Suggestion for voice comms

F

FactualOrc

Guest
Hi everybody,
FactualOrc here

I have noticed that the mumble channel can be quite chaotic at times. At any given moment there can be people discussing strategy (like talking about what continent to attack next), there can be people giving tactical commands to no one in particular (like hold the cc or attack the ams), there can be people giving sitreps also to no one in particular (gal-drop incoming or ams at my position) and there can be people just gossiping about their day at work.

I think that this is terribly inefficient because it is very easy to stop paying attention because most of what is being said does not apply to you. So when something comes around that is directed at you, you either don’t know it is directed at you or you just don’t hear it.

So what I propose is a radical change to the mumble server. I have done up a diagram to explain my idea (I know it was done in paint but bear with me).

command_dia.bmp


The idea is that the only things you hear are sitreps from soldiers below you and commands from officers above you and the only things you say are either sitreps to officers above you or commands to soldiers below you. Obviously not all groups will be able to do all of these things and obviously the C.O.s can hear each other but I think that this will improve the outfit efficiency and all of our kill/death ratios.
 

Juggernaut

Interwebs Mechanic
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Recruit
Jul 20, 2006
3,285
951
143
46
Ireland, Galway
shanecunningham.me
not exactly sure how that would work , or is that even possible in mumble or any voice client.

We intent to use Command Break, where everyone shuts up, no matter who you are,(you will be muted if they continue talking), That way we can get our orders out clearly, we also find that we will in the future have to use separate channel for different squads, and whisper between sq leaders and officers.(We have our officer whisper group already running )

so if a SQ leader wants to lead ,he will have to a working mic, otherwise this system won't work.
we have reached a turning point in our comms,for the last few months we were having 10-20 on voice comms in the evening and that was fine.but the voice comms reaching 38 in one channel last night :), we will have to change that ASAP

We can also Shout to channels and the whole server if needed,
 
F

FactualOrc

Guest
Re: Juggernaut

The problem with the current setup is that everyone is talking to everyone. If we all split up into seperate channels then it would be easier to pull off operations and keep control of the outfit.

Let me give you an example.

The main channel would be the CO channel where you Chewie and maybe Jeff discuss startegy. Then you would decide what you want each squad specifically to do (of which i suggest there are 6 of 5 people for ease of organisation) and then you would relay those commands to the squads' respective squad leaders. You would use whispers so that the squad leader only hears his command. Each squad would have its own channel; the squad leader would be able to speak freely among his squad and would be expected to co-ordinate his squad based on the orders from the COs. The other people in the squad should only need to speak when giving sitreps to their squad leader and should only whisper to the squad leader so that they dont hear the sitreps of the other soldiers because the might not be relevant or important.
 

Juggernaut

Interwebs Mechanic
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Recruit
Jul 20, 2006
3,285
951
143
46
Ireland, Galway
shanecunningham.me
Re: Juggernaut

not sure that would work, as it would be against the ethos of the outfit to have fun, that is a long winded way to past the same info onto sq leaders, as our current method which we used in the past ,

we haven't implement it since we hadn't the numbers till relatively recently. we will be doing so, in the near future, i have been working on the website alot recently
 
F

FactualOrc

Guest
Re: Juggernaut

it one sense it would be more fun because if we were in smaller groups people would be able to talk more and you wouldn't be giving the same orders to the same squads that just doesnt make sense
 

bpostal

Well-Known Member
Veterans
Apr 13, 2012
2,045
652
133
39
I could see that cutting down the amount of chatter over the comms but It would also add extra 'lag' and more chances at miscommunication. Separate channels for separate squads also negates the ability to quickly warn platoon members of targets.
Brevity codes may be a possibility; e.g. "Bomazi, Viking, 10 Mikes" but can be easily misunderstood.
IMHO (for what it's worth) the best option would be a two part deal depending on how many we have online. For off-peak or smaller, less organized maneuvers, voice comms can run mostly as it has been.
For the 30+, highly coordinated Outfit nights; stricter voice comms procedures and perhaps a 'shoot the shit' channel or just type all non-operational chat into /o.
When engaged in combat, maneuvering to contact, actively planning offensive or defensive formations or when it's just getting to be a bit noisy...having the squad button up to all but the most important of communications can help make sure the noise doesn't drive Juggs to drinking!

P.S. All the above typing are my opinions and opinions only, it's no good to get spun up about 'em.
HiI'mNewHere

EDIT: Platoons! I didn't think about this previously but if we've got multiple full platoons, unless they're needed for a large push I would imagine they would have separate channels and would work as different elements to support oneanother instead of one massive unit.
 
F

FactualOrc

Guest
I suppose the main problem with what we have now is everyone is essentially playing the lone wolf/zerging role. If we broke up into smaller teams and had our own channels it would be easier to stick together and work on objectives as a unit. I think this would also be more combat effective because each one of these teams would have its own medic, engineer, max and transport so it would be easier to attack towers/bases or travel to a distant objective.

that is a long winded way to past the same info onto sq leaders
I guess usually the whole outfit is doing one thing so you, as CO, could probably whisper/shout to all the squad channels when you are giving orders.

I also think that these teams should be around half the size of a normal squad because I think that it would be easier to co-ordinate.
 
V

Valandil

Guest
maybe this is just me, but if we aren't doing anything like an event then isn't it more fun to sit in one channel?

I really enjoy the chaos.
/runs
 
F

FactualOrc

Guest
[quote="Valandil" post=1124]maybe this is just me, but if we aren't doing anything like an event then isn't it more fun to sit in one channel?

I really enjoy the chaos.
/runs[/quote]

You do understand that you are in an "outfit" and that you are playing "planetside".
You're not playing COD in some kind of public chat