The Past, Present And Future Of Ns
SuB
AusNS Forum Admin Join Date: 2003-02-18 Member: 13723Members
AusNS Forum Admin Join Date: 2003-02-18 Member: 13723Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Ramblings from a passionate player!</div> I was introduced to NS shortly after its release by two good mates who were already having a lot of fun with it. I’d watch them play it and moan and groan about how complicated it looked. Not ever being a big gamer, I tended to avoid all games because I knew how addictive they could become.
Shortly after its release I started to try it out using one of my mates keys on my own computer, and while I was initially disconcerted by my newbie syndrome, I stuck with it, and in no time I was having an immense amount of fun. The concept really intrigued me. Slighting games such as CS for having little depth and too much focus on lightning fast reflexes, the depth and complexity of NS was really appealing. No longer would super keen aim be the be all and end all of my pleasure, but I could actually use my head to benefit the team as well. The other, perhaps more appealing aspect of it was the social interaction. Due in large part to voice comm and your dependence on your team-mates for success, you really do feel like you’re playing along side others for a common goal. Even in other ‘team’ games like CS and Battlefield 1942 the sense that you’re actually working with others is essentially non-existent.
What follows are my musings on the past, present and future of NS, bearing in mind that I bring limited gaming experience with my consideration and I am certainly over-passionate about NS, and keen to see it succeed rather than dismissing it as an inevitably flawed concept.
While this is rather long winded, it is only a small segment of my thoughts on the matter, and I will likely post some more stuff in the future, but all that aside, I wouldn’t expect anyone to have the inclination to read it, so if you do, thankyou for your interest!
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The evolution of Natural Selection…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natural Selection 1.00 was released to the public on October 31, 2002. Although I did not start playing the game straight away, I was aware of its existence from the get-go and had been watching friends play it since then. 6 days later the server side patch 1.01 was released making some minor changes. 10 days after that 1.02 was released addressing some more minor issues. Another 11 days after that 1.03 was released, and then 1.04 didn’t hit servers until the 24th of January, 2003 (just under 2 months since 1.03’s release). So in essence, 1.04 became the defining mark of NS’ early days as the other patches weren’t around long enough or significant enough to afford a significant place in peoples minds.
A month later, the first client patch was announced, 1.1. This was initially intended as a reasonably minor patch (as far as client patches go) to address some exploits, bugs and game play issues. It didn’t take long for some fundamental problems in the core design of the game to become evident though, and over time 1.1 grew from a minor patch to a complete and fundamental overhaul of the core design.
There were four main things that were the consequence of this fundamentally flawed design, all of which promoted a very linear and predictable pattern of game play. I will refer to three of these as ‘tipping points’, and the forth was simply the impotence of any other chamber besides defence as the first.
Prior to the overhaul of the game, NS had 3 decisive tipping points. These tipping points, a concept proffered by Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'The Tipping Point', are generally applied to marketing and social behaviour, but in essence are the crossing of the threshold that makes products or social epidemics spread like wild fire as unstoppoable forces. Applied in the context of NS, these are the point in the game in which one side has a massive advantage over the other.
The first and most despised of these ‘tipping points’ was the deadly JP / HMG rush, which become the predictable norm for the marine game about 90% of the time. When 1.04 had matured somewhat, many commanders had even gone to the extraordinary length of NOT using this strategy, for the very reason that it provided little to no challenge at all and generally ensued in a very boring game.
The second and most frustrating of these tipping points was a 2 hive lockdown. After 2 hives had been locked down, because of the alien dependency on hives they could not obtain any more significant classes or abilities to break these locks, while the marines could sit happily on the 2 hive res nodes and slowly tech up to their full power, until they had far more power than they really needed to finish the game.
The third most definable tipping point was the aliens Second Hive. As soon as that second hive came along, so did the fade with its acid rocket, as well as web, both of which are on their own exceedingly powerful abilities.
It is generally accepted that once these tipping points were reached, unless the team made a significant mistake or the other team did something extraordinary, the game was all but won.
As discussion on the 1.1 client patch continued, it become evident to Flayra that a significant overhaul was needed, and the change log built up and up as these fundamental flaws were addressed. Most significant of these changes was the removal of hive dependency for alien classes. This focused the game squarely on what it should have been focused on from the beginning, res nodes.
A long time passed with apparently significant testing, and after being appropriately renamed 2.0 from 1.1, accompanied by a lot of PR, the new version was released to the masses. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for people to scream foul about the imbalance of the game, saying that aliens were massively overpowered now, a complete reversal of roles since 1.04 really, and a lot of people departed as a result, while the rest of us, more passionate and patient, were left to deal with a dwindling number of active servers.
A lot of people who play primarily public servers will say that 2.0 has lost the fun-factor that existed in 1.04, but I contend that the removal of the aforementioned tipping points is the source of this frustration. See, it used to be that 1 or 2 skilled marines or aliens could make all the difference by exploiting the imbalance, thus compensating for any newbies on the team, however in 2.01 (after some minor changes that has allowed marines more early game protection of their res nodes), a state of ‘reasonable’ balance (far from perfect however) has been achieved which no longer lets 1 or 2 players compensate for the rest. Sure, those odd marines or aliens can do a significant amount of the work and alter the course of the game, but rarely can they be the all inclusive and deciding factor in winning it.
In 2.01 the makeup of your team and how they work together is the most decisive factor involved in your chances of winning, and in an ideal world, this is just the way it should be, as the entire premise of the game is teamwork. Most people who play clan matches would agree that this is actually reasonably true now, even though there are still issues with early fades and onos, and the very different nature of each race.
Ever since 2.0 has been released there has been a steady uprising against the newbie factor. No longer can a bunch of newbies expect to join a team and be carried by some really experienced players. Their presence and newishness is of significant detriment to the team’s composition and ultimately results in a lack of fun for established players, at the same time making them more hostile towards new players, when really they would ultimately be the ones to benefit most from helping newbies out, as more experienced players who can contribute to the team will be born.
Ultimately I think 2.0 was tested under intense conditions with quality players who knew the maps and generally played it a top tier level. Now however, on public servers you find deadlocks, stalemates and drawn out endgames. These three things simply don’t occur in clan matches. As soon as one side has the upper hand, they coordinate their attack and utilise that upper hand to win the game.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The endgame, mis-allocation of resources and timid commanders…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let’s consider now the alien endgame with marines bunkered in their spawn fending of the aliens from what is now their inevitable doom, unless offcourse F4 mania kicks in first. On a public server, what you’ll generally find is each alien running in one after the other to take the marines on. Consequently, the entire marine team, most likely with significant upgrades by that point, focuses on the 1 or 2 aliens that have ventured into their base. Those aliens get a significant amount of firepower directed at them and stand little to no chance, even as an Onos, the aliens top tier unit, which is no longer the game ender it used to be.
Now think about it for a second. How many times have you slaved away at the alien endgame for a long time, only by some twist of fate (or heavens forbid some communication and teamwork), a large percentage of the team has charged in all at the same time, only to see this game you’ve been slaving over for far too long come to an abrupt end in chaos as the marines direct their fire every which way and they are unable to counter the overwhelming force you’ve presented them with. You think to yourself: “Geez, that wasn’t so hard now was it? GG!”.
On the flipside, I see far too many commanders invest huge amounts of res in turreting up locations around the map, sitting around teching up, making small, half hearted attempts at an offensive, then sitting back on their laurels defending the locations they have secured and not really gaining any ground. These kinds of games can get themselves in a typical stalemate, as top tier classes from both sides dual it out in an endless deathmatch as piles and piles of res are wasted on casualties from both sides. It almost seems sometimes that these commanders either don’t know or have forgotten what the goal for the marine game is. It is not to secure locations, it is not to down Onos, and it is not to cap res. Yes, all of these things are secondary, tactical objectives, necessary for achieving the real aim, but they are all only a means to an end, and that end is destroying the alien hives. When I comm, I make this abundantly clear to my marines. Forget about the things that are of no consequence. If you have the capacity to get a hive down, even if there is some measure of risk involved, go for it! Pressure is what both the alien game and marine game is about, but more so for marines. You have to keep the aliens fighting on your back foot with the ultimate goal of destroying their hives or you will have let the aliens accumulate too much personal wealth and you will have oni all over you.
The reality of both these considerations is that they require teamwork. You simply cannot achieve these aims without teamwork, where you could in previous versions. Teamwork is a lot to ask of public players, but it can be an extraordinarily satisfying experience when it presents itself.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>Public play and its bearing on the clan scene…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personally, I find practice matches and wars with my clan to be immensely fun. The condition lends itself so much to NS game play dynamics that everything is a matter of precision and timing, and the associated tactical and strategic discussions before and after the games we play is really very satisfying.
Before 2.01 (in 2.0 and 1.04) clan matches were massively imbalanced and clans were generally frustrated with the lack of tactical variation they could bring to the field. In the most recent version, things are approaching a state whereby the better team should generally be able to pull of a decisive 2-0 win, although the aliens are still, in my and most people’s opinion overpowered, although this is not a dire situation and can be addressed.
The general consensus among my fellow clan members is that the game is decided on how you start of, the pressure you apply and one key point in the game (generally involving an expenditure of res, such as the dishing out of HA or sieging a particular location) as a make it or break it effort. At least this is the case when the teams are fairly evenly paired.
While I find immense pleasure in pracs and I can see how the game has been refined for intense, focused, decisive clan play, the inevitable reality is NS cannot survive without a prospering pub scene. In Australia and the US alike, there is a significant lack of top tier competition, as the reality is in order for an NS team to do well they need not only good individual skill but they need to prac together a lot so all the nuances that are so crucial to success become automatic and refined.
While there are a lot of clans popping up, I see a lot of good, seasoned players who are looking for a clan to join who are reluctant to join these teams as they focus heavily on the recognition they get from riding the wave of a clans pre-established success and good name, even though most of these established clans (and there aren’t many) are presently full.
These new clans need good, talented, thinking players to join their ranks so that they might prosper and one day, with hard work and dedication, become a recognised force in the scene themselves. If anything I would urge the freelancers who posses a good tactical knowledge of the game and can hold their own to go join these upstart clans (provided the people starting them are of decent character) and make a significant contribution to their success. I can imagine working your way up from upstart to established clan would be a very satisfying experience.
The reality is, without people doing this the clan scene will wither up and die, the Catch 22 of this being that they will never have had a chance to be in a successful team at all.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>Some things that may help...</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ve put a lot of thought into minor changes that could have a good effect on NS and player satisfaction in the pub scene, because I’ll admit that I’m more passionate about this game than most. I don’t think I’ll move onto something else as whole heartedly as I have gotten into NS once it reaches the end of its life, so I feel compelled to do what I can to ponder the magic bullets that may ensure its longevity.
The most obvious one to me is more personal recognition. If your team loses because of the incompetence of other players, there is very little recognition even if you single handedly made the biggest contribution to the team, regardless of the outcome. I think the points system that is being introduced in 2.1 that awards players for significant contributions such as taking down and capping nodes, building things or defending locations should help a lot in the personal satisfaction of the game, as your team can get owned but you still get recognition for doing your best, which will encourage players to do the things that will help their team. The success of this points system will only be told in time though.
There also needs to be some consideration for making movement and sensory more viable, as we’re already seeing the reversion back to the traditional D-M-S build order as the ideal one. Something Martigen suggested to me which makes a lot of sense is having all alien classes’ posses a minor amount of constant, regen-like healing.
The other major issue I see that needs to be addressed is the accessibility of fade and onos fairly early into the game, both of which have the potential to completely eliminate your res nodes right at the point in which you’ve teched sufficiently and put up a good fight, but really need that income to dish out appropriate defence.
Above everything else though, we need patient, experienced players to introduce newbies to the ins and outs of the game, and show them how easy stalemates can be to break with a bit of teamwork, instead of lulling into saying nothing and getting fed up because your team hasn’t got their act together. This extends to the marine team in helping the commander out by leading groups of marines to locations he wants you to go to, or if he is not setting a specific objective, lead them on a res-raping route as one.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The fade to black…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My motivation for writing this long winded and probably rather boring piece is a desire to give some thought and consideration about the game back into the only gaming community I’ve ever been involved in. I am a huge fan of NS and really do wish to see it prosper, but this will only happen with consideration and forethought by everyone involved, something I have little confidence in people realising, but I will throw the notions out there anyway.
Help those newbies learn, if you know what’s needed, get the game coordinated and perhaps we may once again start to see the epic games of NS everyone knows and loves more frequently.
NS is a brilliant concept that demands more than just reflexes, but some brains as well. If everyone puts in just a little bit into educating new players, focusing on what counts and having faith, NS probably has a fairly decent life ahead of it. If not, we will see it wither and die with age and lack of interest.
Either way it will not be the end of the world and other things will come along in time, but the people I’ve met through this community have made a lasting impression on me, and the memories of the good old days will live on.
Regardless, if you’ve read until this point I thank you, as I know it has been long winded, but you’re comments would be much appreciated so I can solidify my own opinions and we can consider these issues together as a community.
- [SuB]
Shortly after its release I started to try it out using one of my mates keys on my own computer, and while I was initially disconcerted by my newbie syndrome, I stuck with it, and in no time I was having an immense amount of fun. The concept really intrigued me. Slighting games such as CS for having little depth and too much focus on lightning fast reflexes, the depth and complexity of NS was really appealing. No longer would super keen aim be the be all and end all of my pleasure, but I could actually use my head to benefit the team as well. The other, perhaps more appealing aspect of it was the social interaction. Due in large part to voice comm and your dependence on your team-mates for success, you really do feel like you’re playing along side others for a common goal. Even in other ‘team’ games like CS and Battlefield 1942 the sense that you’re actually working with others is essentially non-existent.
What follows are my musings on the past, present and future of NS, bearing in mind that I bring limited gaming experience with my consideration and I am certainly over-passionate about NS, and keen to see it succeed rather than dismissing it as an inevitably flawed concept.
While this is rather long winded, it is only a small segment of my thoughts on the matter, and I will likely post some more stuff in the future, but all that aside, I wouldn’t expect anyone to have the inclination to read it, so if you do, thankyou for your interest!
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The evolution of Natural Selection…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natural Selection 1.00 was released to the public on October 31, 2002. Although I did not start playing the game straight away, I was aware of its existence from the get-go and had been watching friends play it since then. 6 days later the server side patch 1.01 was released making some minor changes. 10 days after that 1.02 was released addressing some more minor issues. Another 11 days after that 1.03 was released, and then 1.04 didn’t hit servers until the 24th of January, 2003 (just under 2 months since 1.03’s release). So in essence, 1.04 became the defining mark of NS’ early days as the other patches weren’t around long enough or significant enough to afford a significant place in peoples minds.
A month later, the first client patch was announced, 1.1. This was initially intended as a reasonably minor patch (as far as client patches go) to address some exploits, bugs and game play issues. It didn’t take long for some fundamental problems in the core design of the game to become evident though, and over time 1.1 grew from a minor patch to a complete and fundamental overhaul of the core design.
There were four main things that were the consequence of this fundamentally flawed design, all of which promoted a very linear and predictable pattern of game play. I will refer to three of these as ‘tipping points’, and the forth was simply the impotence of any other chamber besides defence as the first.
Prior to the overhaul of the game, NS had 3 decisive tipping points. These tipping points, a concept proffered by Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'The Tipping Point', are generally applied to marketing and social behaviour, but in essence are the crossing of the threshold that makes products or social epidemics spread like wild fire as unstoppoable forces. Applied in the context of NS, these are the point in the game in which one side has a massive advantage over the other.
The first and most despised of these ‘tipping points’ was the deadly JP / HMG rush, which become the predictable norm for the marine game about 90% of the time. When 1.04 had matured somewhat, many commanders had even gone to the extraordinary length of NOT using this strategy, for the very reason that it provided little to no challenge at all and generally ensued in a very boring game.
The second and most frustrating of these tipping points was a 2 hive lockdown. After 2 hives had been locked down, because of the alien dependency on hives they could not obtain any more significant classes or abilities to break these locks, while the marines could sit happily on the 2 hive res nodes and slowly tech up to their full power, until they had far more power than they really needed to finish the game.
The third most definable tipping point was the aliens Second Hive. As soon as that second hive came along, so did the fade with its acid rocket, as well as web, both of which are on their own exceedingly powerful abilities.
It is generally accepted that once these tipping points were reached, unless the team made a significant mistake or the other team did something extraordinary, the game was all but won.
As discussion on the 1.1 client patch continued, it become evident to Flayra that a significant overhaul was needed, and the change log built up and up as these fundamental flaws were addressed. Most significant of these changes was the removal of hive dependency for alien classes. This focused the game squarely on what it should have been focused on from the beginning, res nodes.
A long time passed with apparently significant testing, and after being appropriately renamed 2.0 from 1.1, accompanied by a lot of PR, the new version was released to the masses. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for people to scream foul about the imbalance of the game, saying that aliens were massively overpowered now, a complete reversal of roles since 1.04 really, and a lot of people departed as a result, while the rest of us, more passionate and patient, were left to deal with a dwindling number of active servers.
A lot of people who play primarily public servers will say that 2.0 has lost the fun-factor that existed in 1.04, but I contend that the removal of the aforementioned tipping points is the source of this frustration. See, it used to be that 1 or 2 skilled marines or aliens could make all the difference by exploiting the imbalance, thus compensating for any newbies on the team, however in 2.01 (after some minor changes that has allowed marines more early game protection of their res nodes), a state of ‘reasonable’ balance (far from perfect however) has been achieved which no longer lets 1 or 2 players compensate for the rest. Sure, those odd marines or aliens can do a significant amount of the work and alter the course of the game, but rarely can they be the all inclusive and deciding factor in winning it.
In 2.01 the makeup of your team and how they work together is the most decisive factor involved in your chances of winning, and in an ideal world, this is just the way it should be, as the entire premise of the game is teamwork. Most people who play clan matches would agree that this is actually reasonably true now, even though there are still issues with early fades and onos, and the very different nature of each race.
Ever since 2.0 has been released there has been a steady uprising against the newbie factor. No longer can a bunch of newbies expect to join a team and be carried by some really experienced players. Their presence and newishness is of significant detriment to the team’s composition and ultimately results in a lack of fun for established players, at the same time making them more hostile towards new players, when really they would ultimately be the ones to benefit most from helping newbies out, as more experienced players who can contribute to the team will be born.
Ultimately I think 2.0 was tested under intense conditions with quality players who knew the maps and generally played it a top tier level. Now however, on public servers you find deadlocks, stalemates and drawn out endgames. These three things simply don’t occur in clan matches. As soon as one side has the upper hand, they coordinate their attack and utilise that upper hand to win the game.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The endgame, mis-allocation of resources and timid commanders…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let’s consider now the alien endgame with marines bunkered in their spawn fending of the aliens from what is now their inevitable doom, unless offcourse F4 mania kicks in first. On a public server, what you’ll generally find is each alien running in one after the other to take the marines on. Consequently, the entire marine team, most likely with significant upgrades by that point, focuses on the 1 or 2 aliens that have ventured into their base. Those aliens get a significant amount of firepower directed at them and stand little to no chance, even as an Onos, the aliens top tier unit, which is no longer the game ender it used to be.
Now think about it for a second. How many times have you slaved away at the alien endgame for a long time, only by some twist of fate (or heavens forbid some communication and teamwork), a large percentage of the team has charged in all at the same time, only to see this game you’ve been slaving over for far too long come to an abrupt end in chaos as the marines direct their fire every which way and they are unable to counter the overwhelming force you’ve presented them with. You think to yourself: “Geez, that wasn’t so hard now was it? GG!”.
On the flipside, I see far too many commanders invest huge amounts of res in turreting up locations around the map, sitting around teching up, making small, half hearted attempts at an offensive, then sitting back on their laurels defending the locations they have secured and not really gaining any ground. These kinds of games can get themselves in a typical stalemate, as top tier classes from both sides dual it out in an endless deathmatch as piles and piles of res are wasted on casualties from both sides. It almost seems sometimes that these commanders either don’t know or have forgotten what the goal for the marine game is. It is not to secure locations, it is not to down Onos, and it is not to cap res. Yes, all of these things are secondary, tactical objectives, necessary for achieving the real aim, but they are all only a means to an end, and that end is destroying the alien hives. When I comm, I make this abundantly clear to my marines. Forget about the things that are of no consequence. If you have the capacity to get a hive down, even if there is some measure of risk involved, go for it! Pressure is what both the alien game and marine game is about, but more so for marines. You have to keep the aliens fighting on your back foot with the ultimate goal of destroying their hives or you will have let the aliens accumulate too much personal wealth and you will have oni all over you.
The reality of both these considerations is that they require teamwork. You simply cannot achieve these aims without teamwork, where you could in previous versions. Teamwork is a lot to ask of public players, but it can be an extraordinarily satisfying experience when it presents itself.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>Public play and its bearing on the clan scene…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personally, I find practice matches and wars with my clan to be immensely fun. The condition lends itself so much to NS game play dynamics that everything is a matter of precision and timing, and the associated tactical and strategic discussions before and after the games we play is really very satisfying.
Before 2.01 (in 2.0 and 1.04) clan matches were massively imbalanced and clans were generally frustrated with the lack of tactical variation they could bring to the field. In the most recent version, things are approaching a state whereby the better team should generally be able to pull of a decisive 2-0 win, although the aliens are still, in my and most people’s opinion overpowered, although this is not a dire situation and can be addressed.
The general consensus among my fellow clan members is that the game is decided on how you start of, the pressure you apply and one key point in the game (generally involving an expenditure of res, such as the dishing out of HA or sieging a particular location) as a make it or break it effort. At least this is the case when the teams are fairly evenly paired.
While I find immense pleasure in pracs and I can see how the game has been refined for intense, focused, decisive clan play, the inevitable reality is NS cannot survive without a prospering pub scene. In Australia and the US alike, there is a significant lack of top tier competition, as the reality is in order for an NS team to do well they need not only good individual skill but they need to prac together a lot so all the nuances that are so crucial to success become automatic and refined.
While there are a lot of clans popping up, I see a lot of good, seasoned players who are looking for a clan to join who are reluctant to join these teams as they focus heavily on the recognition they get from riding the wave of a clans pre-established success and good name, even though most of these established clans (and there aren’t many) are presently full.
These new clans need good, talented, thinking players to join their ranks so that they might prosper and one day, with hard work and dedication, become a recognised force in the scene themselves. If anything I would urge the freelancers who posses a good tactical knowledge of the game and can hold their own to go join these upstart clans (provided the people starting them are of decent character) and make a significant contribution to their success. I can imagine working your way up from upstart to established clan would be a very satisfying experience.
The reality is, without people doing this the clan scene will wither up and die, the Catch 22 of this being that they will never have had a chance to be in a successful team at all.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>Some things that may help...</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ve put a lot of thought into minor changes that could have a good effect on NS and player satisfaction in the pub scene, because I’ll admit that I’m more passionate about this game than most. I don’t think I’ll move onto something else as whole heartedly as I have gotten into NS once it reaches the end of its life, so I feel compelled to do what I can to ponder the magic bullets that may ensure its longevity.
The most obvious one to me is more personal recognition. If your team loses because of the incompetence of other players, there is very little recognition even if you single handedly made the biggest contribution to the team, regardless of the outcome. I think the points system that is being introduced in 2.1 that awards players for significant contributions such as taking down and capping nodes, building things or defending locations should help a lot in the personal satisfaction of the game, as your team can get owned but you still get recognition for doing your best, which will encourage players to do the things that will help their team. The success of this points system will only be told in time though.
There also needs to be some consideration for making movement and sensory more viable, as we’re already seeing the reversion back to the traditional D-M-S build order as the ideal one. Something Martigen suggested to me which makes a lot of sense is having all alien classes’ posses a minor amount of constant, regen-like healing.
The other major issue I see that needs to be addressed is the accessibility of fade and onos fairly early into the game, both of which have the potential to completely eliminate your res nodes right at the point in which you’ve teched sufficiently and put up a good fight, but really need that income to dish out appropriate defence.
Above everything else though, we need patient, experienced players to introduce newbies to the ins and outs of the game, and show them how easy stalemates can be to break with a bit of teamwork, instead of lulling into saying nothing and getting fed up because your team hasn’t got their act together. This extends to the marine team in helping the commander out by leading groups of marines to locations he wants you to go to, or if he is not setting a specific objective, lead them on a res-raping route as one.
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>The fade to black…</b></span>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My motivation for writing this long winded and probably rather boring piece is a desire to give some thought and consideration about the game back into the only gaming community I’ve ever been involved in. I am a huge fan of NS and really do wish to see it prosper, but this will only happen with consideration and forethought by everyone involved, something I have little confidence in people realising, but I will throw the notions out there anyway.
Help those newbies learn, if you know what’s needed, get the game coordinated and perhaps we may once again start to see the epic games of NS everyone knows and loves more frequently.
NS is a brilliant concept that demands more than just reflexes, but some brains as well. If everyone puts in just a little bit into educating new players, focusing on what counts and having faith, NS probably has a fairly decent life ahead of it. If not, we will see it wither and die with age and lack of interest.
Either way it will not be the end of the world and other things will come along in time, but the people I’ve met through this community have made a lasting impression on me, and the memories of the good old days will live on.
Regardless, if you’ve read until this point I thank you, as I know it has been long winded, but you’re comments would be much appreciated so I can solidify my own opinions and we can consider these issues together as a community.
- [SuB]
Comments
But yeah, get out there and spread your knowledge. After all, greed only leads to ones own impending doom.
BTW, I read through the whole thing, and it sure has given my eyes some exercise....Now I feel like taking on my encyclopedia <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
EDIT : Ah yes....I forgot to leave behind one good word of wisdom....but sadly I will need some time to refine it, as it is very vague in terms of understanding.
Go go go NS Team!
Go go go NS Team! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Roger That! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
So please please please...for the sake of Natural-Selection's future, be nice to ANY comm who is not obviously trying to ruin the game. If it looks like they are new, offer your advice, dont shove commands down their throat. As well, the age old rule applies, do WHATEVER the commander tells you to, even if it means getting digested while falling down a gassed bottomless pit. And if youre one of those people who 'commands the commander' (ie people who tell commander what to do yet never comm themselves), please stop. Learn how to comm yourself and push people around the proper way.
If Natural-Selection dies off, we've got only ourselves to blame. Random CSers have zero impact on the game compared to us and the way we treat our comms.
I'd love to think of a perfectly flawless way to get around this but I can't =/
In MMO stuff like Ragnarok I'd often go to the new player spawn point and hold classes, answering questions and giving advice, but with the competitive environment inherent to NS it doesn't give time to do this in a reasonable manner. The training map suggestion is a good one but I'm not entirely sure how it'd work. Having a way for experienced players to help the new ones ease into the game would be a boon though, that's for sure ^^
Helping may lose you the current game, but not helping will lose us Natural-Selection itself. Think about it next time you see a 'nub'.
Anyone who logs on as NSPlayer or some name to do with newb or so (I personally play as IRNoob, although I already know most about NS) would be a good candidate to "team up with".
Seriously, right now I am not going back into NS because I find the stacking disgusting. A lot of us newbs do like to play, and play as a team, but against overwhelming odds, it's just not fun. <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo-->
So please please please...for the sake of Natural-Selection's future, be nice to ANY comm who is not obviously trying to ruin the game. If it looks like they are new, offer your advice, dont shove commands down their throat. As well, the age old rule applies, do WHATEVER the commander tells you to, even if it means getting digested while falling down a gassed bottomless pit. And if youre one of those people who 'commands the commander' (ie people who tell commander what to do yet never comm themselves), please stop. Learn how to comm yourself and push people around the proper way.
If Natural-Selection dies off, we've got only ourselves to blame. Random CSers have zero impact on the game compared to us and the way we treat our comms. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Totally agreed however unfortunatly most of those evil comm bashers arnt the ones reading these forums. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
no, i suggest 1.03
1.04 is the middle life of NS, as it were. Just previous to the current era of 2.0.
And I realize that the months now add on and on in my absence..
maybe we should have Command School
instead of NS:Combat, have training modes for commanders, teams, players
Combat could be simply combat simulation mode under this scheme
and there could be various ' School servers all holding classes
and certain ones could function as clan recruitment servers and NSDraft servers
haha
I wonder if we could pull this off
don't be afraid if it hasn't ever been done before
don't be afraid to try new things
Somebody, plz, run with this idea
write up a brochure to spread the word
contact all the right people
I will be trying myself to get a proposal together tomorrow in class
I haven't ever done something like this before and I don't like writing so bear with me, haha
the FOunDing of Command School
AND think about if it succeeds!
We'll have some servers, for example, with training modes, actual ' School, with classes.
Training our new Frontiersmen!
Itmagine that it is successful and active. It is like recreating more of real life in cyberspace! I foresee that this is possible in the future, that purely cyberspace creations will have the weight of real life organizations today. Imagine entire cyberspace countries, for instance. Not that this is necessarily a good thing, to have an imaginary country with millions of citizens swearing allegiance and thusly having ready made agents and fifth columns in a myriad countries. BUT, it is an improvement and extension of a fantasy life.
Obviously Evercrack is flawed, and some of you may think of that. And obviously, even if this fantasy life is extremely good, there remains the problem of exercise, eating, etc. I do not know how those problems will be solved. But imagine, this is like the next step for computer games, multiplayer online roleplaying, treating these environments as if they were real.
It'd be like living a movie. Playing a part in an interactive story where the moves are decided in real time by real people.
-+-end middle of night rant-+-
There is also the problem that being a commander requires much more out of a computer. I already get about 30 fps when I'm not doing anything, and about 15-20 when I am in an area with structures and other players. If I am commanding (only tried on my own computer with sv_cheats) I drop below 10 fps generally. I know a decent amount of strategy, and I know most of the regular maps (ones from 1.04 that are still in 2.x) pretty well, but my computer isn't good enough to allow me to do a decent job.
Just wondering, with a conventional WON installation you could make it so that the manual appears when you’ve completed the installation. This won’t be possible in Steam so could they maybe add a link to it in the NS3 menu once you start Steam?
I suppose when NS goes commercial some sort of NS hazard course training level could be put together.
Odd, haven't noticed anything hard about it. Assign squads, base guard/res cappers, offence team, research upgrades and the rest is pretty much about the team.
Nice article, btw, and I have to agree about those "commander-hostile" players; too often they start blaming ME when they die with lv3 upgrades/HA/HMG/Med-spam (and too often they can't even make it to the hive room with 1 onos and 2 OC's, with HA-train backing up) <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
This is what I don't like. I like the NS community the way it is now. I'm to paranoid that CS players will turn it into a "I GOTZ MORE KILLS THN YOU" kind of thing. I'M NOT saying ALL CS players are like that, about a good portion of them aren't very mature when gaming. I like NS the way it is now because it isn't about how many kills you have or what not. I dunno there will always be regular NS but there is always that one jerk who is going to be like "200 and 1 KILLS IN NS:C NUB! IM LEETER THAN YOU!"
*attempts to put topic back ... well, on topic*
I reckon anyone whos read the post and agrees with it should do their best to help new players etc, i mean nothing will be done by moaning on here, (well most of the time nothing will be done)
but if u are a regular on a server set an example help players, it doesnt take much to loose the rag at some players who may not understand a concept that to us seems simple, (ive lost my temper lots of times) but i suppose i should really try harder in-game and i reckons everyone else should too
being nice is the bare minimun that shoudl be expected IMO
It's a huge problem. and i cant state how big a problem it is at the moment.
Get 7 regular players on a server and the rest random people, and say a 16 player server, the 7 Regs all go on the same side, Allways!!! this is destroying the game by :
a) Making a completly unbalanced game, team size may be equal, but team skill isnt.
b) Completly dishartens the opponents making them F4 or just leaving the server.
c) It kills NS when a new player joins is forced into joining the team with the least amount of skill and then leaves in disgust because he gets chain owned again and again.
This stacking problem is Big i know people like to play on the same team with their freinds, but it makes for pointless one sided games, whos outcome is 99% decided before the Beep-Beep-Beep has finished. Try and Vary the teams as much as possible so that the whole server has fun and just not one team.
I've stopped playing NS twice now because of the stacking that goes on in Pubs. I have many freinds who have stopped and have not returned. i love NS for its Concepts and Innovations which i dont see in any other FPS around, its fast paced <u>TEAM</u> gameplay, just keeps on dragging me back for more.
A soulution to this is in Server Plugins, theres a UK server (wont mention name here), that i heartly commend for having a plugin that sets people on random teams on map load, this server ive pld on more recently because the games are usually hard pitched battles they way all NS games should be. I would really like for a feature similar to this to be added to NS that can be turned on and off of course. because i think it would help engourage people to stay in games rather than leaving in the first 5 minutes of play as they already know that they are doomed.
So please please please...for the sake of Natural-Selection's future, be nice to ANY comm who is not obviously trying to ruin the game. If it looks like they are new, offer your advice, dont shove commands down their throat. As well, the age old rule applies, do WHATEVER the commander tells you to, even if it means getting digested while falling down a gassed bottomless pit. And if youre one of those people who 'commands the commander' (ie people who tell commander what to do yet never comm themselves), please stop. Learn how to comm yourself and push people around the proper way.
If Natural-Selection dies off, we've got only ourselves to blame. Random CSers have zero impact on the game compared to us and the way we treat our comms. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Exactly why I cannot and will not comm. I don't paticularly enjoy getting verbally abused because I'm new to something and actually want to help, which happens to every other new guy who gets into the chair. 1-3 minutes of verbal abuse, followed by ejection. Yep. Great fun there.
would a tutorial be possible in the future?
i personnaly always defend a comm unless hes just being a llama for the sake of it. you can usually find me saying "how is he meant to learn if hes not given the oppertunity to command in the first place?"
For that very reason I dont command much if at all. I avoid it like the plague because I am not that good at it and I know people will yell and scream "youre doing it all wrong do this." So I try not to do it.