Whats gonna happen with NI?

[Sparhawk]

[quote author=MrGuarnere link=topic=6562.msg54853#msg54853 date=1349860088]
[quote author=Hande link=topic=6562.msg54844#msg54844 date=1349849676]
[quote author=NickyJ link=topic=6562.msg54819#msg54819 date=1349823907]
To be fair, how many people regularly visit IRC? (I know I don't.)

It is place where devs and ingame admins are. If you want to know stuff, you should join in.
[/quote]

This. If you want to be up to date with latest info on NI then join IRC. We post info on here once it has been done, on IRC you find out when we are doing it.
[/quote]
Perhaps, but that's assuming we all have the time to be logged into IRC most of the day to wait for bits of information to come out. I understand that if people aren't able to be around for those messages in IRC then that's their problem, but it's nothing to be surprised about when people then complain that they never heard anything about it.
[/quote]

That is why you leave it signed in and just check it whenever you have a minute.

[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.

[Gashy]

A more important issue than the next patch is the status of all of our old US East, West, and EU Normal + Hard servers

Over the past month there was been 1-5 servers online tops, which is sort of insufficient to sustain a community such as ours  :-\

[Toast]

i had a fun situation a few days ago when we loaded up swadian outskirts in hard mode after the map update, ran up to the usual royal shield chokepoint and discovered the beam blocking the area. thats when the fun started, players running around in groups, blocking and fighting in intense melee. that was one of the most fun situations i can remember, much more fun than blocking and slashing - which is essentially AI abuse

[Hande]

Small sneak peak for next map update.

Spoiler

[Image: mb59.jpg]

[NickyJ]

Thanks Hande!

[~CM~Dragz]

Thanks Hande!

[Benschie]

Very Classy  8)

[Revan]

Looking good, and the preview is much appreciated. 

[Bas]

Thanks Hande!