What makes a good captain?

[Mill Wilkinson]

Chrinus speaks the truth.

I usually put good captains to the friends list so I have the possibility to fly under them in the future, too. And when I fail under them I feel more guilty than I usually do in other games. It is surprising how well a good captain creates loyalty, even in a computer-game.

[GrimWinter]

Another note as a captain, be open to suggestion and encourage your crew to call out EVERYTHING regardless of whether or not they think you know; the communication should flow both ways. When I gun or engi, I never shut the hell up for more than ten seconds. I work as my captains peripheral vision and keep eyes out for any sign of foe, our ally's position(s), and any ideas I might find staring at that map in the lull of action. Many, many captains appreciate the additional input, especially when I call out that Hwacha or Blenderfish on our six before he's in range to strand us in the sky.

Much agree with your whole post and I think this part is very important. Its better to call out something your captain may already know than to not call out something they may not. I feel a good captain (or anyone for that matter) should avoid the habit of saying something like "I know" when a call out is made. It makes others feel like what they're saying is pointless and begin to neglect making observations for each other, which in return causes more mistakes.

[teweedo]

- Communication is key, during the match but also BEFORE. Starting to explain to your crew how your ship is geared before it starts will help gunners/engineers to chose their ammo, or you can even ask them to pick up whatever ammo you want them to pick.

- Awareness as someone mentionned, is important, sometimes I wonder if captain are playing in 1st person because they don't seem to look around them.

Most of the important points have been brought up rightfully in this thread though.

I'd like to be a better captain, I always use a mic but I don't communicate with the others captain, it's not that I don't want to but most of the time they don't answer or don't bother talking to the whole fleet.

Also, I see it quite often on the forum, can someone tell me what "tar" means?

[Kyren]

Also, I see it quite often on the forum, can someone tell me what "tar" means?

It refers to the Captain's tool, "Tar Barrel". You've surely seen that black cloud trailing behind ships already! It damages the own ships engines when used lightly, but any other ships that flies trough it much heavier. Quite useful for discouraging pursuing ships

[teweedo]

Also, I see it quite often on the forum, can someone tell me what "tar" means?

It refers to the Captain's tool, "Tar Barrel". You've surely seen that black cloud trailing behind ships already! It damages the own ships engines when used lightly, but any other ships that flies trough it much heavier. Quite useful for discouraging pursuing ships

Ah! Thanks a lot, yeah I completely forgot about this tool as it was useless at a time when we could just spot ships through clouds with the long view.

[Ofiach]

Never belittle bad players. Seriously it does nothing to help them or you. If a crew isn't listening or refuses to listen just go make a new lobby.

I really get tired of listening to captains berate their crews for their mistakes. It gets old fast. If you cant make someone fly within your system or you ca't fly within theirs, go find a new crew or co captain.

[-nobody-]

What makes a good captain? Who knows, good is subjective. The question should be what makes an effective captain.

While I can't make a blanket statement for what a captain needs to do and needs not to do, what I can say is what I do and how I gel together a crew.

The first thing I do when I chose to be captain is start talking. Right off the bat I greet my crew, ask how's it going, and whatever. The point being is that I engage them and make them talk back. This is also a critical time to start building a rep with them. If I'm likable, I find that more people will tend to listen to me. So we talk, I find out what's happening with them, how experienced they are, and what positions they want to take. In between I joke and pal around with them constantly building that rep. This also is my chance to find if who will listen and who won't listen. I'll be very very reluctant to captain if my crew doesn't talk back to me.

The second thing I do is start to gauge my teammate and the opposition. Once again I talk to the other captain and see what's up with him. I see what ship he chose and his loadout. I then chose a ship that will complement him. I look at the opposition and find out what ship would be easier to engage and fight against. While I'll talk to the opposition I won't try to guess how they play, I want to set the tempo to the upcoming battle, not them.

Third thing I do is start doling out duties. I'll assign my crew to position where they feel most comfortable at. If they are really good I change things up different rounds so that people rotate positions so that other people have the chance to play different positions. Changing positions keeps the crew happy.

Then I'm set for the battle. My crew will have the general idea of what they'll be doing and there won't be a clusterfuck in the beginning.

Now for in-game.

Off the bat I group up with my teammate. I'll talk to them and plan a hasty order of battle. Once things are set I make sure my crew are in position and ready for the fight. Then, I'm off.

At all times I keep my head on a swivel. I'm now looking around for enemy ships, planing where I'm going to head about 1-2 klicks out, watching my teammate to be sure we're together, and watching my crew. At the same time I'm keeping my ears open for contact reports and sitreps from both my crew and teammate.

Now for battle.

I shout, I shout, A LOT. This isn't because I'm angry or an asshole, this is to make sure people hear me and understand me. I give clear orders and inform people on the statuses of ship parts. I make snap calls at what to fire and what to repair. I also have to talk to my crewmate, keep my head on a swivel, and plan two to three steps out. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Of course there is the saying that the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry, when things fail its time for improv and basically flying by the seat of my pants.

Then the rest is history.

So basically to recap:

I communicate a lot. My job is all about talking and making sure what I say gets done.
I accumulate information. An apt analogy is that I am a sponge and all the information that is bombarding me is a firehose, I got to soak all of it up or I risk missing something important.
I plan all my moves out. I take the information I gathered and through experience and my anticipations create plan to beat my opponent.


Being Captain is not everyones cup of tea. It's extremely demanding and a lot of people are expecting you to pull though and win. It's a lot of pressure to be under but as Captain I thrive in that pressure. So that's what I think it takes.

[talec]

I'm only beggining at this game, so I didn't try to be a captain yet. However, I've met some really nice captains along the way. What they did that helped me do my job was:
-Not being nervous. Just calm, maybe a little nervous but nothing more than that. When our ship was destroyed, our captain's reaction was "Oh well. We will get them next time"
-Being really communicative. Casual talk helps, but mostly it was about what he wanted to get done. And also WHO he wanted to get that done.
As a crew member, what I noticed that helped my captain was really telling him (and the whole crew) the progress on the task he asked. Sure, he could check himself that the hull had been repaired, but it is just so much easier when I just *say* it. This helps him to focus on other issues, since there are always plenty of them.

[Coldcurse]

actually, you can describe a good captain with 3 words.

1. Communication
2. Tactics
3. Fun

[HamsterIV]

My list goes:
1. Leadership
2. Tactics
3. Pilot skill

[Sammy B. T.]

My list.

1. Sammy
2. B.
3. T.

 

[Squidslinger Gilder]

-Play like your ship and the lives of your crew matter

This is the most common idea that gets passed up. You can have moments of just silliness where you go on a ramfest for fun. But if you change your overall mindset into thinking about keeping your ship alive, you'll find yourself a lot harder to take down. Think evasion. Then spam Muse...FIX HYDRO!!!

-Know the limits of your crew

Are they experienced? Noobs? People who don't listen or refuse to listen after repeated attempts to help?

There isn't always a huge gap between vets and noobs. Sometimes you have to scale back your piloting to compensate. It'll usually take them a few matches to be able to get up to speed. For crews which refuse to listen, you might as well be ground chuck. Usually it isn't an entire crew but just one person. Ask them to leave. No sense in that one person bringing down the game for everyone because they want to dink around or be a jerk.

-Know the limits and capabilities of your ship

You gotta know every angle. Every firing arc. What the ship can handle, what the ship can't handle. How much sustained fire it can take before the armor goes down. Limitations in the game engine and the loads of bugs related to that. Gotta put your ship into positions where the crew can perform. Think about what they are dealing with. Can they shoot properly? Can they repair/rebuild in time? What is the ranges on the guns? Speed of the ship should you need to make an escape?

-Tactics

Using your environment, your ship, your tools, everything. Try to predict what your opponent may be thinking and work out ways to counter it.

-Awareness and communication

Be aware. Your crew is going to be busy, they can't always check around. Communicate often and they'll help spot every chance they get. Talk to your other captain(s), unless of course they don't seem to want to.

-Leadership

You are the orchestrator. You control if the team gets kills, if they die, and if they survive. A gunner cannot shoot unless they have a target and an engineer cannot repair effectively under heavy fire. Different ships may need different repair orders. Some need speed to evade hits, others need faster rebuilds on hulls to soak damage.

[Moo]

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned yet... Don't act like you're literally tied to the helm!

The only reason you need to be at the helm is to steer the ship. Other parts of being a captain can be performed from elsewhere too. And there are situations where trying to move the ship isn't the best idea...
Unavailable: You have no engines. Banging on the control keys won't get you anywhere, so perhaps a better idea to go bang on something else with a tool to take pressure off the crew and help get up and running quicker.
Unwanted: You're sniping. Moving the ship will mess up the crew's aim. You could shoot or repair, or maybe even just get off the helm and spot.
Unwise: If you've taken heavy damage, or are facing superior firepower, sometimes running away is a lost cause. Helping to shoot or repair may let you survive, or at least damage the enemy more before you die.

Also remember that the ship will keep going straight if you get off the helm with the throttle set. This means you can do other things even while moving.

[Sammy B. T.]

I must strongly disagree with getting off the helm in most scenarios. If you are in such disrepair that your ship is either about to go down or become immobilized, you should have already put you crew in a tankn/flee/cower mode. Every second spent running to a component and repairing is a second not spent evading. Even with one engine, evasions can still be made (one turn lets you turn, one primary lets you change speed) Even with no engines, changing elevation can still help. There are of course exceptions such as Galleons, where minor turns don't exist, and Junker Balloon repair where you just have to look up. However, few things make me rage more than when the ship is going down and the capatain has decided to stop evading in favor of hitting the hull with his pipe wrench when the rest of the crew is already in repair mode.

[Parkourwalrus]

1. not being a $#$%#&^%^&*%%^$ gunner.
2. equipping at least one non harpoon weapon.
3. knowing what captains chat is.
4. sharing the moonshine.
5. communication.
6. understanding fire arcs.