Trading firepower for tech
thefonz
Join Date: 2011-06-22 Member: 105847Members
Join Date: 2011-06-22 Member: 105847Members
This is just a loose idea that popped into my head. Posting to see what the community thinks.
Simply put, what if marines could trade their individual offensive firepower for tech that would benefit other marines in their squad?
I don't want to limit the possibilities too much, but this was the specific idea that I had. A marine could trade his primary weapon for a device that would reveal and slow a blinking fade in a small radius around the marine. The device could be passive such that the marine can at least use his pistol. Or active so the marine must choose to fight or assist the squad with tech. This would greatly encourage squad play. A marine would have no chance to go solo with this device. But with a squad, the other marines become much more effective. This would also make the guy with the tech a High Value Target (HVT).
The historical analogy is the radio man. Lightly armed, but crucial to the effectiveness of the unit.
That is my simple idea, but I definitely see that this could have way more applications than the one I mentioned. Anyone think this has potential? Anyone have other ideas that would be good trade offs for your primary weapon as a marine?
SUPER AWESOME BONUS IDEA
Lets assume that this idea of trading the primary weapon for some type of tech is a accepted. Let's also trade the pistol for a 30 round version of the good ole, side loading, NS1 LMG! Ohh the nostalgia!
Simply put, what if marines could trade their individual offensive firepower for tech that would benefit other marines in their squad?
I don't want to limit the possibilities too much, but this was the specific idea that I had. A marine could trade his primary weapon for a device that would reveal and slow a blinking fade in a small radius around the marine. The device could be passive such that the marine can at least use his pistol. Or active so the marine must choose to fight or assist the squad with tech. This would greatly encourage squad play. A marine would have no chance to go solo with this device. But with a squad, the other marines become much more effective. This would also make the guy with the tech a High Value Target (HVT).
The historical analogy is the radio man. Lightly armed, but crucial to the effectiveness of the unit.
That is my simple idea, but I definitely see that this could have way more applications than the one I mentioned. Anyone think this has potential? Anyone have other ideas that would be good trade offs for your primary weapon as a marine?
SUPER AWESOME BONUS IDEA
Lets assume that this idea of trading the primary weapon for some type of tech is a accepted. Let's also trade the pistol for a 30 round version of the good ole, side loading, NS1 LMG! Ohh the nostalgia!
Comments
But yeah, flamethrower already fills that role really well.
Ha, yea, I get what you mean. I don't want to mislead people with the example I gave. I am more asking from an open ended point of view if trading your primary weapon for some type of benefit to your team was a good idea. At least with the flamethrower you retain an offensive punch and are actually quite the skulk murdering machine. Think more of a flamethrower that completely drains the aliens energy, but does no damage either to understand the perspective I am thinking about.
Perhaps this is a more clear example, and it already exists in game. The welder. By purchasing a welder you give up your axe. You no longer have a fast, free way to kill structures and cysts, or defend yourself when you are out of ammo (Welder dmg is a fraction of axe dmg). The benefit you gain for the team is the ability to repair structures and other players armor.
I am wondering if it is viable to come up with items that trade your primary weapon entirely for a significant team effect.
This post really boils down into ways to encourage squad play. While I haven't been noticing a problem with squad play lately, I feel that it may simply be because the small group of beta players have gotten it figured out. When NS2 goes to release and hits a large number of players very quickly, I expect there to be a long, painful learning curve that will teach people to stick with a squad or die. Developing in game feature/tech where one person can trade their offensive ability for a team benefit would, IMO, help encourage squad play among new players who may not understand how necessary it is.
<!--quoteo(post=1915412:date=Mar 20 2012, 08:21 AM:name=Flounder)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Flounder @ Mar 20 2012, 08:21 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1915412"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Competetive play is (or probably will be) 6v6 games. With only 5 men on the field, having one of them without a weapon isn't practical.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think I recall one of the devs saying that they intend to balance for 8v8. Can't source it, take it as heresay. And good point, with a limited team think that, the team benefit for giving up your primary weapon would certainly need to be a big one.
But yeah, flamethrower already fills that role really well.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
5v5 is usually optimal for games, it takes allot of work to keep a active strong team up for long(Good players are often forced to quit because of work/school/other things). I think 6v6 is fine, going for 10v10 is to much.
Uhmmm, Battlefield? World of Warcraft? Your notion is incorrect . .
10v10 is the minimum in my opinion. This isn't just a shooter, it's a strategy. The maps are huge, and will only get bigger. I'd like to see 16v16, it works great in pubs I don't see how it would fail competitively.
Also, I'm pretty sure WoW doesn't count as a competitive fps.
Also, I'm pretty sure WoW doesn't count as a competitive fps.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Way to miss the point
Outside of "healer", I can think of a few ideas (that are for brainstorming more than anything else) which would replace the primary marine weapon:
- <b>Moble res extractor</b>. Pulls res at 75% of the rate of a regular node, but doesn't cost team resources. Of course, while in use, the player holding it is quite vulnerable
- <b>Mobile power node</b>. Replaces the comm-dropped power node of old, and only works as long as the player is alive.
- <b>Kharra jammer</b>. Does something with the nearby Kharra infestation. Maybe removes the marine disadvantage on infestation, or causes alien structures to work more slowly.
Regarding game size, the UW team has said they want to support scaling games up to 16v16, and maybe more. This has been one of the major reasons that the resource model has been reworked and the kharra have been given a komm for NS2.
I think the mobile res extractor sounds a bit boring to preform. Who really wants to sit on a node for a few minutes just to get a lower extraction rate?
The mobile power node definitely sounds interesting. Are you going for something like:
A marine can buy a power pack from the armory in place of his primary weapon. He then carries it around and can deploy it where is is needed. Once deployed, he is free to go buy or scavenge a weapon. In order to relocate the node, he must drop his primary weapon to pick the node up.
That would certainly make power packs more interesting and challenging to get in place w/o team support. Really makes ninja-ing a power pack and PG into position cool since the ninja marine only has a pistol to defend himself. Adds a high emphasis on stealth and commander scanning to help the ninja get into the desired position undetected.
Not sure where the Kharra Jammer is going. I do see potential as a commander dropped structure that prevents the kharaa from quickly dropping cysts into a marine base to wipe out all the mines.
The mobile power node is my favorite idea as it would bring back the fun mechanics that were present before comm-dropped power packs were removed from NS2 beta. It would provide the comm an ability to put up tech anywhere he wants - at a cost. The way I was envisioning the power pack is that it would be a large object which when deployed would envelop the player carrying it, effectively giving them an extra coat of armor. The marine would effectively become a turret, able to shoot his pistol, but not move (until the pack is destroyed). This would mean that in order to have this new-found freedom, the commander would have to convince one of his players to give up their freedom for the sake of the team.
The kharra jammer was more vague in my mind. It is my understanding that marines are supposed to be somehow disadvantaged when fighting on infestation. This would remove that disadvantage.