This patch is 100x better then the build it used to be. I'm not the greatest player, but I no longer am 10 levels behind (thank you streaming xp!). As for similarities to ns2 or it playing the same or looking the same etc; bottom line its a different game. If this bothers you, don't play. If this intrigues you, as FordPerfect said, come get some.
This patch is 100x better then the build it used to be. I'm not the greatest player, but I no longer am 10 levels behind (thank you streaming xp!). As for similarities to ns2 or it playing the same or looking the same etc; bottom line its a different game. If this bothers you, don't play. If this intrigues you, as FordPerfect said, come get some.
Bottom line is it does bother people, and they dont play. No one plays
This patch is 100x better then the build it used to be. I'm not the greatest player, but I no longer am 10 levels behind (thank you streaming xp!). As for similarities to ns2 or it playing the same or looking the same etc; bottom line its a different game. If this bothers you, don't play. If this intrigues you, as FordPerfect said, come get some.
Bottom line is it does bother people, and they dont play. No one plays
Come get some for 3 days
There have always been people that feel very strongly that Combat is bad for Natural Selection.
There are also people who find the fast paced nature of combat (compared to the rts centric gameplay of classic) to be way more fun.
I've always been in the later group. I love combat. I like classic ns2 as well, but I've always found that getting a really good game in classic is a lot more difficult than getting a good game of combat. There are just so many factors that can tie in to a game of ns2 classic going poorly that are outside of your control.
Combat has, and still does, provide me the really fun parts of an ns2 game.
As for the faults with combat (both true and perceived), I think Faultline has been really forthcoming with where they stand on those issues. I've personally discussed several of them ad nauseam over the last few months and it's starting to wear on me.
It hurts when you see people shit on something you care about a lot for all the wrong reasons, so here, for posterity sake I will try to address several common complaints about Combat standalone.
1) Combat was made a standalone game to milk money out of ns2 players.
While I don't doubt the developers who worked on Combat would have like to of been paid for their work, the main motivation for making Combat a standalone game was to de-couple it from the ns2 code base.
Back in the day (this was before CDT took over), modding for ns2 was a huge pain in the butt. Pretty much every time the game got updated, something in your mod would break. For developers, this is like cancer. You pretty much have to stop whatever you're working on and go figure out how the latest update has broken your game. The original mod developers decided they would be able to build a better game if they didn't have to stop to fix it every time ns2 was updated. Players of the original ns2 combat mod should be able to corroborate this. The mod was always broken in bunch of small / annoying ways.
Nowadays, this is not really the case. I'm given to understand things have improved considerably for ns2 modders since the CDT took over development, and from my own personal experience (I took a 5-6 month break on classic) ns2 classic is a much improved game.
It does kind of suck, but it would be pretty much impossible for combat to go back to a mod inside the ns2 client. Hindsight is 20/20.
2) UWE developed combat as a cash grab.
UWE is the publisher for combat. They have a bunch of legal say so about what Faultline games can and cannot do. Other than that, they don't have a thing to do with the game itself. They take their cut off the top and that's pretty much it. This arrangement was necessary if they wanted to decouple the combat mod from ns2 classic.
3)No one plays Combat anymore. No one even wants to play Combat.
Explaining why people stopped playing combat requires a bit of storytelling. Sit down while ol' Locke tells you about the great gorgeacolypse of 2015.
Somewhere a few months after release, a bad update got pushed to the live build. The original intent was to give gorges a bit of a buff to make aliens more new player friendly. The solution was to increase the effectiveness of hydras. Unfortunately, they were made a little to effective. They became so strong that two gorges could basically just walk a wall of hydras into marine spawn and wreck the marines. They ended up with an insane RoF buff, damage buff, and hp buff. Marines really couldn't do anything about it.
After about 2 weeks, people just stopped playing combat. I think the defect was finally patched out 3-4 weeks after its release, but by then the damage was done. The small player base that was keeping the combat servers populated dispersed and went back to ns2 classic.
It was at this point that Faultline games had a decision to make. They could either work desperately to get back the small community they had, or they could take the time they needed to make Combat the game it was always meant to be. They went with the later option.
To say the original release of Combat was rushed would be an understatement. I love Combat, but even I'm not that forgiving. The balance wasn't right. The maps weren't right. There were a lot of things that weren't well polished, and honestly, it didn't feel that much better than the mod people were used to playing.
I still found combat a lot of fun, but it was far from the fast paced ns2 combat I wanted. The lack of polish combined with the devastating 4 week period of outright broken gameplay was a deathnell for the already small community.
And so we arrive at present day. FLG has spent the last few months hammering out a bunch of things that by all rights should have been done before the game even launched, and honestly, I think they did a great job. The new balance patch added a lot of polish to its maps, features, and mechanics. Changelog here ( http://steamcommunity.com/app/310110/ )
The hope is that people who already own combat and found it lacking before will come and give it another shot. So far, the feedback on the balance patch has been really positive. I know plenty of people who have been wanting to play the game badly, but seeding an empty server is never any fun. We'll be organizing games as often as possible now that the patch is out, so if you've been itching for that fix, you should join the ns2 combat group for announcements.
TL:DR: Combat is a much better game than it used to be. If you own it, I hope you'll give it another shot. If you like that type of gameplay, I think you'll really like the game as it is now.
I think (and have thought since release) that faultline needs more PR outside of the ns2 world. Of the 36 or so friends I have on steam that play ns2, 12 own combat, and nobody has played since probably November.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
I think (and have thought since release) that faultline needs more PR outside of the ns2 world. Of the 36 or so friends I have on steam that play ns2, 12 own combat, and nobody has played since probably November.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
Making the game accessible to people outside the ns2 community was absolutely the original intention with Combat. The hope was that combat would actually bring new players into ns2. This obviously wasn't executed very well though.
I've been trying to increase awareness by doing streams of play tests and public games the last month or so leading up to the balance patch, but I'm a twitch streamer with like 21 followers and not much experience.
There have been a bunch of key giveaways and promotions but they didn't have a lot of impact.
There were much more recent plans to increase the player base in other ways but they met with resistance from the publisher and are currently on hold.
There is only so much you can do with a budget of zero dollars but believe me people are trying.
I think (and have thought since release) that faultline needs more PR outside of the ns2 world. Of the 36 or so friends I have on steam that play ns2, 12 own combat, and nobody has played since probably November.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
Making the game accessible to people outside the ns2 community was absolutely the original intention with Combat. The hope was that combat would actually bring new players into ns2. This obviously wasn't executed very well though.
I've been trying to increase awareness by doing streams of play tests and public games the last month or so leading up to the balance patch, but I'm a twitch streamer with like 21 followers and not much experience.
There have been a bunch of key giveaways and promotions but they didn't have a lot of impact.
There were much more recent plans to increase the player base in other ways but they met with resistance from the publisher and are currently on hold.
There is only so much you can do with a budget of zero dollars but believe me people are trying.
Player numbers are still really really low, and unfortunately that's a vicious cycle. Nobody is going to buy a copy of a multiplayer-only game that is so dead that they can only play during designated periods. A free weekend would do the trick, at least temporarily, but not sure if you guys have that level of control or if that's a UWE decision only. If you can do it, you'd best make damn sure that this game is ready for people to play again, otherwise it'll just die again shortly after the surge. You also need to do something about the price. $15 is already pushing it without throwing in the fact that ns2, an objectively more complete and polished game, is only $10. (Not trying to be a dick, just trying to get you to see things from a realistic standpoint.)
Also, beware of the veteran stomp problems. Right now, the only people playing combat are veteran players who WILL be far more skilled at the game than a new player. Some people don't mind the challenge and will gladly adapt, but others won't be willing to put in the effort to learn the game because they haven't yet been hooked by the game. In other words, why spend time trying to get better at a game that you don't enjoy? Kind of a catch-22. Not really sure what the solution here is, as this puts it in the same boat as regular NS2. Certainly rookie-only servers would help, but again, you need to ensure there are enough players to sustain this, which leads us back to the free weekend idea.
I think (and have thought since release) that faultline needs more PR outside of the ns2 world. Of the 36 or so friends I have on steam that play ns2, 12 own combat, and nobody has played since probably November.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
Making the game accessible to people outside the ns2 community was absolutely the original intention with Combat. The hope was that combat would actually bring new players into ns2. This obviously wasn't executed very well though.
I've been trying to increase awareness by doing streams of play tests and public games the last month or so leading up to the balance patch, but I'm a twitch streamer with like 21 followers and not much experience.
There have been a bunch of key giveaways and promotions but they didn't have a lot of impact.
There were much more recent plans to increase the player base in other ways but they met with resistance from the publisher and are currently on hold.
There is only so much you can do with a budget of zero dollars but believe me people are trying.
Player numbers are still really really low, and unfortunately that's a vicious cycle. Nobody is going to buy a copy of a multiplayer-only game that is so dead that they can only play during designated periods. A free weekend would do the trick, at least temporarily, but not sure if you guys have that level of control or if that's a UWE decision only. If you can do it, you'd best make damn sure that this game is ready for people to play again, otherwise it'll just die again shortly after the surge. You also need to do something about the price. $15 is already pushing it without throwing in the fact that ns2, an objectively more complete and polished game, is only $10. (Not trying to be a dick, just trying to get you to see things from a realistic standpoint.)
Honestly, unless you're still making a half-decent profit from the game, just make it free. See if it attracts any players or at least make it free for awhile. KF2 recently did that (albeit its a much more popular game) and their player counts rose to over 20k concurrent.
Wouldn't Combat profit much more from being F2P ? This was discussed at some point for NS2 itself; but I believe combat would much more compatible than NS2 with that monetization model. I believe it could benefit from it easily. I don't recall it being discussed (before RaZDaZ mention).
There would probably be nice (or not so-sh*ty) ways to do it : some specific and-possibly-limited servers F2P (i.e. 1 server in Europe & 1 in U.S. ; I strongly believe people would be willing to pay if such a scenario was to happen), some specific map F2P (i.e. co_faceoff; though that would mean servers changing map = kicking some clients = bad, unless for 1-map servers), some specific skin F2P (stupid shiny sh*t, a classic), or gorge hats. But 20$ to try the game = trollolololol... no ty.
Also as it was said earlier : wtf don't make a stand-alone; switching client = lawl.
It's funny because Combat actually has a much more conducive F2P model than classic ever could. Pick your 2 best (i.e. most polished, balanced, and fun) maps and make it F2P, all the others require the full version of the game. On marines, make the LMG and SG F2P (everything else requires the full version of the game). On aliens, make the skulk, gorge, and fade F2P (lerk and onos require the full version of the game). This model would never work in classic, but I love it for Combat.
I could totally sell my friends list on giving this game a try with me if this was how it operated. But there no way in hell I am going to tell them to buy a $15 game with zero players 95% of the time. I can't even justify recommending NS2 classic for $10 at this point and at least that has a handful of populated servers.
If you think you can hook people with how fun you think NS2 Combat is, put your money where your mouth is and make this happen. Did I just bring NS2 Combat back from the dead?
I think (and have thought since release) that faultline needs more PR outside of the ns2 world. Of the 36 or so friends I have on steam that play ns2, 12 own combat, and nobody has played since probably November.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
Making the game accessible to people outside the ns2 community was absolutely the original intention with Combat. The hope was that combat would actually bring new players into ns2. This obviously wasn't executed very well though.
I've been trying to increase awareness by doing streams of play tests and public games the last month or so leading up to the balance patch, but I'm a twitch streamer with like 21 followers and not much experience.
There have been a bunch of key giveaways and promotions but they didn't have a lot of impact.
There were much more recent plans to increase the player base in other ways but they met with resistance from the publisher and are currently on hold.
There is only so much you can do with a budget of zero dollars but believe me people are trying.
Player numbers are still really really low, and unfortunately that's a vicious cycle. Nobody is going to buy a copy of a multiplayer-only game that is so dead that they can only play during designated periods. A free weekend would do the trick, at least temporarily, but not sure if you guys have that level of control or if that's a UWE decision only. If you can do it, you'd best make damn sure that this game is ready for people to play again, otherwise it'll just die again shortly after the surge. You also need to do something about the price. $15 is already pushing it without throwing in the fact that ns2, an objectively more complete and polished game, is only $10. (Not trying to be a dick, just trying to get you to see things from a realistic standpoint.)
You are preaching to the choir my friend.
As others said, F2P could bring your numbers back up and publicity, I am sure a very large number of players check the free games section of Steam regularly because everyone loves a free game! If you do consider this don't follow the P2W route with unlocks and all that crap, stay humble and just start firing out loads of custom skins for the user to optionally purchase which has no affect on gameplay whatsoever, a good example would be Path of Exile, have you ever tried that game out?
They seem to have got it right and they are thriving! If you could somehow grab yourself a dedicated skinning team I reckon you would see a drastic turnaround a year or two from now. I hope you have considered this route.
I would personally buy skins from your store if they looked the business.
These are just two quick examples, I implore you Locke, this would be the best way to go, you'll take a sting at first but the long term affects would be in your favour.
*EDIT*
What I'm trying to re-iterate Locke, is that clearly the previous price model, current and free weekends are clearly not working for you, maybe its time for something more drastic before your time is up.
It's funny because Combat actually has a much more conducive F2P model than classic ever could. Pick your 2 best (i.e. most polished, balanced, and fun) maps and make it F2P, all the others require the full version of the game. On marines, make the LMG and SG F2P (everything else requires the full version of the game). On aliens, make the skulk, gorge, and fade F2P (lerk and onos require the full version of the game). This model would never work in classic, but I love it for Combat.
I think on alien, you'd have to make the onos free. Otherwise you're literally paying to win. Onos requires no mechanical skill, it's a very low input high reward kind of lifeform. Otherwise your suggestion makes sense.
We are currently discussing a few different options for Combat as well as a reduction in price with UWE. Ultimately the decision is in their hands, so we have to wait for approval before we can move forward. We will keep you all posted.
It's funny because Combat actually has a much more conducive F2P model than classic ever could. Pick your 2 best (i.e. most polished, balanced, and fun) maps and make it F2P, all the others require the full version of the game. On marines, make the LMG and SG F2P (everything else requires the full version of the game). On aliens, make the skulk, gorge, and fade F2P (lerk and onos require the full version of the game). This model would never work in classic, but I love it for Combat.
I think on alien, you'd have to make the onos free. Otherwise you're literally paying to win. Onos requires no mechanical skill, it's a very low input high reward kind of lifeform. Otherwise your suggestion makes sense.
fades are unkillable. dear lord are they unkillable.
shotgun is end game tech, over gl and flame thrower... i feel like that would just be making a newbie trap.
Guys just give it up and bring combat mod back to ns2.exe. Sh!t ill give you some fecking money XD
It could even be a featured release build "NS2 COMBAT update" Skin packs, combat badges. Give 20% to faultline. Everyone is a winner.
If there really is a target market for combat then the ns2 community could really do with it, not faultline.
Guys just give it up and bring combat mod back to ns2.exe. Sh!t ill give you some fecking money XD
It could even be a featured release build "NS2 COMBAT update" Skin packs, combat badges. Give 20% to faultline. Everyone is a winner.
If there really is a target market for combat then the ns2 community could really do with it, not faultline.
My main issue with combat was that it wasn't built into the original game and sure you might have your solid arguments against it but at the end of the day, my opinion stays the same and I imagine many others would feel the same way. I played more combat mod than I ever did stand-alone because like most players, I don't have an SSD, my load times are enough to deal with in NS2, I don't need combat taking 5 minutes to precache everytime I want to load it up as well in addition to the process of quitting NS2-loading combat-picking a server and loading in. It might be better now but even with decent loading times, its still a hassle to play.
If I was to go an play a custom game or team game on SC2 or DOTA2, it would be like quitting the game, loading a different client and then playing DOTA 10v10 or SC2 4v4 or something.
It sounds like 1st world problems but it ends up being, what's the point when I can just continue playing NS2 anyway?
Just adding my vote for making it F2P as others have said, but don't piece-meal it, it has to be full game -- no limiting weapons/life forms. If you do this you limit the experience, and what's going to have people keep on playing is the whole experience, not to mention all the issues of getting trampled by those that have 'full' game vs 'free' etc.
Make money from skins, new sound packs, possibly maps, etc etc.
Comments
I suggest you all come and get some!
There will be a public NS2: Combat game in roughly 90 minutes:
"Hi all! Come and play the new NS2: Combat update with us! We are combining the EU and NA pub games for today.
The time will be: 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST/6:00 PM UTC)
Server : http://DiamondGamers.net - NS2: Combat Server
We hope to see you there!
---
NS2: Combat Development Team"
Bottom line is it does bother people, and they dont play. No one plays
Come get some for 3 days
There have always been people that feel very strongly that Combat is bad for Natural Selection.
There are also people who find the fast paced nature of combat (compared to the rts centric gameplay of classic) to be way more fun.
I've always been in the later group. I love combat. I like classic ns2 as well, but I've always found that getting a really good game in classic is a lot more difficult than getting a good game of combat. There are just so many factors that can tie in to a game of ns2 classic going poorly that are outside of your control.
Combat has, and still does, provide me the really fun parts of an ns2 game.
As for the faults with combat (both true and perceived), I think Faultline has been really forthcoming with where they stand on those issues. I've personally discussed several of them ad nauseam over the last few months and it's starting to wear on me.
It hurts when you see people shit on something you care about a lot for all the wrong reasons, so here, for posterity sake I will try to address several common complaints about Combat standalone.
1) Combat was made a standalone game to milk money out of ns2 players.
While I don't doubt the developers who worked on Combat would have like to of been paid for their work, the main motivation for making Combat a standalone game was to de-couple it from the ns2 code base.
Back in the day (this was before CDT took over), modding for ns2 was a huge pain in the butt. Pretty much every time the game got updated, something in your mod would break. For developers, this is like cancer. You pretty much have to stop whatever you're working on and go figure out how the latest update has broken your game. The original mod developers decided they would be able to build a better game if they didn't have to stop to fix it every time ns2 was updated. Players of the original ns2 combat mod should be able to corroborate this. The mod was always broken in bunch of small / annoying ways.
Nowadays, this is not really the case. I'm given to understand things have improved considerably for ns2 modders since the CDT took over development, and from my own personal experience (I took a 5-6 month break on classic) ns2 classic is a much improved game.
It does kind of suck, but it would be pretty much impossible for combat to go back to a mod inside the ns2 client. Hindsight is 20/20.
2) UWE developed combat as a cash grab.
UWE is the publisher for combat. They have a bunch of legal say so about what Faultline games can and cannot do. Other than that, they don't have a thing to do with the game itself. They take their cut off the top and that's pretty much it. This arrangement was necessary if they wanted to decouple the combat mod from ns2 classic.
3)No one plays Combat anymore. No one even wants to play Combat.
Explaining why people stopped playing combat requires a bit of storytelling. Sit down while ol' Locke tells you about the great gorgeacolypse of 2015.
Somewhere a few months after release, a bad update got pushed to the live build. The original intent was to give gorges a bit of a buff to make aliens more new player friendly. The solution was to increase the effectiveness of hydras. Unfortunately, they were made a little to effective. They became so strong that two gorges could basically just walk a wall of hydras into marine spawn and wreck the marines. They ended up with an insane RoF buff, damage buff, and hp buff. Marines really couldn't do anything about it.
After about 2 weeks, people just stopped playing combat. I think the defect was finally patched out 3-4 weeks after its release, but by then the damage was done. The small player base that was keeping the combat servers populated dispersed and went back to ns2 classic.
It was at this point that Faultline games had a decision to make. They could either work desperately to get back the small community they had, or they could take the time they needed to make Combat the game it was always meant to be. They went with the later option.
To say the original release of Combat was rushed would be an understatement. I love Combat, but even I'm not that forgiving. The balance wasn't right. The maps weren't right. There were a lot of things that weren't well polished, and honestly, it didn't feel that much better than the mod people were used to playing.
I still found combat a lot of fun, but it was far from the fast paced ns2 combat I wanted. The lack of polish combined with the devastating 4 week period of outright broken gameplay was a deathnell for the already small community.
And so we arrive at present day. FLG has spent the last few months hammering out a bunch of things that by all rights should have been done before the game even launched, and honestly, I think they did a great job. The new balance patch added a lot of polish to its maps, features, and mechanics. Changelog here ( http://steamcommunity.com/app/310110/ )
The patch came out Saturday, and we've been getting some great games in ever since.
http://steamcharts.com/cmp/310110
The hope is that people who already own combat and found it lacking before will come and give it another shot. So far, the feedback on the balance patch has been really positive. I know plenty of people who have been wanting to play the game badly, but seeding an empty server is never any fun. We'll be organizing games as often as possible now that the patch is out, so if you've been itching for that fix, you should join the ns2 combat group for announcements.
TL:DR: Combat is a much better game than it used to be. If you own it, I hope you'll give it another shot. If you like that type of gameplay, I think you'll really like the game as it is now.
Combat is definitely fun, or at least he last time I had a opportunity to join. However since it's been pointed out and since we all know it's a much different game than ns2, then shouldn't they really be trying everything to appeal to non-ns2 players?
I think there is a huge market out there for people who would enjoy combat, but nobody knows about the poor game outside of the ns2 community, and we're all a little too in love with ns2 to be fully accepting of combat as it is.
Making the game accessible to people outside the ns2 community was absolutely the original intention with Combat. The hope was that combat would actually bring new players into ns2. This obviously wasn't executed very well though.
I've been trying to increase awareness by doing streams of play tests and public games the last month or so leading up to the balance patch, but I'm a twitch streamer with like 21 followers and not much experience.
There have been a bunch of key giveaways and promotions but they didn't have a lot of impact.
There were much more recent plans to increase the player base in other ways but they met with resistance from the publisher and are currently on hold.
There is only so much you can do with a budget of zero dollars but believe me people are trying.
Player numbers are still really really low, and unfortunately that's a vicious cycle. Nobody is going to buy a copy of a multiplayer-only game that is so dead that they can only play during designated periods. A free weekend would do the trick, at least temporarily, but not sure if you guys have that level of control or if that's a UWE decision only. If you can do it, you'd best make damn sure that this game is ready for people to play again, otherwise it'll just die again shortly after the surge. You also need to do something about the price. $15 is already pushing it without throwing in the fact that ns2, an objectively more complete and polished game, is only $10. (Not trying to be a dick, just trying to get you to see things from a realistic standpoint.)
Also, beware of the veteran stomp problems. Right now, the only people playing combat are veteran players who WILL be far more skilled at the game than a new player. Some people don't mind the challenge and will gladly adapt, but others won't be willing to put in the effort to learn the game because they haven't yet been hooked by the game. In other words, why spend time trying to get better at a game that you don't enjoy? Kind of a catch-22. Not really sure what the solution here is, as this puts it in the same boat as regular NS2. Certainly rookie-only servers would help, but again, you need to ensure there are enough players to sustain this, which leads us back to the free weekend idea.
You are preaching to the choir my friend.
There would probably be nice (or not so-sh*ty) ways to do it : some specific and-possibly-limited servers F2P (i.e. 1 server in Europe & 1 in U.S. ; I strongly believe people would be willing to pay if such a scenario was to happen), some specific map F2P (i.e. co_faceoff; though that would mean servers changing map = kicking some clients = bad, unless for 1-map servers), some specific skin F2P (stupid shiny sh*t, a classic), or gorge hats. But 20$ to try the game = trollolololol... no ty.
Also as it was said earlier : wtf don't make a stand-alone; switching client = lawl.
I could totally sell my friends list on giving this game a try with me if this was how it operated. But there no way in hell I am going to tell them to buy a $15 game with zero players 95% of the time. I can't even justify recommending NS2 classic for $10 at this point and at least that has a handful of populated servers.
If you think you can hook people with how fun you think NS2 Combat is, put your money where your mouth is and make this happen. Did I just bring NS2 Combat back from the dead?
As others said, F2P could bring your numbers back up and publicity, I am sure a very large number of players check the free games section of Steam regularly because everyone loves a free game! If you do consider this don't follow the P2W route with unlocks and all that crap, stay humble and just start firing out loads of custom skins for the user to optionally purchase which has no affect on gameplay whatsoever, a good example would be Path of Exile, have you ever tried that game out?
They seem to have got it right and they are thriving! If you could somehow grab yourself a dedicated skinning team I reckon you would see a drastic turnaround a year or two from now. I hope you have considered this route.
I would personally buy skins from your store if they looked the business.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/2/28/5451410/how-is-ethical-free-to-play-path-of-exile-faring
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/211929/The_mechanics_and_ethics_of_freetoplay_in_Path_of_Exile.php
These are just two quick examples, I implore you Locke, this would be the best way to go, you'll take a sting at first but the long term affects would be in your favour.
*EDIT*
What I'm trying to re-iterate Locke, is that clearly the previous price model, current and free weekends are clearly not working for you, maybe its time for something more drastic before your time is up.
I think on alien, you'd have to make the onos free. Otherwise you're literally paying to win. Onos requires no mechanical skill, it's a very low input high reward kind of lifeform. Otherwise your suggestion makes sense.
shotgun is end game tech, over gl and flame thrower... i feel like that would just be making a newbie trap.
It could even be a featured release build "NS2 COMBAT update" Skin packs, combat badges. Give 20% to faultline. Everyone is a winner.
If there really is a target market for combat then the ns2 community could really do with it, not faultline.
If only it was that easy
If I was to go an play a custom game or team game on SC2 or DOTA2, it would be like quitting the game, loading a different client and then playing DOTA 10v10 or SC2 4v4 or something.
It sounds like 1st world problems but it ends up being, what's the point when I can just continue playing NS2 anyway?
Hope to see you there!
edit: For the sake of completeness, that's 13:00 EST (UTC -5)/10:00 PST! (UTC -8)
Probably about 4 months to late, but better late than never. That with the new balance patch, now is the perfect time to come check it out.
You can buy Combat?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/310110
This new patch is an improvement. There have been games every night this week.
I might have to redownload it then!
We will be playing a bunch of games today.
http://steamcommunity.com/games/ns2combat/announcements/detail/130958585818469735
It looks INSANE
Yesterday was awesome!! Here's a video of some hot hot alien on marine combat.
Make money from skins, new sound packs, possibly maps, etc etc.