Anyone Else Not Liking The Current Rank Titles?

[mr. peasant]

As part of the recent updates, Blizzard has introduced ranks for the the different races, depending on the number of kills said unit has. While this is purely a superficial feature and so low in priority, I think it should still be up for criticism anyway. Personally, I don't like many of the ranks given.

Starting with the Protoss, it feels weird that it's entirely possible for the Protoss to have multiple Executors on the same battlefield when previous representation of the title conveyed the feel that there was only one (or at least, very few of them) at a given time and s/he heads the entire Protoss fleet. Otherwise, what makes Selendis so notable a figure in Protoss society? For Terrans, while the term 'Commander' can be applied to those in charge of batallions, regiments, etc., it has too much of an attachment to Commander-In-Chief, which leads to the same problem as the Protoss' Executor. Lastly, there's the Zerg, which just sounds somewhat out of place for a swarm-like race. And what on Earth is a metamorph? Sounds like some kind of shapeshifter to me.

The following is my revised idea for the ranks:

Terrans:
0 - 4: Recruit
5 - 9: Corporal
10 - 14: Sergeant
15 - 19: Lieutenant
>20: Captain


Zerg:
0 - 4: Whelp
5 - 9: Predator
10 - 14: Warrior
15 - 19: Butcher
>20: Champion


Protoss:
0 - 4: Apprentice
5 - 9: Master
10 - 14: Guardian
15 - 19: Prelate
>20: Praetor

Prelate and Praetor are titles previously used by the Protoss leaders (as is Steward but I didn't know where that fit in since Fenix was both, a Praetor and a Steward). Rather than using unfitting, unimpressive terms like 'Mentor' and 'Instructor', make use of them instead!

[sandwich_bird]

Yeah that's way better in my opinion. I completely agree with you that some of the titles were out of place. A metamorph is a shapeshift so it really doesn't make any sense to be the zerg highest titles. Though champion is ok, I'd prefer something like Alpha.

[infernal]

yes your listing here is better only one more thing is that the lowest rank for terran should be private instead of recruit.

your only really a recruit during your training period at the recruit school or during basic combat training wich i belive is not out there in the field with the Protoss and the Zerg roaming around.

[Perfecttear]

I like the adition of this new titles,it's a nice touch , but i would make them different , and not based on kills , but rather on the enemies it killes ( since basing them on kills is not realy fair to all units)


If i would be the designer i would make these new ranks based on the enemy units being killed by your unit. I would looks at the cost of each unit.


Example:
When a zealot kills units equal to 100% of it's cost (2 marines) it would get promoted one rank, when it kills units 300% of it's cost (12 zerglings) it would get promoted 3 ranks. And i would make gas count twice as much minerals, so that a marauder would have to kill units 150 worth of resources to get one rank up.


And i would go even one step forward with the rank system and make units actualy stronger when they are higher rank ( i know this is tabu for a lot of people ) , but it could work.

Everytime a units get's promoted it would get one extra armor and weapon upgrade.






Now that i think about it, i would make it like this , with just 4 ranks ( one basic , and 3 higher ranks) :


When a unit kills enemies worth 200% of it's cost it would get one rank up and get one armor upgrade and one damage upgrade.

When a unit kills enemies worth 400% of it's cost it would get one rank up and get another armor and damage upgrade, basicly equal to having tier 2 armor and damage upgraded.

When a unit kills enemies worth 600% of it's cost it would get get one rank up and yet an another armor and damage upgrade, basicly the same as if the unit would have both level 3 upgrades.



Basing off this a basic reaper would have to kills units worth about 900 ( how many times does that happen) resources to go 3 ranks up (if you go with 1 gas equals 2 minerals). And it return it would get 3 extra armor upgrades and 3 damage upgrades.


If you look at it, this would hardly be op, or actualy have any noticable afect on gameplay, but it would be a realy nice touch. But it would something that a lot f people would enjoy and help them make an emotional conection to their units, and like the game even more.



What do you think?

[infernal]

nice stuff there but i am afraid it would be very much unnecessary mathematics and stuff for the computer to think off.

when in the end its only for looks and feel and not to give bonuses like in the c&c games.

and if u added the bonus system i think it would be very hard to balance.

but if blizzard manage to do your rank system without bonuses and it not taking up to much computing power im in for it

[TheEconomist]

nice stuff there but i am afraid it would be very much unnecessary mathematics and stuff for the computer to think off.

Are you saying this is somehow going to make the game perform worse?

[infernal]

yeah that was my thought on it but i might very well be wrong

[Perfecttear]

nice stuff there but i am afraid it would be very much unnecessary mathematics and stuff for the computer to think off.

when in the end its only for looks and feel and not to give bonuses like in the c&c games.

and if u added the bonus system i think it would be very hard to balance.

but if blizzard manage to do your rank system without bonuses and it not taking up to much computing power im in for it

Well i don't think it would that much hard to balance, since compared to C&C games where units damage and hp increases by 200% when they are generals, my sugestions would give them only one damage and armor upgrade.

It only depends how hard would this be to implement.

[Kimera757]

The originals aren't good rank titles, but these aren't any better. If you're going to use military ranks, you should follow real-life protocol.

For instance, marine corporals command a fireteam of three other people. Their primary job is to communicate orders and make rapid combat decisions. You don't get promoted to corporal just through experience or being a "natural born killer" with a high kill score.

Getting promoted from enlisted to officer isn't that common, and generally requires a lot of training. Furthermore, going from staff sergeant to lieutenant is more likely than sergeant to lieutenant, since the staff sergeant has essentially the same responsibilities in the Marine Corps. (Soldiers who do go from enlisted to officer have to be really good leaders to be selected. They're called "mustangs".)

Officers fly aircraft/spacecraft. You're not going to get sergeants flying Banshees, and there's no way a battlecruiser gets commanded by even a low-ranking officer.

And in case anyone is wondering, the rank structure in StarCraft lore generally follows real life. (I think medics are the only real outlier there.) In Heaven's Devils, they followed the rank structure so closely it's probably exactly the same as the real-life United States Marine Corps.

[GRUNT]

Mr Peasant - some of the Protoss suggestions you made sound good, except that a couple of the progressions don't sound necessarily 'better' than the last. Most noticeably, I would have put 'Guardian' below 'Master'.

Also, 'Whelp' sounds a little harsh for a starting Zerg . They're literally born to fight, so I think that starting off with 'Predator' is fine ^_^.

I agree with Sandwich Bird that 'Alpha' is a badass final rank for Zerg . I also think that some of the 'special' Zerg names from BW might be cool.

Maybe something like:
Minion -> Favoured -> Hunter-Killer -> Devouring One -> Alpha

I hate to blow my own horn, but I really like this progression, because I love the vibe that 'minion' gives, and it doesn't make the unit sound weak. It just feels so Zergy to treat your warriors as mere Minions, but those that commit particularly sadistic acts of violence and slaughter start to get noticed by Kerrigan, or whoever's in charge of that particular brood.


I think that the idea with 'Metamorph' was that the Zerg in question (whoever has 20+ kills) becomes designated by whoever's in charge of Zerg evolution as a 'superior' individual among its kind, and becomes the basis of all further Zerg of that type.

'Assassin' just sounds plain weird on Zerg . The image which is conjured up when I hear 'assassin' is slinking about in shadows and dispatching foes with precision and stealth. Zerg generally go: "RARARAAAAAWR!" while shooting stuff until it explodes. If an Ultralisk tramples over a Terran army, I wouldn't exactly call that an assassination .

'Executor' is really weird, too. As mentioned, it's a very unique rank. But also, the unit most likely to get the rank of Executor is the Colossus - a machine . It just seems really weird.

"Executor! What should our next course of action be?"
"Beep beep wurp wurp."



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