I very much agree with the sentiment. RO, however, lacks all... Let's call it "gameplay infrastructure", for such a thing to be possible.
For the sake of comparison, let's look at tactical FPS games that allow far greater freedom of maneuver, such as the
Project Reality mod for Battlefield 2. This mod features maps that are several square kilometers in size, with cap zones as far as 800 meters apart. Of course they had to figure out some way to handle respawning to prevent battles from devolving merely into quick, small skirmishes and very long waiting times between them.
The solution was to make spawning
player driven rather than
map driven:
-At the squad level players can deploy a "Rally Point". This game object substitutes squad leader spawning, whom can finally lead the squad instead of securely hiding in a ditch to allow for squad spawning to take place. Of course there are limitations such as how far from the nearest objective can the RP be deployed and so on.
-At the team level we have Forward Observation Bases, or FOBs in short. These game objects take time to be deployed, as they require the collaboration of several players: They have to be transported from base in a designed logistics vehicle, deployed by a Squad Leader and then built by several grunts with shovels. Other objects can be built the same way, such as .50 caliber machineguns, AT missile launchers, bunkers, barbed wire and so on, thus giving players the opportunity to influence the battlefield by deploying strongpoints, which of course can also be attacked and destroyed. It also goes without saying that rarely any two matches play out the same way.
Now, on to the chain of command.
One key difference from RO is that Squad leaders
retain control of squads. Squads are not simply slots that wait to be filled, but any player can create one. They can also
lock it to prevent people from joining it or they can
kick players who don't cooperate. The amount of people in the squad influences which roles can be taken, for example having a machinegunner means that your squad has at the very least four people in it, same with deploying a Rally Point. While this may not sound too good in theory, in practice it creates for the most part functional, cohesive squads.
The in-game map plays a key role, as contact reports can be given by squad leaders and appear on it for everyone to see. Squad membrs can also clearly see order markers on it, while commanders can give orders to squads by using it. What the mod was missing was spontaneous interaction between squads and players, which was made possible with an Mumble, external voice chat program now automatically launched with the game, that allows for 3D voice chat that anybody can hear as well as long range communication between squad leaders.
A very similar concept is being pursued by the
Tactical Battlefield mod for ArmA 3. Now, if it wasn't so damn hard to mod this game and get people to play the mods...
