I'd like some input on what people think about changing the Kill/Death ratio display to also include Assist kills.

The basic idea is this. The FPS crowd love their K/D ratios. Most people like to check them at some point. K/D is not getting removed. K/D is a staple feature of every major FPS on the market.

However, K/D is not in the spirit of PS. Strategic warfare relies on support activities. PS1 did SEP and support stuff very well. To differentiate PS2 from the FPS genre more generally, PS2 should present a K/D/A.

The premise is simple; anyone who helps shoot someone who dies gets an assist. Anyone who healed or revived someone who then kills someone gets a point. Anyone who provided the spawn point gets an assist for kills made by those who used the spawn. Anyone who repaired a vehicle that gets a kill gets a point.

As a free to play game there are going to be a lot of people who aren't very good. Early on, a K/D will put many of these people off (particularly when servers go live with a plethora of beta vets who know the maps, the gameplay, and are looking for easy cannon fodder). Under those circumstances K/D ratios are horribly demotivating.

However, any new player can jump in a spawning sunderer, or go medic or engi and get a very positive assist to death ratio. It emphasises the importance of assist actions in the game. It makes deaths and kills look relatively insignificant compared to the good you can do by helping out your empire. those who care about K/D can fill their boots with getting excited about it. Those who are struggling in the direct 1:1 gunplay can see how they're contributing to the effort without getting completely demotivated.

Everywhere a K/D is presented in stats (whether they be in-game or out of game data feeds and character sheets), K/D/A should be displayed.

Thoughts?