The state of NS
Swiftspear
Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
<div class="IPBDescription">A discussion</div>Just wanted to see what everyone thought about how things are going with this community as it stands...
It's somewhat nice that the forums are back up, I was a bit surprised at some of the names I saw here and some of the names I haven't seen back yet, but there seems to be a few dozen regulars back around, although it's not even close to what it was in it's prime.
The game is another issue... Is development still happening on NS? If not is that because it's seen as "complete"? Because I'd personally have some rather large complaints with that ideology... There's still an obnoxious amount of people playing NS considering how dead I expected it to be, I'm a bit surprised that CAL NS is still going as strong as it is.
Either way, it seems like alot of pleasantries are being tossed around and people aren't quite speaking their mind yet again any more, frankly it was making me a bit sick. Discuss!
It's somewhat nice that the forums are back up, I was a bit surprised at some of the names I saw here and some of the names I haven't seen back yet, but there seems to be a few dozen regulars back around, although it's not even close to what it was in it's prime.
The game is another issue... Is development still happening on NS? If not is that because it's seen as "complete"? Because I'd personally have some rather large complaints with that ideology... There's still an obnoxious amount of people playing NS considering how dead I expected it to be, I'm a bit surprised that CAL NS is still going as strong as it is.
Either way, it seems like alot of pleasantries are being tossed around and people aren't quite speaking their mind yet again any more, frankly it was making me a bit sick. Discuss!
Comments
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tiny.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::onos::" border="0" alt="tiny.gif" /> woot
I was suprised to find an email with login info and site url in my inbox. Havent played NS for like a year so I'm downloading it now to give it a shot agian <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" /> I still remember those epic 1hour+ games with onoses and HAs coliding in small corridors. If I get to experience those good times agian I would say NS is in very good shape, although I doubt it will make me less addicted to WoW <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tiny.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::onos::" border="0" alt="tiny.gif" /> woot
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Only in Combat. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" /> Co
**cant join server youre banned from this server**
**kicked from server reason: YOURE BANNED**
**blah blah blah**
so meh
I still play NS more than any other game, with people that I get on very well with. Lately, I haven't been playing much due to the effort to get 3.2 100% complete.
It is likely that 3.2 will be the last patch on HL, although we won't make decisions until the appropriate time arrives.
As for servers- unfortunately I am starting to find for the first time that searching for servers with the filters "name contains ns_" "not full" "not empty" "not passworded" and "ping <100" is giving 0 results (excluding crazy custom maps that I won't touch with a nanite-bargepole).
"name contains ns_" "not full" "not empty" "not passworded" and "ping <100" is giving 0 results (excluding <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, that's very easy to explain. There are 2, maybe 3 ns servers worth playing on in the UK now, and they are all full at night. You need to pick one and queue up on it. NS player numbers are down, like all Half-life mods, and the remaining addicts like ourselves now congregate on fewer servers.
Their names begins with " FR - Ns4All " or simply " FR - ", they are totally pluginless <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
Its only official maps Co/Ns and there isnt any plugin like xtralvl.... <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Its not always empty <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
btw : BodyGuard t FR?tu viens de ns4all?
And all europe usually congregates around 2 or 3 uk servers, 2 german and one french... <b>Half an hour queue this night to play on wireplay</b> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
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Of course, considering how it runs, God knows why anyone does. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
<b><i>"Got reg?"</i></b>
If anything, most of the PT's can quite easily be found fraggin' it up on various servers. I bump into other EU / UK based ones on a worrying basis. Some of them can even almost aim.
- Shockwave
i honestly thought that ns1 was going to just kind of have one last big update, and then do a simple port to NS:S, and then have let the modders carry it to a decent source game from there while NS2 gets worked on.
im glad to see that they are in fact putting a good deal of effort into both the next(last) installment of ns1 (3.2), NS:S, and NS2
That's both a good, and a bad thing. Good because the playerbase isnt really declining by any measurable amount, but bad because every game need new player's to survive.
Good to hear that 3.2 is almost done, but what i really want to know is: What's the status on NS2/NS:S? I mean, is work started on it, or is it still in the concept stage?
One of the communities actually wrote plugins to make 3.0 play like 1.04, resource system and all, which was fun, but too little too late. I hope the best for NS, but I too wish to know more on NS:S, not the uber secretive "wait until you see it" stuff, either. Last two or three times Flayra was secretive, the game took a turn for the worse. I'd imagine seeing a more open development process so the community could once again have a say in a game that was initially welcoming of community input. Back the devs actively shared and discussed game mechanics, and a great game became the result.
All in all, the playerbase might be tiny, but I've had more good games than bad during this summer. In France, the teams are horribly stacked, and when that's not possible, the best players leave. In England, the worst game is still somehow enjoyable because you know you won't feel alone, and helpless, in your team even if you know you'll lose.
My Response: Personally I just see it slowly going down, for me I just slowly started to lose interest in the game, it just didn't have its fun appeal as it used to. And the loss of players is probably to do with the learning curve as if you look at the mods that were bought by valve, they changed them to give them more of a pickup feeling, hop in and be in the action straight away. This was especially what happened to Day of Defeat, the classic hl1 mod used to feel more fun but then i just got totally warped into a deathmatch craze and that made it easier for more players just to hop on and instantly have some fun.
As for EnnEss I find that it requires to much effort to start enjoying yourself so Effort>Fun.
Eventually EnnEss did become deathmatch style-ish (combat) but EnnEss was never really designed for it so it gets quite...odd.
Key thing; if it had its fun put back into it, it may be more enjoying (babblers,spikes, whatever else I have forgotten)
And ... <i>another 5 mins of babbling</i>
The question: <b>"The state of NS"</b>
My Response: Personally I just see it slowly going down, for me I just slowly started to lose interest in the game, it just didn't have its fun appeal as it used to. And the loss of players is probably to do with the learning curve as if you look at the mods that were bought by valve, they changed them to give them more of a pickup feeling, hop in and be in the action straight away. This was especially what happened to Day of Defeat, the classic hl1 mod used to feel more fun but then i just got totally warped into a deathmatch craze and that made it easier for more players just to hop on and instantly have some fun.
As for EnnEss I find that it requires to much effort to start enjoying yourself so Effort>Fun.
Eventually EnnEss did become deathmatch style-ish (combat) but EnnEss was never really designed for it so it gets quite...odd.
Key thing; if it had its fun put back into it, it may be more enjoying (babblers,spikes, whatever else I have forgotten)
And ... <i>another 5 mins of babbling</i>
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There's really one flaw in your argument, though.
You cite gameplay change's as the main reason why people arent playing anymore; but i would beg to differ. The basic gameplay really hasnt changed since 2.0. Sure, some nice little additions have been made (Hand nades, and...erm....) and there's some new maps, but that's about it.
And people looooved 2.0 (and 2.0b/c/d). Sure, there were a small minority who preffered 1.04, but most of the fanbase loved 2.0
I think it was simply the lack of updates, and the longevity of the game, really. Look at an average online game; when the developer's stop issuing patches and updates; thats when the community usually dies off. An average online games run isnt really longer than 2-3 years. Im surprised NS lasted this long.
And by "Average Online Game" i dont mean games like CS or StarCraft. Those are obviously the exceptional ones.
I can proudly say I have been playing since its first release and though over the years I've cycled in and out of regular play, this has more to do with my gaming habits than with NS itself. At every major release I returned to intensive play for a few months until my interest dwindled. This has happened 4 or 5 times but despite the sinusoidal pattern, I have always felt close to the community and never stopped reading the forums. There was a feeling of wholeness and a level of maturity I always enjoyed.
I find it simply bewildering to see a team with such talent trudge so arduously to find funding, though the past year (from a player's point of view) may reflect part of an explanation.
NS was not built out of chance. As young as the team was, NS showed exceptional effort in all areas of gameplay, whether that is the RTS/FPS fusion, level design, character concept, etc. I was never particularly intrigued by the storyline or the overdone alien/marine conflict (not at the level of WW2 yet, but close), but the way it was implemented always seemed to suit perfectly. The ambience, in all respects, was what I would seek.
Sure, a port to Source would be fantastic and would open up options we have always wanted as a community (flamethrowers anyone?), but to be effective some kind of release needs to occur in a year from now at the very most. Honestly, I don't see that happening. I'm sure everyone would enjoy it, but it's clearly the easy way out for UWE at the moment.
I'm sure Flayra has plenty of ideas sprouting, I hope he's reading when I say the following:
UWE needs to make the jump. Do what you <i>really</i> want to do. The NS universe may be exhausted, or it may not but that should absolutely not confine creativity. Do what you feel like doing and everything will flow naturally.
From what I have seen thus far, NS has an incredibly generous and quite cerebral community. Don't underestimate it.
As has been said, thats how online games work.
Even though NS would have been updated more frequently and the forums wouldnt have gone down, things would be pretty much the same, give or take a couple of servers. Heck, majority of the most active forum members before the downtime had already stopped playing NS.
Poeple move on to other things like school, jobs, life, other games and so on.
Nothing lasts forever. Even Counterstrike will die one day! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wow.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":0" border="0" alt="wow.gif" />
Anyway 4 years is a great goal for any game!
There'd probably be double (or more!) the number of servers available today if the community hadn't died all at once, what with the forums being hacked, rr.org vanishing, etc.
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
I'm sure NS will die off completely at some point, all games do. I just hope it's later rather than sooner, it's probably the best multiplayer/competetive game I've ever played.
Sure, there were a small minority who preffered 1.04, but most of the fanbase loved 2.0
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Orly <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
I think the "minority" got silenced due to the big intro of combat and skulks actually walking on walls and ceilings. I still prefer 1.04, but this is based on me not playing it after the 2nd generation of ns. And the loss of babblers is never going to be forgiven <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
Once 2.0 came out it had a impact on me, could be described as loss of interest due to the shorter games. This is where Forgotten Hope stept in and tore me away from ns. I occasionally had a look at 2.0 and 3.0, but it's been a long time I actually really played the game.