Why we REALLY need playerbase growth

[sambasti]

QUOTE (quackdamnyou @ May 16 2011, 12:49 AM) I think the answer is goodwill.

This. For everything. It's the reason I wanted to go to ACE, rather then somewhere else. They were nicer. Quack in particular.

It does not just apply to newbies, it applys to comms, regular players, everything. People take this way to seriously. The reason I originally decided to take a break was that I had gotten bored of commanding games where I always had to take the same standard tech paths, and if I tried something new (whether it worked or not) I would just get mutinied. Once I decided to take a break, it was too easy to remember the asshats and decide not to try it again.

Call me weak, but it's my free time, and I can decide if I want to stress over a team and get yelled at, or simply do something else.

[Sealer]

QUOTE (Archangelus @ May 16 2011, 07:08 AM) Well then I believe we should also remove everyone´s skills since having them seems to have no importance. Lets just all play rammin asteroids.

This game was made to be more than a simpler shooter, if you cant grasp that, you are playing the wrong game. You should go try Freespace or something.

Or lookin for a brighter side, you can use xere´s core...build a buncha drones and use them to scout while you can delude the incompetent pilots that they are usefull flying aimless in ints podding drones(or play phoenix on DN and do the .same).

Ok, i'll go play freespace then. No i'll roll with l4d. Actually i did, and when i tried to get back, i found 5v5 in the old euro prime time and i figured out it's dead. You may think you are clever when you tell people to go play something else, but this game has so many $#@!ing issues that if people actually listen to you, you will be left with nothing. And allegiance is simpler than many claim it is.

[NightRychune]

you know that point in a terrible relationship where the people involved are like "THIS IS REALLY BAD WE NEED TO FIX THIS I DON'T KNOW HOW COME ON WE HAVE TO TRY" and just go around and around like that for a really long time until it finally snaps?

that's what this entire thread reminds me of

[Malicious Wraith]

Well now we all know who has relationship problems.

[MrChaos]

MrChaos' list of things to do

Suggestion: Implement the correct auto balance feature into the game
Champion: TigerEye
Reason: Commanders are hard to find because the good players stack, the legends in their own minds tend to be know-it-all bitchers, and many of the anti-stackers rank tends to skew the perception

Suggetion: Role back to R4 while fixnig the nut and bolts of the code
Champion: A current server owner with balls bigger then mine
Reason: With the release of R5 both my server and my various player based connections spread across the breadth of the US turned into lagging pieces of @#(! despite many compliants to the service provider and no less then four people working on a solution. Several more individuals, with more knowledge, have stepped forward to provide a server only to find the SAME issue. Time to accept the fact the issue is in the code/settings and not the hardware/ISP

Suggestion: Fiddle with ranks AND implement some kind of achievement system
Champion: Ranks=TigerEye given he coded it and Baker *poofed* Achievement System=TBD
Reason: With a ranking system based on skill rather then ass time in the seat AND no other recognizable achievement this leaves only game play experience as a reason to log in. It is human nature to want to achieve and why grind based games have an addictive quality. Make XBox style achievements, provide a way for everyone to see them, and twirl the knobs on the ranking system NOT throw it out.

I have read more stupidity on ranking systems then I care to remember from the don't have a $#@!ing clue to should have one. Mostly it is the assumption that you are so much smarter then me that you can see the answers.... I get it completely. Its been tenish years of "If we only did this then everything would be awesone". So take this with a grain of salt and I guess go back to hoping something amazing will happen like MS releasing the source code again.

MrChaos

Psssst yes the bolded bit was patented MrChaos ironic, sarcastic humor wrapped around some ouchy bits

edit for TogerEye: Champion is maybe specific to the auto industry. The champion is the one who watches over the project removing roadblocks, and providing guidance rather then sitting in one's underwear working wth a crazy Brit for 349934983948958953 hours coming up with a solution

[notjarvis]

First MrC

QUOTE (MrChaos @ May 16 2011, 10:50 AM) MrChaos' list of things to do

Suggestion: Implement the correct auto balance feature into the game
Champion: TigerEye
Reason: Commanders are hard to find because the good players stack, the legends in their own minds tend to be know-it-all bitchers, and many of the anti-stackers rank tends to skew the perception

Would be cool if the community had a working AB implemented that could be left on as standard. I totally agree.

QUOTE Suggetion: Role back to R4 while fixnig the nut and bolts of the code[/quote]
There is a bit of an elephant in the room with this that R4 brought a host of issues with people playing on newer graphics cards where they couldn't play at all. The implication was that fewer and fewer graphics cards would work with R4 and older versions of Allegiance as time passes (as the number of players unable to play with the Gfx issue in R4 was increasing).
R4 was keeping some people from playing, whether that was more or less than have issues with R5 I have no idea, but there would definitely be a cost with moving back.
Whether the cost of losing some of the people who can play now on R5 would be worth the improvement for people having issues with R5 who could play on R4. I honestly have no idea, but it wouldn't be simple question to answer.

QUOTE Suggestion: Fiddle with ranks AND implement some kind of achievement system
Champion: Ranks=TigerEye given he coded it and Baker *poofed* Achievement System=TBD
Reason: With a ranking system based on skill rather then ass time in the seat AND no other recognizable achievement this leaves only game play experience as a reason to log in. It is human nature to want to achieve and why grind based games have an addictive quality. Make XBox style achievements, provide a way for everyone to see them, and twirl the knobs on the ranking system NOT throw it out.

MrChaos[/quote]
Fully agree with this.
Some sort of achievement system would be awesome, someone would need to put some time in on how such a thing would be implemented (and no I don't mean "Achievements we could have" threads, I mean actual thought about implementation......

[notjarvis]

As for people saying "mentoring is the way forward etc." LANS is working on something along these lines for AFS.

If you want to help out feel free to PM me and offer your services.

As I've said before I'm always glad to have people who have time want to help out with training who come and offer.

[coopertronic]

What NJ and MR.C said. Best ideas yet.

Please roll back to R4. I won't have to play in windowed mode then.

AB should be fixed so stacker's are punished. A kb nerf would be interesting to see what effect it had on the game, maybe none but it's worth a try.

Maybe a kb nerf could be applied to int whores. As someone who enjoys flying the scout, I can't see the fascination of podding people in an int all the time. It's boring and samey.

Like I said; If you have 2 clueless comms playing then it's pretty much leaderless. It can be a challenge to try to win a game using only @#(! tech.

Int whoring doesen't win games.

[Icky]

QUOTE (coopertronic @ May 16 2011, 07:08 AM) AB should be fixed so stacker's are punished. A kb nerf would be interesting to see what effect it had on the game, maybe none but it's worth a try.

Maybe a kb nerf could be applied to int whores. As someone who enjoys flying the scout, I can't see the fascination of podding people in an int all the time. It's boring and samey.

Like I said; If you have 2 clueless comms playing then it's pretty much leaderless. It can be a challenge to try to win a game using only @#(! tech.

Int whoring doesen't win games.

Bear in mind people stack for a reason. Normally it's because the comm getting stacked against has a terrible reputation. I don't think you're going to encourage more people to play with that tactic. If my choices are "Fly for Megan_Fox or get punished" I'll go play something else. Also you need a reliable way to MEASURE the stack. For myself, I think AS is pretty accurate overall. Other people disagree. How will you determine which team is stacked without pissing off half the playerbase?

Good luck coding a nerf just for int whores! Let's discourage people from doing the thing that is arguably the mos consistently fun part of the game, dogfighting. That will surely attract and keep more players.

For me personally, the biggest deterrent to playing more right now is frustration. I realize the cyclical nature of this, but seeing low numbers online makes me not want to log in since I know out of the 15 people logged in, maybe 6 will be in a game and the rest will be AFK in NOAT. Chances for having a fun experience in a 3on3 are limited. It's more likely I will spend the game probing, nanning, backseating, and losing.

[pkk]

MrC wants the bandwidth patch removed, not a complete rollback. ;-)