But I think we all know that the majority of squaded players are against this idea because they love being the only squad in a game and getting to massacre pubs, to the point where I've seen squads leave battle when faced with a squad that will give them a good run for their money.

I vaguely recall a discussion being held regarding removing Orbitals from public matches.

To the countless posters saying "If you want to counter an organized squad, create your own!"

Creating a squad of random people from a LFG channel, or inviting in game, is absolutely nowhere near as effective or organized as squadding with people you know, who you know don't suck, and who you know all have Mics and gear that mesh's with each others loadouts.

It's really a bad argument to make.

Furthermore, pub games are mostly random people looking for matches. Allow squads in goes counter to their point, which is to go in and have a fun game against people of relatively equal skill. Pre-made Squads completely unbalance the equation.

Personally, i'd prefer to see Premade's limited to PC and FW. Pub matches should be solo people or in-match squads only(ones made from people on the team, which get disbanded at the match end)

Randoms squadding up isn't the same as a team that actually knows each other and plays on a comparable level. Especially if that level happens to be "high"...

I think there's a lot of validity to your argument.

I'd actually really like to see Pub matches restricted to solo play, and FW/PC restricted to squads only.

Of course, this would need to include some better incentives for participating in FW and PC in the first place. I still firmly believe that the main thrust of the game should be to get people into corporations, and thus into squads, as soon as possible.

I agree that random squads aren't much better than no squad at all, but I don't think most people are arguing for "random" squads. In subdreddit, for example, the norm is to squad up and to have a mic. If someone doesn't have a mic, they are strongly urged to spend the $10 on one. The whole point for us is playing together and forming a community. The game is pretty damn awful otherwise. Most people don't ever even get a chance to experience what being in a properly functioning corporation is like, because they don't even understand what a corporation is, or what function it serves, in the first place.

At this point, there are already a myriad of corps that would likely match up in one way or another with most player's sensibilities. CCP just needs to find a way to bring finding a corporation to the forefront, and give players the information they need to do so. It's tough to make your own corporation, but it's pretty easy to join one... and all but the most anti-social of the anti-social will end up enjoying themselves more and performing better in a corp than not.

This is supposed to be an MMO afterall.

Real talk though... I get what you are saying, but I disagree. In terms of practicality, I do not think we have the playerbase to divide between squadded and unsquadded (see: "ambush modes merged" if you disagree). I also think the assumption that people just want to solo in a random chaotic free for all is misguided. I remember seeing old school CBT corps running around slaughtering people and personally my response as a complete and utter noob was "wow, they work really well together... I want to be like that one day" and learned how effective a solid squad with integrated tank support could be. To me that complexity is appealing... one of the main appeals of this game.

Take that away and you are left with very little.

= Dust iWin button.

Something really needs to be done about squads in pub matches. Yes this is a team-based game, I get it, but you know even if I am playing solo I still try to play as a team-player. Most others do as well from what I have noticed. But as soon as a 6 (or less) organized squad enters the other team, all hell breaks loose and a once balanced match turns into a mass suicide mission.

Players who use the defense that this is a team-based game, should be thrilled at the aspect of squad-free modes, which means if they decide to squad-up they will only face other organized squads of equal skill. But realistically they just want easy kills, so they try to keep it as it is now.

OB's also add insult to injury in the case of squads vs no squads, IMO the requirement for OB's need to increase dramatically, especially since the WP requirement hasn't changed from the 4-player squads of Chromosome to the now 6-player squads. I think the majority of my deaths tonight came from being OB'ed just because I happened to be near the blob of blues when one went off. Or even worse is spawning at the default spawn only to get rained on by a OP OB strike mere seconds after spawning.

The most fun and balanced matches come from 100% random vs 100% random, or squads vs squads (somewhat equal in skill), but putting squads of organized players with mics into matches vs mostly randoms greatly unbalances matches.

The new MM has been used and tested out, which still equates in squad domination. So can we PLEASE consider squad-free modes CCP?

Regarding the first part, that's why I find the idea of only reserving Ambush for solo play so tempting. I do believe that we'd have enough solo players to fill Ambush, and squads would flock towards Skirmish and Domination, thus creating more squad vs. squad encounters. I'm also certain that we'd still have enough solo players choosing to play Skirmish or Domination to fill the gaps (I know I would).

Regarding your second point, it seems that you are not alone in the opinion that DUST does not have much to offer without squads. But I don't think it's reasonable to base game design on that assumption. I enjoy playing solo and putting my own skills to the test. I don't enjoy walking all over randoms with a squad of superior firepower. It all comes back to "people are different".

My father is currently addicted to EVE Online, and just a few days ago he told me again how what he likes most about the game is that you are really free to do your own thing, without the game dictating how you are supposed to have fun (he's a solo player by the way). I'd like us to have the same kind of freedom in DUST, and for the most part I think that we do.

Reserving ambush for solo play limits the options of people who enjoy squad play, and is even more detrimental to people who enjoy soloing in Skirmish. You are now 'tracking' people into a certain game mode based on whether or not they are solo or in a squad. Limiting the game this way just gives people fewer options.

I personally solo quite a lot, and games against teams with organized squads are often the most fun. Just sayin.