons to be in their own little squadron chat on mumble, and for this to work, you'd have to have it write down the tree of channels so it reaches all the squadrons that way. I mean it's possible...
You can bookmark the idea, but, again, first you need the servers to be able to support a lot of people in the same instance, second you need actual targets big enough to require a lot of people, then thirdly you need to acquire a relative big group of people to flag under you - if you can get all that, I think you should invest time into making a sound board xD
We definitely have to wait for sure but I can easily see cases were those who are hearing impaired can take up the reins of a fleet. I play Wargame all the time with my Teamspeak muted and it isn't hard to coordinate combined arms assaults etc. Furthermore fleets are going to be led not by the FC alone but also secondary FC, XOs, etc.
Luckily we will likely borrowing comms discipline from EVE where strict radio silence is maintained + linked channels in mumble where each squadron has a channel linked to the FC channel.
gladestone
Vice Admiral
My thinking is this people are ignorant when it comes to the handicapped..They have every right to do any job a so called normal person can do maybe more..My cousin is amazing with one arm..She is a good lawyer..Played baseball, if any one told rae that she couldnt do any thing she would go, the other nine yards like me to prove you wrong..Its how i been my whole life an she imulates her cousin one hundred percent..
There is no reason we cant read what kato is typing to manage a whole fleet..Ignorance is bliss..Let the man prove him wrong i say..So there is my thoughts on this matter an it should be closed..No reason to insult or say the handicapped cant do any thing..
There is no reason we cant read what kato is typing to manage a whole fleet..Ignorance is bliss..Let the man prove him wrong i say..So there is my thoughts on this matter an it should be closed..No reason to insult or say the handicapped cant do any thing..
Star Pilgrim
Rear Admiral
Speech to text engines.
(speech-to-text (STT))
Then use proggies to display the output in games overlay on screen.
You would read what others are talking about on chat via voice.
(speech-to-text (STT))
Then use proggies to display the output in games overlay on screen.
You would read what others are talking about on chat via voice.
Haven't read the whole thread besides the first 4-5 posts. In the Greek army, a commando patrol would receive commands and relay back messages to High Command using a TRC radio and a cryptographer device. We would type a short message (about twit sized) on the crypto device, stick that to the radio microphone and then the guys at command would stick their own crypto on the headphone and it would receive the message and display it on the device. If that is good enough for real life situations I don't see how it would not be enough for Star Citizen. Granted that we are talking about larger scale orders and not on the fly guidance of wings and dogfighting commands. I am certain that all of us will find the time to type a message back to the FC. If you are in such a furball that you don't have the time to type back to the FC, you shouldn't be actively involved with the radio in the first place but pay more attention to your surroundings and killing the other guy before he/she kills you and your wingmates.
I do not believe that it is feasible for a deaf person to follow fleet ops or even wing ops as a pilot without voice comms. You need constant situational awareness and that means constant comms with your wingmates. This is why the comm switch on fighter jets is right there on the throttle as a push button. But no, sending messages like "attack target X, retreat, move to navpoint X, priority target is X" is not a problem for text comms and even a deaf/speech-hearing impaired person can do it.
Also you can use text to speech and create a myriad of sentences to use. Steven Hawkings does it and he is using a straw as a controller for fucks sake.
I do not believe that it is feasible for a deaf person to follow fleet ops or even wing ops as a pilot without voice comms. You need constant situational awareness and that means constant comms with your wingmates. This is why the comm switch on fighter jets is right there on the throttle as a push button. But no, sending messages like "attack target X, retreat, move to navpoint X, priority target is X" is not a problem for text comms and even a deaf/speech-hearing impaired person can do it.
Also you can use text to speech and create a myriad of sentences to use. Steven Hawkings does it and he is using a straw as a controller for fucks sake.
When did test become as well trained as a SEAL team? Last I check we are a collection of drunks who like the same game. This comparison is not the best one to make.
This is the dilemma of any new FC. Even experienced ones will fuck up once in a while. Make the wrong choice.
As a experienced block level FC in EVE, and as a leader in other games, and real life as a PO3 in the US Navy, I can honestly say it will be much more difficult to lead in this game than any other one we have played before. Just from arena commander alone we know that on the individual level this game is designed to be very skill based, and require pilot level decisions on a second to second basis. While I have lead other skill based games this one will be different in that maps are going to be large and every ship, or gun will have different properties applicable to it. A fleet of 100 auroras will not be lead the same way a fleet of 100 drakes is done in EVE. Neither will 10 auroras be lead the same way 10 mechs will be lead in MechWarrior online. The best command structures I see transferring straight over into this game will be FPS tactics/leadership styles. So any FPS players who have experience leading will be invaluable for setting up that aspect of the game, but we will need at the very least a council of experienced leaders putting together a command structure of sorts and guide for new FC's.
Leadership style and chain of command
"Do you know what the chain of command is? Its the chain I go get and beat you with until you understand who's in rutten command here!"
The major difference between this game and every other game out there today is that this game is going for "sim" level realism in most aspects. They still want it to be fun so things like eating 3 times a day or dying will not be there but things like dogfighting and utilizing cover in FPS combat are. Multi-crew ships also present a unique challenge when it comes to leading. that and this isn't a EVE like combat experience where people can shoot threw each other to damage the target.
The best way I can put this is we don't know jack about how PU combat will be/should be ran. We will have to decide on a way to approach it and implement changes as needed to fix issues we find. So all I can do in this write up is give information based on experience I have and hope it can be utilized in setting up a good command structure.
I will go over nuances of each style of combat below, but first I want to talk about different structures of command found both in game and in real life:
In game: There are several different ways to lead a group in pvp depending on the game you are playing and the type of combat you are participating in. I will for sake of simplicity, time, and space in a post focus on my experience in EVE online. Even though the way of calling targets will not work in this game (since you cannot shoot threw your allies to hit your target) I do believe that a similar fleet command structure could work. And to be honest the fleet level command structure in eve has taken a lot of influence from real life military.
Leader of alliance: Weather its a counsel or 1 man, this is the level that decides what we are after and where we will go. He takes input from his combat leaders and intel officers to decide what the overall objective is for the alliance.
Block level FC: This level of FC is the commanding General so to speak of the armed forces of the alliance. He uses intel and his subordinate leaders to achieve the goals the alliance leader set forth. Overall command of the fleet or fleets is held at this level. Every leader from this point out only takes orders from this person. His primary role is overall strategic command. Placing assets in the right place at the right time to achieve the objective.
Fleet level FC: This is your FC anyone who played eve will be familiar with. He tells his fleet of 300 people what ships to fly, how to fly it, what target to shoot at, and organizes his fleet level leadership to ensure everyone is doing what they are told and when they are told to do it. I.E. hes the guy that yells "More dots" or "B I E in the tempest is primary B I E in the tempest is primary"
Fleet level XO: The fleet level executive officer is the backup FC in the FC is lost for any reason. He is the one worry about the logistics of the commands the FC is calling. if the FC is calling a target often times he is the one working the interface highlighting the primary target for the fleet. if the FC is not the "Lead Fish" then the XO will be in that role.(Lead fish will be explained in large gang warfare)
Sub command: this command level is for things like logistics leadership or electronic warfare leadership or any other sub fleet command structures you might need. A great way to see this in action is to watch a video on my youtube channel. You cant hear me giving out orders or anything as the audio is enemy comms but its there to see in action in game.
In real life: As I have stated I am active duty navy. As a member of the navy I have been privileged to work with the Marine Corps as well. As such I have insight into 2 well established ways of doing business in real life. Anyone who also has worked with them will tell you about their flaws. This is true in that nothing is perfect and someone will find something wrong with anything they want to find something wrong in. But be that as it may no one in the world can deny that the US Navy and US Marine Corps are not the premier versions of what they do in this world we call home. Every other navy and Marine Corps out there emulates what we do. So in that regard I would call it a good basis to take real life examples of how we may or may not do things in game for combat leadership. Here are my best 2 examples. I will give 1 from each to keep it short.
1. A command structure where commanders are all the way down to the individual level. A 4 star does not bother dealing with me as far down as I am in the chain. He tells at least 30 other people dropping all the way to me before I tell the guys below me. This is great in that it allows 1 person to effectively command thousands while not having to micro manage but maybe 2-6 individuals who micro manage 2-6 of their own on and on down until it reaches the low man doing the actual work. While this is a great way of doing it in real life unless large scale fights happen in SC (they want it to happen but might not happen right away) implementing a command structure like that might not be needed in the scale that it is found in the military.
2. A combat structure that gives individual commanders orders and plans and they use their guys to execute it. Unlike in EVE this game will be more realistic and allow more gameplay than any other game we have done. We can have fighters engaging in a diversion so Marines can board a ship and take it over from the inside, while at the same time engaging in combat 2 systems away preventing reinforcements to the main fight. Oh but did I also mention we are fighting off boarders at the same time? This isn't going to be like any other game out there. So having commanders at many levels each with a assigned task to complete with their men under them may (or may not we don't know yet) be needed and best for this game.
In the end it will be determined by Montoya as to how this may or may not play out but the way I see it is if we want to win by any other way than simply out numbering the enemy 5 to 1 (in that case we might as well change our name to goonswarm) we will need a effective way of fighting strategically. There are 2 types of ways to fight. Reactive and Proactive. Reactive we simply form up in a group go and fight and hope we can react fast enough and with enough force to win. Best way to do that is overwhelming numbers. Proactively we go in there with a plan and using tactics, surprise, and things like "Violence of action" to attack we can win with equal or less numbers. But being Proactive requires more dedication out of members to have and learn a job and not just get on to go out and fight.
The best analogy I can give is a EVE reference. Do we want to be goons or Rooks and Kings? To put it in perspective for those that don't play EVE goons use numbers and simple tactics to win. They don't fight if its fair numbers and accept anyone into their group so long as you can shoot who they tell you and when. Rooks and Kings are tactic whores who win fights often times well outnumbered. They are well versed in mechanics of the game and use brilliant tactics to win battles. So Basically they are trend setters. Any tactics in eve that goon FC's implement were being used by RnK for months before that, and they only copied it because it was used against them effectively. (often times with OP results since numbers just exacerbates the effectiveness of the tactic.)
Next I will go over the different warfare types and how I see them being lead, and how I can see the fighting happening.
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Small gang warfare
any fighting that is 30 or less per side or in total.
In space:This level of fighting I see very little multi crew ships involved in. If they are going to be present they are a capital ship of sorts for this level of fighting. Used as a command vessel or to counter any multi-crew ships brought by the enemies. As such I see this as 95% 1-2 man fighters. Any tactics used here will be small unit tactics like wingmen and other dog fighting tactics. If multi-crew ships are used you might be able to involve marines for boarding parties but that will take a lot of planning and coordination. This level of combat will require the most low level player decision making and skill. Combat will be fast and fierce and most of the time the commander will just be worried about keeping his group of ships together so they don't spread out to far. Leaders at this level will need to be versed in WW2 and todays dog fighting tactics. Your average Testies will be given a lot more autonomy in what they do and will need to be able to make good decisions on their own as to who to chase and who to leave alone. Flights should be broken down into at least groups of 4-8 ships to be wingmen if not broken down into pairs.
On ground: For the FPS combat this level of fighting will be most common. Small unit tactics and urban warfare will be at least 80% of the things any FPS player will be doing if not more than that. As it is going to be more tactical I see a lot more RL tactics being taken directly from our militaries and implemented here if we intend to do more than just go in as a group and hope we win.
Large gang Warfare
30+ per side or total number
In space: This is where you get into the capital ship level of combat or the large fleets of multi-crew ships and 1-2man fighters. Especially in the beginning of PU we will not see many capitals if at all. and I hope it stays that way since they require 10+ players to pilot them effectively meaning we will need 30 people just to run certain capital ships and that doesn't include the 70 or so other players we will need to support that 1 capital ship. I don't expect to see fleets of hundreds of ships for a long time so I am keeping this level of warfare classified as player count not ship count. Multi-crew ships like Constellation and Freelancer will be used as well as cutlass and other 2-3 man fighter craft with small 1 man fighters making up a bulk of our fleet. as such leadership will still need to be broken down for 1-2 man fighters in wings. Each wing taking orders from the FC who is on one of the multi-crew ships. Each Multi-crew ship takes orders from the ships captain who gets orders from the FC.
On ground: This level of fighting may require more autonomy on small unit leaders and will need a overall commander coordinating with the small unit leaders to get the job done. This level of fighting will require a clear chain of command to be used and each low level player will be required to do what they are told any way they can. The higher up commanders are working similar to a FC in space coordinating with platoons or Squads or whatever unit we want to use in order to achieve the objective. placing units in the right spot at the right time to support each other will be key, as such each unit leader will need to be able to utilize their teams to get done what the unit commander says to do. I do not see this being a combat style often used since I don't see FPS fights being that large of a scale that often. Although I hope I am wrong. Would love to see a fleet of 40 ships 1 capital each fighting it out and groups of 40+ marines fighting hatch to hatch for control of the capital ships or station they are fighting over
1-2 Man fighter
These fleets will primarily have the duty of killing enemy fighters. You take orders from your flight commander, who gets his orders from the FC. Other duties will be things like escorting multi-crew ships and bombers. Protecting them so they can do their mission of destroying enemy ships. Also scouting will be vital role to be filled as well as small scale Electronic Warfare.
Multi-crew Ship
Act as Command vessel when necessary and perform other support or combat roles as necessary. This ship only takes orders from the ship captain, who receives orders from the FC. The ship captain will call targets and headings for the ships crew who will then run the ship. Turret gunners and the like get more autonomy since they have limited arc's of fire but in the end the whole ship relies on the captain to run it properly to complete its job. Multi-crew ships will have specific tasks like Command ship housing the FC and running other fleet support systems, Seek and Destroy where its a combat craft sent in to kill, Bombing where you go in to deliver a special payload up a special targets backside, or even protection duties of a larger ship. Any role that needs special attention these ships can perform.
Capital Ship
These ships will be the panicle of any fleet. Performing any role under the sun this ship will be the centerpiece of all operations. Acting as the command vessel when present this ship will house the FC as well as any other commanders he may need to support him in commanding the large fleet that will accompany this vessel. If there is more than one a command ship will be designated and the other capital ships will work like a multi-crew ship performing roles as needed. These ships will be able to perform many tasks at once and as such may need a chain of command within them. The captain gives the order to a commander within the ship and he uses his subordinates to perform the task. Fights involving these ships will be interact and require a lot of planning to perform.
Marines
Unless they are 1's and 2's on a multi-crew ship for security I see them working in fire teams and squads under the company commander or in large scale as companies under the Battalion commander. Either way aboard ship they are security, aboard station they are task organized and ready to kill.
In the end I will say anyone willing to try to lead step forward and lets try you out. Every leader brings something to the table even if its having a unique perspective on not being able to hear. The human body compensates by enhancing other traits that still work. What I mean by that is you may see something we don't since we are trying to see and hear and you can only see. Every member is valuable in their own way and situation. Even if it does not work out having you be the FC perhaps you can be in the command team supporting the FC with intel or performing any other role in a command position. Another possibility is having you as FC in the capital ship coordinating fleet movements in a txt chat with the various other commanders and then they issue orders from there via voice and get the task completed. Every player can contribute in their own way. I see no reason why you cant contribute in a major way as a FC. we would just have to figure out how to do it and find any weaknesses in it.
any fighting that is 30 or less per side or in total.
In space:This level of fighting I see very little multi crew ships involved in. If they are going to be present they are a capital ship of sorts for this level of fighting. Used as a command vessel or to counter any multi-crew ships brought by the enemies. As such I see this as 95% 1-2 man fighters. Any tactics used here will be small unit tactics like wingmen and other dog fighting tactics. If multi-crew ships are used you might be able to involve marines for boarding parties but that will take a lot of planning and coordination. This level of combat will require the most low level player decision making and skill. Combat will be fast and fierce and most of the time the commander will just be worried about keeping his group of ships together so they don't spread out to far. Leaders at this level will need to be versed in WW2 and todays dog fighting tactics. Your average Testies will be given a lot more autonomy in what they do and will need to be able to make good decisions on their own as to who to chase and who to leave alone. Flights should be broken down into at least groups of 4-8 ships to be wingmen if not broken down into pairs.
On ground: For the FPS combat this level of fighting will be most common. Small unit tactics and urban warfare will be at least 80% of the things any FPS player will be doing if not more than that. As it is going to be more tactical I see a lot more RL tactics being taken directly from our militaries and implemented here if we intend to do more than just go in as a group and hope we win.
Large gang Warfare
30+ per side or total number
In space: This is where you get into the capital ship level of combat or the large fleets of multi-crew ships and 1-2man fighters. Especially in the beginning of PU we will not see many capitals if at all. and I hope it stays that way since they require 10+ players to pilot them effectively meaning we will need 30 people just to run certain capital ships and that doesn't include the 70 or so other players we will need to support that 1 capital ship. I don't expect to see fleets of hundreds of ships for a long time so I am keeping this level of warfare classified as player count not ship count. Multi-crew ships like Constellation and Freelancer will be used as well as cutlass and other 2-3 man fighter craft with small 1 man fighters making up a bulk of our fleet. as such leadership will still need to be broken down for 1-2 man fighters in wings. Each wing taking orders from the FC who is on one of the multi-crew ships. Each Multi-crew ship takes orders from the ships captain who gets orders from the FC.
On ground: This level of fighting may require more autonomy on small unit leaders and will need a overall commander coordinating with the small unit leaders to get the job done. This level of fighting will require a clear chain of command to be used and each low level player will be required to do what they are told any way they can. The higher up commanders are working similar to a FC in space coordinating with platoons or Squads or whatever unit we want to use in order to achieve the objective. placing units in the right spot at the right time to support each other will be key, as such each unit leader will need to be able to utilize their teams to get done what the unit commander says to do. I do not see this being a combat style often used since I don't see FPS fights being that large of a scale that often. Although I hope I am wrong. Would love to see a fleet of 40 ships 1 capital each fighting it out and groups of 40+ marines fighting hatch to hatch for control of the capital ships or station they are fighting over
1-2 Man fighter
These fleets will primarily have the duty of killing enemy fighters. You take orders from your flight commander, who gets his orders from the FC. Other duties will be things like escorting multi-crew ships and bombers. Protecting them so they can do their mission of destroying enemy ships. Also scouting will be vital role to be filled as well as small scale Electronic Warfare.
Multi-crew Ship
Act as Command vessel when necessary and perform other support or combat roles as necessary. This ship only takes orders from the ship captain, who receives orders from the FC. The ship captain will call targets and headings for the ships crew who will then run the ship. Turret gunners and the like get more autonomy since they have limited arc's of fire but in the end the whole ship relies on the captain to run it properly to complete its job. Multi-crew ships will have specific tasks like Command ship housing the FC and running other fleet support systems, Seek and Destroy where its a combat craft sent in to kill, Bombing where you go in to deliver a special payload up a special targets backside, or even protection duties of a larger ship. Any role that needs special attention these ships can perform.
Capital Ship
These ships will be the panicle of any fleet. Performing any role under the sun this ship will be the centerpiece of all operations. Acting as the command vessel when present this ship will house the FC as well as any other commanders he may need to support him in commanding the large fleet that will accompany this vessel. If there is more than one a command ship will be designated and the other capital ships will work like a multi-crew ship performing roles as needed. These ships will be able to perform many tasks at once and as such may need a chain of command within them. The captain gives the order to a commander within the ship and he uses his subordinates to perform the task. Fights involving these ships will be interact and require a lot of planning to perform.
Marines
Unless they are 1's and 2's on a multi-crew ship for security I see them working in fire teams and squads under the company commander or in large scale as companies under the Battalion commander. Either way aboard ship they are security, aboard station they are task organized and ready to kill.
In the end I will say anyone willing to try to lead step forward and lets try you out. Every leader brings something to the table even if its having a unique perspective on not being able to hear. The human body compensates by enhancing other traits that still work. What I mean by that is you may see something we don't since we are trying to see and hear and you can only see. Every member is valuable in their own way and situation. Even if it does not work out having you be the FC perhaps you can be in the command team supporting the FC with intel or performing any other role in a command position. Another possibility is having you as FC in the capital ship coordinating fleet movements in a txt chat with the various other commanders and then they issue orders from there via voice and get the task completed. Every player can contribute in their own way. I see no reason why you cant contribute in a major way as a FC. we would just have to figure out how to do it and find any weaknesses in it.
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Lonestar the Kilrathi
Rear Admiral
yeah, my raiding guild had a similar radio discipline rule when we were doing new raids and stuff, but that was certainly the more hardcore side of my raiding days and worked great since everyone followed the rules and all. but it required that everyone follow that extra step and follow a set of strict guidelines. random raiding had no such discipline and most pug raids vent was pretty useless except for a ready check before a fight. but, even better than a verbal ready check was the in-game ready check which was a visual in-game pop-up.
anyway, for a well organized group of players that play together frequently i'm sure voip will work great, but we'll have to see what kind of in-game tools we have for fleet management and how badly people ignore them and just use voip. i expect, like any game, that not using all of the tools available to you will ultimately be to the detriment of the fleet action, whether that be ignoring in-game tools for the speed of voip, or not using voip and exclusively using alternatives.
off-topic: what i really want and expect to be the very best way to manage a fleet is, as you suggest, independent channels and linked comms with a robust system of in-game tools to set nav points for fighters and issue orders. my pipe-dream wish fulfillment desire is that FC plays more like an RTS where as FC you have an overview where you can select units and ping waypoints to give paths and objectives (i.e. scout, patrol, attack, defend, escort, etc.) and it's up to the players to either follow the orders as issued, or, randomly fly around and annoy the fuck out of FC.
Sort of like an RTS where the units follow orders only if they want to. but, the crux of it i guess is that in a game like an RTS a player is able to issue orders and micromanage a huge army without verbal orders. if FC in the SC PU is robust enough then verbal communication won't be nearly as important for relaying the critical orders. and imho relaying critical orders should be an in-game mechanic kind of thing rather than a voice kind of thing. because we are going to be flying with AI wingmen and we'll need some way to communicate with them quickly and in the heat of battle. so i expect it to be pretty damn robust, especially at the cap ship level. i think we'll be blown away by the kind of control systems they're implementing. of course that's just my opinion.
thanatos73
Space Marshal
Ya, what @Adiran said, plus my 2 credits:
Ex-military myself, having served in a Headquarters Company of a field unit, real world comms end up working out to an odd kind of shorthand, usually passed down from HMFIC to the new HMFIC. And as long as things don't get crossed, it usually works pretty well. And as a point of note, my old Unit was quite a lot like TEST, we didn't do things "by the book", and but what needed to get done, got DONE(minus a Blackhawk or Kiowa along the way).
Either way, I would follow @NKato into battle, and as long as I didn't get killed along the way, I'll do it more than once.
Ex-military myself, having served in a Headquarters Company of a field unit, real world comms end up working out to an odd kind of shorthand, usually passed down from HMFIC to the new HMFIC. And as long as things don't get crossed, it usually works pretty well. And as a point of note, my old Unit was quite a lot like TEST, we didn't do things "by the book", and but what needed to get done, got DONE(minus a Blackhawk or Kiowa along the way).
Either way, I would follow @NKato into battle, and as long as I didn't get killed along the way, I'll do it more than once.
Yeah thats what I was thinking. What type of operations are we talking about? Just normal "hey this is the play you guys go do that" or more as in a battle? In battle it may be a problem, in normal fleet operations not so much a problem. Personally hearing someone addressing the whole group is a lot easier for me at least, I find it hard to look at text well dealing with something, mind you thats in a more involved situation.
I can tell you after a while it gets a lot easier. I was worried at first in my other games at helping lead over a thousand people during events and hell just on normal things! But it really does become really easy and natural, the number on key is to not react but to look at all the possibilities then choose what you feel is right, this is where experience over time will make it so much easier. :) And after a while people wont even think about questioning you either once you show that you are working hard.
On the other hand, what you could do is create a deaf/hearing impaired people fleet, called the Silent Assassins, the guys that never broke radio silence. You guys could communicate using a google hangouts style situation via hand signals!
Dammit man! Are you trying to get us all killed? Unless they will use this to steal us more beer.. hmmm