I comm alot of games, and the most annoying thing possible is to have an ideal build utterly screwed over because your marines refuse to build structures you've dropped even while you yell at them. In NS timing in res usage matters. "hey comm, I'm in the hive, drop me a PG" "YOU RAN OUT OF BASE WITHOUT BUILDING THE OBS YOU MORON!", happens to me at least every second game these days. If you don't know how to comm, then listen to the comm, because he's responsible for knowing how to win the game, not you.

Now, in a game of NS you should know that good comms drop structures on the far wall away from the comm chair. This is a good place to start when the comm asks you to build something as soon as you spawn. Browse the far wall for structures that need to be built. Hopefully you've been playing long enough to know what an unbuilt structure looks like at a glance. This leads to part 2... If you still can't find it start looking at other places, other walls. Especially obs sometimes get placed in different places to take advantage of their view radius. Look close to the entrances of bases. If you have looked around and can't find the structure you were asked to build, this is NOT an invitation to leave base without building it. The extra 10 seconds it takes you to ask the comm where the structure is are better used doing that then running towards the aliens first hive and dying uselessly again. Although I know how much all you 1337 players love to do that. It's possible that you misheard the comm, or you were expecting to build a different structure then was actually asked to be built. Check the dropped structures and make sure they are all finished. Especially IP's can be hard to see.

Overall, just for the love of God stop running out of base like a superhero when I'm yelling at you to build my damn obs. If the obs goes up late that means phase goes up late, and I can't set the siege up at the second hive, and therefore we lose, just because you didn't obey your damn orders the first time. Promptly building a structure after it is dropped massively improves the comm's build efficentcy and means in the long run you're probably alot more likely to win. Plus I'm a nice guy, if you're a good player and you waste time building for me, I'll probably drop you a shotgun or HMG. It's worth it.

There should be a way for the comm to give the rines a big slap so the player that gets slapped will have his screen bounce violently to the left or something and then back to normal. (short effect)

Just to make it clear to the marine that they just made a brain-fart.

LOL.. CommSlap.
*Screen shakes heavily*, You have been slapped with 15dmg by the comm for being a complete retard. hehe.

A even better idea.. ppl.. use the bloody map. the newly placed obs is right there.

Part of the issue is that the "silent drop" issue has either never been fully fixed or was reintroduced with ghost structures.

Then the generally lower awareness in pubs... (Situational awareness is THE key skill for FPS games... it's kinda sad that most don't foster the level they should.)

There's not to much one can do, other than hold the grunts by the hand. I'll admit, early game I tend to ignore a comm and go secure nodes, unless I decide to play base monkey. (Which I do often enough. I try to be a stop-gap, since I know I'm not the best.)


Again, it's the pub-v-pro deal. Most people have a plan of how something should go down, and they follow it. Sometimes even against the ideals of the ones who're supposed to be directing that plan.




Honestly though, a slap function would be an opening for some mild abuse. (Although comm-eject does exist, the game's usually blown by the point one get's booted.) I'd rather unbuilt structures get a HUD icon, like SoF when one's within a certian radius. (Maybe a diamond icon similar to the rings of MT... Or the "weld" icon.)

One game I had an arms lab sitting in base for about 2-3 minutes, and nobody built it. Then some self-righteous "l33t" player latejoins and tries to eject me for not having any upgrades.

WELL BUILD THE ###### ARMS LAB AND YOU'LL GET YOUR UPGRADES!!!

This is why I curse loudly and often when I am in the comm chair.

But seriously, watching the map does the trick indeed, as D.C. Darkling said.

<edit>fixed ;-)</edit>

exacly.. thats why I do that always.

LOL. Hand from Dungeon Keeper? (Or DK2)

Also.. for the ppl who know me a tad better from ingame.. Call me D.C. Darkling ok. The bloody forums charachter rules ruined my ingame name.

No offense intended, but I'll call you DC because it is short. Names are garbled on the internet all the time. Feel free to call me swift, swifty, ss, spear, whatever. No one is going to type 10 character when they can do 5 simply because I'm hung up on it. This is the internet, you're not allowed to be offended by stupid stuff like that here.

Sorry.. not what I ment. (everyone calls me D.C. or Darkling hehe)

I ment it sucks to see my name as DC_Darkling cause the forums owned my name. So I prefer any short names but not the full forum name.

DC is fine to I guess.. I just hate how the forums owned my online name.

Fair enough, but ctrl-c ctrl-v is still faster then typing 9 characters...

So type something like D.C. and were both happy.

Silent dropping was not reintroduced, unless theres a new way of doing it. Ive tried a good few times since 3.2 final, and no deal. I loved that semi-exploit in its heyday.

If you cant find a struc, yep, minimap is by far the quickest way to go, assuming you know what the struc looks like on the map.

But really, I comm ALL the time, and when i want someone to build something, i just tell him over the mic, using his specific name, while simultaneously giving him a waypoint. WPs are so easy to place, and so effective for showing marines exactly what i want them to do. I dont understand why most comms barely use them, unless its simply out of laziness or lack of skill.

...a buddy who i introduced to NS a few months ago told me one time that he can always tell when im comming because waypoints pop up constantly showing him exactly what to do. He was a total nub, and apparently it made everything way easier on marines. I took it as a huge compliment

lmao, I can imagine your rage quitting a game, just to write this topic, then rejoining to carry on shouting down your mike at some guy wandering into the aliens main hive.

really, finding unbuilt structures is not hard. its thateveryone expects someone else to be a base monkey. this is why mike chat in NS is so very very important.

As comm, one thing you can do other than yelling at your marines is wait until the marine has spawned (and given him a second or two to get his bearings) before dropping the structure. If you just drop it when you have the time/res even if there's no one in base, it's more convenient for you, but it's much easier for a marine to miss. Most players automatically think "I need to build" when they hear that drop sound, though, so dropping it when someone is in base is generally easier (plus it's just smarter now that ghost structures have been added).

i find the best way to get a structure built is to immediately put a build structure waypoint on it. rambos will run back from spawn camping a hive just to get rid of that damn waypoint if that doesn't work, ill annoy them with redundant build structure waypoints so they can't hear any alien noises.. all while yelling via mic and text.
I'm a terrible comm, i know

or entice someone with a sg/hmg as a reward for building whatever, and then conveniently forget afterwards.
another way is to find one person in your spawn queue who is likely to build and call him specifically by name to build whatever needs building.

I do that sometimes. Only if it's a new player usually. Everyone else gets their shotguns for being able to shoot. I find marines run past build structure wps all the time, but telling them by name to go usually works.

everyone who has ever been under my command for a serious match knows I command one way only..
FOOD. Follow Orders Or Die.

I want med or gearup anyone who aint listening.. that also counts for build orders.

I rage because it works.

Singling out marines works too. Diffusion of responsibility is a powerful thing.