Ethan

Glad you took the time to make these changes! I was wondering if for the first theme (#1 on the list) if you could either update the black text to appear grey, or just change the theme's background for the text sections to a slightly ligher shade so the black option in font color can be visible without having to highlight it. I updated most of my posts that used black as text already, but it would be nice if that issue was prevented so that that theme is compatible even with the font color selections (essentially just make the background behind the text a shade that you can't get close enough to with the font colors that are available on the forums).

Update With the change in map, that was originally only a 3 day event, I didn't update the tryouts thinking it was only going to last 3 days. Now that is has been about 2 weeks ago and I think it is time we get SSO tryouts rolling again until the next map comes out. With that being said, the tryouts have been updated for the new map. Read up, and practice! Good luck!

We discussed this in TS, just want to put what we talked about here: If we had the Cease Fire and KOS reversed, then the KOS would rarely occur meaning when it did, it would pretty much be a TDM war. The concept of the KOS in No Man's Land is more relying on the fact that it won't be used by mass forces or the entire server all day, only the Special Forces units that go out there, organized groups of base factions, or individual soldiers with PTL, which makes that experience more interesting when less people are involved in the KOS imo (of course for the first few non-war times, there will probably be plenty of people in the map killing each other while exploring). We also discussed the RP kidnaps, they would just involve slight more coordination, but it would honestly open up more opportunities to kill targets, then chase the remaining soldier down, or sneak up on a group, and kidnap the last alive quickly, etc. Hope this changed your mind, Dempsey! Glad you brought these things up!

I understand what you're saying, but there's an easy solution. Just divide up the men into their groups, assign leaders for those groups to make sure the Enlisted have someone to remind them of their plan as they play and keep them in line, and then tell the group leaders where they are taking their groups once the 2 minute mark hits and there are no pre-cappers. Don't sit there and waste time of course. Just call it at around 10 minutes, give about 3 minutes to collect all forces, maybe less, then organize the base factions into their groups, then you can tell the Special Forces groups where they are going by telling them in radio, or to be more secure to stop a PVT shouting it out, tell the SF faction leader in a PM/on TS. There are many ways to avoid this issue, and it is much easier to do this for now until the possibility that "Cease and Disperse" is added, or the map is changed. Just making those that can hear the plan KOS would be interesting, but not needed at the moment, since this map isn't permanent.

I am confused why this wouldn't work with the war timer. It would work just fine in my head, from what I understand, but if you're willing, we could talk about this more in TS. The serious RP part I kind of understand, but the simple RP we have already is enough to do the small RP tasks that this map's system would offer. This map could be CSC Desert, just with a reshaping of the bases. The idea was brought up to me further because of people's enjoyment of the objectives being closer to their spawn, which this map also brings on. For example, the current bases would be the spawn locations, and the empty space behind both of the current bases would be used for the bases in my suggestion. I can show you this further in-game as part of the small talk in TS, again if you want. Just message me when you're available if you want on TS.

After talking with Hooman, he understood the suggestion a lot more, and we ended up with an extra suggestion to add. This would be called calling a "Cease Fire" which would disable the KOS between nations in No Man's Land. The only issue this might cause is confusion about the KOS being active or not, but that could easily be solved by asking the higher ups about the status (similar to how wars in the past on the original CSCDesert could have nation's team up, so people asked the leaders who they were allies with). Any confusion in the KOS could lead to the Cease Fire being called off, like if a PVT gets PTL, and kills a Russian during the Cease Fire, and another Russian saw it, they could cancel the Cease Fire with authorization from the highest ranking that's active. This would allow for some non-war times to be normal peace time like it is currently when leaders discuss this, but the default would be KOS in No Man's Land due to the nation's being enemies by default. The Cease Fires are only temporary for that peace time, and do not continue into the next one after the timed war, so leaders would have to discuss a Cease Fire again if they wished to continue it.

+1 to a ban time reduction, 1 day for accidental mass RDM. Reasoning for this is simple, he was a recruit, he didn't know the rules at the time, and that's what the accidental mass RDM ban is for. He wasn't intending to cause harm, but did. Although, he still did break rules and thus still deserves a ban, just not a full 2 week ban.

So I already covered the sims/tryouts issue in the post, but I can quickly describe it here again. Due to the center of the map being No Man's Land, limiting what you can do there, the bases are larger and included Simulation Rooms to be used in sims/tryouts, and extra Arenas for people to just practice in with a new Fight system to separate it from sims. I explain it in better detail in the post if you go to the paragraphs that start with "The Arenas", and "Sims/Tryouts in the map". I assume the first few sentences that you mean the bases take up a large space, so the objectives don't have as much room, but the idea isn't to be exactly 1:1 with my map, just the concept that the spawn tents/barracks will be around the area the current bases in CSCDesert are, with the cliff around it separating the territory from No Man's Land. Further described in more detail above if you want to reread the post. These are things some others have brought up in my discussions in TS before I posted this, but if this explanation still doesn't make sense, message me in TS (I will be AFK in Lobby, checking on it every now and then to see), and I can probably explain it better over voice with you.

Base Layout Suggestion Description: This suggestion is purely about the bases. The center of the map, where the objectives are and where war takes place is left out. I have suggested this already on Gildart's Community Curated Map thread, but I have added more detail, and explained a bit more to make this it's own thread. The map I put in the Additional Information portion will be used in reference to this post, so refer to that if you are confused on what I am talking about. The concept is based on a few different issues, providing solutions to those through the map, and giving room for new interactions. If you don't like the idea of this being our only map, it could always be another option for a rotation of maps to keep things interesting to change between this and another. Reasoning: Distance from objectives: A point I have seen come up, that I have come to agree with, is the distance the previous maps had between the bases and the objectives due to putting the bases in the corners of the map wasn't as interesting as it is on CSCDesert where the bases are closer to the objectives, but objectives like Outpost are a bit too close. This is secured by allowing spawn points to be outside of the bases within the territory through use of tents/barracks labeled "S" on the map below. These would theoretically be around the same area as the current bases in CSCDesert are. The bases with the tryout/sim/recruiting capabilities will be in the corners of the map for reasons stated later down this post. This closeness to the objectives allows for less time running to objectives that we experienced in the Taiga maps, and more time fighting like on CSCDesert. No-Man's-Land: During peace time, this suggestion will allow for more interesting interactions to occur between nations by pretty much implementing Shrimp's suggestion a while ago about patrols being able to KOS each other. The premise is that during peace time, RU and US are still enemies, and they will still KOS each other at all times in this zone (represented on the map with diagonal lines going across the map). For those that think this is turning into all time war, don't worry, as all time war probably won't ever be a thing, it isn't as interesting as timed wars that the entire server prepares for. This is simply because all time war has less action than the timed wars. This simply gives more things to do during peace time, or makes the RP that occurs in peace time more interesting. If you think about tryouts then, the Simulation Areas, represented by the "Sims" area on the map, that I will explain further down below, can be used instead for sims in tryouts, or regular sims. The No Man's Land can still be explored and used for training, but run the risk of enemy forces attacking the training. Special Forces can then be used, if needed, to defend the training, clear the area, and then the Officers can show the Enlisted around the objectives in a training session, but are still under the threat of enemy attack. No Man's Land existing also gives a reason for Enlisted to request PTL when they're bored, to go and patrol the border of their territory's cliff to deter enemies from entering. These Enlisted can be told by the Officer that grants them PTL the requirements for a KOS being that if they see an armed enemy, they can kill them. If the enemy isn't armed, they can warn that Soldier to back away from their territory, etc. This makes the interactions between both nations more interesting instead of just walking by each other knowing you can't attack the other till a kidnap or raid happens. Calling a "Cease Fire": For those times where no one wishes to fight the enemy in No Man's Land, and instead wants to let their Soldier's explore and learn or any other reasons can call a "Cease Fire" in which they disable the KOS between the nations in No Man's Land. This can only be declared by the two highest ranking members of each nation. The only issue this might cause is confusion about the KOS being active or not, but that could easily be solved by asking the higher ups about the status (similar to how wars in the past on the original CSCDesert could have nation's team up, so people asked the leaders who they were allies with). Any confusion in the KOS could lead to the Cease Fire being called off, like if a PVT gets PTL, and kills a Russian during the Cease Fire, and another Russian saw it, they could cancel the Cease Fire with authorization from the highest ranking that's active. This would allow for some non-war times to be normal peace time like it is currently when leaders discuss this, but the default would be KOS in No Man's Land due to the nation's being enemies by default. The Cease Fires are only temporary for that peace time, and do not continue into the next one after the timed war, so leaders would have to discuss a Cease Fire again if they wished to continue it. Sims/Tryouts on the map will be done in Simulation Rooms represented in the "Sims" area on the map. The two boxes are attempts at me to put a small building with a door purely to TP people to the larger Simulation Room, and the three lines on the edge of the map are the garage doors people can press E on to TP them to a large Simulation Room that can be used for Sims/Tryouts. These can individually be claimed as "Sim Room #1/#2/#3, etc.", and can be made for different scenarios. One can be an area meant for long range engagements with either hills, or sandbags being used for sniper positions. One can be for medium range engagements in a fairly open structure, or around it. Another can be entirely within a building for close quarter engagements. One could even be completely terrain with no structures to help practice for the terrain Soldiers navigate through to reach the objectives. Raids: As seen in @{GG}otham's suggestion for Cease and Disperse, people like to loiter around bases creating issues with raids where enemies approach, but you can't do anything until they get nearby. With No Man's Land, you can KOS enemies as they approach instead of sitting their awaiting them to advert the raid or not. Also, raids can take place within the territory, but not the base, as the base is used purely for simulations, tryouts, and recruitment. Any recruiting to show the recruits the territory outside the base can be done by having them perform it on the whitelist, after the training is complete. The small Arenas in the territory are able to be raided, and thus are used only for 1v1 up to 3v3 fights, explained further below. The Arenas I mentioned above can be claimed by a specified rank (maybe E-6+, or E-7+ depending on the faction) for small rounds of 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 fights. These will be the only locations these Enlisted can claim, and these claims are separate from the rest of the faction (example: /advert SHS Ethan Greshnev claims Arena 1 | KOS to unauthorized). These fights will be adverted as such "/advert Arena 1 Fight Begin!" to distinguish them from sims. This will give more practice and entertainment to be had during peace time without going out into No Man's Land. Base camp: The issue with Coyote/Oatlife where it wasn't clear to Coyote that Oatlife was in the base can be solved by the cliff outside the field as you have either gone down the cliff by sliding/surfing down, or you haven't, and your body won't fly back into your territory because your body will hit the cliff you went down. The only structure that will be taller than the cliff will be the towers that can be used during peace time mainly, not necessarily during war. The only areas where that problem may occur is at the roads that allow entrance into the enemy's territory, past the cliff, but these should be steep as well, just less steep than the cliff to allow passage, but not have body's fly back into the area. Additional Information: Below are pictures of other maps to compare the design to: If you dislike the suggestion, react to the post with -1, and explain why below please. If you like the suggestion, +1 rep the post with a react, and only explain why if you have something unique/interesting to say. That's what reactions are for, just to remind y'all.

The War cap rate is inverted, each person counts as about 5% I guess, not sure, but it is definitely more than 1% each, and it updates about every 30 seconds like it did before I believe. But yeah, I haven't ever seen objectives work this way, lol. It would work a lot better if the % updates happened faster, and the % was 1 per person, I think that's what you intended, but that isn't how it is on the server right now.

Having an even amount of Special Forces factions on both sides is no longer reality . Hope it ends up being a beneficial addition though. Everything else, amazing, thank you! To replace the old Red Bull, if possible, you should add a timed Red Bull for transportation only. For example, you can enable it to force you to hold keys only or something while it is enabled, and it could be enabled for about 15 seconds to reach an objective/position faster purely, not for combat, and if you use it wrong, you'll be in a bad position against the enemy. The price would be 10 credits so it isn't cheap, but isn't insanely expensive since it is a per life function.

/advert instead of /comms because /comms doesn't show up in /logs for whatever reason. Only console, and console doesn't have a time stamp for comms messages, only job changes, name changes, etc. Other than that, I agree that this would be a good way to give some better interactions between the nations due to it being O-1+, the trust in Officers has risen since a year ago, most factions pick their Officers more carefully nowadays from what I have seen, so this should be fine for O-1+ to enforce. It is going to be a reasonable amount away, determined by the O-1+ that called it, but the full range that the O-1+ can't go past for this would be render distance. Since it is O-1+, it is simple to explain it to Officers that if the enemy is in the process of running away, don't kill them. The only issue I see besides /comms not showing in /logs would be how long this would last. I would say a Cease and Disperse advert would last for a short 2 minutes. This gives 30 seconds for any enemies to disperse, then the 2 minutes to KOS any enemies still around the base, or attempting to come back. If an Officer abuses the Cease and Disperse system by calling it just to be annoying, it can easily be dealt with by PM'ing that Officer about it, screenshotting their responses, and discussing it with their higher ups/leader so that the Officer can be punished for doing so if necessary. If the /comms is changed to /advert, and a timer of 2 minutes is given after the 30 second time to disperse to enforce the KOS, then returns to normal, I feel it should be fine. I think a reasonable guideline for Officers to follow is to only call this if there is a group of enemies around the base, being 3+ (following what is considered Mass RDM, a group, and a kidnap group). This would prevent Officers calling it against only two enemies, being overly sensitive with it. Of course, further regulation of it would be determined by the faction leader's.

I would say the distance should be once you are out of render distance from the base if we are going to be killing people who enter but make it out a good distance before dying. If you enter and get spotted as you run off, it is kind of strange for your KOS to just vanish. Not to compare to IRL too much since this is a video game, but it just makes sense that if you are seen as a threat to the point that you could be KOS'd, especially for entering their base, that KOS should stick until you are no longer a threat (AKA out of render of the base, long gone). I think this change could cause issues with enforcement because then you can no longer prove this with a simple screenshot. The only option for easy provability would be to take a few steps back in terms of KOS instead of extending it. For example: If someone enters and leaves base repeatedly, you tell them not to do so (at this point you could call a staff to spectate if you wish, then the staff can give you the go ahead to KOS them for repeatedly jumping in and out) essentially only KOS'ing when absolutely necessary or sure that they are within the base. Less realistic, makes less sense RP-wise, but is the easiest for staff to deal with in terms of proof. Depends the way you want to go with this, but there is plenty of variety between these two options, so I am curious to find out what the verdict on this is.

Beginning of Log-49 (OOC: Another double!) Information Gathered: - The Navy SEALs' first rank after passing tryouts is Seaman Recruit, and one of the SEALs that holds this rank currently is named Hivemind. This is the reaction Red Crypt gave me after I asked "What's your rank?" after a Marine came up and told us the identity of this Soldier. I didn't hear the rank, however, but everyone else did. (OOC: the PM is Red Crypt reacting to the Marine saying his name and rank and faction affiliation in front of us, lol.) Red Crypt is their name, and they are the Colonel of the Green Beret. After being figured out, Red Crypt was more honest. (OOC: Ignore the staff conversation, lol) Here Red Crypt tells us that 2ndLt Sleepy is KIA. (OOC: Ignore the PMs from Huskaii.) Here Red Crypt tells us that CWO Fischer isn't a part of their battalion, and WO Papa Rabbi is KIA (OOC: He says he doesn't even know who that is, lol, probably a fake name or codename). Here Red Crypt tells us that Tgon is no longer in GB, transferred back to Army to become a General, and that MAJ Flak resigned from his position fully. (OOC: Red Crypt told me that his uniform is the close quarter combat force's uniform and the weapons that force uses, just didn't screenshot it I guess. If you don't think this is true, Red Crypt, since I don't have proof, I will edit it out for ya.) Information gathered: - Red Crypt is the current leader of Green Beret, the Colonel. - The Close Quarter Combat force's uniform and weapons (Neostead 2000 shotgun, frag grenade). - Status of several Officers within the Green Beret stated above. End of Log-49

Update You must pass Spetsnaz GRU Qualifications before you can attempt the tryouts. Once you pass Qualifications, you will be alerted of the process to attempt tryouts. Updated for CSCDesert map. (This update was posted late as this change was made a while ago, but was explained on Qualifications, just thought I would add it here too since I am updating it for the new map)

The COMMS objective on TaigaForest isn't as interesting as CSCDesert's COMMS objective, but for TC/OP on CSCDesert, I agree. The only thing that makes TC interesting is the unique interaction with it and UK, that it is an objective that is much easier to take when you have the nearby landmark under your control for a vantage point for snipers and such. If you could get some type of interaction like that with another landmark (not objective like how Company was with COMMS which makes that fairly unbalanced, has to just be a landmark that people can be stationed in to either snipe or provide covering fire from), that could be a pretty interesting dynamic imo. I like the mix though, and I hope you take a look at my suggestion on Gildart's thread, the Community Curated Map thread. I would be more than willing to talk about the suggestion further with you in TS if you are able to, or are interested .

Update There has been an update with the new CSCDesert map event being extended. At first I didn't think we would be on this map for more than three days, so didn't update tryouts, but it seems we might be here for a bit longer, so some qualifications and tryouts will be hosted until the new official map is out. Please re-read this guideline if you wish to attend as things were updated for the change in map. Good luck!

Yes, this is exactly what I was suggesting, did you see my reasoning below the image in my post to why I proposed that base layout? That's the main reason I wanted the change, for spawn to be close to the objectives for faster paced wars like we get current on CSCDesert, less base camp issues of needing video evidence and such, more area for lower enlisted to explore and guard, give more on the map to RP with like stationing those lower enlisted along the field lines to watch the no-man's land for enemy's coming to invade making it a constant KOS, but not a constant war (the wars would be charging into the field to fight, peace time would be staying in your bases doing trainings/tryouts/sims, or pushing to the other base for a raid/kidnap/mission. Phantom said the players provide the RP and the map is the frame on the MRP Update post, but I think otherwise. The maps give the way for the RP to take place. If there isn't a well balanced map for the RP to take place, then it is more difficult to RP when people are walking around OOC talking while others are trying to RP in that area. Just changing the way the nation's interact during peace time with more defensable and defined sections of the map would make the peace time more interesting in an RP way, and make the war time more casual and enjoyable with constantly being in the fight while still keeping organizing forces a possibility instead of it being rambo simulator.

I think we had similar ideas, if you read mine above, but I wanted to make it more clear, so here it is: - Move the bases to the corners of the examples shown, and put a spawning barracks (should be smaller than how I drew them to fit the roads, but I was too lazy to undo it all and redraw since those were the first things I drew lol) where the bases used to be. - Move US's OC to the other side similar to RU's. - Create a copy of Gas Station for RU side if you are going to be mirroring the sides, but honestly, you could make any base within that corner of the map like a copy of the RU base used as obj #3, or a copy of Tali Town, or a new base entirely, just has to have a DB, RR, and with the extra space, you can have sim arenas inside the base (1 or 2). - Remove that empty space at the top of the map to make the map a bit closer to even - Where the quarter circle lines are, that is the barriers for the fields, which would be given cliff faces that would prevent people from entering, but allowing people two leave, and there would be two entrances to that field from the outside that could either be gates or be left open like in my example. Maybe even make those fields bigger, move RU and TC up a bit?

I put this on the Military RP Update post where he asked for suggestions, but this is the map layout I think would be most beneficial for the casual side of war people want, and to allow RP to take place within that.

I made a quick version of a 2D blueprint example for the features below (it's paint, so don't make fun of how shit it looks, lol): Just a small warning: This is purely an example of the ideas, they can be molded and shifted in any way as this was quickly put together, and most likely has flaws that I haven't thought about. This is also an attempt to allow more RP to occur while keeping the casual feeling of war in-place. This picture is mainly focused on the bases. The bases are in the corners, the base walls are decently small, only holding need things like the RR, Briefing Hall, Simulation Building?, Separate Debriefing Areas for after war, and any other small buildings that could fit in there that are for purely training purposes. Outside of the bases would be their fields, housing their Obstacle Course (OC), KillHouse (KH), and their Spawn Room, as these are the largest structures, and can be placed outside of their base. Watch towers could be placed against the border of the fields along with sandbags every couple of meters to make a barrier/line along the cliff face (the lines going away from the fields, the ladder looking things, are to show that it's a cliff face and can't be climbed). There are two official entrances/exits to the fields, can have gates along them or just be left open, and the cliffs go in elevation towards the base making it non-accessible to get in, but easy to slide down to get out. The reason the spawn room is placed in the field is so that combat based classes (non-recruiter) can be closer to the front line, thus making the wars faster paced due to the decreased size of the actual battlefield, and putting the training RP things in the corner of the map (recruiters would spawn next to the RR). The fields connect to the base via those dotted lines I placed, where the dotted line touches the base, there would be a gate to allow entrance/exit. The way the outside of the bases is designed allows for quicker access to the battlefield, less running distance from the base to the objectives like was clear on previous maps after CSCDesert, and it also prevents base camp from being as difficult to prove because you would simply sit outside of the field, and if you entered the field, then you would be base camping (lines of sight of the inside of the field could be blocked with sandbags/cliff faces as shown in the picture). Those who jump over the cliff, or exit from the field through the two entrances/exits can be killed, those peeking over the cliff can't, treat it like the base walls of the current bases, but they are more secure because they elevate above the terrain around them allowing no possibility of the Coyote/Oatlife report, and make it easier for body's that fly back not to go into the field because they hit the cliff-face. Now onto the objectives and war zone, there are a couple of ideas to this. During war, functions normally as a war-zone, the objectives, the terrain, etc. This allows faster movement as the spawn rooms are closer to these objectives as stated before. The war zone could also be used during peace time as a non-man's land area where enemy's spotted in this zone would be considered KOS, allowing the Special Forces units of both sides to send scouting parties to attempt kidnaps within the enemy's field area, to raid the enemy's field area, to secure an objective for training (showing Enlisted around the objectives, because it's KOS, these areas would be difficult for large training groups to show around if not escorted or if they risk the enemy just not being there), for ransoms of kidnaps to take place, open simulations on these objectives would be considered peace zones for the duration the sim is there, or for scouting to make sure enemy units that attempt to openly march to the other field for a raid are stopped, and finally to stop the possibility of people walking up to the opposing base and having conversations (as that isn't very realistic, and causes some issues when it comes to raids taking place as they converse, etc). -------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope this accomplishes the goal of giving RP a more easily enforced position from staff members, but keeps the fast-paced part of war-time that CSCDesert offers with it's base locations. Tell me what you think . I had this idea quite a while ago, but didn't fully explain it as well when Conway made the Paint image for me, we ended up getting the loved Taiga, which was nice with larger bases, but this is what I truly wanted accomplished, and I hope that at least some of these ideas get implemented some how!

Yes, I asked Jackal later on about it when I noticed him online about 16 minutes before a war. He agreed on my suggestion for this, and I told the US leaders online about it in PM to alert their enlisted, then I put it in OOC the war after that.

I asked Jackal about this earlier today already, so this is already the case. Consider this accepted I guess?

thought when you said "I also have a shit PC so people like..." you were saying that you have a shit PC like people like me, oops

Jackal, and Phantom (I think maybe Chris too, but not sure) said in @ chat during a small discussion that because some people couldn't see the lines around the bases, they aren't the KOS lines anymore. Since this was found by Wendell, I am not sure if that would still be the case if Jackal/Phantom/Chris judged it again, but as of right now, those lines aren't the KOS lines unless Jackal/Phantom/Chris changed their mind while I was offline. Don't assume shit like that, Cameron. I can be dumb, sure, not perfect at all, but instantly assuming the worst of me isn't very fair, read above. It wasn't my decision, I was purely the messenger. Well, for my laptop (it isn't a shit PC, it is a shit laptop in terms of gaming), it doesn't have extra cores that it could use by enabling it, so enabling it doesn't help and might even decrease my FPS, so I keep it off, lol.