Simple Suggestion Regarding Public Play...

(PixelTwitch) #21

Well usage stats and meta will decide what is valid obviously…

a 5 stoker attack on EV section is a combo, however, 4 stokers and a Engineer would likely be considered more valid…

Basically, giving unlimited access (even if only 3 Mercs per player) means you are able to run with the BEST combo on each objective on each side.

On white chapel a 5 man team on defense can run 4x Skyhammer + 1x Medic on the EV objective and then switch to 3x Sawbones/Phoenix + 1x Stoker + 1x Random Merc. Then when sides switch they are able to go 1x Proxy/Bushwhacker + 2x Medic + 2x Fagger/Thunder. Because you can take the best (or what is considered best in the current meta) at each point the number of valid combos is actually reduced. The meta becomes set for long periods of time and the game starts to feel like you are doing the same thing over and over again…

When you compare that to a Draft mode where each team picks 5 Mercs that they use on BOTH sides you end up with more interesting combos being used. This is only increased once more Mercs are added and pick and bans are added. Because all of a sudden you need to make the choice between 2 Medic on the last defence objectives or 3 FO on the EV section. You know you are likely going to need to take a Engineer… Or do you? Where do you fit a Fragger or Thunder into the mix? Do you sacrifice a FO for one or maybe even a medic?

(tokamak) #22

[QUOTE=PixelTwitch;515963]Well usage stats and meta will decide what is valid obviously…

a 5 stoker attack on EV section is a combo, however, 4 stokers and a Engineer would likely be considered more valid…[/QUOTE]
Even if there was an objective way to say which teams are valid and which teams are not. Why should it be impossible to play with invalid or less valid teams? It just surprises me that this is coming from the guy who repeatedly posted the ‘perfect imbalance’ video. That video underlines the importance of players being able to explore the meta-game and come up with their own solutions. Why the sudden switch towards suppression?

When you compare that to a Draft mode where each team picks 5 Mercs that they use on BOTH sides you end up with more interesting combos being used. This is only increased once more Mercs are added and pick and bans are added. Because all of a sudden you need to make the choice between 2 Medic on the last defence objectives or 3 FO on the EV section. You know you are likely going to need to take a Engineer… Or do you? Where do you fit a Fragger or Thunder into the mix? Do you sacrifice a FO for one or maybe even a medic?

I agree with that the a large part of the tactical gameplay should be about playing the cards you were dealt rather than getting yourself a new hand. The skill involved with finding a merc that is better suited for the situation is as trivial as rock, paper, scissors.

This is why I favour the 1 merc limit. I don’t think players should be able to freely swap in-game. Other similar games (WoT, LoL, R6 and TF2 Arena) do it and it works fine.

Another means to solve this would be in-match progress per merc, this would reward the players that (quite literally) stick to their guns. Swapping to one of your other mercs should only be ‘valid’ as a last resort as it comes with forfeiting the merc you’ve ‘grown’ since the start.

Forcing a team-wide balance however, that’s just crude and demolishes a lot of interesting potential scenarios.

(xdc) #23

It is too early in development to determine a max limit to mercs that should be used (they just recently changed gunplay, and movement again). We haven’t heard anyone complaining about a certain combo being used that is overpowered. And I haven’t seen a full team of stokers yet, but, I would love to see it, hence why, no. The leveling and card system actually helps prevent this (players want to try new cards and classes) in pub

(Violator) #24

As an actual pub player, I go for creativity over rigidity. I can understand the current frustration with facing 4 naders endlessly spamming which would ruin a comp match and needs to be restricted there, but we’re talking pub here (for a change)? The current frustration is a lot due to the number of comp players being ‘forced’ to play pub due to the small playerbase.

The draft mode sounds interesting, but again sounds more suited to comp play.

(tokamak) #25

I want to see a rhino stampede. If only just once.

(Mustang) #26

We do them all the time, feel free to come join in.