Will there be any reward for scouting?

[Karrade]

I am wondering if spotting the enemy will yield any small measure of exp, if you are the first to do so, in say an hour? Mechwarrior Online is finally being the first game to reward this very useful action, its taken many years of calling it for and its great to see.

Scouts help, as you know where your killing :), and what is headed your way, they can swing the match by giving people advanced warning. This in turn leads to the people commanding the larger units hitting or defending the right places. Scouts would include cloaked units but also air units, fast vehicles, anything forward enough to get a trace on the enemy.

[GoldDragon]

I doubt that "scouting" itself will ever yield XP in a game like PlanetSide primarily because SOE has done a lot to push people into acting and fighting where as scouts may have the tendency to sit back and mark targets. While useful, it's not as direct in terms of combat. For example, the have (currently) removed artillery from PS2 because of the indirect nature of the combat. That said, they may include an assist, or spot, bonus if an enemy you mark is killed.

[cluubias]

i hate to throw Battlefields name out there but i think BF3 does a good job at giving people XP for spotting, which helps greatly when capping flags, etc.

[Karrade]

Hmm interesting, let us hope it is rewarded as other games are beginning to pick up on. Doesn't have to be a lot, as a good scout can scout a lot ;).

It also encourages a first in mentality if that is what is desired, as the first at the front will be the person spotting some of the time as well.

If not the scouts will be the unsung heroes of the game once more.

As an example in recent memory, World of tanks = Scouting so useful, but completely unrewarded in exp or resources.

[regisp]

I like the idea of thinking it will be a part of the game, as it is something that seems like it will come in handy when trying to move into an enemy-owned area, but even more so when you ARE said enemy, and you gotta spot those damn infil.'s :D.

[Ratstomper]

In one of the idea threads, we were talking about an infiltrator (and maybe LA) specific ability to "paint" targets of opportunity. Once a spot was painted, it would place a marker for the whole squad or platoon to see. You could make it that the scout who painted the target gets a certain amount of XP for every kill made on people in the area of the target...

Other than that, I'm not sure how to implement a system where scouting itself rewards XP.

[Karrade]

In one of the idea threads, we were talking about an infiltrator (and maybe LA) specific ability to "paint" targets of opportunity. Once a spot was painted, it would place a marker for the whole squad or platoon to see. You could make it that the scout who painted the target gets a certain amount of XP for every kill made on people in the area of the target...

Other than that, I'm not sure how to implement a system where scouting itself rewards XP.

Few Ideas.

1, Scouting Missions - Scout this reference, hold for 5 mins. Nice, easy, simple.

2, First one of your platoon to spot enemy in a specific grid reference would be the way i'd logically flag it.

3, Failing that, an easy way - Every spotted enemy contributes a tiny amount of exp, and I do mean tiny, so that you need to scout a lot to make a small amount.

4, Maybe it'd be timer based so you'd need to scout X amount, in a small space of time, to make a small amount. Any dedicated scouts or people first into the fight therefor would gain exp that way.

[Ratstomper]

Few Ideas.

1, Scouting Missions - Scout this reference, hold for 5 mins. Nice, easy, simple.

2, First one of your platoon to spot enemy in a specific grid reference would be the way i'd logically flag it.

3, Failing that, an easy way - Every spotted enemy contributes a tiny amount of exp, and I do mean tiny, so that you need to scout a lot to make a small amount.

4, Maybe it'd be timer based so you'd need to scout X amount, in a small space of time, to make a small amount. Any dedicated scouts or people first into the fight therefor would gain exp that way.

But what's the incentive to spot people over just killing them? I had hoped scouting would be a more tactical tool to affect a battlefield, not just using it to mark individual troops. Unless I'm misunderstanding...

[Karrade]

But what's the incentive to spot people over just killing them? I had hoped scouting would be a more tactical tool to affect a battlefield, not just using it to mark individual troops. Unless I'm misunderstanding...

Commanders, Platoon Leaders, Squad Leaders, Players know what is coming there way, or what is ahead of them.

There is of course orbital strikes and such like, gal drops at the right place, bombing runs or armored columns so the incentive becomes what you make it.

How you use that intel is what the incentive is :). There will always be scouts, this way they are just getting some recognition for helping out the empire, which they frequently do. I see it in many games but only a select few reward them or even acknowledge it.

[Ratstomper]

Commanders, Platoon Leaders, Squad Leaders, Players know what is coming there way, or what is ahead of them.

There is of course orbital strikes and such like, gal drops at the right place, bombing runs or armored columns so the incentive becomes what you make it.

How you use that intel is what the incentive is :). There will always be scouts, this way they are just getting some recognition for helping out the empire, which they frequently do. I see it in many games but only a select few reward them or even acknowledge it.

Ah, ok. I see what you're saying now. For some reason I got hung up on your last point about spotting and thought you were talking about individual player spotting (like everyone can do now). That's why I asked what the point was of spotting one guy for your squad for a tiny bit of XP when you could just kill him instead.

Sounds good to me, assuming the scouting missions aren't boring as hell. One of the things I hated in PS1 was waiting for bases to cap. I really dislike sitting around with nothing to do, waiting for stuff to happen.

[Temperance]

i hate to throw Battlefields name out there but i think BF3 does a good job at giving people XP for spotting, which helps greatly when capping flags, etc.

BLASPHEMY! KILL THE BLASPHEMER!

No but I agree, rewarding players for scouting encourages teamwork considering they're given direct incentive for doing so. But BF3, the reward doesn't produce itself until after the scouted target is eliminated.

[Ratstomper]

BLASPHEMY! KILL THE BLASPHEMER!

No but I agree, rewarding players for scouting encourages teamwork considering they're given direct incentive for doing so. But BF3, the reward doesn't produce itself until after the scouted target is eliminated.

I've never actually played BF3, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about...BUT, having 64 vs 64 players, while alot of people, is nothing compared to 2000. Having scouting hinge on just single targets feels like filling a swimming pool one drop at a time. Scouting in PS2 would need to be much much more robust to provide any kind of service to the squad.

That's why I like the target painting idea for some classes better than single target spotting (like everyone can do). Pointing out a location where a galaxies are loading squads so you tanks can storm it sounds a lot more helpful than just single target spotting so one person dies.

[Temperance]

I've never actually played BF3, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about...BUT, having 64 vs 64 players, while alot of people, is nothing compared to 2000. Having scouting hinge on just single targets feels like filling a swimming pool one drop at a time. Scouting in PS2 would need to be much much more robust to provide any kind of service to the squad.

That's why I like the target painting idea for some classes better than single target spotting (like everyone can do). Pointing out a location where a galaxies are loading squads so you tanks can storm it sounds a lot more helpful than just single target spotting so one person dies.

I'm actually "coverting" from Battlefield to Planetside with PS2 so in my mind right now 2000 simultaneous players seems insane.

But yeah I see where you're coming from, in Battlefield everything is relatively close compared to PS2 so it isn't that difficult to spot say a tank or some other vehicle of the like considering you could just look across the map with a scope and see it. I can't imagine looking at a forward spawn area and trying to spot every single thing that comes pouring out of it. So yeah painting a general area would help quite a bit.

[fvdham]

Spotting in PlanetSide 1 is mostly about AMS, Lodestars and Galaxy's.
In PlanetSide 2 terms it would be just the Galaxy and of course AzK.

[VaderShake]

I doubt that "scouting" itself will ever yield XP in a game like PlanetSide primarily because SOE has done a lot to push people into acting and fighting where as scouts may have the tendency to sit back and mark targets. While useful, it's not as direct in terms of combat. For example, the have (currently) removed artillery from PS2 because of the indirect nature of the combat. That said, they may include an assist, or spot, bonus if an enemy you mark is killed.

No arty?? I was hoping this would be in. Not a deal breaker but it's such a large scale battle arty (mobile perferably or guns defending bases)of some sort makes sense.

[DodgeIt]

You can call over voice "Oh crap, tank at my location!"

And then your team mates kill it.

Xp is split between squad (i'm assuming you still get a % of kill xp for squad members?

[Karrade]

You can call over voice "Oh crap, tank at my location!"

And then your team mates kill it.

Xp is split between squad (i'm assuming you still get a % of kill xp for squad members?

I don't know if XP is split, I've seen no mention of it. - Would be nice, as a scout though many times you'd not be in the exact same zone as the squad.

That doesn't reward you for going forward, taking a risk, not spending all the time killing people, so you can better help the team know what is headed their way, or what to bring to be the most effective in their attack/defense.

Scouts are invaluable, communication like you've highlighted is as well. There will be scouts but whether or not the game recognises them remains to be seen.

Spotting in PlanetSide 1 is mostly about AMS, Lodestars and Galaxy's.
In PlanetSide 2 terms it would be just the Galaxy and of course AzK.

And how many tanks are there, if they have a lot of air cover, if the zerg is there, what to roll to be the most effective, etc. Basically any unit in the game, or that's put in the game at a later date.

Where the attack/push is, how heavy the defense is, if they are flanking to a tower. You know before it happens, this turns a fight. With bases being even bigger, I can foresee an even greater need for intel.