What Bothers Me About War of Rights

[Johnny_Reb_1865]

I've seen in a few of the videos about this game on YouTube the way that players move about on the battlefield and it looks ridiculous.

Players are often seen marching In single-file lines across the field and NOT in the way that the real soldiers did 150 years ago.

It is my hope that the devs of this very nice game make it so that players are locked in formation or unlocked out of formation at the discretion of company officers like a captain or lieutenant for example depending on who is still alive at each point during a battle.

I think that if this was implemented into the game for the sake of historical accuracy that it would very much do the men that did the actual fighting bleeding and dying their due honor.

Another Plus of having this in the game is that it would completely eliminate the annoying Rambo players.



What's y'alls thoughts on this?

[Sox]

My thoughts are this: It's difficult when you are locked in first person view to form double ranks. Double ranks also reduce your company front, which makes the battlefield appear too big and also hampers your ability to defend. Double ranks also take a stupid amount of casualties, at a rate that so few players cannot sustain. Double ranks increase teamkilling. Also many companies who play WoR do, in fact, march and fight in two ranks, so I'd widen my choice of viewing if I were you, as there are many WoR video's out there that show this.

We're playing a game set in the American Civil War, not re-enacting drill.

[Bivoj]

Honestly, I dislike the OP idea. I really like that WoR achieves kind of historical behaviour of players by gameplay rules, so we do formations voluntarily because we benefit from them. Please, do not implement any restricted „automatic“ formations - that would not only kill the fun, but make the game less realistic.

What I see in the actual game is sound recreation of blackpowder era behaviour:
Soldiers march into the battle in kind of march column (usually about 1-2 files wide), firefights are usually exchange of volleys from linear formations (1 rank deep) or small chunks of players, usually crouching behind some cover as would skirmishers do. Even the charge home is in kind of realistic formation - a mob of players (attack column) running at enemy. What is not realistic - the charge home always result in melee as it should not (one of the units should retreat before contact).

You say, that 1 file wide march column is too thin and not realistic, but it is in proper wide-length ratio if you have 15-20 players. More files in march column make sense if you have 100+ soldiers as would 2 or 3 ranks deep lines. In so small scale we can achieve, it is OK realism wise.

Another note: real battle is not parade ground. Perfect formations did not occur even in mid 18 Century, when the soldiers were overdrilled.

[Hinkel]

I've seen in a few of the videos about this game on YouTube the way that players move about on the battlefield and it looks ridiculous.


Thats a big difference here, you did not play the game yet. Its very hard to use real civil war tactics in a game.
While we encourage people with certain gameplay mechanics, like formation buffs (skirmish and line), we don't want to force each player to become a robot without an own will.

There are plenty of companies, which try to use authentic formations, but that's up to them :)
I joined regiments like the 52nd NY in their drills and they perfectly reenact these authentic formations and stuff you suggested. But again, they are free and we don't want to force them, to play that way.
Once the game is out in early access, there will be tons of players, which don't want to be part of a company and have no idea about civil war tactics. We offer gameplay mechanics to them, which are easy to follow and support formation combat, but they still be an independent player.

Its a game after all, not a reenactment simulator.

[SwingKid148]

Its a game after all, not a reenactment simulator.

I've been to enough reenactments that use a single line..... :p


As for the OP, we have to use single lines at sometimes due to coordination issues (various regiments swapping CSA/USA and us not being familiar with each other) and having new players join in on battles. (No pub shaming here but how many new players know how to work in a two rank line? unless you come from the hobby) Without some of the tactic feel of being in a line with shoulders touching and peripheral vision for the game (yes there is the left+alt head move but I find that leads to a lot of crashing), it is hard to maintain your two ranks and ideal spacing so the rear rank doesn't kill off the front rank.