What's Fun, Why Is It Fun?
Tediak
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2910Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Theorize.</div> Anyone else have the observation that losing as aliens is extremely frustrating and often not fun at all, while losing as marines can be extremely fun. The opposite also applies, winning as marines seems oftentimes far too easy, and dissatisfying, while winning as aliens can be frantic and extremely fun.
I think this may have to do with the burden of command, as a marine you don't REALLY care what happens because it's not truly in your hands, while as an alien you too share some burden of what happens to your team.
Anyway, what do you think?
I think this may have to do with the burden of command, as a marine you don't REALLY care what happens because it's not truly in your hands, while as an alien you too share some burden of what happens to your team.
Anyway, what do you think?
Comments
That is, when you lose as aliens, you are basically fighting end-game enemies with beginning-game abilities. I.e. you have very little chance.
With marines, you are fighting end-game to end-game, but you get things very slowly (Since you usually only have the tower in your base). Part of the fun of losing as marines is that you are condensed so tightly that team-work becomes automatic and the commander becomes super-efficient: there are people running around welding everyone/thing without anyone asking, people do exactly what the comm tells them to, the comm can give health to anyone who needs it within seconds, etc. etc.
If the marines could pull off doing what they do when they're bottled up in the commander room throughout the entire game, they would be unstoppable.
The reason winning is dull for marines and sweet for aliens is exactly the same, marines put up a fight till the very end while aliens become a pushover.
off-topic: The last-ditch feint tactic -
When your base is being over-run, place a CC somewhere along with an observatory and get at least 1 marine out of the base alive. Have him build the CC and observatory and use distress beacon. BAM! Everyone comes back alive in the original base, where they can start rebuilding. Usually by this point all the aliens have left the room, and they very rarely set up turrets in there.
1. Aliens blitzkrieg marines at starting position and take them down before they can put down defence turrets.
2. Aliens grab and hold all resources, steamroll the clueless marines.
3. Marines grab and hold all resources, steamroll the clueless aliens after turreting off their other two hives.
4. Marines and aliens are both relatively good. The marines manage to hold on to one or two resources and beat the aliens to one of their hives. There's a good stalemate with lots of fighting occurs. Unfortunately, this is ultimately broken because marines start building siege turrets and slowly but surely and unstoppably advance over the rest of the map by pinning down resource and hive location with siege turrets.
This ugly scenario is usually how #4 goes:
Your usually reduced to one hive, and everywhere you go you see this:
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Absolutely no escape. You have one hive, your entire team combined doesn't have the ability to take down more than one sentry turret in a frontal assault. Can't use offencive chambers to draw the fire because they have a siege cannon in place that destroys you if you try. Your trapped, the game is already over.
You try the attack the individual marines but they have HMG and heavy armor, and your puny Skulks and Lerks don't stand a chance against them unless one gets isolated and runs out of ammo.
If your really unlucky, the marines despite their massive advantage decide to advance the last few steps towards your hive by building turret forts and siege cannons. After awhile your saying, "God damn you marines, hurry up and finish us off already".
I'm thinking if they nerf siege cannons and swap Lerks weapons 2 and 3 things would be more enjoyable for a losing Alien.
Later on in the game, when we've got control of the map, or are losing with a big stockpile of resources, I'll drop just about anything my troops want. Jetpacks, armor, whatever. I think the rest of my team finds this part enjoyable.
I agree with Tycho, losing as marines, you get a big adrenaline rush as you make that last stand. It's kind of fun to keep lobbing grenades out the door, killing alien after alien but they still keep coming... It gets pretty intense when you're down to holding only half the room you start in, and it feels great to finish off an ONOS with only a light machine gun in such desperate situations. It feels good to lose as a marine, and you say "good game" afterwards, whereas with aliens you spend the last 10 minutes being forced to be a skulk with only one upgrade or a lurk, and it just feels like you lost.
1. Take a deep breath
2. Bend over as far as you can
3. Kiss yer spongy brown a$$ goodbye
The huge stockpile of resources the marines can get. The aliens cant. This way they cant even build some last desperate turret piles or somethine. Well as they cant upgrade to something senseful with only one hive anyway, it doesnt matter that much, tho. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
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that's an excellent observation
as alien it feels like WE did something wrong, as marine it feels like HE did something wrong
Marines, on the other hand, losing is quite exciting, and occasionly funny.
There was this one game, when the marines were pushed back to their main base. The aliens had onos.
And then suddenly, the commander started MASS dropping mines.... And it was like:
"More mines!" "ahaha... Mines!"
Our team planted mines all over the base, 'till it looked something outta the matrix. Red beams everywhere. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->