Marine Support/Strategy makes fun factor of NS2 less fun(Pub view)

chibimikechibimike Join Date: 2007-09-09 Member: 62232Members
I'm an old NS player and I love NS and even NS2 is a great game. However from my experiences of NS2 play it seems the game for Marine side lacks a lot of fun and the main reason I notice is the huge lack of support that we get on the ground.

One thing I noticed right off the bat is when you're in the com chair I haven't seen any marine request queues like there use to be on the left hand side for meds/ammo/orders. You will hear them and can space bar to them still, but I haven't seen anything popping up like it use to in NS1. Health bars on soldiers don't stand out so good like they use to on things.

NS2 feels like you need heavy comm support and you rarely ever get good commander support, it's like a 50/50 chance if you're ammo or meds will come. People never want to spend money on supporting the marines on the ground. In NS1 it felt like you could actually accomplish something when running around and you would always get meds or ammo if you need it.

You can argue that it's really just bad commanders etc etc... But I see this happen more often and even if you build an RT fend something off get bitten need some meds you will not always get support and it really drags the experience down. You always feel stuck, or if you kill some whips or something and have to wait on ammo spamming z and then finally get ammo when a skulks about on your ass biting you. It really makes the experience suck and I hate playing marines for this reason now... You feel like you can kill one or 2 things and then either have to run back to base or hope the command will support you.

I've read on here people saying the win rate is 40% marine 60% alien... I don't know where the hell you pull these numbers from because I can play 12 games and out of the 12 games aliens have won 10 times and the only time they lose is when no one jumps in the commander spot for them at the beginning of the game.

On a side I'd just like to say FOR PUB games I think the new giving ever play res is a terrible design as it lacks pub strategy because the players have to buy there weapons, mines etc etc etc... So if I commander researches mines and no is buying mines because they all want to save for exo/shotgun or something... It flaws the strategy, in NS1 the commander control that stuff so public play worked a lot better. You could organize shotgun rushes and tactics better, because you could okay everyone we're going to shotgun rush the hive and you just dropped the shotguns down for everyone and went. Now if you do that the team has to have the res and be willing to buy the shotgun...

But these are not really issues for non pub matches because they have some sort of strategy and will get commander support and use the things from the armory.

Comments

  • DavilDavil Florida, USA Join Date: 2012-08-14 Member: 155602Members, Constellation
    chibimike wrote: »
    I've read on here people saying the win rate is 40% marine 60% alien... I don't know where the hell you pull these numbers from because I can play 12 games and out of the 12 games aliens have won 10 times and the only time they lose is when no one jumps in the commander spot for them at the beginning of the game.

    Sounds like it's bad marine teams mostly. Early game marines should dominate if they can aim, killing skulks is extremely easy. And the only real reason marines should start having issues is if they fall far behind in resources and aren't aggressive enough. But I see marines win just as often as aliens to be honest. Next time you see aliens winning a lot, check to see if it's the same people doing very well, one or two really good people can win the game in a pub.

  • Not SureNot Sure Join Date: 2013-01-06 Member: 177758Members
    Ehh, I'm not giving a guy med packs when he's solo and has no armor unless he's a great shot or I really, really want him to accomplish whatever it is he's doing. Most of the time, it's just not worth the investment.

    You're basically half dead already if you don't have any armor left, and since you're by yourself, the same problem applies to sending in a mac or dropping an armory -- there's a really good chance someone's gonna come in and finish you off anyway and I just lost somewhere between 2-10 res.

    I tend to win those games though, so your issue is probably just bad commanders.
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I once got every med pack and nano shield ever for welding a very important node. I was special, man.
  • kingkrabbe.#bofkingkrabbe.#bof Join Date: 2012-10-21 Member: 162892Members
    sounds to me like you're mostly playing with new, inexperienced coms.

    I'm not the best marine commander, but I see myself as a decent one and I play with decent commanders most of the times which means: they keep me alive with ammo/medpacks, when I'm too far away from a armory, when we don't need the tres for other things, and stuff like that.

    But still, there are many games, where I yell for ammo/medpacks and become nothing. I always tell myself in these moments that the com is new and marine commanding is kind of overwhelming lots of times. There are up to X players wanting to be fed with goodies or buildings to build (you could hit your "jump to alert/request"-key every 5 seconds in some rounds) while you must keep up with upgrades, expansion, alien movement and so on. Marine commanding tends to be very stressfull (for me at least) when you're faced with an alien team which is as good or even better as your team.

  • SanCoSanCo Join Date: 2012-08-18 Member: 155744Members
    I don't drop medpacks for headless chickens.
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    I'll agree marine comm is less fun than it is in NS 1, but only really because it lacks the same amount of strategic depth. There is NO viable alternative to rushing PGs ASAP, in NS 1 you could at least reliably try other strategies like TF first, CC relocate, Double bases.
  • CiroCiro Join Date: 2013-01-09 Member: 178392Members
    Davil wrote: »
    Next time you see aliens winning a lot, check to see if it's the same people doing very well, one or two really good people can win the game in a pub.

    It depends; 6v6, 8v8, 12v12. In a 6v6, 2 good players can win a match. In 8v8 and 12v12, not so much. Slow or sluggish comms can ruin a good early game. Inattentive comms can weaken mid/late games and comebacks.

    OP, I think you'll have more fun after playing with better comms vs weaker alien teams. Comms can still drop weapons (all weapons, jps, and single gun exos), but need more resources (early on) to be effective. Some comms are cheap, some fear wasting res (it adds up early game), some have big mid/late game plans.

    Also, P.Res isn't that big of an issue, compared to NS1. A comm can still drop mines, if no one is willing to purchase and use them.
  • chibimikechibimike Join Date: 2007-09-09 Member: 62232Members
    Xarius wrote: »
    I'll agree marine comm is less fun than it is in NS 1, but only really because it lacks the same amount of strategic depth. There is NO viable alternative to rushing PGs ASAP, in NS 1 you could at least reliably try other strategies like TF first, CC relocate, Double bases.

    Or relocate into that vent shaft in ns_bast, lol

  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    edited February 2013
    chibimike wrote: »
    In NS1 it felt like you could actually accomplish something when running around and you would always get meds or ammo if you need it.
    Which NS1 servers did you play on, because I remember many cases of having to pry meds/ammo/cat/weapons from the cold, dead hands of NS1 comms. I find comms using drops in similar ways in NS2 as they were in NS1; if you appeared competent and didn't die then the comm was generous, but if you couldn't figure out which end of the gun the bullets came out of, you got nothing.
  • Mc_IntireMc_Intire Join Date: 2013-02-02 Member: 182745Members
    The instances I comm'd I always dropped ammo and medpacks unless I was preoccupied elsewhere. Being a lazybone I could probably be more effective at it if I was to learn the shortcuts, but I managed without, too. As for marine strategies... there could be more viable variety in the beginning. I like to blame it in the tech tree being weird in places.

    The magic number that breaks balance seems to be 16. On servers with more than 16 slots I see balance tipping totally to the alien side. With 8 or less players on each side we managed to win as marines, even if our aiming skills were average (public alien players also miss a bite or two, so "aiming" affects both sides :p). What seems more important is direction. You have to coordinate with your marines. If you talk with them, even a little, tell them what you are plotting, you often get way batter results even with average teams. Unfortunately you have to coax many marine comms into talking. Funny enough, alien commst are more talkative even on the same server...
  • SopsSops Join Date: 2003-07-03 Member: 17894Members, Constellation
    I always drop med packs and nano shield for groups of marines, it can make or break a push. If there is a lone marine then I may depending on how much res I have.
  • SixtyWattManSixtyWattMan Join Date: 2004-09-05 Member: 31404Members
    edited February 2013
    ScardyBob wrote: »
    chibimike wrote: »
    In NS1 it felt like you could actually accomplish something when running around and you would always get meds or ammo if you need it.
    Which NS1 servers did you play on, because I remember many cases of having to pry meds/ammo/cat/weapons from the cold, dead hands of NS1 comms. I find comms using drops in similar ways in NS2 as they were in NS1; if you appeared competent and didn't die then the comm was generous, but if you couldn't figure out which end of the gun the bullets came out of, you got nothing.

    This. Bad players never got meds and ammo in NS1 unless it was special circumstances like a hive rush. At least that's how it happened everywhere I played. Part of being a good commander is figuring out who you should actually be spending res on instead of wasting it on people who are just going to die anyway.
Sign In or Register to comment.