<!--quoteo(post=1993803:date=Oct 19 2012, 12:48 PM:name=MisterNubs)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MisterNubs @ Oct 19 2012, 12:48 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993803"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->They should give marines recoil on their guns and accuracy loss while moving. I think it will add more skill to the class.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1993762:date=Oct 19 2012, 12:04 PM:name=RisingSun)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RisingSun @ Oct 19 2012, 12:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993762"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->As i said before, i enjoy the bite as a marine, because it allow me to dodge skulks since it isnt a guaranteed hit and as an alien adds more skill to the class...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Anyone that actually wants a good game and not easy mode that marines are currently basking in would consider skulk bite to be complete balls. This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. World of Natural Selection Two. Onos will start dropping loot in 225. Lets get some critical hits up in here too!
<!--quoteo(post=1993894:date=Oct 19 2012, 03:18 PM:name=MisterNubs)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MisterNubs @ Oct 19 2012, 03:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993894"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Anyone that actually wants a good game and not easy mode that marines are currently basking in would consider skulk bite to be complete balls. This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. World of Natural Selection Two. Onos will start dropping loot in 225. Lets get some critical hits up in here too!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Ignoring the dumb WoW comment, I truly don't understand why you have a problem with glancing blows. Aiming Skulk bite is inherently difficult for a number of reasons:
- Fast movement speed and low PoV of the skulk combined with an unpredictable moving target - Bite cam obstructing the screen while you bite - Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead - Movement skills and good game sense required to close the distance first
Most of us have had a lot of practice, but NS2 needs to be accessible to new players or it will fail. A marine with mediocre aim will probably miss with half his bullets, but a skulk with mediocre aim can easily miss every bite and do no damage before getting killed. That's not fun. The shotgun can score glancing blows, how is this any different?
<!--quoteo(post=1993894:date=Oct 19 2012, 04:18 PM:name=MisterNubs)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MisterNubs @ Oct 19 2012, 04:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993894"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. <b>World of Natural Selection Two</b>. Onos will start<b> dropping loot </b>in 225. Lets get some<b> critical hits</b> up in here too!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
bravo. funny. (edit: well i thought it was funny) back-stab damage x4 mod forthcoming...
we'll see on the glancing blow deal. it is certainly a logical thing for casual, less accurate players - ie. player in FOV, in mouth, bite = hit to some degree. wonder if the range is uniform across the FOV or if it is less on the side. maybe it will be a decent compromise compared to going back to the previous bite cone entirely.
<!--quoteo(post=1993894:date=Oct 19 2012, 08:18 PM:name=MisterNubs)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MisterNubs @ Oct 19 2012, 08:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993894"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->It was sarcasm? I was making fun of:
Anyone that actually wants a good game and not easy mode that marines are currently basking in would consider skulk bite to be complete balls. This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. World of Natural Selection Two. Onos will start dropping loot in 225. Lets get some critical hits up in here too!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I see you point but i think i didnt explain mine well enough. I did not like the previous bite that allowed you to do damage what seemed like 5 feet in front of you and could bite people not even in your FoV. It made skulking more about holding down the fire button than actually aiming and timing your bites. Quantity over quality. This made dodging as a marine next to impossible since if you were even close to a skulk it was as good as auto aim for the skulk.
Now with the change of having to time and aim your bite joined with the marine's better mobility i am enjoying both classes. This is taking out the fact i loathe the problem Scardy mentioned <!--quoteo(post=1993811:date=Oct 19 2012, 06:02 PM:name=ScardyBob)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ScardyBob @ Oct 19 2012, 06:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993811"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->My biggest issue with the skulk bite is that its very unforgiving the more lag you have. At 60fps and 30tickrate, I do fine with it. At 30fps and 10tickrate, it becomes luck of the draw whether you get a hit. I've watched so many skulks going 10 bites or more without a hit in B223 that its clearly a problem.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> with poor performance and the issues is compounded by the unintended super knock back. There are other factors but in the best settings i am liking the new bite. Add the rest of the problems and it makes the situation 10 times worse for skulk and 10 times better for marines. I do not enjoy the advantage in this build, i enjoy the close quarter combat when i have 60fps, 30 tick, and i play either skulk or marine.
<!--quoteo(post=1993903:date=Oct 19 2012, 04:45 PM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Oct 19 2012, 04:45 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993903"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ignoring the dumb WoW comment, I truly don't understand why you have a problem with glancing blows. Aiming Skulk bite is inherently difficult for a number of reasons:
- Fast movement speed and low PoV of the skulk combined with an unpredictable moving target - Bite cam obstructing the screen while you bite - Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead - Movement skills and good game sense required to close the distance first
Most of us have had a lot of practice, but NS2 needs to be accessible to new players or it will fail. A marine with mediocre aim will probably miss with half his bullets, but a skulk with mediocre aim can easily miss every bite and do no damage before getting killed. That's not fun. The shotgun can score glancing blows, how is this any different?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-Try playing another FPS that contains moderate/fast game play speed for a couple days, then come back to NS2. Skulks move like obese dogs. There is nothing fast about them. Shooting them becomes just as easy. -Hardly an obstruction. Bite cam only becomes one when you hold down m1. -A symptom of poor movement and speed making them easy to hit. 8 bullets, which is under a clip, to kill a skulk a non-carapace skulk if I'm not mistaken. Zero alien scaling that makes killing a marine take longer while dying to a marine becomes faster. Improved marine movements also hindering skulks. -Movement skills, meaning leap, because hive 1 skulks movement is poor. And good game sense that requires marines who barely pay attention to their surroundings. Put a marine who knows the layout of the map and knows how to check corners before blindly moving from room to room and you'll have skulks dying left and right. Skulk models are large compared to the small NS1 models that made hiding much more easier.
You can only do so much to make a game accessible to new players before you completely butcher any sort of skill that the game might have had, lowering the skill ceiling so that there is no longer any room to grow which causes the gameplay to quickly become stale. The reason why "glancing bite" sucks complete balls is because it neither teaches the player to improve by actually (twitch) aiming, and also by not spamming it, it also doesn't even help in the slightest. You're doing less damage than a direct hit, and even going by what you said, "Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead", how exactly does hitting for half going to help kill marines faster? I further dislike glancing bites, because its a bandage fix to cover the multiple symptoms that are in dire need of fixing (the list). Knowing how they've been running form these past 8 months, this bandage fix means they'll just slap their hands together and call it done.
<!--quoteo(post=1993818:date=Oct 20 2012, 04:09 AM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Oct 20 2012, 04:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993818"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->So you say, but 25% decrease after a month doesn't sound that unreasonable to me. It's been impossible for new players to join the beta for over a month. There hasn't been any especially exciting event to draw the attention of people who are in already either. It's natural that the population will decline, how much is just a matter of degrees which is entirely debatable.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Well I would disagree, the games about to be launched...the game should be as accessible to new players as experienced.
This is clearly not the case and the cause of the decline in numbers.
The patch nerfing aliens is the reason why players who 2 weeks ago would play are no longer playing in the same numbers.
I am sorry to say that a 25% reduction is a warning bell that the changes have stuffed the game...even for the beta players.
Not all of us have the time to spend 5 hours a day gaming..heck I am lucky to get that in a week.
I should not need to spend hours trying to learn how to play the base lifeform to be able to get some enjoyment.
This will solely lead to the marine stacking we see currently and the unfun experience for even semi vet players.
If you can cause this sort of shift in your "Core Fan Base" then something is not right.
I want to see UWE and NS2 succeed as much as the next person, this is why I am pointing out the issue which is clearly evident in the graphs shown.
Numbers dont lie...you can interpret them incorrectly sure, and the claim that this is natural but please show me historical examples where fewer people played a game before launch?
BF series the demo numbers dont drop...in lead up to full release, seeing such a drop would make even EA think twice.
Aliens are not fun and skulks dont even come close to offering the ease of play a marine does, new players who have not been exposed to melee based combat will try aliens once and simply stack marines.
The numbers show something that I hope UWE is taking seriously and fixing before launch, we need an alien side thats actually FUN to play as a base lifeform. Which from some early glimpses of 224 they may be...will wait and see.
Just played this build after not playing since its release and this is not a good build. Ever since they did that fade nerf I think in 221 it just has not been that enjoyable. They had the game almost completely right with the exception of a few things
Why not just scrap the aliens and make it marine vs. marine? Aliens are plane boring to play, but the marine feel is awesome! Or you could just go back before the whole onos and exo stuff, the good old time when the game was fun to play with. Don´t take me wrong, I´m not an alien-player but in my opinion I´m forced to play as alien because marine team is full or I have to switch (a moral thing) the team because I played marine the last round.
Right now the game is horrible! BTW: Can I still get a refund?
There's already a mod for marine vs marine. I haven't played it and have no desire to; I don't think guns vs guns is something this game would do well, and there are many other games which probably do it better anyway.
Easy way to do this is to nerf marines equally. When they reload it requires stamina, run requires stamina, build requires stamina, jump requires stamina. It makes the game more realistic, just like how bite is more realistic
<b>Patch Related</b> - Early Marine rush of alien hive = egg lock. Spawn camping is not fun, should not be a 'valid strategy' - Skulk bite sucks right now - Power node bug where marines can re-build them in seconds <b>Not Patch Related</b> - Still no counter for jetpacks (webs please?) - Need hive travel. Skulks don't travel much faster than a sprinting marine, and due to how maps evolve, vents don't always allow faster travel. The dice roll with which hive you spawn at is not enjoyable. And one hive is getting egg locked, very hard to defend. And as I said before egg locking = spawn camping. Getting spawn killed never makes you say "Well Played Marines".
The previous patch was more fun. Skulk needs to be a viable class for public play to be enjoyable. I can't hold a fade as long as a pro can in a tournament, so 90% of the time us pub people are skulks.
^ Any reason these stats aren't even close to what UWE is quoting? (UWE said 55%/45% marine/alien wins. This says 65%/35%. Massive difference)
Plus, just by looking at like the last 6 games played, you can see that marines win the majority of the time and most have a positive k/d while aliens usually have a negative k/d. Only alien victories I've seen on there in the last couple of days (with the exception of 1 or 2) were games where the game was less than 10 minutes which indicates a skulk rush or 7.5 min onos.
^ Any reason these stats aren't even close to what UWE is quoting? (UWE said 55%/45% marine/alien wins. This says 65%/35%. Massive difference)
Plus, just by looking at like the last 6 games played, you can see that marines win the majority of the time and most have a positive k/d while aliens usually have a negative k/d. Only alien victories I've seen on there in the last couple of days (with the exception of 1 or 2) were games where the game was less than 10 minutes which indicates a skulk rush or 7.5 min onos.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
because ns stats is only looking at 9 or 10 servers ? most of which are 20+ player servers ...and marines are much more effective at higher player counts.
I wouldnt place as much faith in stats, there are just too many variables that influence that 55/45 number, that UWE like to spew out to give us (and probably themselves) the illusion that this game is balanced.
<!--quoteo(post=1994643:date=Oct 21 2012, 06:47 PM:name=piratedave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (piratedave @ Oct 21 2012, 06:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1994643"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I wouldnt place as much faith in stats, there are just too many variables that influence that 55/45 number, that UWE like to spew out to give us (and probably themselves) the illusion that this game is balanced.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> agreed
Well it is impossible to balance melee vs ranged in the way they seem to want it.
The truth is that in real life Melee almost always beats ranged when melee closes into melee range, and range should always beat melee while the melee is at a ranged distance(assuming decent accuracy for both). beyond that what you have left is uwe trying to nerf skulks when they are finally in range to attack which is just silly, and nerfing marines by giving aliens ridiculous ways to close the range gap.
They are essentially ruining the very balance that already exists in the melee vs ranged by taking away the advantages of both sides of the coin. So of course it will end up being impossible to balance.
If you make it difficult to shoot skulks because they are traveling at mach 5 and jumping from wall to wall to ceiling of course marines are going to get dominated. The same goes for skulks who get there melee ability nerfed so that when they do get into range they can't land a reliable hit chain to kill one marine.
<!--quoteo(post=1994833:date=Oct 22 2012, 05:15 AM:name=_Necro_)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (_Necro_ @ Oct 22 2012, 05:15 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1994833"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->XCom was released at the 12. Oct. It pleases the same target audience. (Games where you need to use your brain.)
Red DestinyJoin Date: 2012-08-11Member: 155428Members
<!--quoteo(post=1994833:date=Oct 22 2012, 05:15 AM:name=_Necro_)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (_Necro_ @ Oct 22 2012, 05:15 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1994833"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->XCom was released at the 12. Oct. It pleases the same target audience. (Games where you need to use your brain.)
Not sure why a turn-based, tactical strategy game, with out-of-game base-building elements, with no FPS elements whatsoever, is being compared to NS2. If you mean the 'target audience' is for people who like a challenge, then let's throw Dark Souls into the argument as well. Saying a game requires someone to 'use your brain' is such a condescending remark, and adds no relevance to this discussion about NS2, on the NS2 forums.
Moving on, a static defense would help. I believe a Commander-controlled pool of 3-hydras/hive would deter spawn camping. OR give a cooldown ability to spawn eggs somewhere else CLOSE BY that has infestation on it. This would remove the need for going Shift Hive first to prevent spawn camping, and wouldn't replace the shift for offensive spawning.
Of course, this only solves the spawn-camping problem. I'm not touching skulk-bite or wall-jumping problems with a 10-foot pole :D
Comments
no
It was sarcasm? I was making fun of:
<!--quoteo(post=1993762:date=Oct 19 2012, 12:04 PM:name=RisingSun)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RisingSun @ Oct 19 2012, 12:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993762"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->As i said before, i enjoy the bite as a marine, because it allow me to dodge skulks since it isnt a guaranteed hit and as an alien adds more skill to the class...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Anyone that actually wants a good game and not easy mode that marines are currently basking in would consider skulk bite to be complete balls. This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. World of Natural Selection Two. Onos will start dropping loot in 225. Lets get some critical hits up in here too!
Ignoring the dumb WoW comment, I truly don't understand why you have a problem with glancing blows. Aiming Skulk bite is inherently difficult for a number of reasons:
- Fast movement speed and low PoV of the skulk combined with an unpredictable moving target
- Bite cam obstructing the screen while you bite
- Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead
- Movement skills and good game sense required to close the distance first
Most of us have had a lot of practice, but NS2 needs to be accessible to new players or it will fail. A marine with mediocre aim will probably miss with half his bullets, but a skulk with mediocre aim can easily miss every bite and do no damage before getting killed. That's not fun. The shotgun can score glancing blows, how is this any different?
bravo. funny. (edit: well i thought it was funny) back-stab damage x4 mod forthcoming...
we'll see on the glancing blow deal. it is certainly a logical thing for casual, less accurate players - ie. player in FOV, in mouth, bite = hit to some degree. wonder if the range is uniform across the FOV or if it is less on the side. maybe it will be a decent compromise compared to going back to the previous bite cone entirely.
Anyone that actually wants a good game and not easy mode that marines are currently basking in would consider skulk bite to be complete balls. This glancing blows crap in 224 is just as hilariously bad. World of Natural Selection Two. Onos will start dropping loot in 225. Lets get some critical hits up in here too!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I see you point but i think i didnt explain mine well enough. I did not like the previous bite that allowed you to do damage what seemed like 5 feet in front of you and could bite people not even in your FoV. It made skulking more about holding down the fire button than actually aiming and timing your bites. Quantity over quality. This made dodging as a marine next to impossible since if you were even close to a skulk it was as good as auto aim for the skulk.
Now with the change of having to time and aim your bite joined with the marine's better mobility i am enjoying both classes. This is taking out the fact i loathe the problem Scardy mentioned
<!--quoteo(post=1993811:date=Oct 19 2012, 06:02 PM:name=ScardyBob)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ScardyBob @ Oct 19 2012, 06:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1993811"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->My biggest issue with the skulk bite is that its very unforgiving the more lag you have. At 60fps and 30tickrate, I do fine with it. At 30fps and 10tickrate, it becomes luck of the draw whether you get a hit. I've watched so many skulks going 10 bites or more without a hit in B223 that its clearly a problem.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
with poor performance and the issues is compounded by the unintended super knock back. There are other factors but in the best settings i am liking the new bite. Add the rest of the problems and it makes the situation 10 times worse for skulk and 10 times better for marines. I do not enjoy the advantage in this build, i enjoy the close quarter combat when i have 60fps, 30 tick, and i play either skulk or marine.
- Fast movement speed and low PoV of the skulk combined with an unpredictable moving target
- Bite cam obstructing the screen while you bite
- Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead
- Movement skills and good game sense required to close the distance first
Most of us have had a lot of practice, but NS2 needs to be accessible to new players or it will fail. A marine with mediocre aim will probably miss with half his bullets, but a skulk with mediocre aim can easily miss every bite and do no damage before getting killed. That's not fun. The shotgun can score glancing blows, how is this any different?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-Try playing another FPS that contains moderate/fast game play speed for a couple days, then come back to NS2. Skulks move like obese dogs. There is nothing fast about them. Shooting them becomes just as easy.
-Hardly an obstruction. Bite cam only becomes one when you hold down m1.
-A symptom of poor movement and speed making them easy to hit. 8 bullets, which is under a clip, to kill a skulk a non-carapace skulk if I'm not mistaken. Zero alien scaling that makes killing a marine take longer while dying to a marine becomes faster. Improved marine movements also hindering skulks.
-Movement skills, meaning leap, because hive 1 skulks movement is poor. And good game sense that requires marines who barely pay attention to their surroundings. Put a marine who knows the layout of the map and knows how to check corners before blindly moving from room to room and you'll have skulks dying left and right. Skulk models are large compared to the small NS1 models that made hiding much more easier.
You can only do so much to make a game accessible to new players before you completely butcher any sort of skill that the game might have had, lowering the skill ceiling so that there is no longer any room to grow which causes the gameplay to quickly become stale. The reason why "glancing bite" sucks complete balls is because it neither teaches the player to improve by actually (twitch) aiming, and also by not spamming it, it also doesn't even help in the slightest. You're doing less damage than a direct hit, and even going by what you said, "Very brief window of opportunity to score a kill before you're dead", how exactly does hitting for half going to help kill marines faster? I further dislike glancing bites, because its a bandage fix to cover the multiple symptoms that are in dire need of fixing (the list). Knowing how they've been running form these past 8 months, this bandage fix means they'll just slap their hands together and call it done.
Well I would disagree, the games about to be launched...the game should be as accessible to new players as experienced.
This is clearly not the case and the cause of the decline in numbers.
The patch nerfing aliens is the reason why players who 2 weeks ago would play are no longer playing in the same numbers.
I am sorry to say that a 25% reduction is a warning bell that the changes have stuffed the game...even for the beta players.
Not all of us have the time to spend 5 hours a day gaming..heck I am lucky to get that in a week.
I should not need to spend hours trying to learn how to play the base lifeform to be able to get some enjoyment.
This will solely lead to the marine stacking we see currently and the unfun experience for even semi vet players.
If you can cause this sort of shift in your "Core Fan Base" then something is not right.
I want to see UWE and NS2 succeed as much as the next person, this is why I am pointing out the issue which is clearly evident in the graphs shown.
Numbers dont lie...you can interpret them incorrectly sure, and the claim that this is natural but please show me historical examples where fewer people played a game before launch?
BF series the demo numbers dont drop...in lead up to full release, seeing such a drop would make even EA think twice.
Aliens are not fun and skulks dont even come close to offering the ease of play a marine does, new players who have not been exposed to melee based combat will try aliens once and simply stack marines.
The numbers show something that I hope UWE is taking seriously and fixing before launch, we need an alien side thats actually FUN to play as a base lifeform. Which from some early glimpses of 224 they may be...will wait and see.
Right now the game is horrible! BTW: Can I still get a refund?
- Early Marine rush of alien hive = egg lock. Spawn camping is not fun, should not be a 'valid strategy'
- Skulk bite sucks right now
- Power node bug where marines can re-build them in seconds
<b>Not Patch Related</b>
- Still no counter for jetpacks (webs please?)
- Need hive travel. Skulks don't travel much faster than a sprinting marine, and due to how maps evolve, vents don't always allow faster travel. The dice roll with which hive you spawn at is not enjoyable. And one hive is getting egg locked, very hard to defend. And as I said before egg locking = spawn camping. Getting spawn killed never makes you say "Well Played Marines".
The previous patch was more fun. Skulk needs to be a viable class for public play to be enjoyable. I can't hold a fade as long as a pro can in a tournament, so 90% of the time us pub people are skulks.
^ Any reason these stats aren't even close to what UWE is quoting? (UWE said 55%/45% marine/alien wins. This says 65%/35%. Massive difference)
Plus, just by looking at like the last 6 games played, you can see that marines win the majority of the time and most have a positive k/d while aliens usually have a negative k/d. Only alien victories I've seen on there in the last couple of days (with the exception of 1 or 2) were games where the game was less than 10 minutes which indicates a skulk rush or 7.5 min onos.
^ Any reason these stats aren't even close to what UWE is quoting? (UWE said 55%/45% marine/alien wins. This says 65%/35%. Massive difference)
Plus, just by looking at like the last 6 games played, you can see that marines win the majority of the time and most have a positive k/d while aliens usually have a negative k/d. Only alien victories I've seen on there in the last couple of days (with the exception of 1 or 2) were games where the game was less than 10 minutes which indicates a skulk rush or 7.5 min onos.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
because ns stats is only looking at 9 or 10 servers ? most of which are 20+ player servers ...and marines are much more effective at higher player counts.
I wouldnt place as much faith in stats, there are just too many variables that influence that 55/45 number, that UWE like to spew out to give us (and probably themselves) the illusion that this game is balanced.
agreed
The truth is that in real life Melee almost always beats ranged when melee closes into melee range, and range should always beat melee while the melee is at a ranged distance(assuming decent accuracy for both). beyond that what you have left is uwe trying to nerf skulks when they are finally in range to attack which is just silly, and nerfing marines by giving aliens ridiculous ways to close the range gap.
They are essentially ruining the very balance that already exists in the melee vs ranged by taking away the advantages of both sides of the coin. So of course it will end up being impossible to balance.
If you make it difficult to shoot skulks because they are traveling at mach 5 and jumping from wall to wall to ceiling of course marines are going to get dominated. The same goes for skulks who get there melee ability nerfed so that when they do get into range they can't land a reliable hit chain to kill one marine.
Mystery solved. ;)
Mystery solved. ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
easy off the coolaid there buddy
Mystery solved. ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not sure why a turn-based, tactical strategy game, with out-of-game base-building elements, with no FPS elements whatsoever, is being compared to NS2. If you mean the 'target audience' is for people who like a challenge, then let's throw Dark Souls into the argument as well. Saying a game requires someone to 'use your brain' is such a condescending remark, and adds no relevance to this discussion about NS2, on the NS2 forums.
Moving on, a static defense would help. I believe a Commander-controlled pool of 3-hydras/hive would deter spawn camping. OR give a cooldown ability to spawn eggs somewhere else CLOSE BY that has infestation on it. This would remove the need for going Shift Hive first to prevent spawn camping, and wouldn't replace the shift for offensive spawning.
Of course, this only solves the spawn-camping problem. I'm not touching skulk-bite or wall-jumping problems with a 10-foot pole :D