Just as the title says. I am curious to see if any of you have the feeling that as soon as you get into the fray, suddenly 3+ pilots switch targets and gun for you? In the last few weeks, since 1 pilot did just that in a TDM against me and made a post about it (BTW, the post was deleted the same day it went up), my GSF life has been...interesting

If any of my fellow pilots feel the same way i do, let me know and we can all feel flattered and nervous at the same time

I am not feeling like having a bounty on my head, I am sure I have one.

Obvious focus is obvious.

It varies. I'm nowhere near as high profile as a lot of the more infamous pilots on TeH, but if they aren't around I become a pretty prime target. Though I often have a one battle bounty length by some of the better pilots because I actively try to hunt them during a fight.

Best way to learn is to receive a repeated curb stomping from the best, after all.

I hate being focused, especially after they nerfed my GS to make sure that I die at least once a match now. As you play the game you start to create your own rivalries with people who then spam the /ops chat with "TARGET so and so". It definitely makes your enjoyment of THAT MATCH pretty underwhelming (again, post 2.7 as before I could take out an entire team w/o dying. Now, every Type 2 battlescout has a 98% change to finish me off).

I think if they removed nameplates from opposition, it would help reduce being focused by name and instead be focused by ships and general strategies

I hate being focused, especially after they nerfed my GS to make sure that I die at least once a match now. As you play the game you start to create your own rivalries with people who then spam the /ops chat with "TARGET so and so". It definitely makes your enjoyment of THAT MATCH pretty underwhelming (again, post 2.7 as before I could take out an entire team w/o dying). I think if they removed nameplates from opposition, it would help reduce being focused by name and instead be focused by ships and general strategies

That is a very, very interesting notion. I'm not sure how I feel about it. In some sense, I feel like it would make combat less personal. Right now, when I engage someone I've fought before and know well, their name tells me a lot about how they fly, how they're built, how aggressive/conservative they are, etc. And when one of us wins the fight, there's a little shot of dopamine.

For example, as a rule I hunt down Gunships. If it's a name I don't particularly recognize, I'll often come straight at it. But if it's you (Aimbot) or Phil or another Gunship ace, I know you're snapshot is deadly and that I'll need to flank ... and to watch out for Swansea covering/avenging you. And if I do manage to kill you and escape, I get that little brief insta-glee (as I'm sure you get every time you kill me).

If there were no pilot nameplates ... things would be different. I'm not even sure exactly how. Could I recognize an enemy pilot based on their style and build (or their cosmetic choices?), or would I not know who I'm attacking until I kill them or they kill me (I'm assuming "X killed Y" messages would remain).

I feel like overall, no nameplates would benefit me. Right now, once I get focused, I sometimes have to run clear across the map before pursuers give up the chase. Would they chase me for so long if they weren't sure it was me? What if I was just some scrub in a Blackbolt that wasn't a threat?

Also, I would think Gunship pilots wouldn't want this change, as it makes their role less tactical. Right now a Gunship can pick out a priority target and cripple/kill them from range. If you didn't know who was who, you couldn't prioritize as much.

Either way, the argument is academic I'm sure. I seriously doubt BioWare would make that change.

Or maybe make it a new Tactical Crew option... something like "Transponder Scrambler" that hides your name from everyone, and (for balance) hides everyone else's name from you.

I see that i am definitely not alone in this situation! I like the suggestion of removing the name plates from enemy ships. It would make focusing 1 pilot in particular go the way of the dodo bird.

I like it as well.

It would let more room for PuG elites to fight groups on vocal as they'll likely not know where "the dude" is.

At the moment focus firing is so potent (let's face it, it's too easy to eliminate the few threatening pilots if you can name and focus) that I call these kinds of focus "Can't let you do that starfox"

A bounty on my head? Nah, we're so popular our opponents just have to send us flowers during the match, gift-wrapped in explosive goodness.

Seriously, it depends on who we're facing. The good pilots will focus one or two of us who're flying something annoying (like a gunship), average pilots try to stay clear of us or bring overwhelming force to bear and some pilots just lemming rush to their doom.

On removing nameplates:

Well, that would make identifying and reporting laggers much harder than it needs to be. Please note I said reporting as in "opening a ticket", not "screaming their name all over /1 and /4".

I just mostly assume that people are after me because I'm in a Gunship.

Or it might be the two to three times I hose somebody down, and maybe a couple of those times, they decided was needlessly cheap or something.

I think I earn my bounties in every match.

Earlier today I went to grab a DO I spotted on the minimap, found it was actually a weapons overcharge, turned around, and discovered that four guys had followed me.

It was unpleasant.

That is a very, very interesting notion. I'm not sure how I feel about it. In some sense, I feel like it would make combat less personal. Right now, when I engage someone I've fought before and know well, their name tells me a lot about how they fly, how they're built, how aggressive/conservative they are, etc. And when one of us wins the fight, there's a little shot of dopamine.

 

For example, as a rule I hunt down Gunships. If it's a name I don't particularly recognize, I'll often come straight at it. But if it's you (Aimbot) or Phil or another Gunship ace, I know you're snapshot is deadly and that I'll need to flank ... and to watch out for Swansea covering/avenging you. And if I do manage to kill you and escape, I get that little brief insta-glee (as I'm sure you get every time you kill me).

 

If there were no pilot nameplates ... things would be different. I'm not even sure exactly how. Could I recognize an enemy pilot based on their style and build (or their cosmetic choices?), or would I not know who I'm attacking until I kill them or they kill me (I'm assuming "X killed Y" messages would remain).

 

I feel like overall, no nameplates would benefit me. Right now, once I get focused, I sometimes have to run clear across the map before pursuers give up the chase. Would they chase me for so long if they weren't sure it was me? What if I was just some scrub in a Blackbolt that wasn't a threat?

 

Also, I would think Gunship pilots wouldn't want this change, as it makes their role less tactical. Right now a Gunship can pick out a priority target and cripple/kill them from range. If you didn't know who was who, you couldn't prioritize as much.

 

Either way, the argument is academic I'm sure. I seriously doubt BioWare would make that change.

 

Or maybe make it a new Tactical Crew option... something like "Transponder Scrambler" that hides your name from everyone, and (for balance) hides everyone else's name from you.

I really like the Transponder Scrambler idea. Maybe in a T3 GS? Who knows. It would definitely create a nice little deterant from constantly attempting to kill the same player repeatedly just because you've seen their name once or twice.

I think that if we could still see the ship types, it would just just as valuable as seeing the name (hear me out here... homonyms lol). We all have a bit of an idea in terms of our personal targeting priority (excluding who's piloting the ship because that DOES make the biggest difference).

In a TDM, I'm pegging as many scouts as I can find (out the gate), then focusing my attention on the remaining strikes (cuz they move faster than GSs or Bombers). Assuming I've taken out my targets and haven't been focused, I'm then pressing the gunships and finishing off with the bombers. In Domination, priority becomes "KEEP THE BOMBER AWAY". Then I usually fire at who's closest (unless there is an inc scout that a nice crit can 1 shot). The point here is that, assuming all else equal in terms of pilot skill, the ships are the only difference between the sides (and playstyle may be forced to change as x amount of bombers increased, etc. etc.). Instead of focusing on a known good player, you'd be forced to decide what the biggest risk is - the bomber incoming or the scout at the sat, instead of saying "well that scout is a two ship and it's a name I don't recognize so I'll take him out after I ion the inc bomber and quickly cap the sat then redirect attention back to the bomber".

Also, I definitely believe that you're able to judge someone off of their playstyle. It's nice to know who's in the match, which I think is completely fine, but I'll know who's piloting it based on how they're playing. I actually got called out by someone who recognized my playstyle and called me by my main's name on the opposite faction. I played innocent, but I could tell that they knew who I was. I believe the message was something like "You're either him or you know him because you're using the same build and same strategies". If that hadn't happened the other day, I don't think I would've been as able to believe that it could be done but alas, it was. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense because you're going to notice who's killing you and how they kill you more often than how you kill other players (negative vs positive impacts). In that regard, I think that removing the nameplates wouldn't hurt the game at all. It'll actually make it MORE intimate, like a romance at a masquarade. You don't know who you're fighting, but the time that the two of you clash, you know it's going to be tough, engaging, and exciting. I definitely get that dopamine shot when you're not flying that support ship and actually engaging me, because I enjoy facing tough competition (as I'm sure you do as well).

Keep the X killed Y messages - that's how you can create some truly cool rivalries IMO. If I tab target to the closest victim, I don't really look at the name as I'm more concerned with blasting their ship to bits (shoot first, ask questions last mentality).

I too doubt it would happen, but it would be extremely interesting to see the results

Nor sure how I feel about this one, im generally against the "remove name" thing, this one does intrigue me though. Have you considered a tie in with sensor probes, remote slicing, or slicers loop? All of these things could use a little usefulness anyway, might as well be a hard "sensor counter" and possibly stealth debuff type stuff for later.

Allowing for a counter would be a must IMO they bring a sensor buster, you bring a sensor sensor buster

My worry with removing names would be that veteran players would disproportionately gain the advantage over newer players. A new pilot would just blend in, a fine benefit for sure, but they cant really capitalize off the benefit.

Veterans get focused, and for good reason. 1-2 good players can really swing a match, imagine if you couldn't pick them out? It could be a massacre =/

I also fear the day of faceless anonymous squads of bombers flying into nodes and freaky anonymous gunships that you cant tell if they are a threat or not.... *shudders* thanks guys im pretty sure ill have nightmares tonight

On a side note, we really do need more crew members / abilities / options. I say keep the ideas coming, I doubt this particular one would go in but it wouldn't be game breaking or anything if it did.

I hate being focused, especially after they nerfed my GS to make sure that I die at least once a match now. As you play the game you start to create your own rivalries with people who then spam the /ops chat with "TARGET so and so". It definitely makes your enjoyment of THAT MATCH pretty underwhelming (again, post 2.7 as before I could take out an entire team w/o dying. Now, every Type 2 battlescout has a 98% change to finish me off).

 

I think if they removed nameplates from opposition, it would help reduce being focused by name and instead be focused by ships and general strategies

If you are a gunship you are everyone's fave target. You can be killed quickly and are a pain in everyone's rear

Turning off nameplates is a terrible idea.

Reasons?

1. It's bad.
   
2. It destroys the sense of community.
   
3. It is useful to be able to see who is who.
   
4. There's a reason every game basically ever has nameplates or callsigns or similar (even console FPSes like Halo)
   
5. It dehumanizes the opponents and makes things feel like PvE.
   
6. Rivalries are fun.
   
7. "Waaah waaaah people focus me because I'm good I'd like to be able to farm noobs more easily" is not a good reason for any change.
   

Also, it's bad.

[*]"Waaah waaaah people focus me because I'm good I'd like to be able to farm noobs more easily" is not a good reason for any change.

This....it's bad enough we have new players on the forums whining all the time about game difficulties...the last thing we need is veterans whining also.

1. It's bad.
   
2. It destroys the sense of community.
   
3. It is useful to be able to see who is who.
   
4. There's a reason every game basically ever has nameplates or callsigns or similar (even console FPSes like Halo)
   
5. It dehumanizes the opponents and makes things feel like PvE.
   
6. Rivalries are fun.
   
7. "Waaah waaaah people focus me because I'm good I'd like to be able to farm noobs more easily" is not a good reason for any change.
   

Also, it's bad.

I saw this list and had to laugh. Someone has never been on the wrong side of this.

Rivalries fun ? In these games that translates to how unenjoyable you can make the game for the other side.

Dehumanizes ? I don't even want to go there. At least removing nameplates would only dehumanize the other side instead of the way calling for focus dehumanizes both.

Destroys the sense of community ? Not a day goes by where I don't see people mad enough to spit nails over the lopsided matches, and being swarmed. There is little to no community in this game.

Depersonalizing this would likely be a greatest good for the greatest number move if ever there was one.

I saw this list and had to laugh. Someone has never been on the wrong side of this.

I can promise you that Kuciwalker has been on the receiving end of this many, many times.

Also, how the hell are you "the" JM GS pilot?

He filed the paperwork required for a title claim first. Why, how did you think that sort of thing works? Granted, the answer lacks romance, mystery, and any sense of adventure, but that's often the case in life.

I can promise you that Kuciwalker has been on the receiving end of this many, many times.

^ this