Let’s get serious about NS2: Combat…
bonage
Join Date: 2012-10-13 Member: 162230Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Join Date: 2012-10-13 Member: 162230Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Hi all,
I think it’s time we had a serious discussion about the imminent release of combat, what this game hopes to achieve and the implications it has for this community. I’m starting this thread because for reasons beyond me I care a lot about the NS franchise, and this is a conversation that needs to be had.
I will be splitting this up into 2 parts, so that it is easier to digest.
Part 1: NS2:Combat – Marketing, Goals & Presentation
Marketing
Let’s start at the top. We are 1 week out from Combat’s release, and it seems like there is absolutely no noise being made about this game – both to the internal ns2 community and the external wider gaming community.
On numerous occasions throughout reddit Q&A’s, the devs have stated that their only way to promote the game as an indie studio is through word of mouth:
Well, we’re at the 1 week before launch mark, and so far these are the only RECENT articles and play-throughs about the combat’s launch (that aren’t from internal sources like Faultline Games, UWE, or ISE) after digging through google and YouTube:
Unless there is a mammoth effort from these third party word of mouth contacts to promote the game and entice players to buy it, it appears combat is going to have a pretty soft launch.
Also concerning is the lack of Google AdWords campaigns, facebook boosts this close to launch. Perhaps these are scheduled to activate in this last week before launch – I can’t be sure without asking Faultline directly. These are really important tools for advertising the game and reaching new players. Even on an indie budget, these mechanisms can still be used to promote the game, and should be used. As a publisher, UWE needs to be helping out in this department.
Branding & Presentation
First impressions of games begin even before the game is bought. Let’s look at some of the current issues that could make potential customers turn away either before or after buying the game:
--The Website
Honestly, this looks like a blog/bad wordpress template with the current styling. I understand the decision of needing to separate from the UWE site as a studio, but how can the UWE site look the part and this one feels like a neglected child? 1 Week out from launch, this is not an initial impression you want to have, nor does it look good for the NS franchise. Indie or not, a game’s website needs to look the part. Clean, presentable, and inviting. Also, the random word generator under the Faultline Games logo on the front page isn’t very professional or funny (100% pure beef?).
--The forums
Very basic, very rudimentary. Low visibility on forum text, no forum avatars, etc. It’s using the same platform as the UWE forums, surely they can have the same features? This is one of the first places players will go to discuss the game and post bug reports.
--The name – NS2: Combat
The only difference between NS2 and NS2:Combat name wise is the addition of combat. A lot of care is going to have to be taken to differentiate it from NS2 from a nomenclature perspective. Is this game NS2? Is it a DLC? Is it an expansion pack? What differentiates it from NS2? These are the types of questions that are likely to flood in from people outside of the NS2 community when they do a quick steam library search.
--Combat on the UWE website
There is little mention of combat anywhere on the UWE website. In this link http://unknownworlds.com/games/ there is no mention of a games published section, so for any combat info, people have to click a separate game, NS2, and see combat related material on the blog posts on that page. That is very confusing for any new players who will not know the difference between NS2 and NS2:Combat.
To be continued: Part 2 is in the post below...
I think it’s time we had a serious discussion about the imminent release of combat, what this game hopes to achieve and the implications it has for this community. I’m starting this thread because for reasons beyond me I care a lot about the NS franchise, and this is a conversation that needs to be had.
I will be splitting this up into 2 parts, so that it is easier to digest.
Part 1: NS2:Combat – Marketing, Goals & Presentation
Marketing
Let’s start at the top. We are 1 week out from Combat’s release, and it seems like there is absolutely no noise being made about this game – both to the internal ns2 community and the external wider gaming community.
On numerous occasions throughout reddit Q&A’s, the devs have stated that their only way to promote the game as an indie studio is through word of mouth:
Gisp says:
Alex says:
Just as UWE we have no marketing budget. So I have been hard at work over the past few months "collecting" press contacts, youtubers and streamers. To get free review copies, and in that way purely rely on WoM.
Alex says:
Our plan is to get going with some Let's Plays this month, get the game into the hands of the people who can spread the word, and hopefully build up from there!
Facebook, Twitter and other social media adverts will probably represent a big chunk of our spend, the rest is hard graft!
Expect to see a lot more of a push in the next few weeks, but obviously we're still going to be operating using an 'indie' budget and strategy.
Well, we’re at the 1 week before launch mark, and so far these are the only RECENT articles and play-throughs about the combat’s launch (that aren’t from internal sources like Faultline Games, UWE, or ISE) after digging through google and YouTube:
NS2: Combat News Articles
English:
1. http://realgamerreviews.com/games/natural-selection-2-combat/
2. http://www.gamingcypher.com/natural-selection-2-combat-dated-screenshots-video/
3. http://www.gamersftw.co.uk/ns2-combat-beta-preview/
Non English:
1. http://www.bug.hr/master/vijesti/ns2-combat-krajem-listopada/136736.aspx
2. http://www.millenium.org/jeux-indes/accueil/actualites/sortie-de-natural-selection-2-combat-date-de-sortie-pour-natural-selection-2-combat-developpe-par-unknown-worlds-116086
NS2: Combat YouTube Playthroughs (external to UWE/Faultline)
491 Views
129 Views
118 Views
(oculus rift setup video) 499 Views
127 Views
(greyboxed map) 52 views
English:
1. http://realgamerreviews.com/games/natural-selection-2-combat/
2. http://www.gamingcypher.com/natural-selection-2-combat-dated-screenshots-video/
3. http://www.gamersftw.co.uk/ns2-combat-beta-preview/
Non English:
1. http://www.bug.hr/master/vijesti/ns2-combat-krajem-listopada/136736.aspx
2. http://www.millenium.org/jeux-indes/accueil/actualites/sortie-de-natural-selection-2-combat-date-de-sortie-pour-natural-selection-2-combat-developpe-par-unknown-worlds-116086
NS2: Combat YouTube Playthroughs (external to UWE/Faultline)
491 Views 129 Views 118 Views (oculus rift setup video) 499 Views 127 Views (greyboxed map) 52 viewsUnless there is a mammoth effort from these third party word of mouth contacts to promote the game and entice players to buy it, it appears combat is going to have a pretty soft launch.
Also concerning is the lack of Google AdWords campaigns, facebook boosts this close to launch. Perhaps these are scheduled to activate in this last week before launch – I can’t be sure without asking Faultline directly. These are really important tools for advertising the game and reaching new players. Even on an indie budget, these mechanisms can still be used to promote the game, and should be used. As a publisher, UWE needs to be helping out in this department.
Branding & Presentation
First impressions of games begin even before the game is bought. Let’s look at some of the current issues that could make potential customers turn away either before or after buying the game:
--The Website
Honestly, this looks like a blog/bad wordpress template with the current styling. I understand the decision of needing to separate from the UWE site as a studio, but how can the UWE site look the part and this one feels like a neglected child? 1 Week out from launch, this is not an initial impression you want to have, nor does it look good for the NS franchise. Indie or not, a game’s website needs to look the part. Clean, presentable, and inviting. Also, the random word generator under the Faultline Games logo on the front page isn’t very professional or funny (100% pure beef?).
--The forums
Very basic, very rudimentary. Low visibility on forum text, no forum avatars, etc. It’s using the same platform as the UWE forums, surely they can have the same features? This is one of the first places players will go to discuss the game and post bug reports.
--The name – NS2: Combat
The only difference between NS2 and NS2:Combat name wise is the addition of combat. A lot of care is going to have to be taken to differentiate it from NS2 from a nomenclature perspective. Is this game NS2? Is it a DLC? Is it an expansion pack? What differentiates it from NS2? These are the types of questions that are likely to flood in from people outside of the NS2 community when they do a quick steam library search.
--Combat on the UWE website
There is little mention of combat anywhere on the UWE website. In this link http://unknownworlds.com/games/ there is no mention of a games published section, so for any combat info, people have to click a separate game, NS2, and see combat related material on the blog posts on that page. That is very confusing for any new players who will not know the difference between NS2 and NS2:Combat.
To be continued: Part 2 is in the post below...
Comments
Justification for Standalone
The content in combat – how much is the same as NS2, how much is different?
To be honest, this one’s a little hard to digest. New maps, a couple of new weapons, structures, music and sound effects are a good start, but they don’t go a long way to making the game unique enough to justify a standalone release from NS2.
I think this is also a little misleading. CS:GO and other games have done this. Arms race, Death match, are very similar to what Combat is. The only difference I see is the leveling up/upgrade buy menu system. Apart from that, ranked matchmaking based upon ELO is nothing particularly unique to combat. It’s great to start having this functionality in the NS universe (even if it is rudimentary without a lobby system), but again – couldn’t this have been done in NS2?
So the question that arises: is there enough new content from NS2 and NS2’s combat mod to justify standalone? For design reasons and logistics, I know Faultline Games thinks this is the way to go – but from a consumer point of view/the community, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
New game modes?
Another issue is that of the lack of information surrounding the new content. We’ve all heard about devour a lot – but what about the new game modes and other new content that are supposed to be in combat? Where are the dedicated trailers/articles for those? Will we see them at launch? Showing off devour for eye candy is all well and good, but in the end its going to be a frustrating game mechanic that is likely to make people stop playing the game anyway, whereas different game modes are the things that are likely to keep and attract potential new players.
Performance
There is also the issue of performance – and this is a pretty big one. The devs has spoken about cutting out and optimizing the bits of code accounting for the slowdowns in NS2 – this is great. So many people left NS2 in the initial months after release due to poor performance. Even today, the game still performs terribly unless you have an overclocked CPU and premium GPU. It’s a demanding game/engine.
Early reports from people i've spoken to with early access however is indicating that on full servers, the performance takes a hit (even on high spec comps). Though it’s impossible for me to confirm this without having a copy of the game – the question is will history repeat itself with combats launch or will the game be optimized from day 1? I’m concern as having an i5 as minimum spec requirements does not bode well, given that games like CS:GO and Tribes Ascend require much lower entry specs.
What will NS2: Combat do to the NS Community
There is a real possibility for cannibalization of NS2 with the release of Combat. I’m wondering if any thought been given into this during the development process? Or is NS2 considered to be a lost cause these days?
From a local community perspective and given the average daily player size in NS2 - we have had members from both the competitive NS2 community and the public NS2 community express concerns about what Combat’s release will mean for the future of NS2.
As separate .exe's, it's going to segregate the current community between two instances of the game. The argument that combat will provide an entry point into NS2 doesn't hold. Only a very small portion of any new players that combat draws in will have the urge to then buy NS2 on-top of it. To get from one game to another, they will have to exit combat game, close combat, purchase NS2, open NS2, find server. Too many steps involved that will most definitely have an effect on conversion rate. On top of this, people are inevitably going to shift to combat from NS2, meaning NS2 games are going to be even harder to find both for public players and comp players.
Surely releasing combat as a DLC would have a better way of expanding and sustaining the NS community in one .exe instance? I’m curious to know if this this considered at any point as a viable option. I’ve always maintained that having combat and NS2 in the same game makes a lot of sense, and along with a few other changes to NS2 which I posted about here, the franchise could witness a bit of a renaissance and bring in new revenue for UWE.
Final Thoughts
So again the question becomes – what is this game hoping to achieve? Whether acknowledged or not, Combat has an identity crisis, which is very concerning given the implications (not only for the NS2 community, but for the IP of natural selection as well). We’re 1 week away from launch, and I feel as if the game is going to stumble over the finish line.
I’m hoping that Faultline Games can get there in time and pull it all together, but I’m afraid I just don’t see it happening before the game is launched. Also – I’d like state that this post isn’t an attack on Faultline Games or UWE – I’m simply trying to stimulate discussion and express some of the concerns from NS community members, including myself, in an open manner.
Let's discuss!
My main gripe is the "having to buy a game I technically already own" thing, How will this be addressed? Maybe a discount for anyone who already owns Ns2?
The difference is that UWE will every now and again break away from their "we don't know", "we're thinking about it", "we haven't decided yet", "we can't say" mantra and scream "OMG SOMETHING IS COMING AND IT'S GLORIOUS!!". It's not the best approach and may sometimes (often) end in disappointment, but at least it generates some major buzz for a while.
Faultline is NDAing everything. These forums in particular should be filled with shameless advertising topics and hype because this is where most of their audience is probably going to come from. People should be getting excited.
Giving away some keys to streamers/youtubers is a start, but you can't just assume that you're done and advertising will now sort itself out.
I kid you not, I've seen better advertising for one man RPGmaker projects.
Long story short, if someone has to go out of their way to dig through the internet and find advertising for your product, you're doing it wrong.
With limited marketing effort, the only thing they have going for them is the release date. Problem is, they still refuse to talk abut the price and test people's reaction. This could potentially crush a multiplayer only game if it doesn't sell on launch.
It's a shame really, because they could have something really good.
I do agree with everything else in your post though.
I actually meant it more figuratively than literally, especially in the context of press since I don't know how much limitation they may or may not currently have on disclosure. It was really just a figure of speech to get my point across. Hind sight, probably not the best way to phrase it, though there has been a lot of dodging done by people in the know, so it may not be completely irrational that NDA would pop into my head.
Wow! Fantastic post. I want to address all of this as best as I can and show that we're really transparent about our development, so let's get started, shall we? I really apologize in advance for the length, but I hope that explaining everything in great detail means that there's more understanding and less confusion. Please forgive me in advance for the length of this post.
Let's talk about funds first, because all the rest will fall into understanding following.
We have none. Many of the tools we use are open-sourced and free because we can't afford anything else. After looking at the cost of even building, operating, securing and "pretty-fying" a new website we were looking at close to ~$10,000. Doesn't seem like a lot when you're a company I guess, but when that company has no funds to begin with and founds itself to legally be able to release a title on Steam, it's impossible. Throughout the entire development process Alex and I have split the costs that arise between ourselves with other members of the company occasionally pitching in what they can. We searched for the cheapest, most reliable tools, servers, and other necessities that we could find. Alex and I are using our own money to push the game along and UWE are helping with costs of events like PAX, (Thanks, UWE!) our licensing for FMOD and other administrative things.
I know our site is terrible, It's the best we can do with no income. I built the site myself, implemented the forums and all. All the extra features that come with the forums require someone to set them up, and nobody works for free. Maybe I could do those things, but do I dare sacrifice time from making Combat to make a site when Combat would (most definitely) suffer from that and nullify having a great site with a terrible game? These types of decisions are ones that I dread making. I worry so much about the appearance we've set out to the public, but not nearly as much as I worry about making a game nobody wants to play. I dreamt a dream last week where we didn't brick the ELO servers off while matchers were being played and random people could just join in and troll. I woke up sweating, almost screaming, and hopped in our internal chat and freaked out on everyone.
Silly dreams aside, Faultline knows how to be professional, but at our core we're gamers, modders, husbands (Congratulations, Marco!), fathers (Hey, that's me!) and friends. I completely agree that our site could use tons of love, but I can tell you it wouldn't change a whole lot as far as our vision is concerned. We don't want to be looked at like a company of bigwigs with suits, long lists of privacy policies, site-maps that nobody reads, etc. We're just a startup game company on a shared hosting website trying to make a great video game so that we might be able to make another one later. Most of us still have day jobs. Alex, Tyler and Marco work full-time jobs and dedicate the same (or even more) time on Combat than at work. The one's who don't compare by spending 24-48 hours straight pushing new changes, content, bugfixes and more to the current build. We work as hard, if not, harder than anyone out in the industry, climbing past acceptable limits of work.
To me, our website is a symbol. It's a symbol of indie game development that no one has ever seen, ever. We know what we have isn't a great show of professionalism on the outside right now, and we know it isn't something we're super proud of, but it is something. It's a symbol of being as indie as indie can possibly get, no matter what your belief of indie could be. We've started from scratch, built everything ourselves, even if we weren't that great at those particular things, but we did it... and now people have a way to engage with us.
As far as the name of the game is concerned, you'll understand why the first time you play. The game speaks for itself in those terms.
Let's talk about optimization now.
We all know Spark is demanding as an engine. Combat benefits from having many of the NS2 guts ripped out of it that weren't necessary to Combat's core. Things like infestation, or humongous maps with tons of props aren't issues for Combat. It performs well. The word you got about servers lagging is absolutely true. Our main test server runs on an AMD 2.4 GhZ processor. I wouldn't expect great performance from something like that when it also runs our Jenkins service, our git repo, and most of the other services we use on a daily basis. Our multiplayer servers are running great, and occasionally when there's a bug, there's console spam and the server pukes, rolls over, and dies. Those things happen in a beta phase. I remember testing NS2 and having those issues from day one. It's typical. We've worked with our launch hosting provider to ensure they can run Combat properly, and they're making sure the demands for resources are met. Our first post-launch patch will focus on bugs, and patches after that will focus on performance, optimization and performance through optimization!
Combat on the UWE site:
This one has always kind of bugged me, though there's not a whole lot I can do about it, save for telling everyone here that the best place to talk about Combat is on our forums with us (http://faultlinegames.com/forums/). If you're not registered, why not? We need posts on our site and users to create driving content and discussions so that we might be able to talk more about what our plans are, but just like in the case of this post, the information always ends up here because the questions are asked here. Help us bring people to the discussion on our forums so that others know that Faultline Games developed NS2: Combat, and not UWE. Help us give Combat a great home!
In terms of uniqueness:
I hear this a lot. We've heard people say it's just NS2 again. They're right, it is. It's in the name. If we thought we could create 5 maps-worth of brand new props in a year's time, recode the entire engine from scratch, create entirely new sounds for every single item, ambient music, soundtrack music, models, and so-on, we would have gladly just called the game "Combat" and I think we'd have emails from UWE looking to hire us as the fastest developers in the world (hehe). If most are unaware, that amount of work just isn't possible to achieve with great quality, so we focused on smaller things that made Combat unique, fun and high-quality. On that note, even if I could pretend we had the time to do those things, we never received the prop models to edit them, because UWE might have lost them in spacetime during a phasegate transfer. Those things happen, especially with small indie studios who can't afford servers that hold 10's of Terabytes of storage in props, models, videos, etc. So, we set out to make maps that were themed, beautiful, and and were lore-driven. We're selling the game for $14.99, and I believe that's a great price considering the amount of work that went into creating Combat, the quality the game will have and the support it will receive in the future.
Let's talk about game modes!
NS2: Combat will come with two core gamemodes, Combat Deathmatch, and Capture Point. Combat Deathmatch works as most typical TDM modes would, except in Combat, it yearns to play as a MOBA without waves of creeps. Instead, the waves of creeps never stop, they're random and they're skulks, marines, fades, and Oni. Each base has a command building (Hive and CC, as usual) but there's something very different in how Combat works apart from NS2 on how to destroy the opposing team's base. Each base command structure has a shield, protecting it from damage. As the shield wears off from damage the main structure loses some of its health permanently. We thought implementing this unique feature was the best thing since sliced bread. The amount of teamwork that goes into breaking that shield, and doing permanent damage is a clear reward of making the right choices at the right time. Player's can choose to evolve into a Gorge, or as a marine, purchase a welder to bring their team's shields back up. The cycle continues as players level up and evolve and upgrade their build, causing the game to encourage players to make every push, a push for the win. It's rewarding and it's amazing. I love it!
The second game mode is Capture Point. The mode functions similar to "King of The HIll", where players fight over control of specific areas on the map. This mode requires the same amount of teamwork, but mostly it requires good coordination and synergy with your team. Each team earns points by holding each capture point as long as they can. The first team to reach 500 points, wins the round. In this mode, the hive and CC are invulnerable to damage and only serve as a visual spawning ground for your team. We didn't talk a lot about this game mode because we wanted to make sure it was ready for launch. I believe it's functioning very well now, and apart from minor little fixes here and there, and some basic balancing over time, CP mode might be one of the most interesting modes one could ever play in an asymmetrical style.
Let's talk about NS2: Combat and why it's a standalone!
As simply as I can put it, there are a couple reasons why NS2: Combat is its own entity. One of those reasons is that it is a game developed by a completely different company. If the game were included into NS2, UWE would be responsible for the development cycle of Faultline Games, and that is not something that UWE approached us to do for Combat in the first place. UWE specifically wanted Faultline to be the sole creators of Combat, holding us responsible for its development and future, and we think that's a great move. We absolutely want Combat to be a great game and we want and have the time to spend making the changes to make it something great.
Another reason for Combat being standalone is for the simple fact that half the things we wanted to achieve with Combat required core engine changes in many many different areas. There is absolutely no way to incorporate Combat's engine changes into NS2's changes without breaking one or both games entirely. Could we add it as DLC? Still not possible. Could we call it an expansion? No, not really, because expansions don't generally change the core functions of the game, they just... expand them. The best place for Combat to be is on the Steam store selling as a completely new experience with a familiar universe setting that NS2 players know and love.
We were entrusted by UWE to make something special, and both UWE and FLG believe Combat is something very special as it is today. We are our own company and want to stand out as having a release of our own. UWE wants that too, it's one of the main reasons Charlie approached us with the crazy idea that Combat could be something more than just a mod that was broken every time UWE released a patch. They wanted to see themselves do something crazy -- something unique; turning a mod team into a company with a release of their own based on a game made by a company that was once a mod. That alone doesn't exist anywhere else in the world (hope I'm not wrong there).
So why isn't it free for NS2 players?
If it isn't obvious by now that people who work hard deserve to be paid for their hard work and commitment then I don't suppose there's any way to convince someone not to ask for Combat to be free. Speaking for myself only, I dropped out of college to work full-time on Combat because I felt it deserved that much attention from me. Many others dropped everything they had and decided to do the same. They devoted their time and resources into making Combat something more than a mod. The mod was free, we updated it when we could, but why continue doing something that will never help you become something more? If Combat was free for NS2 players, we wouldn't have any funds to continue working on the game and providing content. We would have to make everything paid. If seeing props in a Combat map you recognize from NS2 justifies reason for a game to be free, then most games with numbers at the end would also be free. Companies need funds to survive, and most-importantly, companies who have absolutely no funds, a terrible website, cheap playtest servers and a huge passion for making and playing video games need those funds. We're charging because we want to grow as a company, because we want to offer a better website without a cheesy rotating tagline and because we are people who work on video games for a living.
I understand I might have skipped many things, but I promise it wasn't because I was avoiding them. I'm adding this page to my favorites, and I'll check back every day up until launch to answer every question I can.
We're almost done, I swear it!
In closing:
If you think Combat is just a game at the end of the day, I urge you to reconsider. It's so much more than that. It's something special and unique. It's something that's required thousands and thousands of hours of work, sweat and tears. It's a personal reflection of the individuals and contributors who make up FLG. It's art. It's the work of mappers, coders, sound gurus (that's me!) and contributing staff members and amazing playtesters who play Combat every single night and complain to me that Tyler broke the build again. All of these people have worked for free so that everyone, including themselves can live the dream of playing something they helped create with the people who love to create memorable moment of their lives; moments that will live forever in their hearts and minds, moments that they'll share with others and revisit time and time again. It's the start of a brand new company that's comprised of individuals with only one goal in mind. That goal is to create something from nothing, share it with you, and be able to create great memories right by your side in battle leveling up with you.
I can't guarantee that Combat will please every soul on Earth but with your support, together we can make it something, regardless of its perfections or imperfections, that creates memories. We can make it something that bonds people together and helps them forget about all the bad things in their lives for just a few minutes and lets them focus on that one happy moment of playing with people they call friends. If you don't buy Combat for any other reason, buy it for that reason. That's all we could ever hope or dream for for the NS community and the universe that surrounds it.
I'll be there on launch day, right beside you in battle.
Our official forums are here: http://faultlinegames.com/forums/
Our reddit is here: http://reddit.com/r/ns2combat
Our Steam discussion forums: http://steamcommunity.com/app/310110/discussions/
and, of course, NS2: Combat: http://steamcommunity.com/app/310110/
If you're going to take cues from UWE then look at the quality of the product they deliver, their dedication to polishing and supporting their games and the way they listen to community feedback. Don't mimic their marketing strategy. They won us over with their games, some of the stuff you're trying to mimic is actually the things the community lets them get away with (rather than praise) because they won us over years ago with their hard work, community interaction and a great unique product.
My thoughts won't probably change after releasing your game. But, I admit, reading your feeling and your answer made me think that if I purchase your standalone in any moment, I will do it for supporting all your team and the huge job you did for trying to make an excellent game from your point of view. You truly deserve to be rewarded for that stuff and that will be the reason I would buy NS2: Combat. Not for the game itself because of many and many points already stated above but for everything you have transferred into your toy and to make sure you didn't work for anything + why not, supporting in this way any potential future games?
Up to this point we have really been too bad at our communication. I know we've said we're trying to improve on it but our efforts just haven't been up to scratch and it's a fair criticism.
We've recently added a new team member to our roster, who I'm sure will introduce himself in the next couple of days, who is tasked with helping us promote the game at launch and to give us extra manpower to dedicate to setting up press coverage and interviews (GISP has been doing a great job at this but he is after all only one man with a 2,000-email-long list to get through!)
We also recorded a video with Wasabi last week which I hope helps show some of the new features and allows us to talk through our development ethos a bit more (please excuse the quality, I'll try and upload a high-res one later).
Especially if you know you're buying an indie game on an indie engine, having an expectation that high always strikes me as odd and unreasonable as there's no parallel to such behavior anywhere else in any other commercial product.
No one is surprised that their newly purchased 2 cylinder vehicle can't tow a boat, for instance.
/derail
Not sure if I agree with this analogy...this would imply that the ability to tow a boat was not a factor in your decision to buy said vehicle, whereas most gamers have a certain expectation of performance that that can't be defended with the usual "indie game lol" shield.
Gamers are fickle and generally lack an understanding of how the back end of games actually work. Whether it is an indie game or not isn't a factor to them because triple A games have bred a generation of gamers who expect a certain level of performance. Big titles all run on the aforementioned game engines (Unreal, Source etc) and while it is admirable that UWE and Faultline have chosen to use their own indie engine, the fact remains that new comers will open the game, play at 40 frames per second for an hour and uninstall.
As important as the game itself may be, unless you dont want people outside of the NS2 community to play it you need better marketing.
I especially like how two of the biggest problem areas of NS2 are gone... No more waiting for commanders for the game to start, or relying on them to drop something you need... No more saving up resources for a lifeform/weapon then losing it all and going back to a basic marine/skulk...
Plus weldable doors/vents/etc!!! Hell yeah! That was one of the things on the NS2 store page that grabbed my interest way back when, and I was so disappointed to find them nowhere in NS2... I absolutely love it when maps have doors and/or passages that can be opened and closed to make it dynamic and change how it plays.
I been a tad inactive here lately.
I have spend the last month or so, working mon-sun with an average of 10 hours a day reaching out to youtubers, streamers and other people in the gaming media..
100s of review sites, a billion potential youtube viewers(if every single channel i contacted covers the game) streamers and other gamerelated press.
And many other odd jobs to promote Combat with no budget, with nothing but keys and time as my resources.
On the side, i act as community manager on the FLG social media and website, and im the EU QA Lead.
Its not an easy job, there have been alot of twists, turns and learning done along the way.
From screaming at the Devs to have the press-kit ready, to being mean towards dishonest members of the gaming community http://www.reddit.com/r/Starcitizen_trades/comments/2jgzrt/wtt_for_mustang_omega_codes_or_under_50_ships/
As my job finishes, the balls are in the air, and the pre/reviewers, youtubers and streamers is ultimately the ones who decide to cover the game or not. I cant (unfortuneatly) make em.
Instead, it's going to fracture or insult the existing already small community, including players who could have been potentially reintroduced to NS2 as it is now.
Word on pricing? It's academic for me, I shall support you guys anyway, but it would be nice to know.
Roo
According to that little video that MCMLXXXIV posted it's apparently going to be $14.99
It implies the same degree of lack of knowledge about the product they are buying.
You even recognize this right here: And like the OP aptly pointed out, and like Acid_rain was proud to demonstrate to the public: you cannot miss the fact that the product is indie.
*Shrug*
A comment aimed at acid_rain now. As someone who is in the competitive community and hears about stuff like this, I still really do not even know the full extent of the changes. The post you just wrote is something that you should be throwing in peoples faces. To have people in NS2 community still now go, NS2: Combat standalone what? Or oh yea I heard of that but I heard it is not worth the "insert rumored price here" they are charging. The steam store page is still about two paragraphs long... You need to SELL it to us, improved performance from Natural Selection 2, tell us, no commander, tell us, all action personal player progression, tell us. Did you fix a long standing gripe for people from the combat mod?
I was talking to someone who had played and I asked them oh what did they do about the stupid no rush thing, I always hated that the game was just play normal for 15 minutes then all in rush until you win. Oh they added a shield that can be repaired and a person health bar? I think that is a good solution. Welding, oh god welding stuff seriously 1 week away from launch and still people in the community have to dig for answers.
Im sure we see many NS2 players going to try Combat.
This is great for Faultline but happen at a really bad time.
We have less players right now than during the beta.
Lets say 150 current active players going to try Combat (Wich is not that much). The result will be:Around 200 NS2 players next weekend. Less than 200 after the release.
Combat killed NS1 and going to do the same with NS2.
But thats only my point of view.
Please excuse me, I'm a little tired, but hopefully this explains the game better than we can...
I fear Combat would kill NS (the concept) for good.
One question: Is there anything that advertise NS (and the global concept) in Combat ?
I completely ignored the fact that GISP has been busting his rump like crazy getting in touch with press. YouTube videos are going to start popping up like crazy, articles and other media will begin to show up and I can't wait to see them.
I wholeheartedly believe that Combat is a breath of fresh air for the NS universe, and it can only bring good to our community. I've been in this community for well over ten years, and actively for over 6. I believe that Combat will not only captivate people who love NS2, but also people who have never heard of the game before, and that's exactly what we're aiming for.
@acid_rain thanks for the long post above to tell us about the Combat journey. I actually didn't know there was a reddit page (should have checked your site). I will now go and register there to post Combat related things. I am very excited about this game.
Cheers
If anything, having a dedicated and expanded "casual mode" with a lot of similarities to the standard game can only make the players who only want combat happy, and give new players a gateway into the hard stuff.
After all, once a player masters combat, who says they wont want more? We may very well end up with a slow influx of decent players into vanilla NS2
If that were the worst-case scenario, I would be happy with them sticking with something in the NS universe than to leave it all behind. That's my personal opinion though.
Always cool to see a somewhat popular youtuber advertise the game. But, that skulk movement, oh god.. :O) Thinking you should start the tutorial with just walljumping and move on from there