PvP lingo and using Voice Communication

[Lurker Wyrm]

Most of this is for GvG purposes but some will apply to all forms of PvP.

First off, it's very important to get used to using your number. Yes, we're all familiar enough by now to know what each other's voices sound like, but in the heat of battle it is a lot faster and helps reaction time (especially for monks) if you use your number rather than just saying "I." This is part of the reason we use our numbers at the start of a match to signify we're ready, rather than everyone using a 1.

"Watch #" - This person is expected to take a lot of damage in the near future and probably is about to be, or in the process of being, spiked.

"Condition/Hex on #" - The person has a specific condition/hex on them which is preventing them from being effective, but it can be removed by a single removal skill (i.e. Dismiss Condition).

"Condition/Hex on # and it's buried" - There's a hex on the person that's preventing them from being effective but it's not the top hex so single removal won't take it off.

"Train on #" - The person is being followed around by 2 or more melee characters and won't be able to do much since, if they stop to cast, they're going to take a lot of damage that's potentially lethal.

"Coming out with a flag" & "Bringing the flag in" - This is used exclusively (duh) by the flag runner and is to let the monks know they need to prot and watch them carefully.

"Low energy on #" - Mostly used by monks to let people know when they're starting to get low on energy (another duh).

"Using emergency energy" - Used by the monks when they're running their emergency energy weapon swap, i.e. +15/-1 items. This is probably the most important one for monks to make known to the rest of the team.

Other important things to say:
- What elites the enemy team members are using. Use their number for this as well (i.e. "Their 3 has Mantra of Recovery")
- Which monk on their team is the infuser (i.e. "6 is their infuser").
- What you've caught with Diversion, if you're a mesmer.
- If you managed to score a lucky interrupt with Distracting Shot (i.e. RoF).
- When you're setting up a ward, if you're a ward ele (i.e. "Ward Harm (going) up")
- When a warrior (or other melee) is overextended. This goes for both our team and the opponent team (i.e. "1 you're too far out" or "this warrior's overextended")

There are other things you can/should announce, but these should give you an idea of what's important. It's also important to be as concise as you can when you're announcing things.

What you should not be saying:
- Who you think should be a target.*
- What you think the team should be doing.*
* These fall exclusively on the shoulders of the team leaders. If they want suggestions that's fine, otherwise you're just creating confusion. Also, in a similar vein but not dealing with voice chat, the team leaders are the only ones who should be using the compass and calling targets. Unless they ask you to point someone out for them (i.e. an overextended war in the middle of a clump of minions or a base) calling targets is something done exclusively by the leaders.

[ajaxfetish]

Can we say who we think should be targetted or what we think the team should be doing in the form of a recommendation to the leader, rather than an order, or would you prefer we wait for the leader to ask for input?

Ajax

[Lurker Wyrm]

In most situations it's better to wait until you're asked before you start chiming in. More often than not, at the start of a battle, the leader is still figuring things out and discovering where the real threats to the team are (which is why it helps to announce what certain players are using for elites) so by offering suggestions, no matter how well intended they are, you're really just distracting them from what they're doing. Also, as battles go on, leaders generally have an idea of who they want pressured, and they usually have a gameplan.

If you're being heavily pressured by someone and you'd like something done about it, let the team know. Often times, rather than have the entire team change its focus, an individual char might be able to do something. For instance, if you're a monk and there's a mesmer sitting on you, say so and our mesmer, ranger or something else that can mess with casters can turn their attention to that person for a short time. That's easy to do and doesn't require permission from the leader.

One thing I should point out is that this topic wasn't created as criticism. I was responding to the GvG report topic and started thinking about what was happening over Vent when I used to guest for TNE and thought it'd be good to share.