Those ^ are not ranks....

Re: What in the name of....

Hmm yeah it could be a marker so you can easily identify groups.

 

Re: What in the name of....

That's the most plausible theory I've read so far.

 

Re: What in the name of....

possible very possible as if you take a closer look you will see that the only units with those marks are the ones that are attack while teh three marines are just running up to it without attacking and have no marks

 

Re: What in the name of....

the ghost isn't under attack though, i dont think.

 

Re: What in the name of....

I suppose it could be just signal when unit has gained set amount of kills.

Example 1 mark at 10 kills, 2 marks at 20 kills and 3 at 50 kills...

So if you see 3 marks on unit you know it has killed ALOT of enemys =)

 

i doubt the developers of SC2 would copy a staple of c&c games and with everybody complaining about how the now scrapped soul hunter wouldve gained damaed per kill im sure that even if they were ranks, they wouldnt affect a unints damage or anything.

 

Re: What in the name of....

Still not a necesary function. Its just in the way. If you wanna see the kills, you just select the unit and take a look at the kill-o-metre.

 

Re: What in the name of....

Yeah. Unnecessary for me aswell. Nobody's going to be paying any attention whether this or that unit has killed more before sending it to attack. It just gets in the way.

 

Re: What in the name of....

The more iam thinking about it the more curious i get!

It cant be a killcount.

It COULD be a rank...

The arrows are pointing DOWN instead of up, indicating that it shouldnt be a rank.

Man it beats me...

Maybe iam thinking weird, but could it be a medic or something spellcasting using a new ability, like "enhanced defence" or something like that, slightly changing stats, represented by the arrows?

 

Re: What in the name of....

like someone said before, it's probably control groups.

 

Re: What in the name of....

If it was to do with the units being attacked, wouldnt the buildings have the signs above them? Also, wouldnt it just be easier and clearer to show little numbers for control groups? :-\

Gold arrows suggest ranks I think, but maybe not in the +dmg and +health way as in C&C. Maybe special abilities could be availaible for ranked units, or command bonuses that effect nearby troops... Then again theres nothing to suggest any of that stuff, but it'd be a nice feature.

 

Re: What in the name of....

...and maybe its like the Soul Hunters. Gone the next thing we know it.

 

Re: What in the name of....

Veterancy seems to be the most plausible to me right now. Or maybe it's plausible to build a limited number of elite units. Control groups would be too confusing (wouldn't you need 10 arrows? That's clutter!). Or maybe it signifies a special, individually equipped upgrade?

 

Re: What in the name of....

It and indicator for units that have been ordered to "Stand Ground". That way you don't have to select the unit and check to see if the Stand Ground button is 2 degrees brighter than the others.

or

Its and indication that the units is being targeted by the other player. Units have been told to attack that unit specifically; as opposed to doing an attack move and letting them sort it out. So the player knows what units the opponent is focusing on.

 

Re: What in the name of....

First of all I like the first idea. I would not have thought of that. Hold position being under an arrow would be great. Now you know which units to put under hold position. For some people who use it. The other thing though would not make sense. They were being rushed by zerglings and the ghost is way in the back and why wouldn't it show the demo for terran when the vikings were all shooting the battle cruiser.

 

Re: What in the name of....

Yes, it CAN'T be rank. Everyone here knows a fictional orginization, years beyond our own in a different galaxy, MUST use the same ranks as us.

 

Re: What in the name of....

Indigent::
True the second is a bit of a stretch ... but a hew screens gave that impression that it could be. Just putting it out there.

The first theory is what I've been assuming is the case. Since people who have played it said that there is no ranking system.

 

Re: What in the name of....

From my research I have come upon much for this subject. (Well two screenshots.)

From this image we can see a Battlecruiser using the Plasma Turrets on the enemy Terran below. In the bottom right we see a Battlecruiser that is not using Yamato nor Plasma Turret yet. The Plasma Turret ability is similar to Yamato Cannon in that they are an ability that is used on certain a unit or in the case of the Plasma Turret bombardment it is an AoE effect that is targeted on the ground. With that in mind in this part of the screenshot we see the Battlecruiser is preparing to launch a Plasma bombardment. Note the ability has a marker similar to that of a Nuke in that it can be seen by the player there, but most likely not by the enemy. This being said we know the Battlecruiser is selected and being used.
[img width=670 height=502]http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/810/810449/starcraft-ii-20070803003053100.jpg[/img]

This is further supported by the following Screenshot where the Terran Ghost is launching a Nuke onto the zone where the Zerglings are incoming with the Siege Tank and Marines in View. The Ghost, Siege Tanks, and Marines all share the same marker above them. Meaning that they all are in command at that moment. The Ghost is launching a Nuke as shown ,which, is viable since it is the unit most likely being controlled at moment while controlling the Siege Tanks and Marines which are in passive mode where the player has not commanded them to do anything yet so they begin attacking the incoming Zerglings.
[img width=670 height=502]http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/810/810449/starcraft-ii-20070803003055069.jpg[/img]
This is my idea on what this symbol is as if you think about it the Terran most likely have a pointer that is different than the Zerg and Protoss as they already have a different Campaign Briefing Room (At least I think they do.) Its just another way to make the Terran more Unique without affecting gameplay at all. Blizzard is still trying things with all the races so this could just be something that will never make it into any public demo. Just my view on this. ;D

Summary: They represent which units are selected because those units are using abilities or being commanded by the player.(Evidence Above) Hope this helps. 8)

 

All signs seem to point to C&C style ranks to me. If thats the case then I hope they take it out.

This is not C&C in space ^_^

 

if there were ranks for the terrans, i think we would have heard about it from the thousands of people who played as terrans at blizzcon.