alright guys, long time forum stalker coming online.
1. the tank has 5 AI manned spots. Driver, MG, Gunner, loader, Commander.
the Russian tanks have only 4 AI manned spots: driver, MG, Loader, Gunner/commander
2. there are 3 Player "ghosts" in both Tank variants, they "possess" the AI.
when an AI is killed and can't man a Position, the Player Possessed Character needs to physically Move.
Conclusion = German tanks have instant switch between Gunner and Commander.
Russian Tank needs 1-2 seconds to switch, as the Gunner needs to physically switch location.
= a realistic ingame advantage for the germans.
... but of course you can always Shoot the Commander when he's looking out the hatch. evening the advantage.
3. the loader is 100% AI controlled and basically Eyecandy. if you would control the Loader you would not be able to do anything, as the Loading is automated. oh, maybe you could look out some slits...
4. I prefer less, really awesome looking, feeling, balanced, high quality tanks than 10 lesser quality ones which are a pain to balance, and 7 won't be used as they are inferiour. Panzer II for example. or KV-1. but I can imagine their use in very early maps..
5. now, I figured out some things.
what if the Tank is fully manned with 3 players, and 2 want to switch places? in a russian tank? the Loader position could be used there as a place switching "parking lot"
5.1 alternatively, I coul imagine a system of request. the Driver wants the gunnery slot. so he presses F2 or 2. he doesn't switch, but when the position opens he'll move there. he shouts something up, and the Gunner hears it and gets a notification "Driver wants to gun". now the Gunner could press F1, or 1, and they switch places.
6. what will happen when the loader is killed? I can imagine that the character in the Gunner position moves to the gunner slot automatically after every shot and loads himself, then returns to the Gunnery position and fires.
7. what if the Loader is killed, but you have your commander AI still alive?
what if you could switch to the commander, and move him physically to take the loader seat? same with the MG position.
when looking at these tactical choices, I think the Loader slot should be "manable".
however, no minigames. you won't be able to do anything, and it would mainly be used to replace a dead Loader.
if I see that our Loader is Killed, and I'm the third person on the MG, I would move my character to the loader seat, just to help see outside and help out our gunner. I would be stuck there, or I could move back to the MG, but then the Gunner needs to switch places every shot, slowing down our rate of fire by half, if not more.
and to stop griefers, the gunner position would be manned when he's reloading "manually", or else a dickhead driver or MG could steal his position while he's in the loader seat.