So Many Newbies...

[Malevolent]

Most of the time everyone should drop a node right away and then gestate back to skulk again.

Against a competent marine team, you really shouldn't have more than perhaps four people drop nodes in the beginning, as you cannot realistically expect to hold more than five nodes against a good marine team in the early game.

Very true. So if I was comming, the aliens would have no nodes :p. Just kiddin'.

You definitely need around three skulks to torment the rines.

[LzX]

I agree... Though even if they can't hold an RT for the whole game, more than five minutes will still be helpful to the whole team.

[Jefe]

I disagree, spew all the nodes at once and run....fast, fast, fast as you can you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  :help:

[OttoDestruct]

Crap that makes me mad:

1) People who don't go to their waypoint. I don't mind if you go chase down a skulk/fade/gorge/onos, but I want to see you back at the WP after that.

Pissed off example: Team of four HA chase down an onos into holo from processing, kill it. I order them back to upper processing. They just stand there. Reissue wp. Standing there. Tell them over text go to WP. Standing. Commander has left the chair.

2) People who say "OMj C0rnm4nd0r j00 5ux0r" when they couldnt comm their way out of a paper bag. I've had a guy tell me I suck as a comm, I eventually got out of the chair from #1, he gets in, drops a TF two feet from the TF i already dropped in the base, spends about 100 res on turrets (and still leaves a blind spot on the TF he dropped).

3) People who say "owned" after every kill.

4) People who don't build stuff. Final siege on ventilation hive on hera, I have phase, tf, etc built in maintenance, I drop an armory, three people ignore it (we have something like 300 res, I'm not worried if they die) so when they go in and scream for ammo I tell them they should have built the armory. Thus my phrase "I don't drop stuff for you to stare at it, build it"

[Ulatoh]

Most of the time everyone should drop a node right away and then gestate back to skulk again.

Against a competent marine team, you really shouldn't have more than perhaps four people drop nodes in the beginning, as you cannot realistically expect to hold more than five nodes against a good marine team in the early game.

This is only true if the aliens are less than competant.  Allso, something I STRONGLY, STRONGLY advocate is skulks working in PAIRS.

If anyone is interested, just let me know, and I'll show you what i mean.  There are so many ways to work it.  The gist of it, is that you both camp the possible routes of exit for the rines, find out which one they are gonna use, regroup, and ambush, usually when they are on their way back to base, or another node, that way they lose res AND time...

seriously, someone should try this with me... its a much different approach to skulking than BITE JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP  BITE JUMP JUMP JUMP BITE JUMP  *die*

[Satiagraha]

Also, something I STRONGLY, STRONGLY advocate is skulks working in PAIRS.

Definitally, 2 skulks can take out an upwards of 4 marines with significantly more ease than 1 can take out 2, especially when using coordinated ambush tactics. The problem lies, not within the strategy, but rather in the common Rambo mindset.  I love it when skulks just jump at my party, it makes them so much easier to gun down

Ulatoh, if we're ever on the aliens together, just tell me where and we'll go take out groups of rines with our 1337 teamworkhax :ph34r:

[Ulatoh]

hehe the other side effect of said tactics, is that afterward,when the marines see a lone skulk, they automatically assume the presence of at least one more, and RLH

[SaltzBad]

Meh, it has nothing to do with people being new. Its all about people being even bigger wankers than I can manage. Some people just tend to see things extremely narrow mindedly, and when for some reason things don't fit into their tight perception of what has to be "OMG COMM U SUX" or "HAX".

I've just basicly started playing NS 4 weeks ago, and didn't ask for teh shirtguns and jetpack, bitch people out of the commchair or throw a hissy fit the first 5 times I got voted out of the console (Hey, a comms gotta learn somehow :p ). Sure, I've impregnated the occasional armory, emptied an LMG clip into the first RT I ever encountered and have set off a Hive-under-attack alarm at the wrong moment - but nothing up to par with what some people manage for disruptive behaviour. Thats why I refuse to believe its all just because they're new, or might be new

On the bright side, LMs one of the best servers I've encountered so far. At least,the last few games I had their were plain amazing - the whole marine team worked together, after not more than one prompting per person. That was just friggin sweet (so yeah, us loosing was probably down to the fact I was comming :/ ). And with an admin almost always handy to whine to if someone thinks knifing the CC is a good use of a playerslot, it cuts down heftily on the number of llamas.

So? LM++

[a civilian]

This is only true if the aliens are less than competant.

Unless the aliens greatly outskill the marines, whether the aliens can hold many nodes depends almost exclusively on how aggressively the marines play.  Even Skulks working in groups cannot hope to defeat grouped marines with commander support with any reasonable consistency.

Although perhaps my judgment is biased in relation to gameplay on this server by the fact that I play on CoFR too.  The marines generally play far more aggressively there.

[BobTheJanitor]

SaltzBad: Good to see you on the forums. I wouldn't worry too much about your comm style. I see that you're willing to try things out and see what works. Sometimes the strategies work, sometimes they don't, but at least you're attempting more than the standard IP, IP armory, TFac rush node strategy. It's nice to see something new. And, you're willing to get in the comm chair and take the abuse that comes with commanding. I get so ticked off at people that I don't even bother comming more than once every week or two.

Civ: Very true that marines have to be agressive to win. Territory and res control are much more important than people give them credit for. Time is the most important thing. For the marines they need to get nodes and tech rush. For the aliens, they have to stop this. Holy_Devil when commanding is always really good about keeping the aliens beat back and the marines teched up. I think this is part of why HD is hailed as such a good comm. Niteowl also. It's always FAST FAST. When I play aliens I'll rush to MS and just look around and can usually judge the game on what I see. Lots of marines standing around building a wasteful turret farm or humping an amory? GG, aliens just won. An IP and an elec'ed Tfac and no marines in sight? Uh-oh.

Edit: Speeling

[Niteowl]

Holy_Devil when commanding is always really good about keeping the aliens beat back and the marines teched up. I think this is part of why HD is hailed as such a good comm. Niteowl also. It's always FAST FAST.

always nice to be a footnote to HD

where is the LURVE BOB!!?!?!?! I NEED MORE LURVE!!

[BobTheJanitor]

The reason why Niteowl is one of the best commanders ever is that he can take a group of almost total newbies and whip them into shape like professional marines. He's ALWAYS got a plan from the very beginning of the game, and he'll often tell it to the team. He keeps people moving and never lets them sit idle for a moment. This is a problem a lot of newbie comms have. They will let a team accomplish some goal, say securing a double res node, and then just sit on it while they ponder what to do next. Nite on the other hand already has two more things for you to do as soon as you've accomplished the first one. And he doesn't suffer rambos ignoring orders at all. I've seen Nite scream at a rambo until he comes all the way back to the objective even if he's moved off across the map. Niteowl's major strength is his momentum. He keeps the team moving so fast and hard that the aliens can't counter it. By the time someone on the alien team is yelling 'marines in datacore' the hive is already down and has been replaced by an electrified RT, a PG, and a turret farm with included armory.

If he could only get a better mic so I don't have to puzzle out his orders...

There, is that enough <3 for you?  :p

[Niteowl]

<3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  

THAT SIR!! is so much lurve, i dont' know what to do with it!!! unfounded, certainly! but stilL!!

and let me continue this lurve fest.

Bob, consistently makes the most subtle and no so subtlle, FUNNIEST posts on this board. i'll reply with LOL after everyone of his posts that make me laugh, but god, i'd then have a ridiculous post count like Uranium :S

also, bob is the ULTIMATE marine, he'll walk through a brick wall for you if you ask. nothing stops this guy from doing what you ask. not  a WOL, 30 skulk, what have you. he can also shoot dang well. friendly, a straight shooter, and just  a swell feller all around.

[lolfighter]

So Niteowl, have you finally substituted tactics that are FUN (pg rush the hive) for tactics that ACTUALLY WIN GAMES (siege the hive down from safe distance)? :p

[Ulatoh]

I think the next comm that has a heavy train set up a siege base should be shot...IRL...or permbanned

[Lito]

never had the honor of being commed by nite.  He's never on when i'm on, and i'm never on when he's on.

I NEED MY DAILY NITE SUPPLIMENT DAMNIT

[Malevolent]

I think the next comm that has a heavy train set up a siege base should be shot...IRL...or permbanned

Sometimes it's needed. There are always marines that can't walk in a hive and take it down with HA, HMGs and GLs (which is a sad thing). So sometimes, I think of it as just protection so they can maybe survive putting up the siege (otherwise skulks would own them).

[Niteowl]

So Niteowl, have you finally substituted tactics that are FUN (pg rush the hive) for tactics that ACTUALLY WIN GAMES (siege the hive down from safe distance)? :p

yes, yes i have. i pretty much siege all the time now. and almost NEVER EVER have my rines shoot the hive.

PG/tfac/3sieges/smattering of shotteis for protection. kablooooie goes the hive

[Niteowl]

never had the honor of being commed by nite.  He's never on when i'm on, and i'm never on when he's on.

I NEED MY DAILY NITE SUPPLIMENT DAMNIT

if you've been commmed by HD, that's like.. waaaaay better than being commed by me. also, if we are on together, i wanna see yer pure, unmitigated, blossoming COMMRAGE!!! YEAH BABAY!! YEAH!!

[Niteowl]

I think the next comm that has a heavy train set up a siege base should be shot...IRL...or permbanned

yes, what malevolent said. i've seen one too many heavy trains lose while trying to shoot a hive due to
-just a FLOOD OF skulks
-lots of healspray
-everyone too freaked out about losing 35 or so rez of equip to weld
-everyone reloading their hmg at the same time
-a nice smattering of ocs.

so yeah. pretty much, i'll try and siege most of the time. i can't really think of hwen i wouldnt'.. oh, if most of the aliens are dead, the ones tahta re alive are skulks, and i have a SIEGE base outside then, yeah, i'lllet my rines get a few shots on teh hive.