This game needs Stats, Ranking and Unlocks!
StaticVoiD
Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164631Members
Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164631Members
Your news site proofs what I said before I bought the game:
This game needs a ranking-system, stats-tracking and (only visual!) unlocks.
7.135 players is a pathetic peak.
Don't get me wrong, i love this game, but the stuff mentioned above is nowadays mandatory.
Nearly every multiplayer game has it and the player expects to be motivated to play by the game's mechanics.
Today achievements, ranking and unlocks aren't just some sort of gimmik anymore.
It is what most people need to stick to a game; the next level drives them to join another round.
Sure, there are NS1 veterans or other guys who are absolutely not into this achievement stuff... But you can't just rely on one type of customer.
If you're not up to join a clan and "get really serious" with the game, some people just don't see why they should keep playin.
A friend of mine said today:
"Yeah the game is good, but i don't know... It just doesn't matter if I win or lose."
You could say that this point of view is questionable, because you should play a game just because of the gameplay itself, not for some sort of overriding leveling system...
BUT: The motivation WHY people are playin the game is irrelevant. There is no point in discussing the morality of people's gaming habits.
The only thing that matters if that they are playing it.
If the user demands it, implement it.
Another big positive sideeffect (besides growing player numbers) of a ranking and stats tracking system would be that most people would just try to play better.
If their W/L-Ratio is being tracked and they are being rewarded for achieving a high score, they would try harder to win and not go afk that much.
So the game experience for pub games (the majority of the games) would generally be better.
You could say now:
"But NS1 had no none of that either and many people played it!"
Yeah, but NS1 is like 10 years old, so players had lower expectations back then and it was FREE...
I mean as cars were invented people were just glad if they moved them from one point to another, nowadays there is much more stuff a customer expects from a car, like seat belts, airbags, power windows, etc... AT LEAST.
You see, you have to please the mob. If the mob is used to achievements and leveling, just give it to 'em.
I don't get why nobody in your dev team even came up with something like this.
It's not even complicated or expensive.
Make one of your modellers create some enhanced skins for the basic marine, skulk, etc. and add a plugin for all servers who track basic stats like W/L, K/D and score and let them sent the crap to one of your servers at the end of the match.
You don't need a highend serverpark for this tiny datastream. 75.000 games a day with just some stats being transmitted... my home pc could handle this. And with 7.135 users at peak the client requests can't be a big deal either.
Pls save your casual community and make some money guys...
Sincerely,
Me
This game needs a ranking-system, stats-tracking and (only visual!) unlocks.
7.135 players is a pathetic peak.
Don't get me wrong, i love this game, but the stuff mentioned above is nowadays mandatory.
Nearly every multiplayer game has it and the player expects to be motivated to play by the game's mechanics.
Today achievements, ranking and unlocks aren't just some sort of gimmik anymore.
It is what most people need to stick to a game; the next level drives them to join another round.
Sure, there are NS1 veterans or other guys who are absolutely not into this achievement stuff... But you can't just rely on one type of customer.
If you're not up to join a clan and "get really serious" with the game, some people just don't see why they should keep playin.
A friend of mine said today:
"Yeah the game is good, but i don't know... It just doesn't matter if I win or lose."
You could say that this point of view is questionable, because you should play a game just because of the gameplay itself, not for some sort of overriding leveling system...
BUT: The motivation WHY people are playin the game is irrelevant. There is no point in discussing the morality of people's gaming habits.
The only thing that matters if that they are playing it.
If the user demands it, implement it.
Another big positive sideeffect (besides growing player numbers) of a ranking and stats tracking system would be that most people would just try to play better.
If their W/L-Ratio is being tracked and they are being rewarded for achieving a high score, they would try harder to win and not go afk that much.
So the game experience for pub games (the majority of the games) would generally be better.
You could say now:
"But NS1 had no none of that either and many people played it!"
Yeah, but NS1 is like 10 years old, so players had lower expectations back then and it was FREE...
I mean as cars were invented people were just glad if they moved them from one point to another, nowadays there is much more stuff a customer expects from a car, like seat belts, airbags, power windows, etc... AT LEAST.
You see, you have to please the mob. If the mob is used to achievements and leveling, just give it to 'em.
I don't get why nobody in your dev team even came up with something like this.
It's not even complicated or expensive.
Make one of your modellers create some enhanced skins for the basic marine, skulk, etc. and add a plugin for all servers who track basic stats like W/L, K/D and score and let them sent the crap to one of your servers at the end of the match.
You don't need a highend serverpark for this tiny datastream. 75.000 games a day with just some stats being transmitted... my home pc could handle this. And with 7.135 users at peak the client requests can't be a big deal either.
Pls save your casual community and make some money guys...
Sincerely,
Me
Comments
Visual unlocks might be cool, but I'd much rather the developer fine tune their current performance issues and iron out the bugs before they work on anything else.
ns2stats.org exists and it was a previously white listed mod before 1.0 was released. I imagine this will make a come back in 229 (released today / tomo)
Unlocks.. no. I won't even bother giving reasons as I"m sure a million angry forum people will jump on you for this one.
ensl.org for the ranking.
Just make a mod for the leveling and achievements; no need to implement them into the core game.
The developers created this game because they wanted it to eventually be like a COD AAAAA+++++++++++ title that Gamespot will dribble over. They didnt create this game because of a vision or a passion or anything, they want to eventually have EA (the bestest best of them all) as their sponsor for future titles.
We need kill streaks so that people that rack up the kills and pwn people can have perks which increase their score more and make them feel like they are the best in the server.
Unlocks will be teh best cause I want to eventually unlock a HMG with hollow-point ammunition as another unlock so that I can destroy an onos even faster. To counter it lets have the onos unlock super duper carapace upgrade which gives it titanium-platinum alloy armour on its front and side, but not its rear so that it is still balanced at least.
And yes lets also give away ribbons like they do in BF3, cause you know when the round ends I feel like I have really achieved a lot with my 50+ ribbons saying that I gave ammo and meds to my teammates, they appreciate me cause I have the ribbons to prove it.
We already have (kinda) unlocks via DLC depending on your version, so there's your need for status. We have stat tracking. We have competitive play, so who needs pub rankings?
as long as it doesnt scrog up the look or gameplay, i'm cool.
<b>Long before</b> UWE does that though, the game needs core tweaks to flesh it out - lots of potential on the gameplay side of development here.
<img src="http://smilepanic.com/wp-content/uploads/do_not_want8.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
What next? Iron sights? Perks? Kill streaks? 15 dollar dlc that contains 2 new maps?
Jesus, I'm sorry but... I don't even know what's wrong with gamers these days.
This game is fantastic.
The joy is in the team work not in the personal performance.
I could understand complete stats, but nothing else.
If you're bored or unmotivated a week after release then this game clearly isn't for you.
Just cause CoD does it doesn't mean it's bad. The OP is right, it's psychological reinforcement that makes the player feel like they're accomplishing something. It works scarily well for most people. It's smart business to include one.
Or at least steam achievements... I mean really how hard would it be to make a little box pop up for 10, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 skulk kills? It doesn't change game play AT ALL. But it's a cool little feature that lots of people like.
You can include this feature and have it not impact gameplay in the slightest, and doing so would without a doubt be beneficial to the pocketbooks of those running UWE.
That doesn't mean the game NEEDS it... I'm gonna be playing it either way. It's a good game. But this is the kind of thing that could knock you down a notch on a review website, and judging by the dev's response to the gamespot review, that's something they care about A LOT.
This.
Just today I thought "wow, finally a game again that decided to motivate all by itself, so I can play the way I want to play and not how some stupid achievements or unlocks expect me to do".
I enjoy this freedom. The last time I really had it was back in UT2k4, which I still play and mod till the present day.
Games with unlocks always had the problem that I was actually no longer motivated at all after everything was unlocked. If a game needs an artificial progression mechanic to motivate players, it's not a good game in the first place.
Modern Warfare, Tribes Ascend, Killing Floor, Magic the Gathering… as soon as I get all unlocks or reach the highest level in those games, I don't really have the motivation to play them anymore. That wouldn't be a problem if the games didn't have those things in the first place.
There aren't that many games that limit how you play with unlocks.. most just give you tools that will do certain jobs better than the default ones. Your post kind of sounds like the kneejerk reaction we all get when someone brings up a CoD related mechanic.. we all know CoD is bad. But that doesn't mean every aspect of it is bad.
I wouldn't be for CoD-style weapon/perk unlocks, but doing something similar while only changing the aesthetics could be cool. All the little achievements they have are kind of cool too.. What's wrong with keeping track of knife kills then rewarding the player with an achievement when they get X number of them?
Statistics can be done third party, there is no need to muddy the water adding it to the game.
This, seriously what is wrong...
Game already has stat tracking via mods. Oddly enough its <strike>not</strike> more (edit: type) stable to have stats maintained by a community than a developer. All that said, kill-death ratios are not a good way of tracking stats in this game and good players can easily lose matches.
Unlocks are terrible. Would upset the RTS elements of the game, disrupt balance (which is already precarious) and generally is a terrible way to create an artificial grind so players stick around until your sequel arrives - then they can do it again! No its better to actually have a game people enjoy to play without the desire for unlocks.
Guys, if you want to flame my post, pls read it carefully first:
1. I should have underlined <!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->[<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->u]<b>VISUAL</b>[/u]<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> at unlocks. Visual unlocks do not touch the gameplay by any means. Its not like having better sights, weapons, etc. as stupidly mentioned above multiple times.
2. I already wrote that discussing the point if you are a morally better gamer, if you play a game without achievemts and ranking, is just plain useless. There are many people out there who are used to such a system now. If you feel better while playing without,... good for you. But many other dudes want it and need it for their motivation. And if you are just up for the gameplay, you would play with leveling or without anyway.
3. The devs are not some sort of charity organisation. They need to earn money with this game. They feed their cats by selling this stuff. So their primary objective is to make as many guys want to buy it. It doesn't matter if you prefer a small close community... They most certainly don't.
Furthermore:
7k people at peaktime IS pathetic. There is very few room for discussion. Right now there are 3,193,252 Players Online on Steam. It doesn't matter if other good games are released, because this game has atm no real competition: There is no other shooter-RTS-mix bein released. And there will always be other new games.
And don't forget that you guys, are the active part of the community, since you are posting in here, defending your precious game. The people I talk about aren't writing at the forums, because they do not care that much. They just want to play.
I like the game too, but I don't see it surviving very long without more users.
This! I recommend the OP gets a pencil and a piece of paper and writes down his number of wins.
Is it ethical to use psychological tricks to hook gamers? Maybe, maybe not. That's where there's room for discussion. But I have yet to hear an argument against unlocks that didn't essentially break down to "CoD sucks, your idea is bad and you should feel bad"
<!--coloro:#708090--><span style="color:#708090"><!--/coloro--><i>Short answer - No. Feel free to use grammar and/or English on the forums, though. - Shockwave</i><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
Statistics systems, in nearly every game they've been implemented, have reinforced some pretty horrible player behaviour, because they encourage the comparison of players. If players can see NSPlayer has a 20% Comm Win rate after 300 games, or, God forbid, it's his first time in the chair with other players, the cry for 'Eject!' goes out disproportionately to how well the player might actually do. There's nothing <i>inherently</i> wrong with tracking player stats and providing purely visual upgrades (The Call of Duty dogtags, etc.), but it's an incredibly fine line to walk to ensure it doesn't become game affecting, intentionally or not.
Please don't ruin this game like TF2 ruined itself with unlocks. Well, let me rephrase that. I <i>know</i> the developers are too awesome to ever do something like that. So, to everyone else, please don't beg for them to ruin the game. They're not going to take the bait. MAYBE visual items are OK, but even then I dislike the idea of people grinding XP. I don't want anyone AFKing in a server for a hat!
I don't care how many hours I've played, how many games I've won, how many kills I've gotten, I just want to play the damn game. All they've ever done for me is make me realize how tired I am of playing the game.
Visual customization for your marine/alien would be great, but don't make me kill 40 skulks in a row to get some stupid helmet or shoulder pad I can never actually see anywhere but in a menu.
The developers created this game because they wanted it to eventually be like a COD AAAAA+++++++++++ title that Gamespot will dribble over. They didnt create this game because of a vision or a passion or anything, they want to eventually have EA (the bestest best of them all) as their sponsor for future titles.
We need kill streaks so that people that rack up the kills and pwn people can have perks which increase their score more and make them feel like they are the best in the server.
Unlocks will be teh best cause I want to eventually unlock a HMG with hollow-point ammunition as another unlock so that I can destroy an onos even faster. To counter it lets have the onos unlock super duper carapace upgrade which gives it titanium-platinum alloy armour on its front and side, but not its rear so that it is still balanced at least.
And yes lets also give away ribbons like they do in BF3, cause you know when the round ends I feel like I have really achieved a lot with my 50+ ribbons saying that I gave ammo and meds to my teammates, they appreciate me cause I have the ribbons to prove it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Don't forget when we unlock everything we can prestige and do it all over again for even more prestige! IT'LL BE AWESOME.
Just cause CoD does it doesn't mean it's bad. The OP is right, it's psychological reinforcement that makes the player feel like they're accomplishing something. It works scarily well for most people. It's smart business to include one.
Or at least steam achievements... I mean really how hard would it be to make a little box pop up for 10, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 skulk kills? It doesn't change game play AT ALL. But it's a cool little feature that lots of people like.
You can include this feature and have it not impact gameplay in the slightest, and doing so would without a doubt be beneficial to the pocketbooks of those running UWE.
That doesn't mean the game NEEDS it... I'm gonna be playing it either way. It's a good game. But this is the kind of thing that could knock you down a notch on a review website, and judging by the dev's response to the gamespot review, that's something they care about A LOT.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
the only post that makes sense in this thread :P
If you want that sort of cr@p, go play another type of game like Battlefield 3, or Modern Warfare....