Points and team/role play

[War_Maggot]

There seems to be a plethora of people who play WoW who have no concept of how the game is supposed to be played. It is a TEAM game; that means you communicate, strategize, and do your job based on your ship's capabilities.

Unfortunately, a large number of players feel the need to go Rambo, thinking that kill score nets them a big reward. Not the case. Not only does it hurt the team, it does NOT increase your score nearly as much as role-based playing. Look at the team scores at the end of a match. How many times have you seen a ship with zero kills achieve the high score when a ship with 3 is two or three places under? And if you lose, it doesn't matter how many ships you sank; your score will be less than half what it would if you had won.

The math is simple. Score 25 hits, a base defense, an incapacitation and win, and you'll get a better score than the guy who got 2 kills and 60 hits. The scoring (and credits) is increased based on a few factors:

 

1. Number of different ribbons.

2. Type of ribbons.

3. WINNING.

4. Achievements.

 

With that in mind, some pointers:

 

Kills net you exponentially less XP and credits. Two gets you a fraction more than 1. Same with multiple hits.

I've done the math and watched carefully. Look at the attached screenies and you'll see the proof. Only one kill in the first one, and I netted over 7K. The third one had two, but two kills again is exponentially less reward. The fourth one was a LOSS, and I got 2K, again with one kill. The fourth is a classic example, I bagged every ribbon possible for a DD aside from citadel hit and the score reflects it.

If that isn't enough, look at number two. I NEVER FIRED A SHOT. I did the job a Japanese DD is supposed to do; remained undetected, snuck all the way around the enemy (the long way) and capped their base, which was completely undefended. 1.3K points, 68K credits. Another DD managed to hop in just before I finished capping and turned my ribbon into an assist, but the score seems to be no different whether it is a solo capture or an assist.

With low-tier play, it is understandable that they may not understand the nuances of the game. However, when you are in a T6-8 match and a ship leaves the enemy cap to chase down a badly damaged ship, it can cost the game, and often does. When you pull stunts like that, the whole team suffers. Players who did their job lose a ton of points because of it. Same thing with CV fever; just because a CV is exposed does not mean every idiot needs to abandon their job/post and rush to kill it. CVs are no more points for a sink than any other ship. In fact, I keep an Independence for my daily Clear Sky achievement, and if I am out of planes I will typically sail right at the enemy with my fleet near me to draw their fire. Invariably everyone fires on me while my team rips them apart for the win, and to anyone watching the metagame it should have been obvious that since I was suiciding and had NO PLANES in the air for an extended time, it was a ploy. Nope. They fall for it every time.

Cap defense is another fail area for most players. If you have a single team cap, it NEEDS TO BE DEFENDED. It's not rocket science; a cruiser should be at the cap at all times, preferably one with good AA and/or dd-killing ability. It can pull double duty and assist the CV, if there is one, by keeping planes away, which liberates any fighters the CV has to defend the fleet. You'll get hits and kills, the enemy will come to YOU. The hidden bonus? You'll be untouched near the end, and you can annihilate much bigger ships that are badly damaged.

We all know good CV players are as hard to find as morals in a politician. They usually tend to send planes over immediately to strike the enemy CV. That is NOT a CV's job, nor is "scouting" with fighters initially. Your job is simple: if you are fighter-based, protect the fleet. Coordinate with AA-specced ships to cover the fleet. Do not let the enemy know you even HAVE multiple fighter squads until it is unavoidable. If you are torp/bomb, do NOT go rushing after the enemy CV. It is a wasted endeavor most of the time, and can cost you an entire wave of planes. Stay with the fleet and hit  targets of opportunity, and ships that are a problem for the fleet. You'll get the benefit of AA cover, and do much more good for the team. You do not even need to score hits all the time; forcing a BB to turn broadside to your fleet with a torp spread exposes him to citadel hits. Attack multiple ships whenever possible. Not only does it soften them up for the fleet, it can gain you achievements. Also, it can get you a cheap kill if you pay attention. Hundreds of times I've watched a burning bb, hovering my torp or bombers just out of range, until he repairs, then hitting him to burn/flood for a kill. There are so many tactics and strategies to use that it is mind-boggling.

I'm not claiming to be the best player; I am not. What I am is a team player. When you are part of a team, it behooves you to play as such.

[toinkove]

Though I probably agree with you, how this game is "supposed to be played" isn't as cut and dry. Wargaming hasn't mandated how it's "supposed to be played", they're not banning players for leaving the cap and chasing a destroyer in their battleship, or anything close to this. Despite how much I may wish all players had the same objectives and played for the team, there will always be a good number of players who think this game is just GTA and play it as such.

[awiggin]

The game is designed so that players need maximum scores to generate the income required as well as xp. You really want to blame the players, for adapting to the game mechanics?

The have this new thing called team mode...you might want to try it...

Random will always be a zoo, and it will be a rare day when you get a team to play together...

And expecting players to adhere to your rules, in an ftp game that features a random mode, is no better than the players coming in and whining because they don't understand the game mechanics...

[INoCU]

Screenshots are missing. I think you may have misunderstood exp gain to an extent. Yes kills are irrelevant, but percent damage is not. You will get more exp for doing 100% damage to one ship than you will for doing 10% damage to 5 ships while securing 5 kills. You will also get more exp for doing 100% damage to 2 ships than you will for dealing 100% damage to one ship. Caps give a lot of exp, only in domination, but defense exp does seem minimal. 

 

Simply put there is no incentive to team play. Winning is the only real incentive, but it is a fairly weak one. There are plenty of people who play to play and/or to beat personal bests. 

So yes, people need to stop ramboing around, but the way the game is built does not incentivise team play.

[LordBenjamin]

Generally speaking you're right but the number of times some joker comes into the random battle playing Admiral giving out bad strats is laughable.  Also, their plans typically lack any sort of ability to react to the developing situation.

 

"Just defend east, everyone push west hard" can work but what if the enemy has a different plan of their own?  Things have to adapt and change depending on the circumstances.

[Raven114]

I just got out of a game where some, want to be Admiral gave orders that sunk 9 ships, Brothers map, Admiral AH yelled everyone up the slot they won't expect it, Me In a New Orleans and another player in a Cleveland typed don't do it Suicide. well 9 ships of all types ran up the slot at flank speed. 6 minutes into the game there was only a New Orleans, Cleveland, and a Benson on the map for the green team. Funniest thing I have seen since I started playing.....Oh yeah we lost!!!

 

[Slick201]

What if; WG implemented a 5-min. chat box prior to the start of the match? The time could be used to throw together a quick strategy and that "might" motivate people to work together as a team?

 

As things are now; I just look for a pair of DD's, a fellow CA, or a BB that appears to have a plan and "tag along" for the adventure, or if a close by player says something like; "I'm going to ____", I'll answer with; "I'll try to assist" and take up a position of support.

 

 

[War_Maggot]

Slick, that is actually a good idea. 5 minutes would bore most people, but what about if the load time was extended to a minute and you could chat there?