Self Sabotage

Bullet_ForceBullet_Force Join Date: 2012-11-02 Member: 165952Members
I played a game today where as Marine's we were pushed back to a single base. The Aliens however seemingly had a hard time getting in there to finish us off with our grenade launcher spam and multiple armouries. The stalemate continued for about 15-20 minutes before our commander "disappeared" our infantry portals but stayed in the chair. We then lost.

Although we lost I'm sort of glad he did that as the game wasn't going anywhere fast and we we couldn't move out of our base. What are your thoughts on this?

Comments

  • Firepower01Firepower01 Join Date: 2012-08-03 Member: 154658Members
    I wish more commanders would do this, actually.
  • Shrike3OShrike3O Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6678Members, Constellation
    "Recycling" the base is a classic (all the way back to NS1) way of admitting you're on the not-gonna-win end of a stalemate. Usually a commander will check with his team before doing it, but it's an accepted way of admitting defeat.
  • BlindgaBlindga Join Date: 2012-10-21 Member: 162931Members
    edited November 2012
    You can eject AFK or bad commanders.
  • rmbrown09rmbrown09 Join Date: 2012-10-17 Member: 162592Members
    NS2 is not your typical COD or Halo shooter. It demands a higher level of competency and maturity than a common casual game. This especially rings true for the commander. If you are in that seat, it is up to you to make the big moves to put your team ahead. It also means that you have a lot of power to destroy your own team. I think it's great most of the time.
  • MamonarMamonar Join Date: 2009-05-10 Member: 67381Members
    I too am guilty of this.

    I started playing on 24 people servers and have found that the larger the server capacity the longer the marine last stand takes.
    Like you said sometimes it can take 15+ minutes for the aliens to get the final blow to the marine team. Yet all this time, there is no hope for the marines. You could spend those 15 minutes playing a new game rather than wasting time on an already lost one.

    Your commander was acctualy quite patient that he held out for 15-20 minutes in a lost game. I would have sold it the second we lost all our expansions and onoses started to bang on the doors of the main base.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    I dunno Mamonar, it can be fun sometimes... That and you are deciding for the whole team that the round is over, whenever I do that I ask the marine team first before actually committing to it...
  • SpaceJewSpaceJew Join Date: 2012-09-03 Member: 157584Members
    edited November 2012
    To an experienced commander, it is blatantly obvious when a match is over. When that point is reached, I will recycle the Marines IP without mentioning it. I know it probably steps on toes, but ultimately everyone will have more fun with a new game and rebalanced teams. (Provided the loss isn't the direct result of preferred team stacking, which is often times the culprit in pub matches.) I usually only do this when it's really obvious that your whole team is green-listed but the aliens all have 40-3 K/D/R. Some will say 'trial by fire' teaches new Marines how to play, but I don't think being base-locked teaches anyone anything useful.

    It's even more painful when herds of Onos charge into the base and derp around while dying, only to come right back as an Onos after they finally get focus fired enough to die. Poor alien teamwork is the most obvious at the late turtle portion of the game it seems.

    To be fair, if my team has a few players that were actually using their microphone and trying their hardest I'll ask first as a courtesy. It's easier to apply human intelligence to people that have a voice, rather than a 'silent as the tomb' green name that doesn't even type.

    Honestly, I wish I could do this as Alien Commander too. It's frustrating to be locked into your hive when the Marines team is too timid to come into the hive without massive Exo support. It's five to ten minutes of agony followed by 30 seconds of faceroll. Not fun, I would much rather recycle and try again.
  • MamonarMamonar Join Date: 2009-05-10 Member: 67381Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2020058:date=Nov 11 2012, 09:36 PM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Nov 11 2012, 09:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2020058"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I dunno Mamonar, it can be fun sometimes... That and you are deciding for the whole team that the round is over, whenever I do that I ask the marine team first before actually committing to it...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I agree, the commander should definately consult this decision with the team. I just got too frustrated by losing a couple of times.
  • RuntehRunteh Join Date: 2010-06-26 Member: 72163Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    NS2 is really modabble, so I am just waiting on the mod for vote recycling, vote kick, and all the other stuff that helps with server based etiquette. Which really should go into the full game.
  • Katana314Katana314 Join Date: 2012-11-03 Member: 166379Members
    It's a pretty sad state of affairs when this has to be the solution thanks to poor balancing.

    I can't say I see an immediate solution to the final-base rush, as marines' weakness is lack of mobility. Once they don't have to move, there are no weaknesses to press, and the game just gets really dull...
  • frogfrog Join Date: 2012-10-17 Member: 162551Members
    edited November 2012
    Previously I had just tried telling my team to press F4 when the match was "done", but in pub servers I think too many people understand that as an "Alt+F4 to win" comment and disregard it. So I started recycling IPs too. I let my team know what I'm doing, but I don't feel a need to ask them. Nobody ever complained to me that I didn't let them get spawnkilled 10 more times before they could start a new round. Since a lot of new players don't understand recycling, they'd just assume the IPs were destroyed. More experienced players probably appreciate the gesture.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->NS2 is really modabble, so I am just waiting on the mod for vote recycling, vote kick, and all the other stuff that helps with server based etiquette. Which really should go into the full game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    100% in agreement, etiquette definitely should be a part of game functionality. The massive influx of new players will cause already-established etiquette to be drowned out, so getting some hard-coded vanilla functions like vote-recycling would be a boon to showing what is expected of NS players.
  • PHJFPHJF Join Date: 2005-07-13 Member: 55898Members
    Give it time, new players are too unpracticed to know how easily a two or three onos rush can destroy any marine turtle. If they'd had anyone decent on their team to coordinate you wouldn't have lasted five minutes at one RT/CC.
  • IeptBarakatIeptBarakat The most difficult name to speak ingame. Join Date: 2009-07-10 Member: 68107Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    At least it was resolved faster than my near 90-minute losing battle. Team morale seemed fine so I just let them duke it out until the entire alien side Onilated us.
  • hatehate Join Date: 2011-07-19 Member: 111206Members
    edited November 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2020080:date=Nov 11 2012, 01:55 PM:name=PHJF)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PHJF @ Nov 11 2012, 01:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2020080"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Give it time, new players are too unpracticed to know how easily a two or three onos rush can destroy any marine turtle. If they'd had anyone decent on their team to coordinate you wouldn't have lasted five minutes at one RT/CC.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    That's part of the problem though... late game aliens need teamwork and some decent Onii to crack a turtle. All marines need to turtle is some armories and grenade launchers. You can almost completely lock down sub access on Summit with like 5 dudes.

    Teamwork is a lot harder to come by than GL's are.
  • RMJRMJ Join Date: 2012-08-09 Member: 155190Members
    edited November 2012
    They really need to lock this down somehow.

    its really bad gamedesign. and there is nothing more frustrating than after a long match, having to waste 15-20 more min because the idiots dont realize they have already lost.

    Only thing this will do it cause the game to loose players or atleast make people not wanna play aliens. its not satifying having to leave the game because you actually win. But you dont wanna waste 20min because they can just turtle.

    and it could be solved quite easly. many people have posted some good ideas on how to fix it.

    As ive said before, you either give both teams the ability to waste 15-20min on one base, or you remove it from the OP turtle team, its really that simple. I know what solution i prefer.
  • MangoMango Join Date: 2012-10-11 Member: 162061Members
    The problem is the fact marines still have level 3 armor, level 3 weapons and a never ending of drop weapons when they die to come and re-pick up. Skulks/Fades/Lerks/Gorges get 1-2shotted from even entering in the last marines base. I say make it so if Marines loses everything but 1 base only they also lose lvl3 armor and lvl3 weapons until they build a 2nd base. It is simple solution to a problem that is pain to win. And, please don't come at me with gorges bile bomb.. that is not working when marines span GL plus Shotguns at lvl3 killing every gorge every time. The res is also a problem even when aliens own 90% of the map res is very slow after we die has onos we have to wait another 15+ minutes to get enough res for onos.

    Here are a few screenshots of games that should have been over in minutes and not 30minutes+.

    <img src="http://s10.postimage.org/wy37shmuh/stalemate2.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
    <img src="http://s13.postimage.org/cfnzxku07/stalemate.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
  • MamonarMamonar Join Date: 2009-05-10 Member: 67381Members
    Nonsense. There if no need for game changes.

    This is the thing that we came up with in today's game:
    1. We told the whole alien team to stop attacking the marine base and just defend the healstations on both sides.
    2. We waited a minute or two for people to evolve to onoses.
    3. We set the exact game time when we would all attack the power node. (for example 20:00 minute mark of game time)
    4. On 20:00 of game time the whole alien team (3+ onoses) rushed the power node and ended it all.

    All you need is to communicate with your team.
  • greenpeegreenpee Join Date: 2012-04-10 Member: 150218Members
    Right now most alien teams are not coordinated/skilled enough to break a turtle, but they are able to initiate the turtle. To break it takes a fair amount of coordination and listening. I know most alien teams won't be able to accomplish this so I say to my team "They're not good enough to end this, anyone mind if I do?" and wait about 30 seconds before recycling everything but the Armory and the Arms Lab. That's when my team gets the order to rush the Aliens. Tends to be more fun than slowly dying out waiting for them all to be Oni.
  • kk20kk20 Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164592Members
    I generally ask the team. On more than one occasion we have decided to stick it out as it has been fun. Having fun is more important.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    I've done that, especially marines can hold out very long with their 3/3 upgrades until you get your team to zerg rush the power node or arms lab.
    What about a fourth hive/CC ability that could break a one CC/Hive turtle?
  • SuperflySuperfly Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 3485Members, Constellation
    Xenocide is your friend. I have seen several Marine stalemates end with waves of Xenociding skulks followed by bile bomb and Onos.
  • White_HawkeWhite_Hawke Join Date: 2002-11-27 Member: 10095Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    It's easy to see when you're base locked as marine that you've almost (99%) certainly lost. I never give up in any game though. I find it extremely weak and I strongly dislike commanders that force-concede for the team.
  • NeoRussiaNeoRussia Join Date: 2012-08-04 Member: 154743Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2020842:date=Nov 12 2012, 11:09 AM:name=Zaggy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zaggy @ Nov 12 2012, 11:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2020842"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I've done that, especially marines can hold out very long with their 3/3 upgrades until you get your team to zerg rush the power node or arms lab.
    What about a fourth hive/CC ability that could break a one CC/Hive turtle?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    A onos egg would end a game faster than a fourth hive in the first place. All it takes is 2-3 oni bumrushing the power node to win in a 16 player server. On some maps, bile bomb and xenocide is enough to do the trick. Xenocide is undervalued in these situations, I can regularly get more than 3 marine kills with it and res loss when dead doesn't matter because you have all the res nodes.
  • Insurance SalesmanInsurance Salesman Join Date: 2012-05-26 Member: 152617Members
    Honestly, why don't they just add a surrender option? Let the team vote on whether they want to continue, or just end the game rather than having to rely on workarounds.
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    Recycling the IPs is perfectly valid but yes the comm should ask the team. Much preferable to F4ing in my opinion since it gives the aliens the satisfaction of moving in and killing you.

    That said, the "hurry up and finish us what are you doing" attitude is generally misguided, at least when it comes to marines turtling. Marines turtle because they want to shoot stuff and see how long they can hold out. It's the aliens who should complain if anything, they lack the tools to end the game effectively right now. Losing alien teams are guilty of the same thing, they get hopelessly pinned down to one hive skulks versus exos and they still fight like hell to see how many they can take out before they lose. Pub marines are not well coordinated so it's difficult for them to break a concentrated defense, if you don't like it then stop defending.
  • LayLowLayLow Join Date: 2012-02-24 Member: 147323Members
    I see a ton more people pressing f4 then recycling especially for aliens which is sad when people do it 5 min into the game.
  • KeldornKeldorn Join Date: 2012-05-05 Member: 151587Members
    A 4-hive artillery building would be nice.
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