Changes to Public Arena coming June 10th

[Fork]

The big weasel is much more of a surprise ship now with the ability to go cloaked and stealthed, speaks to part of the reason for those specific changes. It keeps everyone more on their toes (including LTs who must now choose between warping away quickly, or using X-radar) and makes it so small weasels can't just fly into the small holes of the flagroom and steal the flag without having to work for it.

Personally i dont think making the weasel big was a good decision:

1) It used to keep everyone on their toes when weasel was small because they could enter in the flagroom from top/bottom/ sides... More of a challenge to defend the base.

2) Using the weasel was the last resort of claiming the flag when a team is clearly losing. Many times when there is only 30 seconds left before game is over have i jumped in a weasel/ sneaked in flagroom and managed to claim the flag and kept the match going for ages (keeping the battle alive). <---Now it will be very hard to do + games will be shorter. 3) Having a smaller weasle "looks" better and gives it a much unique appearance over any other ship... (more attractive to look at for new players).

There we go.... if you want games to be shorter (when its one sided)... easier to defend base for these old players who have been playing for years (less challenge for them) and a weasel ship that will be rarely used then keep it as it is

[Fork]

And why can't i edit my posts anymore???

"Reply" "Reply With Quote" "Quote" ..... WHERES EDIT????

[Ricko]

honestly, the ESC A command zoner should be implemented asap.

pub squads were the only thing that kept me here. i played pub 2 years before i ever entered elim and i had no idea of it. i just kept trying for those 3:1, 4:1 and above scores in pub as a wb.

pub squads made things interesting. the best squad was at the top of the sonera site (public site for pubscores when zone was in finland and beyond) but you could check if it was based on flagscores, k/d ratio etc. me and many other were trying to get to join better and better squads based on that k:d or flagpoints thing and squads took notice, remember, this was before twd started. i played in those pracd arenas if anyone remembers them but that's skipping ahead.

This is exactly spot on with how I learned TW and became addicted; I spent 2 years in pub before I even knew other arenas really existed (except # arenas) and spent the whole time trying to get the best k:d ratio I could and spent so much time looking at the pub stats page. Pub squads used to recruit players based on their pub stats on that website so they'd have the best pub players on their squads. Being on pub squads was crucial to the game and the complete death of them has probably been a big factor in why alot of new players haven't stuck around for as long, because squads bring another dimension to the game.

[bkgmjo]

Pub squads would indeed keep a few more players attached, but this is something the playerbase has to handle. We cannot just go and force players on it and tell them to play in a team now (technically we cannot make them join a squad at all). As for ESC+A or ?arena, I will include this to staffer training and encourage letting new players know about it. The same goes for ?go events. Does anyone maybe have a near complete list of events you could play alone or with a friend? Talking about mazes, balance, art, tanks, deerhunt and the like.

[Viruk]

... Unless that kind of thinking changes and shifts more to a fair play in the spirit of the game idea, we cannot really do more than just fix one symptom after the other with a risk of making it another abusable exploit

But staff changed two major things at once (buys and weasels). Also they must have known that fixing one thing often breaks something else and that changing one bit usually changes the way all the related bits work too. It could take months after any change before things settle down as players get used to the new settings (and find the new exploits.)

I can only assume that no plan existed for what a weasel should be doing in a basing game and how these changes might affect the basing experience.

I suspect that without a well thought-out plan available to players who might be able to point out problems that may have been missed or underestimated (ideally on some forum that doesn't ignore linebreaks and allows the editing of posts) they had no hope of getting this old and dying game in fit shape to impress and retain many new Steam players by launch time. Time will tell.

... The weasel as it is now might not be the best possible choice, but from the feedback I collect there are a lot more players who like it more now. Still also those who oppose the changes. Thinking about how extreme players complained on other pub changes in the past though, the comparably very low numbers of complaints coming in now leads me to believe that the decision was right and should be kept.

• I have yet to notice any positive weasel feedback in pub chat.
• I recall a small number of very negative comments - often of the "WTF! I am going to quit" variety.
• On this thread I count only 3 posters (bkgmjo, the block, and Rab) commenting on the weasel changes specifically as positive vs 9 negative. (Although many are happy with other changes or things generally)
• It seemed that fewer people were playing weasel after the change. (Maybe they just never decloaked ).
• I have been Spocked! No change there.
• I still suck at playing weasel.
• I miss the satisfaction of sniping a small ship with a warbird bullet.
• I miss the option of bypassing the defenses of a stacked freq and fighting them for the flag singlehanded. (Unbalanced teams are far too common with small populations and they kill basing.)
• I miss the convenience of having a ship available that can move into and out of the base easily. (Those who often bought roofturrets to dislodge basing-killing LTs and shrappy roofers may miss it more.)
• I miss. A lot.
• I haven't seen any good, balanced basing games with stable teams since the change. (But it was pretty rare before too).
• I haven't seen the extra TKs I feared when defending flag against cloakers. (Not enough basing? Not enough Xs in FR? Not a big enough factor?)
• LTs still seem to kill small basing games a lot. (But small basing games also seem to die out through lack of interest a lot.)
• I don't miss the disruption caused by players regularly or repeatedly buying shields or epidemic. As a rare event it would have been fun.

[Wormhole Surfer]

Never underestimate the power of the "bitch ship"...the ship that exists to die for the pleasure of other players. But why would someone choose the bitch ship then?? Oh, because it has bombs with so much power that they destroy anything within a 100-tile radius of anything it hits.

Requirements to be a true bitch ship:

• slow speed/thrust
• extremely slow rotation
• no portals
• no guns
• no repels
• no portals
• no rockets
• "bomb safety" toggled on (you can't shoot bombs if an enemy ship is too close to you)

As I've said before, this is what Leviathon was like in 2000. If you want to make being the "bitch ship" more enticing... give the bitch ship L4 bombs. Yes--drop a few powerballs on the map and configure the settings so only levs can pick up powerballs so their bomb level increases (with unlimited carry time).

I know, this is a pipe dream...but it's too much fun!

L4 SUPER NUKES FTW!!

[forwards]

Never underestimate the power of the "bitch ship"...the ship that exists to die for the pleasure of other players. But why would someone choose the bitch ship then?? Oh, because it has bombs with so much power that they destroy anything within a 100-tile radius of anything it hits.

Requirements to be a true bitch ship:

• slow speed/thrust
• extremely slow rotation
• no portals
• no guns
• no repels
• no portals
• no rockets
• "bomb safety" toggled on (you can't shoot bombs if an enemy ship is too close to you)

As I've said before, this is what Leviathon was like in 2000. If you want to make being the "bitch ship" more enticing... give the bitch ship L4 bombs. Yes--drop a few powerballs on the map and configure the settings so only levs can pick up powerballs so their bomb level increases (with unlimited carry time).

I know, this is a pipe dream...but it's too much fun!

L4 SUPER NUKES FTW!!

Twice as 0 portals as any other feature! Love it.

[Fork]

But staff changed two major things at once (buys and weasels). Also they must have known that fixing one thing often breaks something else and that changing one bit usually changes the way all the related bits work too. It could take months after any change before things settle down as players get used to the new settings (and find the new exploits.)

I can only assume that no plan existed for what a weasel should be doing in a basing game and how these changes might affect the basing experience.

I suspect that without a well thought-out plan available to players who might be able to point out problems that may have been missed or underestimated (ideally on some forum that doesn't ignore linebreaks and allows the editing of posts) they had no hope of getting this old and dying game in fit shape to impress and retain many new Steam players by launch time. Time will tell.

• I have yet to notice any positive weasel feedback in pub chat.
• I recall a small number of very negative comments - often of the "WTF! I am going to quit" variety.
• On this thread I count only 3 posters (bkgmjo, the block, and Rab) commenting on the weasel changes specifically as positive vs 9 negative. (Although many are happy with other changes or things generally)
• It seemed that fewer people were playing weasel after the change. (Maybe they just never decloaked ).
• I have been Spocked! No change there.
• I still suck at playing weasel.
• I miss the satisfaction of sniping a small ship with a warbird bullet.
• I miss the option of bypassing the defenses of a stacked freq and fighting them for the flag singlehanded. (Unbalanced teams are far too common with small populations and they kill basing.)
• I miss the convenience of having a ship available that can move into and out of the base easily. (Those who often bought roofturrets to dislodge basing-killing LTs and shrappy roofers may miss it more.)
• I miss. A lot.
• I haven't seen any good, balanced basing games with stable teams since the change. (But it was pretty rare before too).
• I haven't seen the extra TKs I feared when defending flag against cloakers. (Not enough basing? Not enough Xs in FR? Not a big enough factor?)
• LTs still seem to kill small basing games a lot. (But small basing games also seem to die out through lack of interest a lot.)
• I don't miss the disruption caused by players regularly or repeatedly buying shields or epidemic. As a rare event it would have been fun.

They should poll out if everyone prefers the weasle being large because I suspect a majority of people wont...

[Fork]

Never underestimate the power of the "bitch ship"...the ship that exists to die for the pleasure of other players. But why would someone choose the bitch ship then?? Oh, because it has bombs with so much power that they destroy anything within a 100-tile radius of anything it hits.

Requirements to be a true bitch ship:

• slow speed/thrust
• extremely slow rotation
• no portals
• no guns
• no repels
• no portals
• no rockets
• "bomb safety" toggled on (you can't shoot bombs if an enemy ship is too close to you)

As I've said before, this is what Leviathon was like in 2000. If you want to make being the "bitch ship" more enticing... give the bitch ship L4 bombs. Yes--drop a few powerballs on the map and configure the settings so only levs can pick up powerballs so their bomb level increases (with unlimited carry time).

I know, this is a pipe dream...but it's too much fun!

L4 SUPER NUKES FTW!!

+if we used your map (with some slight tweeks) even I would play pub heh

[Rion.]

I'd like to point out that I actually think the buy changes were good overall and will be a positive change for the Steam launch, but I still condemn the weasel changes entirely.

• I have yet to notice any positive weasel feedback in pub chat.
• I recall a small number of very negative comments - often of the "WTF! I am going to quit" variety.
• On this thread I count only 3 posters (bkgmjo, the block, and Rab) commenting on the weasel changes specifically as positive vs 9 negative. (Although many are happy with other changes or things generally)
• It seemed that fewer people were playing weasel after the change. (Maybe they just never decloaked ).

This was a good post, thanks.

I don't like the "Fuck you guys I'm quitting" posts, so I didn't bother, but you're right - this change has caused me to quit the game. I've been checking here every now and then and logging on to see if they unfucked my ship yet, but to be honest I feel too bitter about the change to play the game now.

I do enjoy the other ships, but the way this change has been handled is just so frustrating. For me, the other ships are mostly fun in ?go base, or elim. I love pubbing in the small weasel.

?go base is dead, weasel is dead, no pull for me to play the game. I wish it were otherwise since I was so hyped about talking to new players and trying to hook them into the community, but with my favourite ship deleted that interest is gone.

[bkgmjo]

Just a summary of the previous posts. Please correct me if I misunderstood.
(block and me left out, as we are supposed to represent staff and the decisions made to give everyone a nice little hate target.)

Likes Big Weasel
Rab
wicket666

Wants small/unstealthed Weasel back
Jessup
Fork
bandcampgirl
Spock!
Rion.
evil brokkoli
big eater
c00l_boy

Likes Asteroid GFX change
Jessup
wicket666

Likes safety buy
Jessup
Wazzaaa.nl
Viruk
wicket666
big eater
Rion.

Dislikes safety buy
GET PSYCHO (? seems like he changed opinion, not sure)

[Frightful]

Just a summary of the previous posts. Please correct me if I misunderstood.
(block and me left out, as we are supposed to represent staff and the decisions made to give everyone a nice little hate target.)

Likes Big Weasel
Rab
wicket666

Wants small/unstealthed Weasel back
Jessup
Fork
bandcampgirl
Spock!
Rion.
evil brokkoli
big eater
c00l_boy

Likes Asteroid GFX change
Jessup
wicket666

Likes safety buy
Jessup
Wazzaaa.nl
Viruk
wicket666
big eater
Rion.
frightful



Dislikes safety buy
GET PSYCHO (? seems like he changed opinion, not sure)

Dislikes small weasel as a ship, but loves the changes because it makes spock! suffer
frightful

Dislikes staff
frightful
everyone else

Updated.

[bkgmjo]

You need to update again. I have seen Spock! happily cloaking ppl all day.

[Pressure]

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/subs.../1900-2533295/

This game had 150,000 players once?

[bkgmjo]

Good old times lol. We still have thousands, just not all active at the same time and by far not all playing every day. 150k seems a bit far fetched tho, probably the alias count or just a promo number.