This topic requires a post about the new command system. I will write one.
I won't claim to know everything they're doing, because a lot of information about PS2 floating around is based on stuff that the devs said months ago and have since taken back, and also because they haven't said everything that they're doing just yet, BUT, the new command structure is supposed to be fucking cool.
The old system wasn't terrible but it was sort of silly. You'd level up Command Experience by leading squads and platoons to victory. Your primary rewards for gaining a high Command Rank were access to Continent and Global chat channels, which only high CR officers could use, initially making them valuable tools for your faction's generals to disseminate information and give orders (however they are now overpopulated with people who grinded CR a long time ago and are blathering on with one another. Often you'll get several generals arguing about what everybody should be doing, a far cry from the well-oiled machine of Planetside's peak). But also you got access to orbital strikes. Those selfsame generals sure spam those strikes these days, let me tell you; if there were realistic damage modeling then Auraxis would be a smoking husk (and nevermind the split of all the continents onto seperate planets, we don't talk about that and it is not canon for the new game)
anyway
The NEW system is supposed to allow commanders to actually give missions to players, the way that quest-givers do in other MMOs, and completing those objectives rewards you with experience! It's such a simple way to get people to obey orders and further the faction's cause that I'm shocked that somebody actually thought of it. It's the sort of thing that nerds like me sit around and go "Man, you know what they should do" and then it never happens because game designers are retarded. Well, they're doing it and it's crazy.
Side effects may include stupid missions that mean nothing, being assigned by idiots. which will still be funny. If one of us becomes a commander, I fully expect that he will give orders to fly in circles making fart noises over VoIP
Oh, and orbital strikes are making a comeback, for better or worse.
But anyway, what I really meant to say is, you don't gain command experience in the old way. It will be based on certifications just like all the other skills and abilities in the game, so if you want to be a high-ranking commander, you have to sink a bunch of points into commandery skills rather than combaty skills. This means that commanders will be more focused, dedicated, and likely megalomaniacal given the investment involved.