10-10-2012, 07:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-10-2012, 09:19 PM by clickeverywhere.)
NickyJ has a good point, the majority of players wouldn't know anything about the direction of NI if it was only infrequently announced on IRC. I also understand that the devs want to encourage the use of the IRC channel, but restricting information to IRC does not a happy player-base make. In the history of NI, the devs have always had tight lips regarding updates and changes to the game. Even as a game admin, I only learn about new changes as they are announced in the patch thread. The best solution I can think of is to have a statement of intent from the devs several days before major changes are implemented.
I have not yet played the new Outskirts, FUS, or Mountain Pass yet, but there are still many maps (such as Mountain Outpost and Lake Town) that aren't too difficult to get far on. In my opinion, the pre-apocalypse versions of those maps seemed to serve only to diminish the need for teamwork (On Outskirts, you needed only 3 high level players out of a full server on normal to get to prince). Because of the influence of these maps, every one seems to now think that we should be able to kill prince without bringing deployable shields, barricades, and medic kits to aid the team. Having low tier players reach Prince should happen rarely, but it should be difficult, and they probably shouldn't be able to do it sitting around doing nothing to help.
Adding to this, players have gotten used to the idea of being able to defend an area with the shield-line tactic with only one player shielding. This is not a shield-line at all, this is a shield-point (get it? geometry jokes!). When maps become so easy that players begin tabbing out on hard mode waves 17-20, it is a problem. Idling is not a problem isolated to normal mode servers. Even in hard mode, players go idle when they could help slash or shoot projectiles at enemies, or heal the team with medic boxes. I do not have the solutions to these issues, and the devs probably don't as well, but the changes being made likely intend to address these issues.
I have not yet played the new Outskirts, FUS, or Mountain Pass yet, but there are still many maps (such as Mountain Outpost and Lake Town) that aren't too difficult to get far on. In my opinion, the pre-apocalypse versions of those maps seemed to serve only to diminish the need for teamwork (On Outskirts, you needed only 3 high level players out of a full server on normal to get to prince). Because of the influence of these maps, every one seems to now think that we should be able to kill prince without bringing deployable shields, barricades, and medic kits to aid the team. Having low tier players reach Prince should happen rarely, but it should be difficult, and they probably shouldn't be able to do it sitting around doing nothing to help.
Adding to this, players have gotten used to the idea of being able to defend an area with the shield-line tactic with only one player shielding. This is not a shield-line at all, this is a shield-point (get it? geometry jokes!). When maps become so easy that players begin tabbing out on hard mode waves 17-20, it is a problem. Idling is not a problem isolated to normal mode servers. Even in hard mode, players go idle when they could help slash or shoot projectiles at enemies, or heal the team with medic boxes. I do not have the solutions to these issues, and the devs probably don't as well, but the changes being made likely intend to address these issues.
ba da bing ba da BAN! -Hypernoma