K/D and Objective Based Games

[Policenaut]

Many FPS players view K:D as a testament to their "skill" or whatever you want to call it. Do you think those same players would hold off on charging a point to protect their K:D? Do you think kill:death ratio is going to have an adverse effect on gameplay that's largely based around taking objectives? Why or why not?

[Zalmoxis]

Let the kids worry about their K/D if you don't care about it. And if there would be no K/D ratio, it would turn off a lot of players from the game and there would be a lot of whining.

Plus, they're just mere stats, they don't speak for the player. I'd rather focus on gameplay aspects than stuff like this to be honest.

[Whip Nailed it]

anyone can pad a k/d


it has no bearing on a game of this scope

8v8 yes it will because every player matters(depends on gamemode)

but with 2000 players an individuals stats mean bugger all

[Winfernal]

I believe that defining "skill" is up to the player himself to decide. It's all relative. Some people enjoys protecting their k/d, some people don't. And having the option of doing what YOU find fun, is important to keep the sense of "freedom" in this game.

I don't really care myself. If someone is protecting their k/d, while doing a good job in supporting their empire, i'd say its perfectly fine. Even if you're standing still, sniping people 700 metres away from the AO. Remember, this can also help turning the tide of the battle.

And yes, i'm against padding.

[maddoggg]

I am against K/D beeing a public stat in FPS games,simply because the majority of players play ONLY for stats which doesnt make them better in any way,it even does the oposite.
I honestly miss the times when there were no K/D tracking in games and when people werent obsesed about it,they focused more on teamwork,objective play and getting better.

[Pella]

Allot of players play style revolves around there K/D. Its a personal benchmark.

Playing PS1, If my K/D isn't 3/1 i know i'm having a bad day. Its Catch 22 situation how ever you look at it.

Play to win. If that's killing or objectives as long as your reach that win your a happy gamer.

And these days your judged by stats simple as that.

[Sabot]

oh.. I voted no before reading the post. Dude, the poll and your question is not the same thing. ^^

Having a K/D ratio wont ruin anything. Promoting stat padding your K/D probably will to some degree.

[infected]

good players will play the objective. and, naturally do well in the k/d department thanks to teamwork as well as personal skill.

bad players who try to protect their k/d in order to be perceived as good.. which likely means not putting themselves in harm's way (playing the objective). people who do this are only fooling themselves, as they aren't fooling good players. playing the objective means everything to good players.

k/d isn't the only stat that is affected by this trend. stuff like weapon accuracy - i could care less about. i'd rather throw bullets down range in terms of suppression and throw my accuracy stat out the window.

suppression is a serious topic i think needs discussed in ps2. i haven't seen this feature in ps2 and i think it deserves to be there, as it is a form of support and team play. bf3 did well by implementing it.

[Whip Nailed it]

the k/d stat should be private

look at battlelog, it's basically a stats site and because it's on show for everyone a huge chunk of ppl only play for stats

in fact all stats should be private

[infected]

as for the poll, i vote no, because bad players will remain bad. and people who want to protect their vanity (stats viewed only by themselves) will do so regardless. good players will still dominate.

at least this game will have voip, where you can call people out. in bf3, w/o voip you could never help a new player play smarter, and you could never call out bads for ignoring the obj. ps2 shouldn't have this problem to such a degree.

[Baneblade]

I know it will, because it always has before.

[Trafalgar]

You can use your K/D ratio and accuracy with different weapons to see which ones you're better with, and if you can see what weapons and attachments other people are using and their K/D ratios and accuracies, use that data to improve your own performance by using what you're better at instead of what you're bad at, or trying new things that work well for other players to see if they also work well for you. (Of course you may already have some idea what you're good with and bad with, to some degree, but stats from a game tend to be finer than my own senses, at least)

So it's not necessarily a bad thing unless you get completely obsessive about it.

Of course, focusing on k/d rather than objectives is pointless. You could bomb an enemy base all day long for tons of kills if nobody is bothering to shoot you down, but if no friendlies are trying to take the base it doesn't do your team any good (unless your targets are using resources up trying to make vehicles or airplanes, and you're destroying them).

[Otleaz]

I would agree with you if this was actual conquest like the first one and not a gimmicky unending war. Unfortunately it is a gimmicky unending war, so you only have stats to show for what you have accomplished.

[Furber]

K/D ratio often discourages people from risky behavior, which can mean people will be hesitant to make a move that could involve them dying in an attempt to help their faction gain victory. Some people seem to live by the K/D, but I couldn't care less about my K/D. If it ends up good at the end of the day, then I'm pleased, otherwise I ignore it. If you're playing support, then I doubt you give a rat's ass about KD, it's meaningless to them.

[BigBossMonkey]

I like my K/D because if my team is doing awful at least I will feel like I accomplished a little bit by killing as many enemies as I possibly could trying to push the front lines.

But if my team is doing well, my K/D is less important to me and my Assists counter becomes the most important as I will be running supply ops like setting up spawn points, deployables, etc.

To me K/D is depending on the situation I'm in for how important it is to me.