Bootcamp Update - Natural Selection 2
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Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Bootcamp Update - Natural Selection 2
Today we’ve released a small update called ‘Bootcamp.’ Bootcamp aims to create more welcoming learning environments for new Natural Selection 2 players. It does this by allowing servers to restrict...
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The strategies and tactics they learn playing against bots and only other rookies can be detrimental against actually skilled opponents. Having rookie friendly servers gives these new players a place to play against highly skilled opponents but in an environment which is welcoming and understanding to their needs and therefore helps these players have a good experience and learn the higher level skills of the game.
How about letting experienced players able to go into the command chair aswell as spectate?
This would provide the best of both worlds, rookies get to learn tactics, strategies and follow orders from experienced players.
Experienced players get to be part of something more than just sit in spectate twiddling their thumbs.
Perhaps integrate a vote system akin to SHINE that enables rookies to nominate which experienced player they want as commander that automatically places said commander in the chair prior to round start.
The question you then have is, how would you make it so that experienced players wouldn't be able to influence gameplay i.e. if chair/hive was destroyed yet a secondary techpoint remained?
***Update***
Perhaps a countdown system could be in place that starts once a commander leaves the chair, they would be given an allotted amount of time to re-enter a chair / hive before the timer ends, say 90 seconds? That should be more than enough to get to any part of the map, if he dies, the timer resets til he respawns? If
This can be based off TGNS sudden death mode they had? @Wyzcrak
You could remove this idea entirely because without a commander that opposing team would lose anyhow.
Not that it matters but I believe experienced players will want to do more than just sit and spectate rookies, as good as that idea sounds, experience players will just get bored and leave eventually, if you want to emphasise of letting exp. players spec they'd want to help otherwise there won't be many vets speccing at all.
I like the idea that new players can explore stuff by there own.
When you only spectating a round, you are not really involved into the game.
But an good marinecom can have a huge impact on the game, more than on alienside.
And what happen if the base is under attck and you have to jump out to defend?
What happen if one team has a new com and the other team has a veteran as com?
Just let the new players some hrs against there level.
The polaris war video was an good example, how people can find out things by themself.
And no:
Rookie friendly didnt solved anything, thank god its gone.
Most of the unmoderated "rookie friendly" server where only pub stomp areas.
So the name suggested "ppl are friendly there" but the reality was totally different.
Reaching level 3 is when you lose your rookie status, so this means only 'green' players can play, while non-green can still join but will only be able to spectate.
Or are forced onto them after hitting level 3.
So there is one full and one almost empty(2players) non rookie server(and 2 full rookie servers), so I guess at this time the system doesnt force me to either play on 200+ ping servers or not play at all.
And update the skill rating in the server browser to something more descriptive than just two red arrow down. How can I possible make an informed choise from that?
"Bootcamp approximates ‘new players’ as any player with a Hive level below three. If a player has such a level , they can join Bootcamp servers. After completing the tutorial, or after reaching Hive level 1, they may also join normal servers, but cannot command until reaching Hive level 2. Players with a Hive rank of higher than two can still join Bootcamp servers, but only as a spectator."
I can't tell you how many times a rookie jumps into a comm chair and ruins the entire game.
These guys have never played ns2.
These guys had some minor practice before hand but are total rookies.
There is double up arrows, one up arrow, an equal sign, a single down arrow, and a double down arrow. You are basically seeing that your hive skill is far above the average of every server.
LET ME HIDE ROOKIE ONLY SERVERS
I think this video and the comments of blind tells more than multiple pages of discussion here in the forum.
I killed TB with an Onos, all I'm sayin'
Just mark some white servers as favorite and sort them this way.
Problem solved.
Yes you can use all chat , that was kinda the intend to let veterans spectate at rookie only servers
They can do that for months. But even if they do that for months, they won't be much of a problem for well organized Vets. Unless someone show them how to efficiently use all the things they can, it'll be like that. You can try this with a completely new map for both sides (vets and rookies), the vets will prevail because of individual / team behavior.
Such a violent thing. Maybe the so called "kill" shouldn't be the first motivation. Outsmarting (can we say that?) the opponent is way better! Better in the way the opponent is finally put in a shuttle called "Ridiculous & dumb" launched in the void and then crash on a planet called Oblivion. This form of brutality is way better isn't it ? Who never liked a NS game in which everyone do what they're supposed to do (even when it's against instincts) and finally win because of a clever strategy ?
It shouldn't be, but I'm pretty sure that it is for many new players.
The other day I was trying to play ns2, I had the choice of 180+ ping servers at similar skill level or a 30-100 ping server full rookies, can you guess which one I joined?
"These bots have been significantly upgraded from the bots you have seen in NS2 in the past."
How are these "significantly upgraded" in any way? The only difference I can see is that the Alien commander uses drifters to build structures. With the way the bots behave now I don't believe this is a positive learning environment for new players. I'm currently sitting here watching two rookies play on aliens in a 6v6 game with bots. I can guarantee you they are not learning the game; this is basically just a sandbox with things that shoot at them.
Having proper bots should imply that when two bot teams face off, the chance of victory for either team should exist. This is currently not true. This game will literally go on forever.
Keep in mind that when rookies play with these bots, this is the impression of the game that they get. They will think that this is how the game plays out normally. How sad is that? Here are some of the things currently wrong with the bots:
ALIENS:
-**no higher lifeforms**
-skulks do not go in vents
-skulks only make a B-line for the marine command chair and don't bite res
-skulks ignore res blueprints in rooms they own, which means that the alien commander will never be able to place an extractor there
MARINES:
-no medpack/ammo drops, which means that the marine bots will leave the base, run out of ammo or get hurt (or even die), return to the armory, and repeat. They will never conquer anything.
-will never buy anything aside from the shotgun, which means that no structure will be ever repaired (command chair included)
-will never repair power
-will never construct a phase gate
-will never claim another tech point
-will never build a robotics factory, and thus never make ARCs, MACs, or turrets
-will sit on one base with 200 res forever
Did you guys honestly think this is acceptable behavior to display in front of new players? There are all these things that rookies will never see in boot camp unless there are other rookies who figure it out before them. That means that there is a chance that by the time they graduate this "boot camp" thing, they're still going to go into a normal server with other veterans and get stomped because the game they learned in boot camp was nothing like games played with veterans. At the very least the rookies need to see what's possible before they can get good at in-game mechanics.
At the 52 minute mark of this game (marines are still on one base but with a few rookies on the team) I'm pretty sure I can conclude that this game was devoid of any sort of learning. Nobody has learned how to attack, defend, harass, communicate, or fight in scenarios that aren't marine vs. skulk.
PS, if I try to make my own training match with bots I can't even join a team because I'm not a rookie.