I agree that skullks are annoying to play as now. Sneaking up to someone only grants 1 -2 bites on them and then the marine hops away or does a 180 spin in the air and shotguns you once and you die. It is frustrating indeed. I too have stopped playing as the game is more frustrating than fun. The game gets even more frustrating in the late phase when the humans are flying around with flame throwers or grenade launchers. Skulks dont even camouflage well in the creep in fact they standout.
I wish someone would make a less "arcade-y" game of this theme. this game reminds me too much of Quake where everyone flies around with rocket launchers, meanwhile the skulks cant even shoot anything and their melee weapons are TOO WEAK!
Thanks for the welcome They may have been calling for playtesters, but with what medium? Maybe on the forums, but not everyone checks the forums, I didn't until my rant post. It would have been better to post it in the steam news section, that way everyone would have known about it.
Front page of NS2 website and on the main menu of the game, for a few weeks. *Shrug*
It's good that these updates are free. It is not a bold move though; had they been released as DLC, this would have split the small playerbase, resulting in a dead game. So this move was more inevitable than bold. It was a good one, surely, and combined with the reinforcement program can help keep NS2 on track.
Eh?.. they have publicly (on camera too) said for years now, even before the game released, that they believe in and wanted to provide free content. This means it was a principle they had in how they operated as a company - not based on current player counts whatsoever?
If most companies do it wrong (charging for minor DLC like maps and skins) and you do it right, then it's just that - doing the right thing. Not bold in any way.
So when it becomes culturally acceptable for a huge part of a game developer's financial model and business practice to utilize said nickle and diming DLCs/methods to be competitive in sales... you don't commend others for doing otherwise?
I honestly don't get how anyone can advocate giving criticism (constructive or otherwise) when something is done incorrectly or when they as a customer are mistreated or misrepresented... if they don't also commend or show appreciation for not doing this in a time when its rare? Instead we see people scoff and say "That's right... that's what i expect."
I just.. yeah.. don't get that viewpoint, sorry. Makes me think those that feel that way either don't play enough modern day PC games to actually understand where the industry is currently, or .. this is going to sound so inflaming that i don't want to say it.. but.. entitled?
@amoral good point, though I'm not entirely convinced we would still have players at all, if they hadn't been constantly updating the game since launch though. I personally wouldn't want to be dealing with that build, still.
@ironhorse I don't think their release strategy is the best. I don't have the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if their reinforced sales numbers were similar to previous sales and free weekends. I'd suggest, if that were the case, that they stagger their content and sales, so that they release a patch, then a month later, after the kinks are worked out, throw up a sale. they'd still be able to hype it as new and improved, but they wouldn't have issues with people bitching about performance in the midst of a rollout. lessons learned and all that.
the timing for this.rollout might have been necessary, and they might have been hard constraints, but they upset a lot of their most dedicated playerbase. we can't be as tolerant and excepting of new players if we are trying to also figure out the game at the same time. at least that is my experience. in the past, I've tried to comm during free weekends, but this time I didn't even want to play, and when I did play, I wanted to.see what the changes would mean for my own gaming.
so, next time, I'd hope to see uwe roll out content when it's ready, after rigorous testing, then announce a free weekend after it had gone live for a couple of weeks at least.
Uhm... Maybe its just me but i stopped playing a few months ago, im back since reinforced, i love all the changes. (current rubberbanding issue is annoying but itll probably get fixed soon)
I was doing great before i stopped playing and my score is still the same (i would actually say its better) so saying the game is responsible for putting you on the last place sounds a bit weird, dont you think ?
The only thing i really miss is the ability to make a huge drifter swarm and use them to kill single marines which went for my RTs. Good god i laughed so hard everytime i did that, imagine a swarm of 15 drifters hunting a marine who is panically firing is rifle into the swarm but dies in seconds. Sadly drifters cant attack anymore :-/
Everyone affiliated with these forums lie and deceive members to maintain the status quo. I've been jailed, warned, and am going to be banned for providing my simple (dissenting) opinion, and for mentioning their private bullying to the rest of the users.
I will not spend one more dime on this game, or any other UWE product. I will steer everyone I know away from any UWE title because they clearly will not be appreciated.
If this is how you treat your paying customers, then I hope your company goes under.
Everyone affiliated with these forums lie and deceive members to maintain the status quo. I've been jailed, warned, and am going to be banned for providing my simple (dissenting) opinion, and for mentioning their private bullying to the rest of the users.
I will not spend one more dime on this game, or any other UWE product. I will steer everyone I know away from any UWE title because they clearly will not be appreciated.
If this is how you treat your paying customers, then I hope your company goes under.
Your arguments are all valid, The new alien vision sucks, I don't use it anymore. It was one of the most important things for tracking marines in battle. I am not able to track marines anymore, the skulk movements felt very weird after first patch for reinforced. I think they're just making sure pro aliens aren't as effective alone anymore. As a skulk I can easily take out 3 4 noob marines that don't jump and just try to stand and shoot you, they cant hit me, no way. 1 pro marine will probably kill me before i get to him, but even if i get next to him i have to get lucky with the direction he is going to jump to kill him fast or I'll need to dodge, but most of the time good marines will kill you within your first or second bite, they will jump away and empty the clip on you by the time you get back to them. they're making it so both teams require the same level of team play. aliens are more like marines and marines are more like aliens in agility? hows that even possible? any of the developers try to fight a wolf recently? skulks can't run! skulks are suppose to be 10 faster then a marine, they out run me! I swear marines out run skulks! you need to wall jump to catch up. They've been nerfing aliens to get the game where they want it. If we look at patch notes for last 2 years, I'm sure we can see aliens run slower jump less bite slower, less movement, less speed, less damage.
they are changing the game with every patch, they've been doing this since the start. the game still has enough of its core to be good.
@A_Gay_Possum do you use only one sensitivity setting for both marines and aliens or do you use different ones?
I haven't noticed any mouse issues on my end *shrugs* also I've had little to no trouble killing lots of marines and lots of aliens. Not saying anything by it, just saying that on my end, Its not so hard. Considering your having mouse issues though, its understandable.
So when it becomes culturally acceptable for a huge part of a game developer's financial model and business practice to utilize said nickle and diming DLCs/methods to be competitive in sales... you don't commend others for doing otherwise?
Here's the problem; I don't think the nickle and diming is culturally acceptable.
I honestly don't get how anyone can advocate giving criticism (constructive or otherwise) when something is done incorrectly or when they as a customer are mistreated or misrepresented... if they don't also commend or show appreciation for not doing this in a time when its rare? Instead we see people scoff and say "That's right... that's what i expect."
You misunderstood me, or maybe I was not clear enough; they are to be applauded for doing the free DLC. The thing is, they should not have to be applauded, this should be the norm. And regardless of their philosophy behind it (which I believe them), without the free updates NS2 would have been long dead - so it's not bold, it's necessary. That is not to say that NS2 could not be more grand than it is today, which I believe would have happened with more careful and slower progression (I know, moot point).
I just.. yeah.. don't get that viewpoint, sorry. Makes me think those that feel that way either don't play enough modern day PC games to actually understand where the industry is currently, or .. this is going to sound so inflaming that i don't want to say it.. but.. entitled?
As most software is never "finished" nor can be without bugs, and with the history games had, I believe we really are that - entitled. But maybe you are right, and despite being not that old I cling to times long past. I also really may haven't played enough "modern day PC games" - the only CoD I played is the one without numbers or subtitles, and I find the DLC and F2P strategies of EA, Activision and consorts to be atrocious.
Everyone affiliated with these forums lie and deceive members to maintain the status quo. I've been jailed, warned, and am going to be banned for providing my simple (dissenting) opinion, and for mentioning their private bullying to the rest of the users.
I will not spend one more dime on this game, or any other UWE product. I will steer everyone I know away from any UWE title because they clearly will not be appreciated.
If this is how you treat your paying customers, then I hope your company goes under.
There are many way to express an opinion. Proper manner is far better. You should know that. If you look at my comments (or many others) you'll see that i'm far less gentle than it looks.
White knights ? When you have the proper use of speech (writings) you can't take 'em whenever you want. It's like a "calligraphic baseball bat". Improve on that and you'll see that you can have any intentions behind a big smile.
Everyone affiliated with these forums lie and deceive members to maintain the status quo. I've been jailed, warned, and am going to be banned for providing my simple (dissenting) opinion, and for mentioning their private bullying to the rest of the users.
I will not spend one more dime on this game, or any other UWE product. I will steer everyone I know away from any UWE title because they clearly will not be appreciated.
If this is how you treat your paying customers, then I hope your company goes under.
There are many way to express an opinion. Proper manner is far better. You should know that. If you look at my comments (or many others) you'll see that i'm far less gentle than it looks.
White knights ? When you have the proper use of speech (writings) you can't take 'em whenever you want. It's like a "calligraphic baseball bat". Improve on that and you'll see that you can have any intentions behind a big smile.
your criticism would have far more weight if it were coherent. I find myself lost in your post.
Your arguments are all valid, The new alien vision sucks, I don't use it anymore. It was one of the most important things for tracking marines in battle. I am not able to track marines anymore, the skulk movements felt very weird after first patch for reinforced. I think they're just making sure pro aliens aren't as effective alone anymore. As a skulk I can easily take out 3 4 noob marines that don't jump and just try to stand and shoot you, they cant hit me, no way. 1 pro marine will probably kill me before i get to him, but even if i get next to him i have to get lucky with the direction he is going to jump to kill him fast or I'll need to dodge, but most of the time good marines will kill you within your first or second bite, they will jump away and empty the clip on you by the time you get back to them. they're making it so both teams require the same level of team play. aliens are more like marines and marines are more like aliens in agility? hows that even possible? any of the developers try to fight a wolf recently? skulks can't run! skulks are suppose to be 10 faster then a marine, they out run me! I swear marines out run skulks! you need to wall jump to catch up. They've been nerfing aliens to get the game where they want it. If we look at patch notes for last 2 years, I'm sure we can see aliens run slower jump less bite slower, less movement, less speed, less damage.
they are changing the game with every patch, they've been doing this since the start. the game still has enough of its core to be good.
Could not have said it better, i know they are trying to buff the marines to balance the game but the Sculk in 255 is too nerfed and is more frustrating than fun to play now, i used to enjoy playing sculk all game, letting my res build up to 100 to give the team res income a boost, but now i evolve as soon as.
So when it becomes culturally acceptable for a huge part of a game developer's financial model and business practice to utilize said nickle and diming DLCs/methods to be competitive in sales... you don't commend others for doing otherwise?
Here's the problem; I don't think the nickle and diming is culturally acceptable.
If it wasn't, then Activision wouldn't be making a shit ton of cash from all the people who pay 15 bucks for a mappack with 3 new, partly bad maps and 2 recycled maps from previous games.
People always have the power to accept the stuff with their wallet. The fact that publishers and developers keep following that DLC model means that it's profitable enough, which means that enough people still pay for it despite the ranting, which would be the very definition of it being accepted by the culture.
grammar aside, i'm objecting in particular to your singling out of "white knighting" and the sentiment immediately following which, while parochial, is an understood internet and forum expression.
I've only started looking into these forums again for the last few days and I gotta say its become a really unpleasant place since the last time I was here. Guess the next generation of gamers is taking over...
IronHorseDeveloper, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributorJoin Date: 2010-05-08Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
edited September 2013
@wangtang
Great response!
I agree with everything you said except that it isn't the cultural norm. You should walk through a games convention lately if you haven't, hehe
I would also recommend playing more PC ports these days if only to get a better feel of how things unfortunately have gone .. but.. that would be cruel of me to suggest such deflating experiences :-S
Also, what @crushak said. (Stop saying things i agree with dammit!)
I've been jailed, warned, and am going to be banned for providing my simple (dissenting) opinion, and for mentioning their private bullying to the rest of the users.
Anyone can click your name and see what reasons you were warned for.
If anyone has any problems with moderation that has occurred, feel free to message myself or comprox.
And if anyone wants to be shared the message between @sycho and me, so that you can see how "bullying" it is for yourself, you need only ask in a PM.
This game needs more giant changes that don't fix problems that have existed since day 1 but instead add new complications.
Bug fixes need big budget teams, adding all of this unnecessary content doesn't cost nearly as much.
This game's mechanics change very frequently so that people can have time to learn them and succeed in the pro-league.
If you agreed to any of those then you are most definitely as confused as UWE about what they should be doing with their time.
I like the new alien vision, and as others have said it is only for rooms where the power is off. As to what kind of new ability to give aliens so that they can track marines, well its only fair that Marines get thermal imaging as well.
The way I understand this is, may players get their "fix" by developing and maintaining a strategy-set and outright dominating less experienced players and are now upset because, as akin to a drug addict, they can no longer get their fix with all of the changes. I really despise players who, as you describe, typically using a Fade, roam around and kill entire squads of Marines, many even with experience (350 hours here). I am glad that players who used to do this may decide to leave NS2 and get their "fix" elsewhere, the community will likely see much more balanced, longer and funner matches in return (just one or two skilled Fade players WILL determine the outcome of the match doing the above).
TLDR; Excellent thread, excellent arguments (whatever they may be), and a few trolls. Overall, I really enjoy the new additions. However, I feel that balance and performance should be prioritized over any (insert new thing here).
I really have nothing to add, but this thread has generated a lot of good debate related to the State of the Game. I haven't played since B241 or w/e the few patches Post-Gorgeous were. I am really enjoying the fact that Sewlek (a proper game balancer/min-maxer, like myself) was brought on to make the game more engaging and team-oriented.
Reinforced on the whole for me (as of 255) has been a great experience. As mentioned above, I was losing interest in the game and I feel Reinforced added enough changes (along with Sewlek's additions which I had yet to play) to be a "new" enough game for me to enjoy. It was a lot like riding a bicycle, as I quickly started performing well not long after learning about the changes.
One point I thoroughly agree with is the game changes TOO rapidly (and have been saying all along). I agree with gradual additions, but balance and performance should always be the #1 priority, female marines and webs should be an afterthought by comparison. It was my biggest problem with Riot and their treatment of League of Legends (and I now play DOTA2). Their approach to balance was: Release new champion at extremely overpowered potential, abruptly nerf the new champion to oblivion, players no longer use new champion, so nerf every other champion by comparison. Not only was this done every time, but it was always accompanied by a massive patch with sweeping changes that tended to break existing working mechanics. I call it the "sledgehammer" approach to balancing gameplay. I notice it happens a lot with UWE's patches to NS2.
I feel asymmetric games should broach balancing and performance issues with a fine toothed comb rather than a sledgehammer or shotgun. It should also be the top priority before adding more shiny things to further (potentially) break and unbalance your game.
Uhm... Maybe its just me but i stopped playing a few months ago, im back since reinforced, i love all the changes. (current rubberbanding issue is annoying but itll probably get fixed soon)
I was doing great before i stopped playing and my score is still the same (i would actually say its better) so saying the game is responsible for putting you on the last place sounds a bit weird, dont you think ?
So I just became the worst player ever, overnight, on a game I've been playing for 10 years (NS1 and NS2)? Yes, that makes total sense and it must be my fault for sucking so bad. I'm happy that your ability to aim was not affected after the patch, but mine was and somehow this is my fault?
Cannon_FodderAUSBrisbane, AUJoin Date: 2013-06-23Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
edited September 2013
I agree with some of what OP said, but may be not in such harsh tones. I love NS (been playing since NS1) - then stopped after a bit, and picked NS2 up as soon as it came out. What I like about what the devs are doing:
1. Updating the developing the game actively - asking community's opinion (and actually respond back)
2. new content that are free for everyone
3. re-balancing the game as new elements are brought in
What I didn't like
1. updates and changes are too abrupt in some instances (I know there is the BT mod to test things out), but my assumption is, many players (particularly new ones) don't know about BT, so some times big changes just seem to happen. eg. Biomass upgrade, life form upgrades pushed on structures.
2. Changes are not communicated well - In the BT thread, Sewlek is very good at giving a reason for changes (he would state the change and why), but for live version we aren't told this (the changelog isn't out a day after a patch). I would like something on the news feed about an up coming patch with changes and reasons (for balancing obviously). SDK and performance boosts are self explanatory. Game breaking hot fixes can be just a note, but balancing, particularly major balance changes should be communicated and reason given for the changes.
What I would like:
1. Balance changes to be tweaked before abandoned. A patch would introduce a mechanic, then it is abandoned next patch. If it was a bad idea, then it shouldn't have been in there in the first place. If the mechanic could be tweaked (damage, armor, health biomass HP scaling), the numbers could be tweaked rather than straight up nerfed or buffed massively. Incremental changes are easy to understand, but the on/off manner of balancing isn't really going to win friends.
Overall I am very happy with the devs, and the state of the game (minus the teleporting epic strafe jump of marines).
Side rant: Aliens seem to take forever to tech due to biomass and lifeform upgrades.
It’s hard for me to find a good reason to play this game. The reason why reinforced is happening is because UWE wasted too much time and money in alpha and beta, and that’s money they will never get back.
In beta aliens and marines tech tree basically stayed the same or stayed the same idea with tweaks here and there. Since release UWE has completely changed the alien tech tree throwing all the time and money they spent during testing in beta, hence they are asking for more money.
IMO if someone had played NS2 when it first came out for a week or so then stopped and began playing again they might ask “when did NS3 come out.”
Now I know the devs are working their ass’s off but are they really making this game better? This is one of the reasons why I think BioDome sucks, I want to play the game not stare out the window for 20 mins going “oooooooohhhhhhhhhh aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.”
So I just became the worst player ever, overnight, on a game I've been playing for 10 years (NS1 and NS2)? Yes, that makes total sense and it must be my fault for sucking so bad. I'm happy that your ability to aim was not affected after the patch, but mine was and somehow this is my fault?
If you have technical issues with your mouse tracking, that's one thing, but there were fixes and solutions to that out within 24 hours of reinforced, and most people had worked it out before the hotfix even came out. Barring those issues, yes, you just failed to adapt to movement/stat changes. Bummer. Why don't you try harder? If you were so good before, nothing in the patch is going to do much that you can't adapt to within an hour or so.
It just doesn't ring true with actual skill and time invested becoming better at the game, and sounds suspiciously like you're just using it to further your whining whether it's tech-related or not. Not trying to sound harsh, but please be specific about this mouse issue as literally every other marine player suddenly found it way easier to kill skulks. This is obvious across the board.
@A_Gay_Possum do you use only one sensitivity setting for both marines and aliens or do you use different ones?
I haven't noticed any mouse issues on my end *shrugs* also I've had little to no trouble killing lots of marines and lots of aliens. Not saying anything by it, just saying that on my end, Its not so hard. Considering your having mouse issues though, its understandable.
I use the same for both. I find when I play aliens, the sensitivity is a bit low, but I have a harder time adjusting to changing the mouse sensitivity than I do just working with the same one.
I don't want it to seem like the broken mouse is the main point of my post. The broken mouse is a technical issue and it can be fixed. I mainly wanted to call attention to where the game seems to be going lately and I know I'm not alone on that. Me and a good friend of mine have been playing NS solely since release, and we've never felt the need to look at other games because we've been having so much fun with NS. He doesn't have the same mouse issues as I do, but he's totally lost interest in NS, as have I. So much so that we both went out and bought copies of Final Fantasy just so we had something to do.
Thanks for the clarification. Maybe if you had said 'gave NS2 up for awhile to go play Starcraft 2' or something like that, but Final Fantasy? -_- Yeah there's a comparison ... Lol just trollin.
I like the new alien vision, and as others have said it is only for rooms where the power is off. As to what kind of new ability to give aliens so that they can track marines, well its only fair that Marines get thermal imaging as well.
The way I understand this is, may players get their "fix" by developing and maintaining a strategy-set and outright dominating less experienced players and are now upset because, as akin to a drug addict, they can no longer get their fix with all of the changes. I really despise players who, as you describe, typically using a Fade, roam around and kill entire squads of Marines, many even with experience (350 hours here). I am glad that players who used to do this may decide to leave NS2 and get their "fix" elsewhere, the community will likely see much more balanced, longer and funner matches in return (just one or two skilled Fade players WILL determine the outcome of the match doing the above).
Never have I been on marines and said to myself that it's unfair that I don't have something like alien vision. I do just fine without and it's not something they need because they don't have the enemy 2 inches from their screen, and they don't loose half their sight every time they fire a bullet. I find it very easy to track aliens when you don't have the obstructions on your screen as aliens do.
You're missing the point. I don't care about "dominating" everyone, I care about having fun. Before, even when whatever team I was getting totally stomped, I could still have fun with the game. Now, even when I am on the winning team, I don't find myself enjoying the game.
I'm all for balancing the game. No one like to get stomped because there's something that's just too overpowered, but when you kill the fun of the game to achieve that balance, then it's time to re-think the way you're doing things.
So I just became the worst player ever, overnight, on a game I've been playing for 10 years (NS1 and NS2)? Yes, that makes total sense and it must be my fault for sucking so bad. I'm happy that your ability to aim was not affected after the patch, but mine was and somehow this is my fault?
If you have technical issues with your mouse tracking, that's one thing, but there were fixes and solutions to that out within 24 hours of reinforced, and most people had worked it out before the hotfix even came out. Barring those issues, yes, you just failed to adapt to movement/stat changes. Bummer. Why don't you try harder? If you were so good before, nothing in the patch is going to do much that you can't adapt to within an hour or so.
It just doesn't ring true with actual skill and time invested becoming better at the game, and sounds suspiciously like you're just using it to further your whining whether it's tech-related or not. Not trying to sound harsh, but please be specific about this mouse issue as literally every other marine player suddenly found it way easier to kill skulks. This is obvious across the board.
I've tried said fixes to no avail. The easiest way I can describe my mouse problem is that it feels like mouse accel is on, but not quite. When move around the map it seems fine, but if I get into a battle I will move my mouse from X to Y and I will overshoot the target, then another time the same movement in another battle will cause me undershoot. Extremely frustrating.
Since my original post, I have played a few more times and I've adjusted as best I can, as has everyone else. I've even been to the top of the score board a few times (not to say that's what I care about, just using it to say I was doing well), but the fact still remains that the game is no longer enjoyable for me, and I know I'm not alone in this. I'm also not saying that this lack of fun is solely due to my technical issues. I have a friend who has no technical issues with the game and has completely stopped playing (as mentioned in a previous post).
Comments
I wish someone would make a less "arcade-y" game of this theme. this game reminds me too much of Quake where everyone flies around with rocket launchers, meanwhile the skulks cant even shoot anything and their melee weapons are TOO WEAK!
Eh?.. they have publicly (on camera too) said for years now, even before the game released, that they believe in and wanted to provide free content. This means it was a principle they had in how they operated as a company - not based on current player counts whatsoever? So when it becomes culturally acceptable for a huge part of a game developer's financial model and business practice to utilize said nickle and diming DLCs/methods to be competitive in sales... you don't commend others for doing otherwise?
I honestly don't get how anyone can advocate giving criticism (constructive or otherwise) when something is done incorrectly or when they as a customer are mistreated or misrepresented... if they don't also commend or show appreciation for not doing this in a time when its rare? Instead we see people scoff and say "That's right... that's what i expect."
I just.. yeah.. don't get that viewpoint, sorry. Makes me think those that feel that way either don't play enough modern day PC games to actually understand where the industry is currently, or .. this is going to sound so inflaming that i don't want to say it.. but.. entitled?
@ironhorse I don't think their release strategy is the best. I don't have the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if their reinforced sales numbers were similar to previous sales and free weekends. I'd suggest, if that were the case, that they stagger their content and sales, so that they release a patch, then a month later, after the kinks are worked out, throw up a sale. they'd still be able to hype it as new and improved, but they wouldn't have issues with people bitching about performance in the midst of a rollout. lessons learned and all that.
the timing for this.rollout might have been necessary, and they might have been hard constraints, but they upset a lot of their most dedicated playerbase. we can't be as tolerant and excepting of new players if we are trying to also figure out the game at the same time. at least that is my experience. in the past, I've tried to comm during free weekends, but this time I didn't even want to play, and when I did play, I wanted to.see what the changes would mean for my own gaming.
so, next time, I'd hope to see uwe roll out content when it's ready, after rigorous testing, then announce a free weekend after it had gone live for a couple of weeks at least.
I was doing great before i stopped playing and my score is still the same (i would actually say its better) so saying the game is responsible for putting you on the last place sounds a bit weird, dont you think ?
The only thing i really miss is the ability to make a huge drifter swarm and use them to kill single marines which went for my RTs. Good god i laughed so hard everytime i did that, imagine a swarm of 15 drifters hunting a marine who is panically firing is rifle into the swarm but dies in seconds. Sadly drifters cant attack anymore :-/
I will not spend one more dime on this game, or any other UWE product. I will steer everyone I know away from any UWE title because they clearly will not be appreciated.
If this is how you treat your paying customers, then I hope your company goes under.
alrighty... sounds legit.
Kthxbai
they are changing the game with every patch, they've been doing this since the start. the game still has enough of its core to be good.
I haven't noticed any mouse issues on my end *shrugs* also I've had little to no trouble killing lots of marines and lots of aliens. Not saying anything by it, just saying that on my end, Its not so hard. Considering your having mouse issues though, its understandable.
You misunderstood me, or maybe I was not clear enough; they are to be applauded for doing the free DLC. The thing is, they should not have to be applauded, this should be the norm. And regardless of their philosophy behind it (which I believe them), without the free updates NS2 would have been long dead - so it's not bold, it's necessary. That is not to say that NS2 could not be more grand than it is today, which I believe would have happened with more careful and slower progression (I know, moot point).
As most software is never "finished" nor can be without bugs, and with the history games had, I believe we really are that - entitled. But maybe you are right, and despite being not that old I cling to times long past. I also really may haven't played enough "modern day PC games" - the only CoD I played is the one without numbers or subtitles, and I find the DLC and F2P strategies of EA, Activision and consorts to be atrocious.
There are many way to express an opinion. Proper manner is far better. You should know that. If you look at my comments (or many others) you'll see that i'm far less gentle than it looks.
White knights ? When you have the proper use of speech (writings) you can't take 'em whenever you want. It's like a "calligraphic baseball bat". Improve on that and you'll see that you can have any intentions behind a big smile.
your criticism would have far more weight if it were coherent. I find myself lost in your post.
*fixed an apostrophe, stupid phone*
Could not have said it better, i know they are trying to buff the marines to balance the game but the Sculk in 255 is too nerfed and is more frustrating than fun to play now, i used to enjoy playing sculk all game, letting my res build up to 100 to give the team res income a boost, but now i evolve as soon as.
If it wasn't, then Activision wouldn't be making a shit ton of cash from all the people who pay 15 bucks for a mappack with 3 new, partly bad maps and 2 recycled maps from previous games.
People always have the power to accept the stuff with their wallet. The fact that publishers and developers keep following that DLC model means that it's profitable enough, which means that enough people still pay for it despite the ranting, which would be the very definition of it being accepted by the culture.
i did, it didn't help.
grammar aside, i'm objecting in particular to your singling out of "white knighting" and the sentiment immediately following which, while parochial, is an understood internet and forum expression.
As it would probably come up in @Sycho post if we discuss it further.
Great response!
I agree with everything you said except that it isn't the cultural norm. You should walk through a games convention lately if you haven't, hehe
I would also recommend playing more PC ports these days if only to get a better feel of how things unfortunately have gone .. but.. that would be cruel of me to suggest such deflating experiences :-S
Also, what @crushak said. (Stop saying things i agree with dammit!)
Anyone can click your name and see what reasons you were warned for.
If anyone has any problems with moderation that has occurred, feel free to message myself or comprox.
And if anyone wants to be shared the message between @sycho and me, so that you can see how "bullying" it is for yourself, you need only ask in a PM.
I would love to see the cyber-locker you shoved him into...and a photo of the digital-wedgie, please?
Bug fixes need big budget teams, adding all of this unnecessary content doesn't cost nearly as much.
This game's mechanics change very frequently so that people can have time to learn them and succeed in the pro-league.
If you agreed to any of those then you are most definitely as confused as UWE about what they should be doing with their time.
The way I understand this is, may players get their "fix" by developing and maintaining a strategy-set and outright dominating less experienced players and are now upset because, as akin to a drug addict, they can no longer get their fix with all of the changes. I really despise players who, as you describe, typically using a Fade, roam around and kill entire squads of Marines, many even with experience (350 hours here). I am glad that players who used to do this may decide to leave NS2 and get their "fix" elsewhere, the community will likely see much more balanced, longer and funner matches in return (just one or two skilled Fade players WILL determine the outcome of the match doing the above).
I really have nothing to add, but this thread has generated a lot of good debate related to the State of the Game. I haven't played since B241 or w/e the few patches Post-Gorgeous were. I am really enjoying the fact that Sewlek (a proper game balancer/min-maxer, like myself) was brought on to make the game more engaging and team-oriented.
Reinforced on the whole for me (as of 255) has been a great experience. As mentioned above, I was losing interest in the game and I feel Reinforced added enough changes (along with Sewlek's additions which I had yet to play) to be a "new" enough game for me to enjoy. It was a lot like riding a bicycle, as I quickly started performing well not long after learning about the changes.
One point I thoroughly agree with is the game changes TOO rapidly (and have been saying all along). I agree with gradual additions, but balance and performance should always be the #1 priority, female marines and webs should be an afterthought by comparison. It was my biggest problem with Riot and their treatment of League of Legends (and I now play DOTA2). Their approach to balance was: Release new champion at extremely overpowered potential, abruptly nerf the new champion to oblivion, players no longer use new champion, so nerf every other champion by comparison. Not only was this done every time, but it was always accompanied by a massive patch with sweeping changes that tended to break existing working mechanics. I call it the "sledgehammer" approach to balancing gameplay. I notice it happens a lot with UWE's patches to NS2.
I feel asymmetric games should broach balancing and performance issues with a fine toothed comb rather than a sledgehammer or shotgun. It should also be the top priority before adding more shiny things to further (potentially) break and unbalance your game.
So I just became the worst player ever, overnight, on a game I've been playing for 10 years (NS1 and NS2)? Yes, that makes total sense and it must be my fault for sucking so bad. I'm happy that your ability to aim was not affected after the patch, but mine was and somehow this is my fault?
1. Updating the developing the game actively - asking community's opinion (and actually respond back)
2. new content that are free for everyone
3. re-balancing the game as new elements are brought in
What I didn't like
1. updates and changes are too abrupt in some instances (I know there is the BT mod to test things out), but my assumption is, many players (particularly new ones) don't know about BT, so some times big changes just seem to happen. eg. Biomass upgrade, life form upgrades pushed on structures.
2. Changes are not communicated well - In the BT thread, Sewlek is very good at giving a reason for changes (he would state the change and why), but for live version we aren't told this (the changelog isn't out a day after a patch). I would like something on the news feed about an up coming patch with changes and reasons (for balancing obviously). SDK and performance boosts are self explanatory. Game breaking hot fixes can be just a note, but balancing, particularly major balance changes should be communicated and reason given for the changes.
What I would like:
1. Balance changes to be tweaked before abandoned. A patch would introduce a mechanic, then it is abandoned next patch. If it was a bad idea, then it shouldn't have been in there in the first place. If the mechanic could be tweaked (damage, armor, health biomass HP scaling), the numbers could be tweaked rather than straight up nerfed or buffed massively. Incremental changes are easy to understand, but the on/off manner of balancing isn't really going to win friends.
Overall I am very happy with the devs, and the state of the game (minus the teleporting epic strafe jump of marines).
Side rant: Aliens seem to take forever to tech due to biomass and lifeform upgrades.
edit: added What I would like:
In beta aliens and marines tech tree basically stayed the same or stayed the same idea with tweaks here and there. Since release UWE has completely changed the alien tech tree throwing all the time and money they spent during testing in beta, hence they are asking for more money.
IMO if someone had played NS2 when it first came out for a week or so then stopped and began playing again they might ask “when did NS3 come out.”
Now I know the devs are working their ass’s off but are they really making this game better? This is one of the reasons why I think BioDome sucks, I want to play the game not stare out the window for 20 mins going “oooooooohhhhhhhhhh aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.”
If you have technical issues with your mouse tracking, that's one thing, but there were fixes and solutions to that out within 24 hours of reinforced, and most people had worked it out before the hotfix even came out. Barring those issues, yes, you just failed to adapt to movement/stat changes. Bummer.
It just doesn't ring true with actual skill and time invested becoming better at the game, and sounds suspiciously like you're just using it to further your whining whether it's tech-related or not.
I use the same for both. I find when I play aliens, the sensitivity is a bit low, but I have a harder time adjusting to changing the mouse sensitivity than I do just working with the same one.
I don't want it to seem like the broken mouse is the main point of my post. The broken mouse is a technical issue and it can be fixed. I mainly wanted to call attention to where the game seems to be going lately and I know I'm not alone on that. Me and a good friend of mine have been playing NS solely since release, and we've never felt the need to look at other games because we've been having so much fun with NS. He doesn't have the same mouse issues as I do, but he's totally lost interest in NS, as have I. So much so that we both went out and bought copies of Final Fantasy just so we had something to do.
Never have I been on marines and said to myself that it's unfair that I don't have something like alien vision. I do just fine without and it's not something they need because they don't have the enemy 2 inches from their screen, and they don't loose half their sight every time they fire a bullet. I find it very easy to track aliens when you don't have the obstructions on your screen as aliens do.
You're missing the point. I don't care about "dominating" everyone, I care about having fun. Before, even when whatever team I was getting totally stomped, I could still have fun with the game. Now, even when I am on the winning team, I don't find myself enjoying the game.
I'm all for balancing the game. No one like to get stomped because there's something that's just too overpowered, but when you kill the fun of the game to achieve that balance, then it's time to re-think the way you're doing things.
I've tried said fixes to no avail. The easiest way I can describe my mouse problem is that it feels like mouse accel is on, but not quite. When move around the map it seems fine, but if I get into a battle I will move my mouse from X to Y and I will overshoot the target, then another time the same movement in another battle will cause me undershoot. Extremely frustrating.
Since my original post, I have played a few more times and I've adjusted as best I can, as has everyone else. I've even been to the top of the score board a few times (not to say that's what I care about, just using it to say I was doing well), but the fact still remains that the game is no longer enjoyable for me, and I know I'm not alone in this. I'm also not saying that this lack of fun is solely due to my technical issues. I have a friend who has no technical issues with the game and has completely stopped playing (as mentioned in a previous post).