I am proposing it for every class/suit. But that does not change the fact that it makes snipers more useful to the team. Anyone who is in a position with a good field of vision will be able to spot enemy movements better than the guys down in the weeds and tight corridors.

Idunno.
There's a weakness either way. I mean, I could just ballerina twirl in a zone hoping my crosshairs randomly pass over someone who's hiding behind something, sitting still, while only partially exposed. I might not have seen him, but my crosshairs sure will! Huh. Reminds me of old DUST scanner days :)

Just making a point here.

if I am fired upon though, I would be ok with a brief "ping" type locator pop up on my display. I can buy that my suit's tech could triangulate the source location of incoming fire. Just a 3-second dot illumination on the mini map. MAYBE if I maintain visual contact, then that dot stays illuminated, but that starts to slide into the issue above. Shared intel might be based on some skill level. Something like each skill level (or however it ends up working in NOVA) would increase the data share radius for your squad---just within squad. This could be a subtle encouragement to keep players in formation and close. Also, if other non-squad players are nearby, they will not get your shared data stream, but they should be able to use their senses of sight and sound to figure out that 5 people are shooting at some random crate stack, probably for good reason. Maybe they should then join in?

I would not want that intel automatically beaming to a sniping sitting on the other side of the map though as I think that would be too easy for the sniper and would lead to a very lazy method of situational awareness on their part. BUT... if I am taking fire, and a red dot pings on my mini map. I can then visually scan the area, hopefully determine that the shooter is behind a crate, and describe the scenario to my snipe via comms, "Shooter at my SIX, behind cover!" Ideally, the sniper (and all squad members) will always have directional chevrons of each squad member on the mini map. Sniper hears the callout, is already aware of you and your squad's location AND facing direction, does a quick mental click on what MY "six" is and now he's in action. If that sniper is any good and has been tracking my squad, then he should be able to find the crate as I describe and fire. Assuming they have line of site. This should be exciting for the sniper to both follow squad locations and be aware of their own surroundings. But I guess it all depends on how squads and individuals wish to use sniper roles, if they exist as we assume.

Or her. I don't mean to be sexist.

Now if you're talking only for sniper roles, then that may change things. Still, I think the above is necessary to draw a distinction between role mechanics. I like the idea of a sniper and/or a scout having a unique ability that general suits might not have however that distinction is played out. A mod unique to that suit type? Iderno. But I would not like it if any joe running around randomly could just randomly ping a hidden red because of ...cross hairs.

They already left vehicles behind. Leaving snipers behind would end their miserable existance

Scans are already there to do the job. Feel free to take one with you. Or use modules. That's the whole point of Ewar, isn't it?

@Fox,
If you can just tag someone who sacrifices most of his slots for dampening, isn't that broken?
Abusable? Someone tries to flank, and you can light him up like a christmas tree for everyone to see (w/o using any mods/eq).
Passing down the info via a mic takes a little bit of time so it's not an instant : there he is, kill him.

So... you don't want to automatically share the location of an enemy you have in your sites... but you want to be able to be able to tell a Sniper the exact position of someone who is directly behind you and behind cover...

Also, have you ever played the Sniper role? In DUST the position of enemies was transmitted to Snipers on the other side of the map all the time, but when I played Sniper many of my kills were enemies that did not show on the Tac-Net. Snipers have a good field of view. While it would be helpful to highlight an enemy position for your Sniper, it will probably be a lot more helpful for your Sniper to highlight that shot gunner sneaking up behind you.

As far as describing enemy positions on Coms, DUST did not give us the tools to do that effectively. Hopefully we will get a better compass in Nova.

Ok, that part where you say "if any joe running around randomly could just randomly ping a hidden red because of ...cross hairs." If the red is "hidden" then the mechanic would not tag them. It sounds like you think I am talking about some sort of scanner that looks through walls or something?

I am talking about being able to tag enemy that you can see, which by definition means Not Hidden.

To spot hidden enemy you would need an E-War scanner. Not talking about that here.

No. I mean in a very specific situation where the enemy is hiding, stationary, behind a crate, but for whatever reason maybe his foot or elbow is hanging around the edge. If I'm walking into an ambush, I might not see that subtle piece of suit, especially if he's not moving and blends in with the environment. I have the potential of seeing him, but most likely I would never be aware of him. My cross hairs, though, would spot him regardless.

My point was that in this type of random encounter, I still might be able to scope him by waving my cross hairs around. Of course I wouldn't see him if he is completely out of view. I did not mean for that to be implied. I see profile damps/scanners as a completely separate thing, I agree and was not talking about that either. :)


Thanks for the detailed response. Much appreciated.

Would you be more comfortable with the mechanic if you had to hold the cross hairs on him and press a button to tag them, rather than just having to hold your cross hairs on them for a prolonged period of time?

You equip dampening mods so you can sneak up behind people. Only a Cloak should protect you from line of sight. If you think you have been spotted, duck behind cover to break contact, then double back behind them.

Keep in mind I am talking about something a player actively does to target and tag an enemy player, not some passive ability.