Re: Would a Friendly Radar Be a Good Idea?

@ToastedSarnie  I understand your concern. But still, if I highlighted you, it would mean that I know that you would "most likely" heal me if I played around you. If you have game-chat turned off, there is nothing to worry about lol. Them highlighting you won't show up for you, unless you choose to see who's highlighting you. They would just stick around you or even protect you. Others highlighting you and not getting what they're expecting is their problem, not yours.

On the other hand, you, as a healer, have the power to highlight the most effective players vanquish-wise or objective wise. Yes, I know, you want to heal everyone. But in my opinion, the most effective way to win is to focus on the players that have the best output. If I played a healer, I'd want to stick to the best as I know they might shield me and vanquish for me. Other less-skilled players who die often can highlight and stay near me so that I can heal them or revive them. There is no obligation or pressure in it. It's up to them. Maybe they highlighted the wrong Sunflower lol. They can highlight another if they wanted or just cancel it. 

Or you can highlight other Sunflowers and revive each other when necessary. 

You haven't played Overwatch, have you? "I need healing" is the worst thing you'd ever hear. You'd wish there was a radar in that game that would show where you are to them. Since most of the players are so far away from you when they demand that. It's their problem that they're too far away, it's not yours. Even if that scenario was in PvZBFN.

I agree with @ToastedSarnie but am intrigued by your insight to games/continual feedback, @GammaX6 .  You should be a developer, man.

@ToastedSarnie So, this happened to me lately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTeVU5mLm78&feature=youtu.be

Imagine how things would have been if that Citron knew I was close by, marked on his radar. It would have saved me all the hassle of chasing him down for the healing.

This happens sometimes, others unaware of where you are so they go running all around. I see the marking and highlighting a mutually beneficial thing rather than being a burden to one part and not the other.

There are other things I came across while playing Turf Takeover. Not all Sunflowers/Scientists are great at healing. Sometimes I pass by some of them while being injured and they never notice me. It would be great if I can mark the better ones that care about others' welfare.

Also, whenever I play Nightcap, I wish I could know where Sunflowers are on a radar to get my overheal fix and harass enemies safer. lol

@spIash_damage Thanks lol

@ToastedSarnie The highlight and the radar ideas differ from one another.

The highlight idea is basically you going to the scoreboard and picking the allies you want to keep track of. Those allies could be healers, Citrons, or Acorns/Space Cadets. Or perhaps you want to highlight the top players to stick around them or heal them. Highlighted players will have a special color and maybe it would be a good idea if you could see their HPs on the left side of the screen as if they were in your party. The highlighted member doesn't have to know you highlighted them. If I picked you and I was disappointed in your healing, then that's on me. Not all players behave the way I expect them to be, and that's why choosing your allies freely could be a good idea. 

I say all that because I experimented healing the top players and reviving them all the time. And it worked great. Our team pushed hard since those players had good aim and smart decisions. Not that I wouldn't heal other players. But it just reduces the amount of frustration you get when you heal someone who doesn't aim well or keeps dying again and again. 

The radar idea would show all allies on a small map/radar regardless of you highlighting them or not. This is to help you think strategically and understand who's around you and which sides are protected or left open. Sometimes backing off and retreating is better than just pushing alone (I see many people do that, going alone and everything). Have you ever wondered "Where are my teammates at?" It happens to me sometimes when I attack/defend objectives and see no one caring about it.

This game is more "strategy" than shooting. At least, I see it that way. I can read a game's flow based on my teammates’ positions/vanquishes/classes. If my allies don't care about protecting or even attacking the sides in certain maps, then we can get overwhelmed and lose the objective for example. That's why I started playing Nightcap more recently when attacking, to overwhelm the enemies. And try shooting them from the back or sides (distract them and scatter their attention to front). A radar would be a great aid to grasp the bigger pictures of things.

The maps in BFN had changed significantly compared to GW1/GW2. There are more flank routes, higher grounds, and advantageous spots where you can be more effective. Not all GW1/GW2 were designed that way. And I think that's why some players struggle with this game. It requires more map awareness. In GW1/GW2, there was a teleporter for attacking and defenders usually spawned close to the objective. So you could go back to action faster than BFN. That eliminated the need to go through all the map with its various routes and go straight to the objective. If you died in BFN, you are severely punished as you have to sprint all the way back to the objective (in some maps).

Sorry for the long post lol

I just wanted to share my experiences.

No way man.  If I have a radar then I can’t blame my team for everything.  And the one day I’ll realize the truth.  I don’t know if I can handle that.  Honestly though it’s a really good idea.  

I like the idea to know where friendlies are. I have played a bit of Overwatch and Paladins and indeed having a teammate's character shout 'need healing!' gets annoying in a hurry (I play tanks and healers a lot in those 2 games). As BfN is more team focused than either GW game, having tools that make it easier to coordinate is a good thing.

@Iron_Guard8 I play Paladins and Overwatch too. And I wish that friendly radar idea was there. It is too difficult playing Reinhardt (a tank hero) without knowing where the healers are behind you. You can't realistically look back since you're holding a shield using that hero. Healers are often distracted healing others, doing their job and everything you know, and I understand that very well. If Tank heroes knew the healers were being harassed at the back, they would probably pull back to cover and try to assist them instead. But many tank players would push assuming the healers would follow them which grows into a frustration and hatred toward healers. Just like @ToastedSarnie said.

Also in Overwatch, when a Genji player (a flanker/assault hero) is at the end of the map requesting healing. As a healer you can't realistically break formation to cross the hoards of enemies and heal him. If he knew where you were on the map exactly he'd go to you instead and know he's the one who's wandering too far.

Hence why people don't prefer playing tanks in those games. Because they rely heavily on other teammates to make great use of their kit. That applies a lot to Citron since he's holding a shield and the Zombies have too many heroes that can pass that quickly harassing him. It can be very frustrating playing that hero and I totally understand that. 

There is another thing to add... You can't realistically expect all players to communicate with you. Especially in servers where people don't speak the same language.

@ToastedSarnie This frustration happens in most games that have a healer class. People thinking healers are miracle workers when they have a lot on their plates. The world you see differs from theirs. What I mean is, you can see all other players' HPs from behind walls, but they can't, they don't see it. So they don't know who needs help and who doesn't.*1 You can't heal them only and leave others, I get that very well. Those abusive players probably never played a healer class for a long time to understand what's going on. Also, in Overwatch, whenever I play healer, there are those snipers/long range hero players at the back who keep spamming "I need healing", making me seem like a bad healer, when I'm in the middle healing tanks and don't have an eye at the back seeing that they're injured or not. The radar could assist you in knowing that. (for example, the arrows could turn red and if you saw that, you can turn back and heal them without having to get yelled at for not seeing them.)

*1 This is a post I was thinking of late, I want to see all allied health statuses as an option. As a Scientist, I feel super powerful holding all that knowledge, warping to my teammates, healing/reviving them while finishing the enemies they were fighting. This way more players can get the "Saved an Ally" XP bonus.

Ah yeah, the joys of playing a healer and having a Flank on the other side of the map spam 'need healing!'. Sorry I'm trying to keep the front line and the other 2 players on my team alive that are actually staying in line of sight and in range so I can actually heal them! 

(I play Ying, Seris, and Furia a lot in Paladins so this is something I'm well acquainted with.)

Or the joy of being a front line character and moving to push the capture point and the rest of my team is nowhere to be seen. Not even when on Inara (my favorite front line in Paladins) can I handle that situation!

More games need this kind of tool. World of Tanks has it and it's definitely handy there.