In favor of Marine
-Pistols. Too abusable. Needs a 0.33s hard cooldown between shots.
-ARCs. Mechanically dumb little things that are super overpowered in the right situations and aliens don't have: A) Anything similar; or, A natural answer.
-Armory spam. The game should really restrict marines to 1 armory per command chair. Ammo has no purpose, marines spray & pray and are never punished.
-Lerk nerf is like willfully paying 30 pres for a handicap now.
-Texture modding. Anyone "competitive" have swapped their alien skin textures for bright colours or straight up white. Obnoxious.
In favor of Aliens
-Khammander doesn't have any real skilly things to do. The things intended to be (like cyst bursting, walls etc) have NO influence on the game. So aliens are balanced for a muppet at the helm.
I am just curious as to what you guys felt let you down when you thought it was going to be a blast
Nothing. The game is a blast, for me.
But I think it could be even more fun if UWE did the following:
1) Increase the strategic depth. Add more viable options, and make more of the existing options more viable. And remember that "strategic options" here means more than just which tech tree items you purchase first.
2) Mitigate the snowball effect, so that early game mistakes are less decisive and turnarounds are more possible.
3) Increase the severity of the end-game, so that once the game has been decided in the mid-game and the losing side has missed or failed at their last chance for a turnaround, the game ends quickly thereafter.
4) Increase the importance of tactics and decrease the importance of twitch skills. I honestly have no idea how to do this; I'm not really qualified to discuss it. But a couple of other commenters mentioned it, and if it could be done I'd be in favor of it.
And yes, this point is very much a selfish thing on my part. I'm not very good at twitch and I don't expect I ever will be considering how much time I'd have to invest into it; I'm old and my gaming time is very limited. I'd rather play a game that doesn't emphasize something I'll never be very good at. It doesn't need to be changed much, but a little bit would be nice.
5) Matchmaking. I don't think strict matchmaking like most games have would be good for NS2, but the "soft" matchmaking that I've posted about in other threads would be a big help to the game. It would make games less one-sided, and it would help players of all skill levels find games where they were both challenged and in contention.
Over the top balancing makes it boring. The balance holds game dynamics down, dynamics are fun! Right now NS2 is too stale..
-I want ability to lock down a room as marines with sentries that kill. Give them a fighting chance.
-Aliens same strong defense possibility. They should be able to own a room and make it hard even for some expos to break.
-I miss different game styles. There's little room for different tactics / styles from round to round.
-Marine default weapon is weak. I know the whole 9 shots are lethal story but bottomline, it feels too weak. That's not fun. Personally i'd like to see Aliens made stronger and weapons stronger.
-I miss aspects of Randomness with spawning.
5) Matchmaking. I don't think strict matchmaking like most games have would be good for NS2, but the "soft" matchmaking that I've posted about in other threads would be a big help to the game. It would make games less one-sided, and it would help players of all skill levels find games where they were both challenged and in contention.
Maybe it could be based on hours played taken from the Steam stats. Sounds like a potentially good thing.
5) Matchmaking. I don't think strict matchmaking like most games have would be good for NS2, but the "soft" matchmaking that I've posted about in other threads would be a big help to the game. It would make games less one-sided, and it would help players of all skill levels find games where they were both challenged and in contention.
Maybe it could be based on hours played taken from the Steam stats. Sounds like a potentially good thing.
A better metric to use would be something similar to Elo or TrueSkill.
I posted my basic idea for a soft matchmaking system here, answered some related questions here, and commented in more detail about Elo and TrueSkill here.
To me NS2 is just an evolution of NS1, but that's not to say that there were things changed in NS2 that really weren't broken from the original.
- Changing standard map design from 4 to 5 tech points/hive locations. The additional place on maps to drop a hive or a command chair fundamentally change the way that games are played. The tug of war over hive locations in NS1 has been lost in some ways because hive locations are no longer scarce and the game now seems to be only about resource denial.
- Marine tech requiring 2nd command chair. While alien tech always made sense to rely on the number of hives, Marines really don't have the same requirement from a thematic point of view. If the Marines are able to get to mechs and jetpacks and other high tech stuff with one base then that is on the Aliens for allowing their tech progress to go unchecked.
- ARC's are silly, bring back Siege Cannons. Little toy tanks that are too expensive to get to in the tech tree and take too long to really siege down an Alien location that is dug in. The threat of the Marines dropping siege cannons anywhere on the map always made them more formidable mid to late game.
- Cutting cyst chains does not kill attached structures/disrupt resource flow. The same way that destroying power nodes kills the use of all buildings, the infestation and cysts connect Alien structures to hives. If the Marines cut the chain then the use of those structures that are now "unpowered" should be lost as well.
- Lack of phase gate destination choice. Why are the phase gates in a series that must be travelled through sequentially? Players should have the option of choosing their destination.
Concede and auto balance, having a game end with some text on the screen at total random feels shitty and being punished for being on the winning team feels even worse, people in RR with alien life forms should still count towards alien team for auto balance.
edit: Building the arms lab, jesus christ this fucking piece of shit take a hundred fucking years to build every fucking time I see that blue box of lost life sitting in spawn if I phase/respawn I groan IRL because I know I'll spend the next 2 minutes in game staring at a fucking arms lab being built you could easily % everyone's played time to time spent building arms lab every other game.
^I played one game, where aliens were losing really badly, (was early game though, like 3-5 minutes in?). Then half the alien team RQ and due to auto balance they were able to win, because 4 aliens can expand and attack faster than 4 marines (which is only 3 ground marines).
I would basically like to see all the unused tech listed below used more often (by making them either; cheaper, stronger, or redesigning their functionality). Other than that I am pretty happy with the game.
Marines: Advanced Armory - (Too expensive, Long research time + weapon research time is annoing, Should not be tied into Exo-suit research. )
MACs - ( I wish they were easier to get on the field. )
MAC EMP-blast - ( Would prefer exact energy % damage numbers in the tool tip. )
Sentry - ( I wish they didn't need batteries, perhaps 1 to a room to give them less of a social stigma when they are destroyed. "Meh, we just lost one turret.", increased Tres cost, my max would be 10)
Grenade Launchers - ( I would like to see research costs were it could be practical to buy early game as one of the first research options in some marine build orders. )
Flamers - ( I love the new wall painting* mechanic, Would rather it be a simple cone-attack weapon and not an anti-infestation weapon, all weapons should cost 20 Pres in my opinion. )
Exo-suit - ( I know its a work in progress but it would be good if the commander could drop/buy all three types. )
The time and resources it takes to upgrade an armory to an advanced armory is too long and too expensive in my opinion. I would much prefer it were to maintain the same health and armor values and become a more moderately priced / quick upgrade. Its unfortunate that the research time for Exo-suits are tied into having an advanced armory. I would prefer the Armory upgrade be made much quicker and the Exo-suit research made longer and no longer require an advanced armory so that it could be much more viable to upgrade flamers and grenade launchers while still maintaining the Exo-suit's long research time preventing them coming out early.
Aliens: Babblers
Umbra - ( Longer projectile range before stopping mid air to make it easier to get it into the far ends of rooms, too expensive.)
Vortex - ( Should have more range to the attack in my opinion so a fade can vortex a target much easier prior to aliens entering a room.)
Zenocide - ( It is good the way it is now but we do not Need* it to win. Other tier 3 upgrades are more important.)
Side note idea: Perhaps the problems of these unused alien evolutions could be solved by allowing Alien commands to choose the tier 3 unlocks at 2 hives up to a maximum of 3-4 per hive. For example A commander could buy (leap => then xenocide, bile bomb, and blink) for the first additional hive but not be able to unlock spores, stomp, umbra, vortex until the third hive.
For me #1 is power nodes. Honestly, I just don't see the point to tie the entire marine game to the survival of some little piece of equipment on the wall of a room. If they vanished tomorrow I would shed no tears.
Vortex - ( Should have more range to the attack in my opinion so a fade can vortex a target much easier prior to aliens entering a room.)
Zenocide - ( It is good the way it is now but we do not Need* it to win. Other tier 3 upgrades are more important.)
Has anyone ever tried combining the two?
Its a bit of a logistical nightmare, but if a fade blinks in and vortexes the arms lab, and 2 skulks leap in and xenocide, most of the marine team will be killed instantly.
1. Placing cysts in central drilling. They always end up on the above platform when I wanted them on the ground.
2. Same map, same problem only with whips in sorting. I want to set a whip by the power node but since it's below the platform I can't.
3. Amazing looking axe that can't hit a skulk cause of the low range. I never use it. Maybe sometimes for cysts but even then I have to get too close and that breaks the experience for me.
Playing alien. Not fun, too weak most of the time. I had more fun playing aliens in Alien vs Predator. Maybe that I suck (and I do suck at lerking/fading), but I don't feel skulk as an equal chance vs marine.
Comments
In favor of Marine
-Pistols. Too abusable. Needs a 0.33s hard cooldown between shots.
-ARCs. Mechanically dumb little things that are super overpowered in the right situations and aliens don't have: A) Anything similar; or,
-Armory spam. The game should really restrict marines to 1 armory per command chair. Ammo has no purpose, marines spray & pray and are never punished.
-Lerk nerf is like willfully paying 30 pres for a handicap now.
-Texture modding. Anyone "competitive" have swapped their alien skin textures for bright colours or straight up white. Obnoxious.
In favor of Aliens
-Khammander doesn't have any real skilly things to do. The things intended to be (like cyst bursting, walls etc) have NO influence on the game. So aliens are balanced for a muppet at the helm.
Nothing. The game is a blast, for me.
But I think it could be even more fun if UWE did the following:
1) Increase the strategic depth. Add more viable options, and make more of the existing options more viable. And remember that "strategic options" here means more than just which tech tree items you purchase first.
2) Mitigate the snowball effect, so that early game mistakes are less decisive and turnarounds are more possible.
3) Increase the severity of the end-game, so that once the game has been decided in the mid-game and the losing side has missed or failed at their last chance for a turnaround, the game ends quickly thereafter.
4) Increase the importance of tactics and decrease the importance of twitch skills. I honestly have no idea how to do this; I'm not really qualified to discuss it. But a couple of other commenters mentioned it, and if it could be done I'd be in favor of it.
And yes, this point is very much a selfish thing on my part. I'm not very good at twitch and I don't expect I ever will be considering how much time I'd have to invest into it; I'm old and my gaming time is very limited. I'd rather play a game that doesn't emphasize something I'll never be very good at. It doesn't need to be changed much, but a little bit would be nice.
5) Matchmaking. I don't think strict matchmaking like most games have would be good for NS2, but the "soft" matchmaking that I've posted about in other threads would be a big help to the game. It would make games less one-sided, and it would help players of all skill levels find games where they were both challenged and in contention.
Yes. This. This is what is missing from NS2. UWE please get on this asap.
No pirates please kthxbye
-I want ability to lock down a room as marines with sentries that kill. Give them a fighting chance.
-Aliens same strong defense possibility. They should be able to own a room and make it hard even for some expos to break.
-I miss different game styles. There's little room for different tactics / styles from round to round.
-Marine default weapon is weak. I know the whole 9 shots are lethal story but bottomline, it feels too weak. That's not fun. Personally i'd like to see Aliens made stronger and weapons stronger.
-I miss aspects of Randomness with spawning.
Maybe it could be based on hours played taken from the Steam stats. Sounds like a potentially good thing.
A better metric to use would be something similar to Elo or TrueSkill.
I posted my basic idea for a soft matchmaking system here, answered some related questions here, and commented in more detail about Elo and TrueSkill here.
Because eventually, all features of the game will be invoked.
So I don't get the point, unless it's a troll ... in which case I don't see the point either.
- Changing standard map design from 4 to 5 tech points/hive locations. The additional place on maps to drop a hive or a command chair fundamentally change the way that games are played. The tug of war over hive locations in NS1 has been lost in some ways because hive locations are no longer scarce and the game now seems to be only about resource denial.
- Marine tech requiring 2nd command chair. While alien tech always made sense to rely on the number of hives, Marines really don't have the same requirement from a thematic point of view. If the Marines are able to get to mechs and jetpacks and other high tech stuff with one base then that is on the Aliens for allowing their tech progress to go unchecked.
- ARC's are silly, bring back Siege Cannons. Little toy tanks that are too expensive to get to in the tech tree and take too long to really siege down an Alien location that is dug in. The threat of the Marines dropping siege cannons anywhere on the map always made them more formidable mid to late game.
- Cutting cyst chains does not kill attached structures/disrupt resource flow. The same way that destroying power nodes kills the use of all buildings, the infestation and cysts connect Alien structures to hives. If the Marines cut the chain then the use of those structures that are now "unpowered" should be lost as well.
- Lack of phase gate destination choice. Why are the phase gates in a series that must be travelled through sequentially? Players should have the option of choosing their destination.
2. OMG THEY GOT JP/EXO/ARCS/FADE/ONOS WE MUST CONCEDE, THEY ARE NEAR OUR 3RD HIVE/CC ALREADY OMG CONCEDE GUYS F4 NAO!!!111
This^^^ Auto balance is even more frustrating when you are on the team who is clearly struggling but just happens to have more players.
edit: Building the arms lab, jesus christ this fucking piece of shit take a hundred fucking years to build every fucking time I see that blue box of lost life sitting in spawn if I phase/respawn I groan IRL because I know I'll spend the next 2 minutes in game staring at a fucking arms lab being built you could easily % everyone's played time to time spent building arms lab every other game.
2. Dying with mines
Marines:
Advanced Armory - (Too expensive, Long research time + weapon research time is annoing, Should not be tied into Exo-suit research. )
MACs - ( I wish they were easier to get on the field. )
MAC EMP-blast - ( Would prefer exact energy % damage numbers in the tool tip. )
Sentry - ( I wish they didn't need batteries, perhaps 1 to a room to give them less of a social stigma when they are destroyed. "Meh, we just lost one turret.", increased Tres cost, my max would be 10)
Grenade Launchers - ( I would like to see research costs were it could be practical to buy early game as one of the first research options in some marine build orders. )
Flamers - ( I love the new wall painting* mechanic, Would rather it be a simple cone-attack weapon and not an anti-infestation weapon, all weapons should cost 20 Pres in my opinion. )
Exo-suit - ( I know its a work in progress but it would be good if the commander could drop/buy all three types. )
The time and resources it takes to upgrade an armory to an advanced armory is too long and too expensive in my opinion. I would much prefer it were to maintain the same health and armor values and become a more moderately priced / quick upgrade. Its unfortunate that the research time for Exo-suits are tied into having an advanced armory. I would prefer the Armory upgrade be made much quicker and the Exo-suit research made longer and no longer require an advanced armory so that it could be much more viable to upgrade flamers and grenade launchers while still maintaining the Exo-suit's long research time preventing them coming out early.
Aliens:
Babblers
Umbra - ( Longer projectile range before stopping mid air to make it easier to get it into the far ends of rooms, too expensive.)
Vortex - ( Should have more range to the attack in my opinion so a fade can vortex a target much easier prior to aliens entering a room.)
Zenocide - ( It is good the way it is now but we do not Need* it to win. Other tier 3 upgrades are more important.)
Side note idea: Perhaps the problems of these unused alien evolutions could be solved by allowing Alien commands to choose the tier 3 unlocks at 2 hives up to a maximum of 3-4 per hive. For example A commander could buy (leap => then xenocide, bile bomb, and blink) for the first additional hive but not be able to unlock spores, stomp, umbra, vortex until the third hive.
Has anyone ever tried combining the two?
Its a bit of a logistical nightmare, but if a fade blinks in and vortexes the arms lab, and 2 skulks leap in and xenocide, most of the marine team will be killed instantly.
2. Same map, same problem only with whips in sorting. I want to set a whip by the power node but since it's below the platform I can't.
3. Amazing looking axe that can't hit a skulk cause of the low range. I never use it. Maybe sometimes for cysts but even then I have to get too close and that breaks the experience for me.
Special number 4. Not enough gorge stuffed toys.