gameplay and bugs

[ilikeflak]

Hi, this is E_Bola.

I decided to check out the forums after Rotten made a comment about shooting through the fence on stardust or whatever that map is named yesterday. It seems you certainly have a lively community here. I was reading up on some posts regarding 'bugs' and gameplay and complaining about mine and thought I'd share some of my comments and observations. It might turn into a bit of a diary but hopefully won't taste like diarea to most. Read and delete at your own judgment but I think this is some fair feedback.

First of, I'm happy people still play this game and that this server is fairly well populated. I think it's one of the best games ever and was certainly a good investment, $50 for 5000 hours of fun. Hard to beat. Been playing myself since 2004 back when I was flickering around on the screen due to limited capabilities of my 14.4K modem. I spent countless hours in the weekends playing with my brother on the other side of the ocean when I was an expat in the USA. Used to play a lot on deathwarrant and omnipotents back in the USA and then techcom and now here since I'm back in Holland. Good to see after all this time not everyone has retired. Kudos for keeping the server alive.

As far as comments regarding gameplay, use of 'bugs' and other, where to begin. First, it's great you (someone) are providing the server service but you honestly cannot expect that online players take the trouble to read forums. Personally, if I have any game time on hand I try not to spend it on meta stuff. Also, you cannot expect everyone to know who is admin and should be listened too and who is not if they are not named 'ADMIN'. The best way, really, if you want to prevent people from using such 'bugs' is like someone else wrote on this forum, have them fixed or if that takes too much effort, replace the map with one less buggy, there's plenty of maps to choose from. If that is not possible then at least add a clear MOTD when the game starts regarding what's considered a bug (maybe you did but I didn't read it....)

But OK, now that I have read some of the posts if that fence thing on stardust is off limits then OK I'll try not to forget. Remind me if I do. But I think if people are concerned about that there are other things to discuss also and everyone should be honest about that.

As far as gameplay, people are different and have different interests and playing styles. Such is life. For me it depends on a couple of things. First, I don't like to die :-). Second, my style depends on my mood, sometimes I feel like joining the front lines in quick action and sometimes I like to hang back and do some bendering or tanking so to speak. Nothing in the manual says I have to advance.

I don't consider myself a particularly good aim and certainly not a good strategist but my strengths are that I am quick, versatile, capable of thinking out of the box and, not unimportant, I am very observant of other players' skills and tricks and learn from them. More people should try that instead of complaining when they die. I don't use hax. And frankly I havent seen any hax on any server in years because they are easy to recognize: perfect aim with zero movement skills.

I like high-speed up close confrontations as much as tanking. I used to play assault sometimes on omnipotents and remember one map where you had to make it through a long straight hallway with few places to hide while 16 opponents shooting everything they had at you from the other side. Best fun ever! I like this chaos, it's an achievement when you make it through. On ONS, after 15,000 matches played, sometimes the same old stuff gets old, especially on large maps with lots of flying around and little action, and I then tend to go explore 'strange new corners' or 'unusual' utilization of the map which may seem useless contribution or exploit to some.

Sometimes I get tired if I feel like I have to pull the entire team. That's when I call out "Team 0.5" at the end of the match. Not that this happens a lot but sometimes it does. If I take a manta solo at the start of the match then it is because I cannot fathom after all these years how slow most people still are when the match starts, running around in circles chasing their own tail around the weapon lockers which is pointless. Tip of the day: you dont need to collect weapons at home base, you can do that at the first node. I get to first node faster walking than most people in a manta. You also have 10-20 seconds of idle time before the game starts to fly the camera around and check where the vehicles are and how to get there so don't complain if i get there first.

Sometimes my gameplay causes commotion in the chat channel but honestly, some people complain so much about everything that I honestly suspect them of trolling. But sometimes yes you have a valid point. If you feel I need correcting then say so with a good argument and I will generally listen unless the comments come from people that I feel are whining all the time. I don't take them seriously. Some people shout out when being killed by any weapon other than their own personal favorite as being 'unmanly' or 'unfair' which is simply nonsense to me and only makes me spam you more. Some people prefer to use a single weapon the entire match - go for it - and some like me like to use all of them. On the spider front, if after 1,000 games you still cannot evade spiders then you didnt do your homework. Furthermore, I think as a fair rule, each persons' comments should be valued proportionally with their average node and core build and destruct rate per hour. Maybe those can be posted with each forum post or chat comment . If you check those stats you'll find I don't do as bad as some of the complainers.

As far as laming in general, agreed, i do some of that, honestly because it can be huge fun, but I'm certainly not unique in that sense. Plenty of people hiding with lightning guns on the other side of the map (or for example on top rim in Tyrant) doing nothing useful in particular. If you want players to contribute and not 'hang back', how about eliminating lightning guns and sniper rifles? Spamming with mantas nodes locked or not seems common practise. Or basecamping enemy base in badgers or paladins (again tyrant), dragons etc and what about those annoying falcon pilots.

Some people only play maps they know they are good at. What's up with that? If their vote doesnt make it they spectate until the next match. If that's not lame then i don't know what is. Allow your fellow players to enjoy a fully populated match even if it's not your favorite. Where is the love?

I think to a large degree laming depends on some maps being simply way over powered vehicle wise. I mean omaha with dragons, falcons, mino, ions etc. Tyrant with 4 tanks that can hide everywhere, badgers, super shock rifle etc and super exposed nodes. Gunshop with 4 deemers, 2 painters, 3 air strikes. Tyrant, although I like it for it's quick action, seems commonly a free-for-all-laming kind of map where quite a few people participate in. Badgers running around aimlessly spamming nodes locked or not. For these reasons I like smaller maps with fewer vehicles and definitely not the spammy ones. That's one solution. How about dreamus without the mantas, such a map setup would be great in my opinion.

OK, i think I'll stop here, this was some venting and some admission of guilt. But each for themselves take an honest look at your own gameplay and your contribution to your team. In conclusion, it would help to fix or at least publish bugs *in game* and remove vehicles rather than maps.

Kudos again for keeping the server up. Hope for another 10 yrs.

Bola.

[Cat1981England]

Hey Bola, welcome to the forum, it's good to see you here.

A few quick points,

As far as comments regarding gameplay, use of 'bugs' and other, where to begin. First, it's great you (someone) are providing the server service but you honestly cannot expect that online players take the trouble to read forums.

I don't think you need to visit the forum to realise that map exploits are against the server rules. This is something which is pretty much universal regardless of what game or community you are playing in.

If I take a manta solo at the start of the match then it is because I cannot fathom after all these years how slow most people still are when the match starts

so don't complain if i get there first.

No. Getting to a manta first, well somebody has to, but buggering off the moment you get into the thing isn't on. Just jump on top and wait a few seconds and your team can have 4 people within a few seconds at the first node. Your team can then gain access to more vehicles, your team can gain control of key nodes before the opposition, your team has a greater chance of winning.

When you bugger off at the start on map such as Gunshop you are basically saying to your teammates, "I couldn't give a toss about anyone else here, I'm doing this for my score, for my ego". Your teammates then have the disadvantage of a slow start and end up playing catchup for the rest of the match.

When you do things such as this it impacts negatively on the rest of us for 20mins. How do you think people are going to react?

On the spider front, if after 1,000 games you still cannot evade spiders then you didnt do your homework.

I agree.

Plenty of people hiding with lightning guns on the other side of the map (or for example on top rim in Tyrant) doing nothing useful in particular.

Couldn't agree more. However, camping on the platform near your primary node with the tank does absolutely nothing to help your team which is a tank down. It just turns the match into a stalemate while you simply build up a big score. This ruins the game for the other 31 people who have also been working hard all day. If you're tired and don't feel up to playing intensely then there are other way you can play and still help your team.

Anyone can build a big score, it's piss easy. The point of Onslaught is for your TEAM to win the match, and having a high score in no way shape of form reflects a players contribution to that goal.

Onslaught is a team game, this is something you seem to willingly ignore. When you do make the effort you can be a fantastic teammate, you can really win a match for your team. But when you're just in it for yourself, you would be better off playing offline against bots because you just end up ruining everyone else's game.

Please Bola, you can be a fantastic player when you try, and based on the few comments you make plus the fact that you never retaliate to anyone else's comments in chat, you could be someone everybody would look forward to seeing on the server. If you carry on playing the way you have been, then people's opinions are not going to change regardless of what you post here, after all, you honestly cannot expect that online players take the trouble to read forums.

All the best, Cat

[Droopy_Bollocks]

Hey Bola,

Welcome to the forum!

I'll be honest, even though we don't get on in-game, it's nice to see you taking part here.

I agree with some of your comments and all of Cat's , when you try you are a real handful 1 vs 1 but it seems to me that you believe ANY method of killing is OK and that server rules don't apply to you.

Your talent is obvious but when you're in a bad mood you do ruin it for your team and you become a liability, that's a crying shame because of how you can play when you want to.

As Cat said it's a TEAM game, if helping your team isn't for you then maybe DM or TAM should be your thing.

That being said, I enjoy fighting against you when you're in a good mood!

DB

[Zon3r]

Sure, like you don't know that shooting through the fence is not ok, especially when people can't shoot back at you.
Spiders can't be evaded when you put them on the teleporter.
You are playing frequently on the server and you don't know who are the admins?
About your aim, when you recognize a more skilled player than you, you immediately switch to spammy weapons that require no aim. (firt deploys few spiders, then switch to link or minigun, first hand experience)
You don't do some laming, that what you do most of the time. lame and camp, nothing else

"But OK, now that I have read some of the posts if that fence thing on stardust is off limits then OK I'll try not to forget. Remind me if I do"
You are doing this for years, i'm pretty sure you have realized that it's unfair, and an exploit, it's just you don't care. You have been told plenty of times to stop, not here, but it doesn't matter

[Xac]

Hey Ebola,

Welcome to the forum

Tip of the day: you don't need to collect weapons at home base, you can do that at the first node.

I would point out though that on many maps you often don't get things like the avril or rocket launcher at nodes other than the core node.

When you put down your glass of claret and step out of your tank or hellbender and come out to play, you're a fun player to duel with.

See you in game

[ilikeflak]

If you carry on playing the way you have been, then people's opinions are not going to change regardless of what you post here, after all, you honestly cannot expect that online players take the trouble to read forums.

touche

[Kenny--OMG!!]

Welcome to the forum, E_Bola! Thank you for taking the time to share your point of view.

Moving past the obvious selfishness and hypocrisy throughout your first post, I will give you one piece of advice that if applied as a general rule might stop people complaining: don't do anything that blocks other players from fighting back in a reasonable manner.

To expand on this... Selfishness can be acceptable. We all have moments when we just can't or don't want to give a damn about helping the team and just want to join for a few minutes to shoot away and blow some steam from a hard or crappy day. What is NOT acceptable, though, is making fools of others. Limiting or completely blocking their reaction options to YOUR actions. Spawnkilling is the best example of this. Another example is hiding behind a faulty wall/fence and shooting through it just because it's there and you found it. These practices are equivalent to locking people up in a cage and putting a water hose on them. And I'm sure that the vast majority of the players on this server are not at all masochistic in that way. Plus, the excuse that "if we don't want you to do it then we should fix the code so it doesn't give you the option to" is just plain idiotic. Reflect on it a bit, I'm sure you will realize it eventualy. You can also spend all your 20 minutes of the game flooding the chat, I mean the phyisical option for you to do so is available, right? but that doesn't mean you should do it. Try entering the airport with a gun just because you phisically can, see what happens there, would you?

I've crapped on other players' heads too in the past, and rightfully got what was coming to me. I've learned to do better since then. I suggest you do the same.

Happy playing, mate!