[QUOTE=Glottis-3D;550510]Last stage of Dome has 2 parts
The side objectives (2 doors) is actually very nice, but has issues
Main objective is very bad. It doesnt have a frontline. all the fights are very messy, no coordination between flanks - due to lack of a frontline. Compare it to Chapel 1st or 3rd stage or Terminal any stage - when there is frontline (line of strong points for attack and line of strong points for defence) - there is realy good tactical game.[/QUOTE]
That is true, yes. I just really like the map because it has so much variation like you said, especially with the secondary objectives. I do agree with you that the last part is missing a definite front line and is therefore a bit scattered. I just find the map very interesting because it is so different from all the other ones, however I agree it is not ‘perfect’.
Well well … i must say … that was some marvellous execution of a walloftextcounterwalloftext!
As noone yet did something like that i will step in and try to frame in sentences my positive astonishment about this amount of no-nonsense feedback + counterfeedback which also did not contain any traces of diplomatic-half-assedness or ambiguity. congrats for that clear and concise formulated (both, but i am more baffled by the amount of keys shoe. has put his fingers on) answers.
To chime in on some things you said:
[QUOTE=shoe.;550495][…]Here is some very condensed feedback for you:[…][/QUOTE] heh, you missed that mark a bit (which actually … was worth it)
[QUOTE=shoe.;550495][…]We aren’t looking to make any additions to this feature as it’s mainly an issue due to something else, team balance. […]These should fix the spawn camping issues at the root of it, not just fix one of the issues caused by it.[…][/QUOTE] I’d like to comment on this as it seems to me like this is a pattern which very easily allows to “cover” a multitude of problems with an all [strike]/edit: to[/strike] too easy answer! (Despite being a correct answer which will influence many painpoints in a very postive way!)
Nevertheless: Please keep your mind fresh in looking at the painpoints which might not be solved by “just” fixing team balance. (e.g. map layout diversity / 2ndary obj stuff / spawntimermechanics / support of communications by making it easier to talk/write/press binds ingame about locations in maps where there is a consensus about how to name/recognize different areas)
[QUOTE=shoe.;550495][…]9. We feel the game is strong enough in terms of maps, Mercs and balance for Ranked play[…][/QUOTE] I’d actually agree with you mercwise, cannot resonate on ranked balance, but mapwise i’d think that there were some valid points noted by some fellow posters higher up the thread. The (imo) greatest challenge here is for you how to balance the different game-modes played on the same maps / how to balance pub vs comp skills.
[QUOTE=shoe.;550495][…]It’s hard trying to make the game accessible enough for new players, but at the same time deep enough for experienced ones. This is something we are learning and doing a lot of trial and error.[…][/QUOTE] yes … this seems like a leitmotif touching so many areas/levels of perception
And as a last one: Whee, what the heck is an “Senior Tech Artist” … might it be a connoisseur of excuisite bouquets of hardware? A very artistic-y wizard of handling processes and threads? Ich bin gespannt wie ein Flitzebogen
See you on twitch… p.out
H
/edit:
P.S.: What happened to the “old” “Seniorer Tech Artist”? :o
[QUOTE=eitsch0r;550529]
And as a last one: Whee, what the heck is an “Senior Tech Artist” … might it be a connoisseur of excuisite bouquets of hardware? A very artistic-y wizard of handling processes and threads? Ich bin gespannt wie ein Flitzebogen
See you on twitch… p.out
H
/edit:
P.S.: What happened to the “old” “Seniorer Tech Artist”? :o[/QUOTE]
A senior tech artist from Volition describes it in this forum post.
[QUOTE=eitsch0r;550529]Well well … i must say … that was some marvellous execution of a walloftextcounterwalloftext!
As noone yet did something like that i will step in and try to frame in sentences my positive astonishment about this amount of no-nonsense feedback + counterfeedback which also did not contain any traces of diplomatic-half-assedness or ambiguity. congrats for that clear and concise formulated (both, but i am more baffled by the amount of keys shoe. has put his fingers on) answers.
To chime in on some things you said:
heh, you missed that mark a bit (which actually … was worth it)
I’d like to comment on this as it seems to me like this is a pattern which very easily allows to “cover” a multitude of problems with an all [strike]/edit: to[/strike] too easy answer! (Despite being a correct answer which will influence many painpoints in a very postive way!)
Nevertheless: Please keep your mind fresh in looking at the painpoints which might not be solved by “just” fixing team balance. (e.g. map layout diversity / 2ndary obj stuff / spawntimermechanics / support of communications by making it easier to talk/write/press binds ingame about locations in maps where there is a consensus about how to name/recognize different areas)[/QUOTE]
Casual MM and larger player-pool in Ranked will help improve these areas, but it’s not going to be a complete magic bullet and solve all issues players face. We’ll still be keeping an eye on things and update anything we feel needs it.
First I’d like to thank you for actually responding to my detailed feedback, so thank you for that. Though in regards to not responding to the email when it came in because you wanted to dedicate time to it but had to devote time to other priorities - a simple email notifying me that you will get back to me soon with a more detailed email would’ve sufficed as a notification/confirmation of receiving the email.
You have spawn protection, however its extremely useless. Why? Let me try to elaborate on that. What happens when you keep applying increasing pressure on nutshell? The shell eventually cracks - its exactly the same thing that happens with the spawn-area when the opposing team keep attacking spawn, eventually you won’t be able to efficiently spawn/recuberate and fend off the attackers, which changes it into spawn-camping-rape-zone. This basically denies the attacking team from doing the objectives. The root of the problem isn’t teambalance alone, but poor map design in regards to spawn-area and spawn exits. Because as it is right now, the defending team’s BEST and MOST VIABLE strategy is to lock down the attackers spawnzone - which is why it happens so much and becomes a problem - it happens because you’ve made it possible through map design and extremely lacking spawnprotection.
This right here defines whether this game’s emphasis is on FAIR PLAY or HARDCORE PLAY - by keeping it this way, you choose its emphasis to be HARDCORE PLAY.
Yes it usually doesn’t take long for the servers to fill, however at this point especially if its stopwatch the damage caused by this can be irreparable and make the game a lost one for team that had the unfavourable team conditions. When low server count, consider migrating them to an ongoing server with the same map. In regards to vote-restarting, it’s not something I have had any luck with as of yet.
Having the option to self-revive gives tactical choices as well. But if you’re not going to implement this, then consider implementing the possibility to still attack with sidearm and be able to move at prone speed. This will make you a threat even if you’re downed, and having the option to crawl to safety.
Players shouldn’t be able to travel through the opposing team’s spawnzone, they should’nt even be able to access it when it’s the active spawnzone for the opposing team - this is one of the major reasons why spawnattacking is the BEST VIABLE strategy, because you can easily access the opposing team’s spawnzone and begin to wreak havoc. I hope you realize the objectives for defending team becomes - attack the attacking team’s spawnzone so they don’t have to worry about the attacking team pushing the objectives. And you want the game to be around doing the objectives, then make the game so that it becomes this way - it isn’t this way now. It sounds like its your concept with this aspect that is at fault here. Making spawnzones accessible to opponent teams creates the option to spawnattack, which shouldn’t be possible. If you want it accessible during active spawnzones then you need to make several active spawnzones to spawnfrom, that will lessen spawnattack/camping/raping. Though I wouldn’t recommend spawnzones to be accessible while its the main spawnzone, nor should it be possible to see the players spawning. Spawn-exits should be accessible but hard to hold.
[QUOTE=shoe.;550495]4. It’s interesting you raise these Mercs abilities as being too strong. Kira doesn’t really get talked about a lot as you can generally dodged the laser if you have good awareness. Phoenix is also considered to be the weakest of all the Medics. Stoker’s Molotov is very damaging, but it’s primary purpose is area denial, so if players could run through it, it would not be fulfilling its purpose. Phantom will be getting a re-work also to make him more team-orientated.
[/QUOTE]
Yes you can dodge the laser, but it’s insta-kill if you just touch it or get too close to it - which makes it perfect to deny objectives.
I find it weird that you consider Phoenix the weakest of all the medics, maybe in overall stats but certainly not ability wise. He’s the ONLY one that can self-revive, self-heal (aoe heal) and revive other mercs (just like any other medic). Being able to heal yourself and everyone around you each 10’th second (or something like that) WITHOUT having to deploy a station or medpack - is very powerful. The self-revive even if its circumstancial, is still a tactical advantage (that no other can use), very powerful if used correctly/timed correctly.
Stokers molotov ticks too friggin fast, two damage ticks and you’re down (unless you’re Rhino), you don’t have a chance to get out of it even you’re just touching its outer perimiter. It should tick a lot slower but a apply a DOT so it becomes very hazardous to enter - especially if the damage level of the DOT becomes higher for every second you stand in its affected area.
Increase the reloading time for her grenade launcher so it creates a window of opportunity, or make her grenades non refillable from ammostations as its not ordinary ammo, make it so that only ammo crates found in the map can refill her grenade launcher “ammo”.
Bushwhackers may seem fairly weak but actually it’s quite deadly - I’ve tried what suggest many times, and died from it, or been almost dead - which isn’t exactly ideal when having to fight a fight where you’re outnumbered and almost dead.
This is relative easy to make so that it won’t get out of proportions. Just make sure that grenades only can be replenished in a different way than regular ammo, say from a grenade-crate (with a limited supply) with a restock timer on it, which obviously will be an important crate to secure as gives a tactical advantage.
Sounds good, because it’s currently redundant.
This is good to know.
It may be that you feel you have a strong enough map-base for ranked play, but the game has some serious issues that really should be eliminated before ranked play, and these issues are also present in ranked play, especially the issues with spawn attacking. I’d recommend not opening up for ranked play until the final release of the game (1.0). I think it’s important to point out that in most casual games people tend not to communicate, even when some do not all will communicate, so even when some on the team want to play serious it’s not going to cut it if everyone isn’t putting in the effort to communicate. I agree there isn’t much you can do to get people to communicate when they don’t want to or can’t. However this why the game should’ve been made in a way so that it shouldn’t be necessary. Also to mention, the maps are not balanced all that well (ties into poor map design). I don’t believe it will be fixed with a larger player pool as it’s not the root of the problems.
It doesn’t matter what merc is being played nor faced, it’s always a unique challenge, however that wasn’t my point about fairness - the point was in relation to the whole spawn-attack/-camp/-rape issue.
As mentioned earlier in this post, if you don’t fix the issues with the spawn-zones then you clearly emphasize the game to be hardcore rather than about fair play.
That is always a challenge. It’s also a challenge for the more inexperienced to play versus the more experienced ones, especially when the level difference is huge. Which is something I see very often in casual play/public matches, that higher level flock to the higher level player when they can, creating an even higher imbalance. This can be avoided by removing the function to change teams other than to shuffle by skill, which most likely isn’t going to happen if and when you call for a vote because of huge level differences
.
No worries, I’m glad that you take do take feedback seriously afterall.
A few things I would like to suggest that you improve as soon as possible - The reporting function. It’s severely lacking. You don’t have enough options available and just to mention a few;
Offensive Language
Bad Sportsmanship
Griefing
Harassment
Spawnkilling (won’t be needed if you fix those above mentioned issues)
Exploiting bugs/issues
I also wonder what happens with all the reports, how seriously they’re handled, what sort of punishment will you enact?
Vote-kick function should be removed as its being abused, because I often see people trying to kick people for being “afk” even when they’re not but typing something to their team. Or they try to kick a player that’s trying to encourage fair play where players on the other team are acting troll-like or have a very malignant attitude towards the player, what happens, the other team encourages his/her team to kick the player, which sometimes happens. Even seen it happen where they vote-kicked the player when he/she was assigned to their team, just because they disliked the player. A possible solution to this could be that the vote-kicking function is removed, but the system can still kick for various reasons.
Kira’s laser is much, much easier to dodge compared to earlier iterations. She is at a perfect spot meow. The laser is used to annihilate mercs, but lackluster at EV objectives. She’s extremely viable on some maps, but less so on others. That’s how they want balance to be, map to map basis to switch up strategies.
Phoenix is considered the weakest due to not being able to consistently top up teams after engagements; he’s only good for pushes. He is much more fragile than sawbonez since he can’t survive explosives as well, and he doesn’t have the ranged revive of sparks and can’t bunker down as well as Aura. He’s an offensive niche.
(which actually … was worth it)