My feedback on the beta...

lame-olame-o Join Date: 2010-04-24 Member: 71517Members
edited April 2012 in Ideas and Suggestions
Hey, I've been playing build 203 and I feel that dieing has little felt consequence to the player in gameplay, I mean sure, you lose resources if you bought a weapon, and sure your team suffers because of your death, but the waiting period is like 5 seconds. I never have enough time to even begin spectating, which is kind of pointless. The way it is right now I can totally see why only games of 6 vs 6 are any fun, but that's not really the point of a great multiplayer game is it? Unless you're getting base-raped, it's just as well that you should spawn back at your base instantly, not much would change gameplay-wise imo.

I find that I don't really care if I die in NS2, even if I did spend resources on something. I'll just respawn in 5 seconds anyway, so why not rush some key location and try to do as much damage as possible? And it's not like resources are hard to get. Usually when I feel like getting a weapon I'll have enough resources for it, and when I don't I'll just rush in and die with my LMG and next time I'll have enough for a shotgun.

If the respawn times were increased to the level of NS1 - which were pretty long, sometimes 2-3 minutes iirc - and if the team sizes were increased to something like 12 vs 12, we'd have a lot bigger and more intense games, which is what I'd like to have while playing a strategic, team-based online FPS.

Comments

  • antacidantacid Join Date: 2007-08-07 Member: 61821Members, NS2 Playtester
    NS1 respawn times were never 2-3 minutes, they are pretty much the same as now.

    You don't care if you die because you don't care if you win, NS2 is about holding key locations, you cannot do that if you are dead.

    Also the enemy gets resources if you die.
  • lame-olame-o Join Date: 2010-04-24 Member: 71517Members
    edited April 2012
    From what I've experienced respawn times are much shorter than in NS1. Also, I care about winning just as much as in any game I play, and that's dictated by the game. The penalties you get when you die just aren't felt as a player. Sure, you wish you could hold that location longer, but I still don't feel the need to think twice about running in and getting myself killed. I played a game where I was playing on the kharaa team in mineshaft. We were losing but that didn't stop me from going fade/onos almost every time I respawned. I'd get 2-3 kills, die, then respawn really quickly to morph back into what I was playing before. And I was zerging most of the time, mind you. That's not the dynamic that NS1 had at all.

    That said, mineshaft is a great map, and I had fun, but I think it'd be way more fun on a properly balanced 32 player server.
  • LV426-ColonistLV426-Colonist Space Jockey Join Date: 2011-08-05 Member: 114269Members, Constellation
    edited April 2012
    As far as mineshaft goes -- it's broken right now.

    Also, the game itself is still in need of lots of tweaking, balancing and optimization.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2012
    32 player games (any game) will only turn into a spam fest of doom. 24 is usually the maximum number that I would say is acceptable (for public games). However this game here is much harder to balance due to it's asymmetry. And the fact that not everything is in yet makes balancing a moot point to some extent at this time. But we do try to get it in a playable/acceptable state, which does have it's ups and downs. Chalk it up to the nature of playing in a Beta :)

    Also if your team dies a lot, you will eventually get egg locked or get an ever increasing spawn cue on the marine team. I think that fact alone is quite enough feedback for you to see your team is doing it wrong... You will have a nice view of the Hive or the Infantry Portals (read: helpless feeling), while you can't play and are forced to watch the battle. You can't do anything about the outcome when in the spawn cue...

    And not being able to have people out in the map, will in turn mean you lose map control, which in itself means you will lose resource nodes and get pushed into your main starting location.

    It is quite obvious if you keep an eye on the map, with the enemy getting closer and closer to your main base. You will eventually lose, of course public games have this chaotic nature that makes comebacks possible in some weird cases... That doesn't mean the math doesn't add up. This is one of the reasons public matches are kinda weird to use as balancing stats, but an eye is indeed kept on this data...
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=1921952:date=Apr 4 2012, 04:30 PM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Apr 4 2012, 04:30 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1921952"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->32 player games (any game) will only turn into a spam fest of doom.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Not necessarily, as I've had up to 64 player matches in other games/mods that have been quite fun and strategic. The key to making it work is ensuring that the core game elements (res, spawning, map size, etc) scale with playercount.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    NS2 maps are too small for 32 players, even the bigger ones currently in progress from what I can see (size wise). BF is probably the only franchise that can handle 64 fragfests because of the HUGE maps...
  • LV426-ColonistLV426-Colonist Space Jockey Join Date: 2011-08-05 Member: 114269Members, Constellation
    edited April 2012
    Day of Defeat realism with 32 players was epic.
  • lame-olame-o Join Date: 2010-04-24 Member: 71517Members
    I'm thinking that the end goal for NS2 maps is to be playable for 32 players. Mineshaft certainly is. The only thing that's stopping 32 player matches is the engine and the balancing.
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