Unlockables: The route to even teams.
1scorpion
Join Date: 2013-02-28 Member: 183418Members
Join Date: 2013-02-28 Member: 183418Members
THE DEVS HAVE MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO BE WORKING ON! !@#$
Okay, back to the suggestion.
Effort justification plays a huge role in the longevity of a players stint/binge with a certain game. I don't consider myself a COD fag or whatever, but the war games like battlefield give great incentives to dive deeper into the game, playing more and playing better.
They have RANKS. (Given away by experience)
-In ns2 ranks could be awarded through time, or number of kills..
-Ranks could then be used to effectively even pub teams Separating the highest ranked, and evenly distributing the newbs. Highlighting obvious and intentional team stacks.
-Also, ranks are always an easy way to puff your chest, and to see if a troll is all talk.
BADGES or whatever. Like xbox or most steam games. Handed out for accomplishing odd tasks.
-These are good for showing newbs what is to be expected of them and pointing them towards better gameplay.
*Parasite marine, then kill him without help
*Slow walk for X amount of time
*Kill Skulk attacking your buddy marine
*Hurt skulk with AS, then kill with pistol
-Could also be used to encourage more experienced players to try different play styles (I personally haven't given many setups a fair shot; I'm strictly shotty marine/dual exo. Skulk/onos.
*Heal X amount health in one game (gorge)
* Get hyrda kill (gorge)
*Get 3 needle kills as lerk
*Kill two marines only using the "shift key move" as fade.
*Become onos as first lifeform choice. (save for onos)
SKINS They have the option all set up. Exclusively to the black marine. Being a graphics whore myself or maybe i just like colours..
- It would be incredibly awesome to see a
*tiger striped skulk
*Poisonous jungle frog skulk
*Captains gear or whatever marine
IN SUMMATION:
Would be great to have something to work towards. EFFORT JUSTIFICATION.
Okay, back to the suggestion.
Effort justification plays a huge role in the longevity of a players stint/binge with a certain game. I don't consider myself a COD fag or whatever, but the war games like battlefield give great incentives to dive deeper into the game, playing more and playing better.
They have RANKS. (Given away by experience)
-In ns2 ranks could be awarded through time, or number of kills..
-Ranks could then be used to effectively even pub teams Separating the highest ranked, and evenly distributing the newbs. Highlighting obvious and intentional team stacks.
-Also, ranks are always an easy way to puff your chest, and to see if a troll is all talk.
BADGES or whatever. Like xbox or most steam games. Handed out for accomplishing odd tasks.
-These are good for showing newbs what is to be expected of them and pointing them towards better gameplay.
*Parasite marine, then kill him without help
*Slow walk for X amount of time
*Kill Skulk attacking your buddy marine
*Hurt skulk with AS, then kill with pistol
-Could also be used to encourage more experienced players to try different play styles (I personally haven't given many setups a fair shot; I'm strictly shotty marine/dual exo. Skulk/onos.
*Heal X amount health in one game (gorge)
* Get hyrda kill (gorge)
*Get 3 needle kills as lerk
*Kill two marines only using the "shift key move" as fade.
*Become onos as first lifeform choice. (save for onos)
SKINS They have the option all set up. Exclusively to the black marine. Being a graphics whore myself or maybe i just like colours..
- It would be incredibly awesome to see a
*tiger striped skulk
*Poisonous jungle frog skulk
*Captains gear or whatever marine
IN SUMMATION:
Would be great to have something to work towards. EFFORT JUSTIFICATION.
Comments
Ranks don't mean anything except time played which means that they'd be a terrible way to balance teams...
Badges would only mean that people would be screwing around trying to get the badge instead of actually playing the game.
Your justification should be that you enjoy playing the game and the devs are constantly balancing/adding to the game.
Skins... maybe... would definitely prefer devs spend time on useful stuff before fluff though.
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic rewards. The game has plenty intrinsic, the gameplay is fun for the gameplay itself. That's good, game's should be built based on their intrinsic systems. Extrinsic rewards are what you get out of a game, when you finish playing (either the game or just a session) what have you actually gained? NS2 is sorely lacking in extrinsic rewards. A good game should have both.
On a more serious note, I like the idea. It would not change any in-game mechanics, but it might be an incentive for "achievement hunters"
I don't mind this that much but the problem is that people often assess skill on this criteria (which they should not).
Looking at your suggestions, none of them couldn't be done by anyone.
Even if you said, "get a k/d of 100". Eventually, with enough concerted effort, even someone of below average skill could do that if they just dragged a game out for ages.
I'm not ready to shoot the idea down yet, though...
You know, I remember before steam and all this "achievement" BS started. Way more "good games" back then than now and none of them had achievements or extrinsic rewards...
Leveling is stupid.
Cosmetics are stupid.
Unlockables are stupid.
RPG stat mechanics are stupid.
I don't need any extra incentives to keep playing NS2. Well played match is the best reward.
no matter what achievement you set, you will have some ... people that start up the game with the goal to achieve that particular achievement which in turn means that they dont focus on the actual game at hand. =bad game
I don't follow your reasoning. Do you define extrinsic by something that is continuously build upon while you play game after game, session after session?
In that case I think there are few other games with as much extrinsic reward as NS2. Because in NS2 I get better even after I played for 200+ hours. You can tell the difference between someone who has 100 h and someone who has 300 h under his belt. For example in BF3 with all it's silly unlockables and gazillion ranks, the line between an average and a vet player is not as clearly drawn as in NS2, because the game has less depth.
While I'm not per se opposed to the idea of ranks I actually quite like to rely on my observations to decide if a player is experienced or relatively new to the game. Once you play a round or two with consistent teams you can usually tell who is skilled and who is not and hence try to balance the game.
No, extrinsic rewards are rewards that are given outside of your own self. Like being motivated by the chance to get a bonus at work. The pleasure of a good game is intrinsic. Getting a badge for killing 300 skulks with your axe while crouch bunny hopping is an extrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are just fluff.
What you described is intrinsic.
Natural Selection heralds to a day of modding and gaming when, as another poster noted, there were no such things. Nor should the focus be so easily taken away from the intrinsic elements of a game and focused on a series of ever-expanding aesthetics and extrinsic rewards.
I personally believe that to implement such a system would hurt NS2 far more than it would aid it; it would certainly provide some allure for the Call-of-Duty era gamers, the under-25 and the Flavor-Of-The-Month consolers... but is that who UWE is aiming the game at? Is that the established, supportive community that provides the bread and butter core of what makes NS2 succesful? Absolutely not.
They would be pulling proverbial "Blizzard"; alienating their original audience in an effort to bring their title to a wider, more casual demographic with less commitment and less engagement. Takes me back to Vanilla WoW, when Blizzcon was a nerd-fest and not popular nor cool; no one knew what an MMO was outside of Card Collector shops and D&D Games. This same debate raged for a long time there, and it ultimately ended with Blizzard becoming a mega-giant of gaming, with a terrible tier of product and an audience that, while larger, holds zero loyalty or true respect for the company.
I for one highly respect UWE in their loyalty to their fans, and I think their reluctance to implement systems such as this are just periphery evidence of that mentality and way of thinking.
Stay with your heart audience. Your core supporters. In NS2, that audience wants games like NS, not games like CoD or Assassin's Creed. They want intrinsic, core quality and advancement. Tight controls and balance. Not fluff, aesthetics, and leveling up.
2 Cents.
-Colt
Achievements and ranks would be a Bad Idea™ for all the reasons already suggested.
I hear this all the time. and while there may be no system that can truly represent your skill in game, something is better than nothing when it comes to separating the rookie from the vet. you may say its 'useless fluff' but having some sort of personal ranking or star craft 2 style matchmaking system will bring in more players whether you like it or not. If not a matchmaking system then some sort of other system as a dynamic and immersive alternative rather than the lackluster (but by no means terrible) server browser.
our hopes rest in SABOT.
Intrinsic means that you want to play a game mechanic because the mechanic in itself is fun. Like the actual fight in a Street Fighter game.
Extrinsic means you have to play through the mechanic that you actually dislike to get a reward of another form. For instance countless random encounters in a Final Fantasy title to get rewarded with another piece of story. Or grinding monsters in an MMORPG to get more loot and level ups as reward.
A good game wants to have pretty much only intrinsic mechanics, since extrinsic ones means the game is not fun in itself and needs to disguise that with some additional fluff.
I've never heard of these "Intrinsic vs Extrinsic" definitions, so kudos for making me learn new words.
Despite that, I argue that NS2 already has sufficient a extrinsic reward: experience. No, not the silly numbers that you would find in other games, actual experience. Honing your skills, learning new tactics, a memory of a match well-fought, etc.
Multiplayer games now: you buy it and you suck even more because everyone is more skilled than you and they have advanced gear unlocked.
Pretty much this. Learnt my lesson with that crap. Never buying a grind/pay to unlock game ever again.
Also, unlocks, achievements, rankings, stats, matchmaking and all other game ruining mechanics can stay the F away from NS2 thanks. I play the game for the enjoyment of playing the game. If the game sucks, a bunch of crappy "achievements" will not keep me there playing a game I don't like. That reminds me, time to un-install BF3 like the huge waste of SSD space that it is.
PS check the other 259 threads on this topic while you are at it.
I completely agree Seahunts. I started loving NS2 because it was the first FPS I played that really brought about the level of team play, communication, building structures (I love building stuff as a marine), and just about all the other mechanics. I never needed a sticker on a paper I made an A on in school to feel good about it and I don't need a smiley face sticker for NS2. That is saved for grade school. There are plenty of mods to make the game aesthetically different or more enjoyable (ie pewpew's motion tracker, mystic cysts, compact LMG, etc). And those haven't taken up the precious dev work time we want saved for valuable changes. Achievements are things of novelty and add no real value. You reward people for actions when neither you nor they can motivate themselves to work.
edit: Think to yourself what you would like to have in NS2 and then go take a look at the workshop. They gave us a Mods button and there is a lot of neat fun stuff there that does not compromise the integrity of the player.
You only earn progress towards achievements if you win.
Achievement hunters are happy. Players who want to focus on gameplay are happy.
PS the people who don't want to see purple skulks with horns and marines with silly top-hats are boring. :-P
Also, some persistent level system would let you be able to spot aces on your team rather than trying to memorize hundreds of names.