NS2's biggest problems

unkindunkind Join Date: 2012-02-04 Member: 143563Members
edited December 2012 in NS2 General Discussion
1. <u>Performance</u> This game runs like crap. There is no denying it. A twitchy FPS game needs all the fps it can get, not fluffly green moss. It also crashes for many people, it also crashes when you alt tab. This is pretty bad for a game that's supposed to be out of beta. When people need capture cards to stream on i7s and geforce 670s you know there's a problem.

2. <u>Linear Gameplay</u> Gameplay gets stale pretty fast, especially late game. You start w/skulks probably get cara/celerity/camo for a bit, then play for map control a bit while waiting for one of three different units, unless you went gorge, which almost nobody does because it's really not very fun. On marine you do the same thing, only you have to build stuff, which is tedious, then it's whack-a-mole w/the skulks on your RTs for a while. The only direct combat weapon upgrade is the shotgun. Grenade Launcher is effective, but bulky and not satisfying to use. Flamethrower is boring by design. And in the end you're either an EXO or a jetpacker. There's no reason to stay on foot. Every game the tech is the same by end game, which brings me to my next point.

3. <u>Game "speed" is too high</u> I don't mean how fast stuff moves in game, I mean the speed of the researching and stuff. It all happens way too fast, weapon upgrades, hive upgrades, everything. Everything is way too fast and too cheap. Early game is the most fun in the entire game for ns2, high frame rates, skulk ambushes, that awesome feeling on marine when you gun down 2-3 aliens in a row or pistol a skulk etc. It's just over too fast. Marines have shotguns immediately in some cases and never use a new gun for a half hour. Armor/weapon upgrades are so fast you rarely get to take advantage of para + 2 bite etc. Makes the game less interesting. Another way to balance this is leave research speeds alone and decrease res income, which is probably the better route thinking about it.

4. <u>Hit reg</u> The hit registration for this patch is currently abysmal. It's so bad I can't even play because on alien it feels unfair and on marine it just sucks. Seriously this is the primary reason marines are currently losing so much. They can't shoot.

5. <u>Alien Vision</u> Looks terrible and hides effects like gorge spit (which is already trash w/poor hit reg, slow projectile speed and low range). All it needs to do is highlight marines. It doesn't need to ruin the entire visual experience, knowing when to turn it off shouldn't be considered part of playing aliens well. It's not fun, it's not innovative, it sucks.

6. <u>Gorge</u> Gorge isn't particularly useful other than healing up hives and making people waste time shooting well placed hydras, and bile bomb late game (which is great, and fits well on gorge). It's direct combat ability is far too weak. The spit should be able to kill marines easier, aimed correctly, but it's hit reg/animation/fact you can't see it without alien vision/slow projectile speed makes the gorge ultra vulnerable. The heal spray self heal is probably too weak now given that it was nerfed way too hard early beta because people couldn't aim due to 6 fps.

7. <u>Macs & Drifters</u> Certain things just don't belong in this game at all. Macs and Drifters are both terrible gameplay ideas. The whole purpose of this genre (RTS/FPS) is to make the units player controlled. Now you have a bunch of macs auto repairing marines and building structures. There is nothing fun about 5 macs auto repairing a dual mg exo and tanking shots/swings/bites, only real way to kill them on a pub server being a gorge, with a lot of luck. Unless you happen to have skilled team mates, which isn't often. Killing NPCs isn't fun. Drifters are clunky, weird to control, have bad pathing and strange abilities.

8. <u>Alien evolutions</u> Don't really do too much compared to a1 a2 a3 on marines. Silence feels like it should be a passive for making a shade hive or something. Regen/cara meh, they aren't particulary interesting, regen is fun but what unit can really use it well. Lerk sort of? Fade dies way too fast Onos maybe but eh cara probably just as good/better (i'd always go cara). Cara itself is a flat armor upgrade that doesn't scale. Not really all that cool. Celerity only works out of combat, super meh, though it's decent. Not fun or well thought-out or interesting. Camo is good, when moving with it aliens shouldn't be slightly (very) visible though so on marines you aren't 100% reliant on your commander to not get ######. Pubs don't typically move together. Adrenaline is the worst offender of poorly thought-out non-intuitive abilities. It's a flat increase in energy. Really? Can't come up with something a BIT more interesting? Like swing a bit faster, energy regen a bit faster, energy regen out of combat faster, energy regen in combat faster? SOMETHING? Also 6 upgrades period kinds sucks.

9. <u>Lifeform upgrades</u> Leap is useful, it's also not really that different from jumping, it feels gimped, slow and weak. It should be more obvious that you're doing something. Doing a bit of damage on contact would be a fun thing to do, and set it up so a leap + 2 bite combo killed a a2 marine or something? I dunno could be a lot of fun. Blink, eh, tons of energy and practically the same thing as shadow step, one of the two shouldn't exist, and it isn't blink. Xenocide's damage is far too low, and using it isn't fun whatsoever, you should be able to bite while it's going off, or it should be able to 1 shot people right next to you, and do lower damage as it spreads out, a3 marines on top of you, xeno dead. Stomp is a horrible idea, it's bulky and not fun to use on the onos, and for marines it's terrible, you just lay there and die, awesome. How is this not worse than Devour? No diminishing returns either, shouldn't even be in the game. Lerk Gas is just lame, you have to risk dying, and probably won't kill anyone, it only supports your team if they attack at the same time. It's damage is alright but it needs a bigger spread, maybe lowering in effectiveness as it spreads out or something. It just isn't very good. Umbra, not bad but needs to be more obvious as to how it works, and not obscure vision so much for marines. Vortex is the epitome of bad ideas. It seriously isn't even worth talking about how clunky and awful this ability is, replace it with acid rocket or metabolize, both would be 500% better for the fade.

10. <u>Balance</u> Stuff that's really obvious and needs to be changed. Fade survivability needs a buff, it goes down too fast for 50 res, not even debatable. GLs do too much damage to too many units when spammed at your own guys, something should be done to prevent that. GLs themselves seem to fire delayed grenades, terrible. The Onos gore nerf was perfect, GJ UW. Change stomp into something not so lame though, for both the onos and the marines. Vortex, take it out of the game and give the fade something interesting and useful. Gorge spit is too ineffective. Gorge itself could use more buildings or more abilities or just something to make it more fun to use i dunno.
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Comments

  • EißfeldtEißfeldt Join Date: 2012-08-15 Member: 155658Members
    I agree with the most points that you highlighted in your long post but all the issues have been discussed over and over again. Topics about basic stuff like performance, hitreg and movement mechanics can be found on first page every day. Either UWE is ignoring it or they need more time to fix the problems. But yeah, we should remind them of those issues relentlessly.
  • HotelEroticaHotelErotica Join Date: 2004-07-14 Member: 29919Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited December 2012
    Just a little note on streaming, you can easily stream this game if you use the right tools specifically Dxtory. I have an i7 6 core at 3.2 and two 5870s and don't notice any lower fps. But your right the game is lacking in fps, i have alright fps early on and it slow degrades as time goes on, i bottom out at about 40fps.

    I agree with alot of your points, I am mostly annoyed at celerity not working in combat. Its like having a corvette that goes 100mph to and from work but only tops out at 25 on the race track.
  • DestherDesther Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165195Members
    I agree about Leap. Non-adren skulk gets enough energy for 2 leaps and the leap distance feels about 70% of NS1.
  • GlissGliss Join Date: 2003-03-23 Member: 14800Members, Constellation, NS2 Map Tester
    edited December 2012
    agreed on all counts of course. same stuff since beta.
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    Sounds about right.
  • havok?havok? Join Date: 2012-05-22 Member: 152462Members, NS2 Map Tester
  • RobbehRobbeh Join Date: 2005-05-16 Member: 51775Members
    Agree with all of that, UWE pay attention!
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited December 2012
    Where do I sign? But yea, we've all been saying most of this stuff since beta. /missNS1
  • TimMcTimMc Join Date: 2012-02-06 Member: 143945Members
    Agree with *most* of it.
  • PueidistPueidist Join Date: 2007-04-18 Member: 60665Members
  • OnosFactoryOnosFactory New Zealand Join Date: 2008-07-16 Member: 64637Members
    edited December 2012
    "It's so bad I can't even play"

    Well, that sums up the value of your opinion right there.

    Everything you say is debatable, not that anyone probably cares enough.

    (PS: Made a comeback yesterday in a 76 min game, NS2 is working very well.)
  • peregrinusperegrinus Join Date: 2010-07-16 Member: 72445Members
    Most of what you say has been discussed over a long period and as you see lots of people agree with you. The devs have already made many changes based on feedback about those exact issues like MACs and drifters. It used to be drifters would place structures, and gorges couldnt speed up building - macs were nerfed to encourage marines to build.

    I have to point out the game does not crash on alt tab for everyone. I can't remember experiencing that anyway, not recently.
  • CrushaKCrushaK Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167195Members, NS2 Playtester
    I agree, though I would consider things that happens "outside of the action" the biggest problems for myself.

    Namely having some Skulk on your team hanging 10 (!) minutes or longer on some ceiling in your base, AFK, without being kicked by the game. Same for Ready Room AFKers. People don't play but take up player slots on the server that could be used by people who actually do.
    In the worst case are you two or more players down on your team and the game doesn't do anything to correct that and also doesn't send one guy on the other team into respawn queue.

    Another issue are abusive commanders. Like a commander selling all stuff instantly, yelling at his team for being unable to hold a position two minutes into the game and then leaving with an encouraging "have fun, losers". One guy just ruined the game for 15 others and they couldn't do anything about it.
    Sure, it's hard to really fix that. Removing the ability to sell stuff for marines is probably not a good option because it's part of their strategy. But maybe make IPs unsellable or require the rest of the team to agree per majority vote on it. (Small text message on the screen, press X for Yes or wait for the timeout.)

    And of course bugs where you fight with the game itself. Like cysts pathfinding getting blocked by buildings and themselves, getting unpowered by cutting a connection or destroying a hive, even though the chain would still have a connection to another hive. Shades bugging out and not cloaking everything in their area of influence. Sentries being placed in a mode where you suddenly can't control their orientation anymore. Nanoshield being used up without clicking on a target. Bone Wall not being usable very often when you want to apply it on a player, which is clearly possible if you click slightly next to him but not if he is right at that spot.
  • RuntehRunteh Join Date: 2010-06-26 Member: 72163Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I agree on most of that, but I think drifters have a real place.
  • SehzadeSehzade Join Date: 2010-12-29 Member: 76024Members
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2038603:date=Dec 2 2012, 02:47 AM:name=CrushaK)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CrushaK @ Dec 2 2012, 02:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038603"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->destroying a hive, even though the chain would still have a connection to another hive. Shades bugging out and not cloaking everything in their area of influence. Sentries being placed in a mode where you suddenly can't control their orientation anymore. Nanoshield being used up without clicking on a target. Bone Wall not being usable very often when you want to apply it on a player, which is clearly possible if you click slightly next to him but not if he is right at that spot.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    yes!
    I hate it when I place cysts or (more importantly) bonewalls on the ceiling


    and there are servers which kick idle players.

    on the topic. I agree with some of the things. but they've been talked about enough.

    honestly I just want some ns2c servers in europe and check that out...I want to know if I liked it more. But unfortunetly there are no players for that.

    edit: I think I am going to DL NS1 now.
    edit2: NS1 is dead
  • MisterNubsMisterNubs Join Date: 2012-03-01 Member: 147912Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038569:date=Dec 1 2012, 08:17 PM:name=Gliss)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gliss @ Dec 1 2012, 08:17 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038569"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>same stuff since beta.</b><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    It'll surely reach the dev's ears this time! I just know it will!



    Hah.
  • Haplo_64Haplo_64 Join Date: 2012-04-03 Member: 149890Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038603:date=Dec 2 2012, 12:17 PM:name=CrushaK)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CrushaK @ Dec 2 2012, 12:17 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038603"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Same for Ready Room AFKers. People don't play but take up player slots on the server that could be used by people who actually do.
    In the worst case are you two or more players down on your team and the game doesn't do anything to correct that and also doesn't send one guy on the other team into respawn queue.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This is why I want a dedicated spectator slot made for the game. So a server can have X amount of players, and Y amount of observers.
    Sometimes I just want to watch a game in progress while relaxing, but I can't do it without unbalancing the game.
  • nailertnnailertn Join Date: 2012-11-18 Member: 172301Members
    3. Game speed is too high: I agree that the early game is the most fun by far. Coincidentally it is the only part I consider balanced (save for camo but that has its own thread). On the other hand average game length feels spot on so I would be cautious about tinkering with research times. What I want to see is longer early game, shorter end game. Nowadays I just quit most every time we reach the 'catch the onos' phase, often sitting at 75+ PRES, because I find it so silly.

    6. Gorge: Have to disagree on this. Have you seen what two of them are capable of in bottlenecks that break LOS? They are not for everyone and not for direct combat. Although yes you should see bombs with alien vision.

    7. MAC bullet blocking while it is following you around on auto repair... makes me want to punch something.

    8-9: The way I see it, weapon / armor upgrades and evolutions are supposed to be the dull +5% bleh something passive stuff while weapons / lifeforms and their upgrades are the things that profoundly change the way you play. And I think they fulfill this role just fine. Doesn't mean all of them are ok individually but the concept is sound.

    Specifically camo is a game changer, silence is redundant, cara and regen are not particularly interesting by themselves but by pairing them it becomes a meaningful choice.

    Adrenaline you have to be careful with: A 'little faster' swings can be a game changer when damage is not continuous - approximately like an LMG - but comes in discrete steps: A little faster might mean a shotgun suddenly killing a fade just before the lethal blow or an onos delivering that last attack just before the exo could finish it off. The rest, honestly I don't see how modifying one constant over another would make it any more interesting.

    Onos stomp I hate because of its duration and ridiculous range but like because it can be dodged by jumping. Just a little tweaking needed nothing radical.

    Lerk spore is excellent the way it is. It isn't meant to kill, it is supposed to zone enemies and support an attacking team. It does both very well. Maybe it's damage is a little too high considering how completely it blinds marines but because it is situational, risky to use, can be countered with flamethrowers and true transparency isn't even implemented yet, I wouldn't change anything for now.

    Vortex... yeah.

    Have to agree with everything else you wrote.
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2038544:date=Dec 1 2012, 03:08 PM:name=HotelErotica)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HotelErotica @ Dec 1 2012, 03:08 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038544"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Just a little note on streaming, you can easily stream this game if you use the right tools specifically Dxtory. I have an i7 6 core at 3.2 and two 5870s and don't notice any lower fps.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Seconded.

    Though, I do stream on an i5 2500k @4.5GHz and HD 6950. That's more because I want to get the highest quality stream (and xsplit is a resource hog) than any problem with NS2.
  • LofungLofung Join Date: 2004-08-21 Member: 30757Members
    agreed at all. this is repeatedly raised enough and i doubt if the dev team ever acknowledge it.
  • TemphageTemphage Join Date: 2009-10-28 Member: 69158Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038536:date=Dec 1 2012, 10:46 PM:name=unkind)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (unkind @ Dec 1 2012, 10:46 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038536"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Blink, eh, tons of energy and practically the same thing as shadow step, one of the two shouldn't exist, and it isn't blink.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I disagree. Shadowstepping around is literally the only time I have had fun playing Aliens.
  • pendelum5pendelum5 Join Date: 2012-10-29 Member: 164317Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038536:date=Dec 1 2012, 02:46 PM:name=unkind)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (unkind @ Dec 1 2012, 02:46 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038536"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->1. <u>Performance</u> This game runs like crap.

    2. <u>Linear Gameplay</u> Gameplay gets stale pretty fast, especially late game.

    3. <u>Game "speed" is too high</u>

    4. <u>Hit reg</u> The hit registration for this patch is currently abysmal.

    5. <u>Alien Vision</u> Looks terrible and hides effects like gorge spit.

    6. <u>Gorge</u> Gorge isn't particularly useful other than healing up hives and making people waste time shooting well placed hydras, and bile bomb late game (which is great, and fits well on gorge). It's direct combat ability is far too weak.

    7. <u>Macs & Drifters</u> Certain things just don't belong in this game at all. Macs and Drifters are both terrible gameplay ideas.

    8. <u>Alien evolutions</u> Don't really do too much compared to a1 a2 a3 on marines.

    9. <u>Lifeform upgrades</u> Leap is useful, it's also not really that different from jumping, it feels gimped, slow and weak.

    10. <u>Balance</u> Stuff that's really obvious and needs to be changed. Fade survivability needs a buff, it goes down too fast for 50 res, not even debatable.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    1) Agree - My frame rates can drop from 60 to below 10 in some battles, even on minimal graphics settings. This effect is negated with alien vision.

    2) Disagree - The gameplay is far from linear. There are plenty of interesting strategies and build orders for both Commanders for nearly every map. The late game tend to be who can field the most upgraded high-tier units, and who can keep them alive long enough to deal damage to the enemy. This is not any more 'stale' than a chess game that ends with fewer than 10 pieces.

    3) Disagree - Games for me typically last 15-30 minutes, with the winning team gaining a decisive advantage around the 5-10 min mark. I feel this is an adequate rate of development, even if Marines tend to turtle out games they can't possibly win.

    4) Undecided - My aim has really increased after playing on sub-100ms servers and watching how the player models move. There are still some issues that can cause players to warp, but for the most part I can reliably hit shots that I have time to aim.

    5) Disagree - I have no idea how an alien perceives color, but I enjoy getting better FPS as aliens. I feel this is an area that could be tweaked, but for the most part I think it is a great addition in its current form.

    6) Disagree - Gorge was never meant to have a direct combat role, even in NS1. The Gorge in NS2 has many support roles, but it is still boring to hold right click on a hive for 2 min straight. I love Bile Bomb and it really outclasses everything else for sniping key Marine structures with the help of teammates.

    7) Agree - I hate MACs/Drifters because they cost resources to replace and require micro-management to not get stuck in corners. I like them because they allow players to do other things besides building expansions.

    8) Disagree - A3/W3 Marines out-class 3-hive Skulks because it costs more resources and time to develop Marine upgrades.

    9) Disagree - Leap is incredibly useful even without Celerity. If you use it in conjunction with wall-jumps, you can achieve ludicrous speeds. Unlike jumping, it can be used to change your velocity instantaneously mid-air.

    10) Disagree - Fade is not meant to be a meat shield, its maneuverability must be used correctly if you want to stay alive for more than 5 minutes. Marines have no way to chase a Fade retreating to a hive for heals until Jetpacks arrive. Fades are also great for taking down Jetpackers once they have Blink. If anything, I feel the Lerk needs a slight armor debuff (30 instead of 50, keep Carapace at 75) to make it more in line with life-form scaling.
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->8) Disagree - A3/W3 Marines out-class 3-hive Skulks because it costs more resources and time to develop Marine upgrades.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    You may want to rethink your statement, do the math. Maxed out upgrades is more expensive than marine weapon/armour upgrades overall. (Crag/Shift/Shade research cost on hive, structure cost + actual upgrade cost, not to mention it's a lot more fragile and not nearly as strong as A or W 3)
  • runnerrunner Join Date: 2012-11-26 Member: 173304Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038658:date=Dec 2 2012, 06:18 AM:name=Lofung)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lofung @ Dec 2 2012, 06:18 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038658"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->agreed at all. this is repeatedly raised enough and i doubt if the dev team ever acknowledge it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I'd love to see a transparent news post addressing all the post-release problems with real critique of theirselves and a "plan of action", not a "we are working on it" or a "things are moving in the right direction" brush off.

    It will never happen though, the NS2HD videos and all the promotions showed smooth gameplay... which is what sells. UWE is like the big companies, we got your money, we don't care about your opinion.
  • DestherDesther Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165195Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038724:date=Dec 2 2012, 11:16 AM:name=pendelum5)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pendelum5 @ Dec 2 2012, 11:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038724"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->1) Agree - My frame rates can drop from 60 to below 10 in some battles, even on minimal graphics settings. This effect is negated with alien vision.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Alien Vision improves your fps?
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->It will never happen though, the NS2HD videos and all the promotions showed smooth gameplay... which is what sells. UWE is like the big companies, we got your money, we don't care about your opinion.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Surely you'll agree this s a little exaggerative. UWE listens a lot more to their playerbase than most other game developers, there's no question about that. Listening however is just that, listening, i.e just because they've taken note of the complaints of their players doesn't mean they'll actually make the changes we the players feel are necessary to improve the game. They've shown time and time again that they're quite stubborn when it comes to certain design directions.
  • TremulousPlayerTremulousPlayer Join Date: 2012-11-30 Member: 173777Members
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2038536:date=Dec 1 2012, 03:46 PM:name=unkind)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (unkind @ Dec 1 2012, 03:46 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038536"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->1. <u>Performance</u> This game runs like crap. There is no denying it. A twitchy FPS game needs all the fps it can get, not fluffly green moss. It also crashes for many people, it also crashes when you alt tab. This is pretty bad for a game that's supposed to be out of beta. When people need capture cards to stream on i7s and geforce 670s you know there's a problem.

    2. <u>Linear Gameplay</u> Gameplay gets stale pretty fast, especially late game. You start w/skulks probably get cara/celerity/camo for a bit, then play for map control a bit while waiting for one of three different units, unless you went gorge, which almost nobody does because it's really not very fun. On marine you do the same thing, only you have to build stuff, which is tedious, then it's whack-a-mole w/the skulks on your RTs for a while. The only direct combat weapon upgrade is the shotgun. Grenade Launcher is effective, but bulky and not satisfying to use. Flamethrower is boring by design. And in the end you're either an EXO or a jetpacker. There's no reason to stay on foot. Every game the tech is the same by end game, which brings me to my next point.

    3. <u>Game "speed" is too high</u> I don't mean how fast stuff moves in game, I mean the speed of the researching and stuff. It all happens way too fast, weapon upgrades, hive upgrades, everything. Everything is way too fast and too cheap. Early game is the most fun in the entire game for ns2, high frame rates, skulk ambushes, that awesome feeling on marine when you gun down 2-3 aliens in a row or pistol a skulk etc. It's just over too fast. Marines have shotguns immediately in some cases and never use a new gun for a half hour. Armor/weapon upgrades are so fast you rarely get to take advantage of para + 2 bite etc. Makes the game less interesting. Another way to balance this is leave research speeds alone and decrease res income, which is probably the better route thinking about it.

    4. <u>Hit reg</u> The hit registration for this patch is currently abysmal. It's so bad I can't even play because on alien it feels unfair and on marine it just sucks. Seriously this is the primary reason marines are currently losing so much. They can't shoot.

    5. <u>Alien Vision</u> Looks terrible and hides effects like gorge spit (which is already trash w/poor hit reg, slow projectile speed and low range). All it needs to do is highlight marines. It doesn't need to ruin the entire visual experience, knowing when to turn it off shouldn't be considered part of playing aliens well. It's not fun, it's not innovative, it sucks.

    6. <u>Gorge</u> Gorge isn't particularly useful other than healing up hives and making people waste time shooting well placed hydras, and bile bomb late game (which is great, and fits well on gorge). It's direct combat ability is far too weak. The spit should be able to kill marines easier, aimed correctly, but it's hit reg/animation/fact you can't see it without alien vision/slow projectile speed makes the gorge ultra vulnerable. The heal spray self heal is probably too weak now given that it was nerfed way too hard early beta because people couldn't aim due to 6 fps.

    7. <u>Macs & Drifters</u> Certain things just don't belong in this game at all. Macs and Drifters are both terrible gameplay ideas. The whole purpose of this genre (RTS/FPS) is to make the units player controlled. Now you have a bunch of macs auto repairing marines and building structures. There is nothing fun about 5 macs auto repairing a dual mg exo and tanking shots/swings/bites, only real way to kill them on a pub server being a gorge, with a lot of luck. Unless you happen to have skilled team mates, which isn't often. Killing NPCs isn't fun. Drifters are clunky, weird to control, have bad pathing and strange abilities.

    8. <u>Alien evolutions</u> Don't really do too much compared to a1 a2 a3 on marines. Silence feels like it should be a passive for making a shade hive or something. Regen/cara meh, they aren't particulary interesting, regen is fun but what unit can really use it well. Lerk sort of? Fade dies way too fast Onos maybe but eh cara probably just as good/better (i'd always go cara). Cara itself is a flat armor upgrade that doesn't scale. Not really all that cool. Celerity only works out of combat, super meh, though it's decent. Not fun or well thought-out or interesting. Camo is good, when moving with it aliens shouldn't be slightly (very) visible though so on marines you aren't 100% reliant on your commander to not get ######. Pubs don't typically move together. Adrenaline is the worst offender of poorly thought-out non-intuitive abilities. It's a flat increase in energy. Really? Can't come up with something a BIT more interesting? Like swing a bit faster, energy regen a bit faster, energy regen out of combat faster, energy regen in combat faster? SOMETHING? Also 6 upgrades period kinds sucks.

    9. <u>Lifeform upgrades</u> Leap is useful, it's also not really that different from jumping, it feels gimped, slow and weak. It should be more obvious that you're doing something. Doing a bit of damage on contact would be a fun thing to do, and set it up so a leap + 2 bite combo killed a a2 marine or something? I dunno could be a lot of fun. Blink, eh, tons of energy and practically the same thing as shadow step, one of the two shouldn't exist, and it isn't blink. Xenocide's damage is far too low, and using it isn't fun whatsoever, you should be able to bite while it's going off, or it should be able to 1 shot people right next to you, and do lower damage as it spreads out, a3 marines on top of you, xeno dead. Stomp is a horrible idea, it's bulky and not fun to use on the onos, and for marines it's terrible, you just lay there and die, awesome. How is this not worse than Devour? No diminishing returns either, shouldn't even be in the game. Lerk Gas is just lame, you have to risk dying, and probably won't kill anyone, it only supports your team if they attack at the same time. It's damage is alright but it needs a bigger spread, maybe lowering in effectiveness as it spreads out or something. It just isn't very good. Umbra, not bad but needs to be more obvious as to how it works, and not obscure vision so much for marines. Vortex is the epitome of bad ideas. It seriously isn't even worth talking about how clunky and awful this ability is, replace it with acid rocket or metabolize, both would be 500% better for the fade.

    10. <u>Balance</u> Stuff that's really obvious and needs to be changed. Fade survivability needs a buff, it goes down too fast for 50 res, not even debatable. GLs do too much damage to too many units when spammed at your own guys, something should be done to prevent that. GLs themselves seem to fire delayed grenades, terrible. The Onos gore nerf was perfect, GJ UW. Change stomp into something not so lame though, for both the onos and the marines. Vortex, take it out of the game and give the fade something interesting and useful. Gorge spit is too ineffective. Gorge itself could use more buildings or more abilities or just something to make it more fun to use i dunno.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->



    Optimization is realy realy realy realy realy and realy sucks. this game for nasa computers i guess. even if you have a one nasa computer it dosent matter. beacouse this game optimization is epic fail. even unique fail.

    iam reading a comments in game sites and social sharing sites users/ns2 players all saying same thing = "game is good but optimization is realy sucks"
  • gh0st weezgh0st weez Join Date: 2012-11-08 Member: 168206Members
    I agree with a large majority of your points.

    However I feel Drifters are Shadow Step were great additions and both have their place.
  • VitdomVitdom Join Date: 2012-04-30 Member: 151345Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2038658:date=Dec 2 2012, 06:18 AM:name=Lofung)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lofung @ Dec 2 2012, 06:18 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038658"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->agreed at all. this is repeatedly raised enough and i doubt if the dev team ever acknowledge it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The developers have acknowledged almost all of the OP mentioned issues. Don't worry.
  • RobustPenguinRobustPenguin Join Date: 2012-08-17 Member: 155719Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038874:date=Dec 2 2012, 06:57 PM:name=Vitdom)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Vitdom @ Dec 2 2012, 06:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038874"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The developers have acknowledged almost all of the OP mentioned issues. Don't worry.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Acknowledged maybe, but these have been raised for months and very little has been done...
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