About Balance And Strategy
BrainWorm
Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20280Members
Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20280Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Discussion board :p</div> I was just discussing it on the 2.01d (I think) topic but I think it deserves a better place <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
Let me make my point first. When I first saw NS site, the one thing that made me download the game and start playing, was the About section about the two teams:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><b>"First-person strategy"</b> with a real resource model and consequences for actions. Both sides are genuinely different and together they accommodate different play styles:
<b>Marines</b> :: Fighting skill is less important, strategy and communication take its place. Playing as a marine will be a tense experience with methodical planning and strategy, interrupted with action.
<b>Aliens</b> :: Playing as an alien will be an intense action experience, rewarding reflexes and alien heroics. Communication and coordination don't require typing.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I thought ... Oh My! It?s not a stupid FPS game where two "make believe" teams fight each other to get frags (and surprised I was to see that the scoreboard on NS does not have individual frags, congrats on that!). Here, you DO HAVE a difference between the teams. You have INTELLIGENCE, TEAM PLAY and STRATEGY in one side, with the Mariners, and Action, Reflexes, heroics and yet some degree of team play and strategy on the other side.
If you want to think, make a methodical plan and strategy, and advance against strong and fast aliens, you go Mariners. You must have a smart comm, good in strategy, don?t care if he is a nerd who can't shoot as long he is "the-man-with-the-plan". If you just want to run, jump, BITE!, and kick some lammer ****, you go Alien, with an eventual "smartest" Alien - the Gorge - who will get resources and upgrades for you to fight.
The marines are dependant on their Comm to the bones, the Aliens are dependant on their Gorges (not as the rine-comm though).
So, we have <b>"First-person strategy"</b>.
Now, still on this, let?s think. Most noobs, non-team players, non-strategy guys will totally spoil the rine team. Since this kind of person actually don?t care, we have some on Rines and some on Aliens. Problem is, noobiness, non-team players and "fraggers" will spoil Rines the most, THEREFORE, only natural that the Rines will lose more often. IF ALL games had a good team play on rines, we could get to 50/50, since it?s not that easy to get a good team, Aliens will have an advantage.
THAT's as designed: BALANCE only comes if, as the about section tells, Marines play with strategy and communication, as a tense experience with methodical planning and strategy, interrupted with action. (copy/paste), while Aliens have an intense action experience, rewarding reflexes and alien heroics.
And that was what I was seeing so far on NS. WHEN we had good even teams, the game was a good balanced one. When (most often on internet games) the teams were not good at communication and team play, Aliens had an advantage.
But then ....
We have the newest changes and patches.
Aliens are getting crippled by each new patch. Aliens are getting WEAKER, Alien structures are getting WEAKER, Alien costs are getting HIGHER, Mariner structures are getting stronger, faster and cheaper, HA/GL are getting stronger ... need I continue ??
And so ... Marines do not need to think anymore, why bother? They can spread faster now (not because the comm is good and is advancing instead of turret farming), they last longer (not because commander have some degree of strategy), they can kick alien **** (not because they have better aiming and strategy). Marines can just storm in an alien hive with their shinny HA and GL the place to heavens ... not to mention Siege.
Balanced? YES, we should see a 50/50 on the internet now, but when you get two nice teams, with a nice rine commander, we will get 60/40 <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
SOOOOOOOOOOOO My opinion is: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Keep this game a <b>"First-person strategy"</b> with a real resource model and consequences for actions. Both sides been genuinely different and together accommodating different play styles. Because as the things are going, NS is becoming the next Counter Strike with mindless strategy, just "buy-the-stronger-gun" and "jump-around-killing-everything-that-moves"
NS is not supposed to be HA owns Onos/Onos owns HA (as AW/M owns anything/Smart **** with knife owns Camper), it is supposed to be Intelligence Owns Force/Force owns Intelligence ... IF i'm wrong at this line here, just say it, I?ll leave.
Bottonline: NS will balance **** mariner teams just to make 50/50 on mindless games, or will it keep it head up and send the following message: You want to join rines? Think twice.
Let me make my point first. When I first saw NS site, the one thing that made me download the game and start playing, was the About section about the two teams:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><b>"First-person strategy"</b> with a real resource model and consequences for actions. Both sides are genuinely different and together they accommodate different play styles:
<b>Marines</b> :: Fighting skill is less important, strategy and communication take its place. Playing as a marine will be a tense experience with methodical planning and strategy, interrupted with action.
<b>Aliens</b> :: Playing as an alien will be an intense action experience, rewarding reflexes and alien heroics. Communication and coordination don't require typing.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I thought ... Oh My! It?s not a stupid FPS game where two "make believe" teams fight each other to get frags (and surprised I was to see that the scoreboard on NS does not have individual frags, congrats on that!). Here, you DO HAVE a difference between the teams. You have INTELLIGENCE, TEAM PLAY and STRATEGY in one side, with the Mariners, and Action, Reflexes, heroics and yet some degree of team play and strategy on the other side.
If you want to think, make a methodical plan and strategy, and advance against strong and fast aliens, you go Mariners. You must have a smart comm, good in strategy, don?t care if he is a nerd who can't shoot as long he is "the-man-with-the-plan". If you just want to run, jump, BITE!, and kick some lammer ****, you go Alien, with an eventual "smartest" Alien - the Gorge - who will get resources and upgrades for you to fight.
The marines are dependant on their Comm to the bones, the Aliens are dependant on their Gorges (not as the rine-comm though).
So, we have <b>"First-person strategy"</b>.
Now, still on this, let?s think. Most noobs, non-team players, non-strategy guys will totally spoil the rine team. Since this kind of person actually don?t care, we have some on Rines and some on Aliens. Problem is, noobiness, non-team players and "fraggers" will spoil Rines the most, THEREFORE, only natural that the Rines will lose more often. IF ALL games had a good team play on rines, we could get to 50/50, since it?s not that easy to get a good team, Aliens will have an advantage.
THAT's as designed: BALANCE only comes if, as the about section tells, Marines play with strategy and communication, as a tense experience with methodical planning and strategy, interrupted with action. (copy/paste), while Aliens have an intense action experience, rewarding reflexes and alien heroics.
And that was what I was seeing so far on NS. WHEN we had good even teams, the game was a good balanced one. When (most often on internet games) the teams were not good at communication and team play, Aliens had an advantage.
But then ....
We have the newest changes and patches.
Aliens are getting crippled by each new patch. Aliens are getting WEAKER, Alien structures are getting WEAKER, Alien costs are getting HIGHER, Mariner structures are getting stronger, faster and cheaper, HA/GL are getting stronger ... need I continue ??
And so ... Marines do not need to think anymore, why bother? They can spread faster now (not because the comm is good and is advancing instead of turret farming), they last longer (not because commander have some degree of strategy), they can kick alien **** (not because they have better aiming and strategy). Marines can just storm in an alien hive with their shinny HA and GL the place to heavens ... not to mention Siege.
Balanced? YES, we should see a 50/50 on the internet now, but when you get two nice teams, with a nice rine commander, we will get 60/40 <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
SOOOOOOOOOOOO My opinion is: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Keep this game a <b>"First-person strategy"</b> with a real resource model and consequences for actions. Both sides been genuinely different and together accommodating different play styles. Because as the things are going, NS is becoming the next Counter Strike with mindless strategy, just "buy-the-stronger-gun" and "jump-around-killing-everything-that-moves"
NS is not supposed to be HA owns Onos/Onos owns HA (as AW/M owns anything/Smart **** with knife owns Camper), it is supposed to be Intelligence Owns Force/Force owns Intelligence ... IF i'm wrong at this line here, just say it, I?ll leave.
Bottonline: NS will balance **** mariner teams just to make 50/50 on mindless games, or will it keep it head up and send the following message: You want to join rines? Think twice.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
2.1 has a lot of good changes in it, and hopefully will bring us one step closer to an even more balanced version. The best way to judge it is in league play.
<span style='color:red'>***Locked.***</span>