Cs vs ns longevity
Vadakill
The Almighty BSO Join Date: 2002-04-02 Member: 373Members, NS1 Playtester
The Almighty BSO Join Date: 2002-04-02 Member: 373Members, NS1 Playtester
<div class="IPBDescription">Does the replayability last?</div>I guess this would be best directed at playtesters who had previously fallen in love with CS. (Those who hate CS need not reply because they won't have any idea what I'm talking about.)
Everyone and their brother knows about CS and is aware how strong of a following it has. People keep playing to improve their skills, to work on their reaction time and to basically learn what works and what doesn't. Round after round, map after map and day after day people keep coming back to learn and play more.
They question I would like to ask playtesters is: does NS have that same kind of draw? After months and months of playtesting the game do you find yourself getting tired of it? Do you feel that maybe after it's released you'll play a bit to see how other new players like it and then move on?
The reason I ask is that I've built up a good server community based around CS for the past 2+ years and I don't want to destroy that over something that doesn't pan out.
Don't get me wrong, everything I've read and all the screen caps look incredible. I ask this question because I'm worried that when I convert my server from CS to NS if it will be empty a month after release when the novelty of new-ness wears off.
Honesty is very important here, because if many PTs feel this way then so will a lot of other regular players. If so, I may hold off building up a server to wait and see how things go. I hope you appreciate my concerns.
Thanks in Advance
Vadakill
(Just as an FYI: No, I can't run both. No it's not a hardware issue. Yes it's a bandwidth issue. Yes, I have 2 T-1's of bandwidth, but "bandwidth = life" for the business.)
Everyone and their brother knows about CS and is aware how strong of a following it has. People keep playing to improve their skills, to work on their reaction time and to basically learn what works and what doesn't. Round after round, map after map and day after day people keep coming back to learn and play more.
They question I would like to ask playtesters is: does NS have that same kind of draw? After months and months of playtesting the game do you find yourself getting tired of it? Do you feel that maybe after it's released you'll play a bit to see how other new players like it and then move on?
The reason I ask is that I've built up a good server community based around CS for the past 2+ years and I don't want to destroy that over something that doesn't pan out.
Don't get me wrong, everything I've read and all the screen caps look incredible. I ask this question because I'm worried that when I convert my server from CS to NS if it will be empty a month after release when the novelty of new-ness wears off.
Honesty is very important here, because if many PTs feel this way then so will a lot of other regular players. If so, I may hold off building up a server to wait and see how things go. I hope you appreciate my concerns.
Thanks in Advance
Vadakill
(Just as an FYI: No, I can't run both. No it's not a hardware issue. Yes it's a bandwidth issue. Yes, I have 2 T-1's of bandwidth, but "bandwidth = life" for the business.)
Comments
BTW. Isnt it time for that ####### PR Blitz to start? Its the end of the 8th day in australia after the gold announcment was made. Please, Please, PLEASE!! Its gotten so bad Im starting to DREAM IN MY SLEEP ABOUT BEING A COMMANDER!! I also cannot concentrate in class anymore. Im serious! RELEASE!! <!--emo&:(--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('><!--endemo-->
Concerning skill, Grendel, our maybe most rabid PT, once said that contrary to CS, where mainly reflexes and other 'reactional' skills were required, NS relies on strategic skills - get them from behind, stay near your teammates, play hit&run with a single turret - getting better at NS is just as addicting as getting better in CS, the only question is what kind of skill you 'prefer'.
[STERN MEDICAL VOICE]
I'm very sorry but you seem the have Flayritus, there is currently no cure for this disease, you obviously were not given a vaccine, all I can suggest is wait a little longer and take a giant dose of NS or seek a good asylem
[/STERN MEDICAL VOICE]
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->People keep playing to improve their skills, to work on their reaction time and to basically learn what works and what doesn't. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There are three times the number of styles in NS (including the commander). After all this time playing I am proficient with just two, Marines and Aliens. Even then, I am not great with the HMG, and I really need to practice with the Fade alien. Some people are specialising in Fade, some in Commander, some at shotgun. And yet they still want to play as the other team, because there is so much to do. If you want a game where people return to increase their skills, NS is your bag baby.
As a playtester for NS, I had to stay up until 1am until a game started. And yet then I found myself, at 4am in the morning, still trying to fight off the marine intruders. This game keeps you in a server for hours at a time, but the next day you <b>know</b> that the next game will be totally different. Fancy a play with some big guns? Go for the Marine. Fancy dropping off the ceiling or flying 2cm off the roof? Choose the aliens. Fancy testing out your brain and your wits? Jump into the Commander seat. Fancy knowing how the game is going to go before you join a server? Go play something else, because NS is so dynamic its impossible to predict anything, other than that you will have fun.
I urge you to set up your server. I am not saying this because I feel indebted towards the dev team or the community, but I am speaking honestly from playing experience in HL and all kinds of mods. Polished? NS is positively gleaming.
<!--EDIT|Fam|Oct. 23 2002,12:54-->
not true, i hate cs now but i played 24/7 a few years ago when it was good (and in beta's)
You are the last man alive, in a clan match, with 3 of the enemy still alive, but their morale down and their bomb dropped. Counter-Terrorist, carbine in hand, only one full clip. The match timer blinks on your screen, Two minutes left, the score is at 8 rounds apiece. Your HUD tells you there are 1 minute and 50 seconds of this round remaining. Crouching behind a crate in dust2, you hear footsteps. This is your moment, but as you index your barrel on the head of the first Terrorist, you hear someone shout 'Enemy Spotted'. Your heart is pounding, this is for the match...
...and then you realise that NS would offer the same feeling, but lasting for 40 minutes (or longer) at a time. Edge of the seat action, skill dependant, but with tactics. All of the other mods that have tried this have failed. NS will not.
I think it's the heart of what Flayra calls First-Person Real-Time <b>Social</b> Strategy - it's the knowledge that there were real people under my command, even if I did let them down in that particular instance. This is probably why not everyone likes Commander Mode; a marine loss can frequently be attributed to the competence of the Commander.
I'm not explaining the feeling well; it's something you're going to have to experience first-hand to really understand it, because Commanding in NS is honestly completely unlike ANY other experience I've ever had in gaming. Nothing even comes CLOSE.
Oh, and before you all get the idea in your head that Commander Mode sucks, two points:
1) I'm not a very good commander. (:
2) When you do command a victory, the feeling of satisfaction and pride - both in your own leadership skills and in your marines - is literally overwhelming. Again, no other experience in gaming can equate to it.
In short: Yes! oh hell yes!
In long: Its really all about your particular style and preferences. Some people won't like NS simply because it isn't their style of game. It is something completely different than CS, AHL, Urban Terror, hell, ANY mod out there, for any game. It is completely unique. That might not sit well with some people who don't like learning new things, but rather are more comfortable with the tried and true.
As far as addiction value goes, I'm more addicted to NS than I have been to any game at all since DOOM. That says quite a bit right there.
One of the things I love about NS is the uniqueness of the game. For every game I've played, every single one of them has been different. In other mods like CS and TFC there is kind of a 'rut' most people are in, where they do the exact same thing every single game. It isn't like this in NS, as there are so many different valid strategies that all work, that changing your tactics actually becomes a tactic itself. (ex: The enemy wastes time building up and preparing to defend on an expected rush... that never happens. Oops, they just lost valuable time and resources)
Also everything everybody else already said is quite accurate.
BTW. Isnt it time for that ####### PR Blitz to start? Its the end of the 8th day in australia after the gold announcment was made. Please, Please, PLEASE!! Its gotten so bad Im starting to DREAM IN MY SLEEP ABOUT BEING A COMMANDER!! I also cannot concentrate in class anymore. Im serious! RELEASE!! :(<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
how dare you compare NS to black & white! That's just just so wrong! You don't compare Half-Life to Daikatana do you??? I mean they both had colored lighting! :P
Also, the 'announcement' wasn't that NS had GONE gold, but rather was nearing it. Also remember that the definition of "near" is relative. To somebody who has been doing a game for 2 months, "near" could be anywhere up to 3 months from now. The PR blitz will start when its time to start, and not any before. :P
Some of the ways of playing games just before they come out are radically different to the way they are played later, when those early strategies are now beaten and combatted, is probably what causes some games to just feel wrong after playing them for so long. It's not neccessarily that the game has changed, it's just by doing what you used to do doesn't work at all anymore, so it's not as fun.
Also, this really can be described as two completely different (three if you count commander mode) games, both of which totally rock. As an alien, there is nothing that can compare to the rush of devastating a heavily defended marine base and slaughtering the marines. And as a marine, you've got such a sense of duty -- if one of your teammates is building a phase gate or welding a door in enemy territory, there is no question -- you HAVE to protect him, or else. And if the marines win a game, it truly is a team effort. You're never carried by just one or two good players like in CS, instead everyone helps out. Sometimes I really can't decide which side is cooler.
Aliens, obviously. ;D
In starcraft you could expect a zergling to die before the onslaught of a single marine. However since its now player's skill instead that level 1 can drop from the ceiling and wipe out an entire squad instead. A lone shotgunner with full ammo might be able to take out the impossible level 5 by himself as well.
I for one will never be able to bring myself to blame any commander (unless his incompetence was real high, such as: "Resource nodes? We don't need any resource nodes!") And then I might be blaming myself for having not voted him out. <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
Just my 2 cents
You are the last man alive, in a clan match, with 3 of the enemy still alive, but their morale down and their bomb dropped. Counter-Terrorist, carbine in hand, only one full clip. The match timer blinks on your screen, Two minutes left, the score is at 8 rounds apiece. Your HUD tells you there are 1 minute and 50 seconds of this round remaining. Crouching behind a crate in dust2, you hear footsteps. This is your moment, but as you index your barrel on the head of the first Terrorist, you hear someone shout 'Enemy Spotted'. Your heart is pounding, this is for the match...
...and then you realise that NS would offer the same feeling, but lasting for 40 minutes (or longer) at a time. Edge of the seat action, skill dependant, but with tactics. All of the other mods that have tried this have failed. NS will not.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh .... my ..... god ....
such beautiful words
/me wipes snot from nose; tears from face
-sniffle-
5 more days...
And my damn school firewall won't let me see phl, hl.org, or any other site that involves gaming. Luckily, NS.org and RR.org aren't covered.
Minor correction: a zergling will beat a marine 1v1 (at all upgrade levels). Marines, like all ranged units, need higher numbers before they start getting really cost effective.
-dio