Will Combat kill off NS2 ?
MuckyMcFly
Join Date: 2012-03-19 Member: 148982Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow
I've seen this posted a few places where people have said they will ditch NS2 for Combat and thought it would make a interesting topic.
Do you believe it will kill off NS2 or will it bring more players to the NS2 pool?
Will people play both, are you planning on only playing combat?
Do you believe it will kill off NS2 or will it bring more players to the NS2 pool?
Will people play both, are you planning on only playing combat?
Comments
I hope that Faultline games combat will attract new players to NS2. If you learn parts of NS2 by playing combat it will be easier to get into the regular game later on. I think it would be a good idea to release a larger update with a new map some time after the release of combat. Time it with a sale and we might see a new wave of green players that are just a little bit less green than usual.
Indeed, that was always wishful thinking ever since combat was first introduced. Combat actually creates worse classic players, because of the one man army routine it has. Which will get you killed over and over again in classic :P
I still prefered Last Stand over Combat in any case... And the funny thing is, that one does promote teamwork :-?
*classic should be vanilla, my bad :P
Considering the impression people have of the mod I kinda doubt it. Plus people actually have to buy the game and launch a separate client. I think a large part of the reason ns1 combat was so popular was due to it being right in the server browser. It was very easy to boot up ns1 and see no active classic servers so you just hopped in combat for a few rounds before you tried again, if you even did.
If any thing I think combat will draw in a new players who don't have ns2. It could simply open up ns2 to a more casual market by combat acting as sort of a tutorial. I think ns2 newbies suffer bigtime from not being able to practice with anything but a LMG marine and skulk. Combat would help that, that is my hope anyway....
I think combat standalone can only be a positive thing to come and while it will draw a lot of people away from ns2, hopefully, with the right approach from fault line it should bring a lot of new players to ns2.
FTFY Sky Snack.
Disclaimer: This post is referring to combat mod and not the standalone. Ironhorse needed clarification
Double Edit: Iron, I am a discrete ninja. Don't you worry.
Orange text is the only proper degree of discretion -Iron
Right now it is indeed a bigger fracture between NS2 and Combat for potential new players, due to them being two separate games
Did it bring in new players? Yes. The overall player base of NS2 + Combat did increase, but then people started diving into one of these two separate groups.
Some have said it is why NS1 lasted as long as it did, but at the same time left a lot of servers empty comparatively.
For me, I love the strategy level, so I'll be stickin to Classic, this in no way in offense to the combat guys. Just that, I get my killin' fix in Classic just fine
Now thinking ahead, the Combat guys do need to think about NS2's health and well-being, just like a child takes after a parent. So I recommend that the combat guys try to elude to their player base that ... "Hey, If you've enjoyed Combat, give NS2 Classic a try for a deeper, strategy based gameplay experience" or something like that, so that NS2 and Combat can grow as a whole and not become competitors.
Also as a note, later on in games of combat with xmenu and such, they would typically last longer than a game of classic. I dont think it was game length that drove some people away from classic and too combat.
tl;dr - Combat standalone is a good thing as it promotes NS.
NS2 would needs to feel more rewarding for new players to want to learn. Because Combat will be more appealing to new players due to its accessibility and ease to learn, NS2 classic will need to tempt potential new purchasers bucket loads more fun that they can see from watching promo videos and gameplay footages.
For example, gamers would be much more inclined to buy a game that promises "Not only you can shoot guns, you can also drive vehicles and play as a ninja in this game!", than "In this game, you can shoot more structures and spend more time waiting and saving for your weapons/creatures!".
The NS2 player base will unlikely to be influenced by standalone Combat. The hardcore fans of NS2 will likely still remain loyal to the original though.
I tried the mod and felt like it offered only some of the fun of ns2
I doubt anybody is going to bother playing a version of a game they already play "with less stuff, less action, greatly increased difficulty".
For instance if combat got jetpack dual-fist exosuits, that would be hella fun. It'd feel gimped playing ns2 knowing that you're not going to get to swoosshh and pow-pow!
I guess what i'm saying is... If combat is too good, it could hurt NS2. It's the sassy younger brother that doesnt have a problem with girls and managed to wing it through high school even if it's a bit of a layman.
It certainly feels to me, that 50% of the NS2 playerbase will move largely to combat, with the elites and regs staying (or possibly leaving due to not being able to get a gather, PCW or even public game going!).
Frankly I can't wait to play combat on release day and get accused of hacking every game, but i do worry sometimes. I wonder if there's a particular game plan, based on knowledge and experience, or if we're just kind of smugly tucking the knowledge and experience under our belts and stumbling into this.
Would you really give up NS2 completely to play combat though? I have no idea of the level of players that are playing the current mod and of those player who switch between NS2 and combatmod.
Does anyone have these stats?
The last few times I've joined a combat mod server (4-5 times over the past 6 months or so), it's been full of greens/ newbies.
ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE FTW AMIRITE?
What are you smoking? Can I have some?
In what world does a Game Developer say to it's active playerbase, btw, you shouldn't be playing our game, you should be playing someone else's?
This is naiveté of the highest level. It is up to UWE, the CDT, and NS2's current playerbase to ensure NS2 survives and grows.
If the Combat team do as you ask, their own game and future games will be put at Jeopardy. From a business perspective, you are asking the combat team to actively encourage a reduction in their playerbase to help NS2, hahaha. Quite possibly one of the most idiotic fanboy comments I have ever heard. Please don't go into business ISE, you may struggle to survive if you advocate giving all your customers away.
Of course the res-related strategy and the concepts of mapcontrol are much more shallow in combat mod. Still, I wouldn't rule out some kind of team play evolving over time, should it gain more popularity.