In military roleplay, radio communication is a necessity of organisational authenticity that can become an excellent story point, and I think that’s the crux of the matter. Much like sci-fi stories ignoring the limitations of physics because they interfere with the story being told vs. building the story around the limitations of those physics - as long as the radio provides and supports roleplay, it can be a brilliant addition.
For example, each platoon of the regiment has a signaller of corporal grade in the platoon headquarters with a large radio system mounted on their back. This single radio shared amongst 28 troops is their only link to company headquarters, who in turn use their company radio to link down to their three platoons and up to their battalion headquarters. With co-operation and mutual support between platoons, companies and battalions an absolute necessity in a theatre of war, having something as simple as difficult terrain or bad weather completely disrupt this radio link can be an efficient way of turning a situation from bad to worse. Similarly, the radio itself is a dangerous tool - it can easily leak battery acid down the signaller’s bare back, it frequently sparks, it can even explode, and its transmissions are easily intercepted by the enemy.
The inclusion of a dedicated signaller with a radio system provides a great deal of roleplay for us. Having a platoon ambushed as it returns weary to camp and having the soldiers figure out that a transmission was intercepted after the fact is a far more satisfying conclusion than the enemy accidentally ‘stumbling’ onto our concealed harbour site. Having to resort to mundane means to somehow contact company headquarters while the section medic deals with deep tissue acid burns can throw a simple advance to contact event right out the window and tip the roleplay on its head.
We have literal spaceships, fancy Light warframes powered by gods know what, and a wide array of technology. Gnomes even speak of ‘‘voltage’’ (Mechagon dungeon) and electricity is a well known thing in WoW, Gnomes especially have been known for crazy contraptions and inventions since the early days.
Sometimes people forget that WoW has kind of always been like this, whether they like it or not. Even in TBC we had some very crazy stuff.
Sure, if they get used ALL the time, it might be a bit of problem and I can see how the whole communication thing becomes a bit too easy. But for Gnomish guilds as an example, I don’t see how this is a problem at all, as that’s the way they kind of communicate in aerial units, etc. I don’t really have a problem with it.
I’m gonna be real honest here. Having operated a modern field radio pack in the army, it was by far the worst piece of equipment I ever used. Even my rifle for all its problems with the bolt being ridiculously tight at least worked reliably.
The time it took to calibrate to the right frequency, turn it on and wait for it to boot up only to find out the battery failed, and finally replace it and get everything to work only to find out how weak the signal really is in reality because you just know the last guy who used it disassembled the antenna wrong and bent it in a way it shouldn’t bend. Don’t even try to entertain the idea of the actual phone of the radio pack being in good condition.
So you assemble the amplifier to boost your signal to actually make it carry over a reasonable distance and by the time you’re done, you come to realize you were better off attempting to run the distance and back to deliver whatever urgent message you had. Only the sweet release of death will ever free you from the grips of whoever designed these things.
imagine being in the signal corps lmao this post was made by the paramedic gang
I personally never made horrendous experiences, but there were instances when I was personally butt-hurt about buzzbox usage, because they are a nasty disadvantage when you’re doing something a certain guild disapproves of.
However, they seem to be quite feasibly usable in RP, given the times we have seen them in canon, but with a few twists I rarely see. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone hijack a buzzbox frequency to listen in on someone, or overall abused a lack of protection in the active usage. That, and I agree that it’d be a much more comfortable thing if people allowed others the chance to react to a buzzbox being in use, such as slapping it out of their hand, rather than immediately letting the rest of the guild know. Gotta be flexible, these things aren’t mobile phones or discreet little gatchets built into a secret agent’s watch!
![:poop:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/poop.png?v=6" ":poop:")
things.