What if? A different path for NS
shad3r
Join Date: 2010-07-28 Member: 73273Members
Join Date: 2010-07-28 Member: 73273Members
So the NS1 vets gripe thread got me thinking.
A lot of the unpopular changes in NS2 are directly or indirectly related to the res model change, which was made so as to balance the game for a variety of player counts and other stuff that happens in pub servers.
But NS is at heart a pretty high investment game - it requires teamwork, time invested in learning the rules, learning the maps, learning the effective strategies etc. It is a bit like MOBAs in this respect. MOBAs are plenty popular. They also have fixed player counts for a match.
This suggestion is 6 years too late, but worth considering for NS3 maybe. Why not give up on the pub server model, and just focus the game on 6v6. Instead of spending time on altering mechanics that worked well in NS1 comp play, just focus on lobbies and leagues and ways to help people get into 6v6 games that are appropriate for their skill level.
I really think this is a better future for a game like NS, and the MOBAs seem to do okay with something like this as a business model. NS1 is nowhere near as intimidating for new players as DOTA (100+ lifeforms?).
Blind made a <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=119781&view=findpost&p=1959229" target="_blank">good post</a> in the gripe thread about how the NS1 res model created a bunch of strategic choices on the alien side due to the need to balance lifeforms and structures. This res model was abandoned because it doesn't work well in a pub context with variable player counts - and the strategic depth of NS2 suffers for it.
So why not just abandon the FPS pub server model? You don't need to abandon the ability for anyone to create a public server, or to create private games, you just put a matchmaking layer in front of all public servers. No longer needing to cope with pub variability removes the need for lots of unpopular changes. Just because the game plays as an FPS, doesn't mean it needs to use the FPS server model. NS1 inherited that from Half Life.
I know this is a lot of work and isn't going to happen anytime soon. But wouldn't it be cool?
A lot of the unpopular changes in NS2 are directly or indirectly related to the res model change, which was made so as to balance the game for a variety of player counts and other stuff that happens in pub servers.
But NS is at heart a pretty high investment game - it requires teamwork, time invested in learning the rules, learning the maps, learning the effective strategies etc. It is a bit like MOBAs in this respect. MOBAs are plenty popular. They also have fixed player counts for a match.
This suggestion is 6 years too late, but worth considering for NS3 maybe. Why not give up on the pub server model, and just focus the game on 6v6. Instead of spending time on altering mechanics that worked well in NS1 comp play, just focus on lobbies and leagues and ways to help people get into 6v6 games that are appropriate for their skill level.
I really think this is a better future for a game like NS, and the MOBAs seem to do okay with something like this as a business model. NS1 is nowhere near as intimidating for new players as DOTA (100+ lifeforms?).
Blind made a <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=119781&view=findpost&p=1959229" target="_blank">good post</a> in the gripe thread about how the NS1 res model created a bunch of strategic choices on the alien side due to the need to balance lifeforms and structures. This res model was abandoned because it doesn't work well in a pub context with variable player counts - and the strategic depth of NS2 suffers for it.
So why not just abandon the FPS pub server model? You don't need to abandon the ability for anyone to create a public server, or to create private games, you just put a matchmaking layer in front of all public servers. No longer needing to cope with pub variability removes the need for lots of unpopular changes. Just because the game plays as an FPS, doesn't mean it needs to use the FPS server model. NS1 inherited that from Half Life.
I know this is a lot of work and isn't going to happen anytime soon. But wouldn't it be cool?
Comments
While NS1 had it's intricacies that raised the skill ceiling, who's not to say NS2 has or will contain any given amount of intricacies to lead towards a level of investment and enjoyment? What I'm getting at is NS2 is still an infant in terms of game play. I am lead to believe this when compared to NS1. I'm going to let UWE wear themselves out adding and tweaking till we all find out just what we need to be successful at the end of the day.
Just keep your head up. The game is becoming more playable for competitive. I'd say the vast majority of NS2 players don't take the game too seriously... that's including the majority of the best teams and NS2 players as well. I don't think it will change too much even when 1.0 is out. That isn't me being negative but just an observation of the community so far. It seems like most people who play NS2 just play it for fun and casual. It's a great and fun game were just waiting for it to be complete to see what it has to offer then.
The skill level leagues are not the essential part of the plan.
The essential part is the fixed player count in all games, so the NS1 res model can work.
*like the system will make sure both teams have a commander decided before the game starts, deal with ragequitting, this "stacking" issue some ppl complain about all the time, or uneven sides at the beginning of a match etc.
Matchmaking encourages ppl to get better at the game, also quicker - it can improve the gameplay of the whole community...
You can still have options -non-ranked matchmaking(solo, group), ranked matchmaking(solo, group) and plain normal private servers.
You can still have just fun and screw around if you dont feel like playing a matchmaking match.
I played dota, and still some lol or dota2 everynow and then. And matchmaking was the best thing that could happen for those games and i am pretty sure it would do a lot for ns2 too.
But that said, i have no idea how matchmaking for ns2 would work(since a good system would need uwe to get the server system running behind this, i guess) - the game and its business model currently isnt really build around that... maybe one day.
PS: Nobody acts more serious there than most ppl already do without matchmaking in random pubs.