Distension discussion

[2kill]

I am not arguing for it to be nerfed. I think it fair that if any ship should have a slight advantage it should be the most vital support ship in the game. But lets keep that advantage slight. Even if there is sometimes a shortage of terriers I don't think you will attract good, safe terrier players by making it more of a kill ship. Multi-bursting, rabidly attacking, suicide lamer terriers we can happily do without!

glad we agree as I was not advocating an increase in the terrs powers. rather maintaining the status quo

2kill

[RiiStar]

From my understanding the reason for not having it running 24/7 is that Qan/dug wanted an OP present when it ran in case it crashed and they could tell him when and perhaps why... and to help ppl who are playing or just started playing...

When he's happy with his overall product im sure it'll move more towards the 24/7 mark...

[Turban]

I honestly hope Distension will never be 24/7 -- I've seen a decrease in the turnouts of events and public arenas dying when Distension is running.

I don't want to see TW dying.

Having Distension run 3-5 hours Monday to Friday, 5-8 hours during Weekends sounds good for me.

Just my opinion. >.>

[Zek]

I can understand shutting down Distension to run hosted arenas, but it doesn't make sense for it to be down when nothing is being hosted. Distension being down should be the exception IMHO, turn it off for a couple hours when arenas are definitely being hosted and then turn it back on again.

[RiiStar]

I can understand shutting down Distension to run hosted arenas, but it doesn't make sense for it to be down when nothing is being hosted. Distension being down should be the exception IMHO, turn it off for a couple hours when arenas are definitely being hosted and then turn it back on again.

Problem is <ER>'s don't run on a schedule, this would work for the weekend/Wednesday events that ECT organize but the stuff that <ER>'s host on a whim aren't at set time or places... Some times its quiet hosting wise, others there's more activity...

If it was quiet and Distension is running then cool... but say an <ER> was goin to host an arena part way into or say 15mins after Distension is started when it was quite what happens then? Im sure the distension players would get pretty shitty if it was killed when something else where is hosted... :P

[Lizard Fuel]

Problem is <ER>'s don't run on a schedule, this would work for the weekend/Wednesday events that ECT organize but the stuff that <ER>'s host on a whim aren't at set time or places... Some times its quiet hosting wise, others there's more activity...

If it was quiet and Distension is running then cool... but say an <ER> was goin to host an arena part way into or say 15mins after Distension is started when it was quite what happens then? Im sure the distension players would get pretty shitty if it was killed when something else where is hosted... :P

You're not seeing a decrease in <ER> events because of distension, you are seeing a decrease in event population because the <ER>'s are retarded and fuck everything up. .?go bug would have 40+ people if Flibb or Chao was hosting it, but I haven't seen Charis get more than 8 people to an event yet, even during peak hours, when distension isn't even running, because he/she (shim) ruins everything "shim" touches. I don't see the logic is holding 50 people hostage in distension for 30 minutes, so Flion or Charis can host a shitty event for 6 people.

Face the reality that qan created an event that is new, fun and better than what the rest of the zone has to offer 99% of the time. Best part is that not even all the shitty new hires can fuck it up. Most of you will eventually see the light, the rest of you will lead lonely lives.

[Lucon]

Why's this distension baloney so popular?

Edit: Oh, and how do I get my personal favorite ship, the weasel?

[Zek]

Can we please make the goals less defendable? There is no incentive whatsoever to delay the ball's respawn by constantly blocking your goal, and yet you have whole teams hanging out inside the goal just to spite the other team. Even just opening a couple gaps in the wall to score from outside would help a lot.

[RiiStar]

You're not seeing a decrease in <ER> events because of distension, you are seeing a decrease in event population because the <ER>'s are retarded and fuck everything up. .?go bug would have 40+ people if Flibb or Chao was hosting it, but I haven't seen Charis get more than 8 people to an event yet, even during peak hours, when distension isn't even running, because he/she (shim) ruins everything "shim" touches. I don't see the logic is holding 50 people hostage in distension for 30 minutes, so Flion or Charis can host a shitty event for 6 people.

Face the reality that qan created an event that is new, fun and better than what the rest of the zone has to offer 99% of the time. Best part is that not even all the shitty new hires can fuck it up. Most of you will eventually see the light, the rest of you will lead lonely lives.

Why are you attacking me? When my point was Distension doesn't need to suffer every time an ER wants to host cos thats just stupid...

If it was quiet and Distension is running then cool... but say an <ER> was goin to host an arena part way into or say 15mins after Distension is started when it was quite what happens then? Im sure the distension players would get pretty shitty if it was killed when something else where is hosted... :P

Read what i said CAREFULLY....

I totally agree the level of hosting and events isn't as great as it used to be... Alass the <ER> horde recruited when this whole "staff reshuffle" just hasn't had the quality of training as the old...

[meddi]

I miss 50+ people in games of ?go journey, but since nothing awesome is ever hosted anymore distension will have to do.

I finally got re-addicted to it.

[Lizard Fuel]

Why are you attacking me? When my point was Distension doesn't need to suffer every time an ER wants to host cos thats just stupid...

Read what i said CAREFULLY....

I totally agree the level of hosting and events isn't as great as it used to be... Alass the <ER> horde recruited when this whole "staff reshuffle" just hasn't had the quality of training as the old...

I'm sorry. I was not trying to attack you. I was attacking the idiots that flirt with HMS and become as stupid as he is.

Back on topic: I've been on the winning and losing side of repeated blowouts. I'm also pretty positive that this has been mentioned several times prior to now, but something really needs to be done about it. There have been several instances just tonight where 1 team will win 10-12 games in a row, in less than 2 minutes, then continue to blowout the soccer game, only to repeat the process all over again, until eventually the tides change and the same thing happens again with reversed roles. After "X" amount of losses, an automated shuffle should occur, to keep the integrity of the game on track

[meddi]

I concur with Lizard Fuel. It can be incredibly frustrating how often quick wins/losses continue for a hour because of poor team balance. I propose that if a team wins a war with three CONSECUTIVE battles won the teams should be shuffled before the next war. This way it only takes a few (maximum 5, I suppose) annoying wins/losses for the teams to be switched up.

[Mjollnir]

There was some heated discussion about the Shark repel situation on the chat. A lot of stupidity ensued but I will try to reiterate some of the points. The repels used to be too strong in beta, so at some point they got nerfed a ton. Currently you can't repel Warbird bullets unless you are not moving or you are moving backwards. Even then, it is hard and often fails because of lag. Sharks have to move forward all the time to help with the flagging, so most Wb bullets get through your repels. The reason for the problem is probably the fact that, the weakened repels are no match for the relative speed of the bullet and your ship. The problem with the Warbird bullets is the most noticable but some of the other bullets/bombs have the same kind of impact. This post concentrates only on the Warbird bullets though. The post is going to be from a Shark's point of view since I have been playing one lately. The question is, should Shark repels be made strong enough to be able to properly repel Wb bullets?

Arguments AGAINST and FOR to follow.

AGAINST:
1) Some players (that mostly consist of Warbirds) feel that they should be able to shoot through repels, since they are used to it and they feel the game is already balanced perfectly. That is a pretty standard reaction and isn't really a valid point but here it is anyway. Defending your ship is fine but please try to validate your claims with logical arguments. It's also good to remember that, balancing a game like this is very hard and there is still much work to be done, even if it did go public already.

2) Warbirds are the counter ship for the Shark, so they should be able to kill them easily. See point 5. for the counter argument.

3) You just need to have the skills to repel the bullets in time. See point 6. and 8. for the counter arguments.

4) You can tank yellow bullets with a Shark, so it is not a problem. See point 8. for the counter argument.

FOR:
5) The ability to shoot through repels is overpowered. Even if the Wb is meant as a counter ship for the Shark, it doesn't have to be that strong. Levis and Weasels are a much more balanced match up.

6) It takes no skill to be able to shoot bullets through repels. The game should always be more about skill than anything else.

7) Repels are currently very weak in bigger flagroom battles because they don't really stop the bullets nowadays, they just slow them down a bit. This results in the Shark turning into a kamikaze ship that is unable to achieve its original purpose (and that makes it boring). Just rep-rep-rep-mine-mine-mine-die-attach and repeat. This point is a little hard to explain but I will try to explain it later if needed.

8) For those that think, it's all about timing or lag are not entirely wrong but are missing the point. Those two things factor in the problem but are not the source of it. It doesn't matter how well you time your repel when the bullet keeps coming, even after a successful repel. Tanking bullets doesn't solve the problem either, and Warbirds generally have the ability to one-shot-kill any Shark of the same level, due to getting blue bullets when Sharks start tanking yellows.

[Stabwound]

I also agree that teams should be auto-shuffled under specific circumstances. I, however, disagree that they should be shuffled just because a team wins three in a row, because the whole point is to win three more rounds than the other team. If you're down two rounds and then win three in a row, it shouldn't really shuffle them, because that team still needs to win two more rounds in order to win the war, and it's kinda dumb to change the teams all around in the middle of the war.

I think the bot should shuffle at the end of a war (which occurs when a team wins three more rounds than the other team) but ONLY if one of the team won three rounds in a row from the beginning of the war without the other team winning a single round OR if they won five rounds in a row (meaning they were one round away from defeat, but came back winning five rounds in a row to win the war). I think that would be a pretty good indicator that the teams are too unbalanced.

[Static Burn]

(DBot)>BURNT leaving hangars of PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF MISANTHROPY. Time played today: 23 min.

DBot> You are already in the queue; please wait patiently and you will be AUTOMATICALLY ADDED into the battle when a slot becomes available, or at the end of the round. You are #12 of 15 waiting.

Any possibility there could be multiple arenas of distension?