The NS2 experience
Grissi
Join Date: 2003-08-28 Member: 20314Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Join Date: 2003-08-28 Member: 20314Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Hey everyone!
I saw this interesting thread this morning that touched an issue that I'm sure many players have noticed when playing NS2. I felt that thread was not given enough justice so I decided to dig a little bit more into that topic. It's about the feeling that it get constantly harder to find enjoyable games in ns2 the more you play it. Now there are a lot of factors connected to that feeling and I hope to be able to highlight the reason and help players to fully experience what natural selection 2 has to offer.
It usually does not take long for players to start notice that the experience can vary a lot between rounds in NS2. One of the biggest factors players mention is the lack of teamplay and one sided games because teams give up to early. As a player gets to experience more epic matches where teams work together to a common goal the normal matches start to become bland and not that interesting. Now this does not only happen in natural selection 2 but in other games as well, but because how much the social factor affect ns2 players get a real taste how the organized environment works and start to crave for more. It's a similar reason why many players end up in the competitive environment after playing a game for a while.
But now comes the big question, what to do when you get to a level that playing on a random server just does not seem interesting anymore? I could even add to this question: ,,I don't want to join an organized team, I don't have the time or the interest to do so".
Now there is nothing wrong with that and playing competitively is not the only way to move forward. What I would recommend is to look for a community to start to play with. Find a community server that usually has the same players playing on it. These kind of servers are usually fairly organized in a very nice and relaxing environment. As you start playing more players will start to recognize you and the experience starts to get even better. With the right community even the one sided games become enjoyable.
There are a lot of different communities and it might take a while to find one that is perfect for you. To tell the truth I would actually like to see more of these type of gaming groups pop up and let players know that they are out there. Also if there is anyone out there that has been thinking of creating a ns2 gaming community, I would say go for it!
These kind of communities truly bring out the best of ns2. I hope to see more of them out there and is big part of the reason why I ended up playing natural selection for so long(both ns1 and ns2).
In the end I started my own competitive team in NS2 and it has really helped me experience everything the game has to offer.
Hope this read has been worth your time
, would love to hear more thoughts on this topic.
-Grissi
I saw this interesting thread this morning that touched an issue that I'm sure many players have noticed when playing NS2. I felt that thread was not given enough justice so I decided to dig a little bit more into that topic. It's about the feeling that it get constantly harder to find enjoyable games in ns2 the more you play it. Now there are a lot of factors connected to that feeling and I hope to be able to highlight the reason and help players to fully experience what natural selection 2 has to offer.
It usually does not take long for players to start notice that the experience can vary a lot between rounds in NS2. One of the biggest factors players mention is the lack of teamplay and one sided games because teams give up to early. As a player gets to experience more epic matches where teams work together to a common goal the normal matches start to become bland and not that interesting. Now this does not only happen in natural selection 2 but in other games as well, but because how much the social factor affect ns2 players get a real taste how the organized environment works and start to crave for more. It's a similar reason why many players end up in the competitive environment after playing a game for a while.
But now comes the big question, what to do when you get to a level that playing on a random server just does not seem interesting anymore? I could even add to this question: ,,I don't want to join an organized team, I don't have the time or the interest to do so".
Now there is nothing wrong with that and playing competitively is not the only way to move forward. What I would recommend is to look for a community to start to play with. Find a community server that usually has the same players playing on it. These kind of servers are usually fairly organized in a very nice and relaxing environment. As you start playing more players will start to recognize you and the experience starts to get even better. With the right community even the one sided games become enjoyable.
There are a lot of different communities and it might take a while to find one that is perfect for you. To tell the truth I would actually like to see more of these type of gaming groups pop up and let players know that they are out there. Also if there is anyone out there that has been thinking of creating a ns2 gaming community, I would say go for it!
These kind of communities truly bring out the best of ns2. I hope to see more of them out there and is big part of the reason why I ended up playing natural selection for so long(both ns1 and ns2).
In the end I started my own competitive team in NS2 and it has really helped me experience everything the game has to offer.
Hope this read has been worth your time
, would love to hear more thoughts on this topic.-Grissi
Comments
In my experience, as a new player, everything can be fun, even the simplest of things in a game, simply because it's all still part of one big discovery process. It's fun to learn new stuff and experience new things. Like the first time you spread your wings as a lerk, or that first time you see an onos charging your way.
As you get more experienced though, you'll start to see the game from a different perspective. See the cracks and holes as well. Simple stuff that seemed so awesome when you first started playing becomes more or less routine, and you'll start looking to satisfy your needs with some deeper gameplay experiences. Sometimes finding a good pub server that attracts lots of regular players can be enough, or at least a step up from the average pub game. In my case, as with most games, I eventually ended up joining a community, which made the game so much more enjoyable for me.
Joining up with a clan/community is probably the best advice you can give to players who are no longer enjoying pub games. It takes a bit of dedication, but rewards you plenty.
I have a great time watching competitive matches, though. (Especially Godar, they're the best. Whoever is running that team must know what they are doing
If there's no access to that data, maybe a passworded one and sharing that password via a Steam group that only lets in experienced players
I think that's the only way things will work until there's an in-game matchmaking system
That sounds like a pretty good idea. I've sort of gotten used to dealing with inexperienced players as a commander, it would be cool to actually have people who listen to what I tell them to do.
I think, to get a larger base of skilled players, which would give more games using more skill, creating generally more fun/satisfying NS2 experiences, it's really up to the Commander. The commander is the player that teaches people how to play, and a good commander gives a better play experience. I think, as boring as it may sound, one of the most useful things an NS2 player can do is frequently (if not all the time) play commander, well, for both marine and aliens, communicate, teach, win (hopefully), and help create better players.
I find the bulk of my NS2 dissatisfaction comes from commanders who don't know how to play and don't communicate, they just let everything go to pot and don't say a word. At the end of the day, no matter how good your team's shooting skills are, it's the commander that wins or loses a game. Therefore, they are the most valuable player, therefore we need a Commander Training School, with formalised training and certifications. We need to churn out top-notch commanders like they're a commodity. This is War, people! Who knows, one day, we might end up in a situation where games won't start because everyone is fighting to be the commander.... instead of, currently, games not starting because no one wants to be commander....
A man can dream.
I've actually started going back to playing BF3 recently as I have lost a little interest in the game, it's not as appealing to me anymore as it was in the beginning (funnily enough it was the other way around when I started playing NS2, was losing interest in BF3).
they force a teamspeak requirement, no offense but that's obnoxious.. in-game works great, and I doubt many U.S players want an additional voIP program, as teamspeak seems to be more major in europe.. wish all of the voips would just collapse and only one would be left for everyone to use
Would it not be better if one just became so good that everyone just decided to use it instead.
That would be mumble, everyone transitioned to it because of its no delay->to talk time
However in europe, teamspeak still seems to be the main thing, regardless for something such as a PUG forcing a voIP client is no good, especially when in-game is excellent. (hence esea only requiring voIP for your league matches and giving you a free mumble server)
Is there some big deal why you can't have both TS3 and Mumble set up on your gaming PC? It takes probably less than 5 minutes to dload, install and configure TS3.
Others would say, that is a big gift.
If the commander isn't dropping RTs, your team loses. Simples. Your marines can be standing there, in the right place, at the right time, asking for an RT, but it's up to the commander to actually drop it. A good commander can pick up the slack of lousy marines more than good marines can pick up the slack of a bad commander.
You guys have got to be joking. Let me know when you've learned to play. The best comm in the world can't help crappy marines position, aim, coordination. However, The best marines can hold ground/spawn camp while a noob comm takes 3x longer to drop the buildings you ask for.
No wonder I don't remember saying that, because I didn't.
So, swings and roundabouts, then.
Just as well you could say that no matter how fast and how many medpacks or RTs the commander drops, if the marines aren't pressing mouse 1 or E, nothing's gonna happen. It can go either way. Whether the team or the commander is more important is a matter of debate and changes when player counts are different. I'm inclined to say the team is more important, especially their combat skills (aiming and positioning).