Originally Posted by Kerrec
As pointless as this is probably going to be, I'll give a shot at explaining why I don't like Lattice so much. However, before I begin, let me point out some fallacies:
Backcpas and Ghostcaps: At launch, this was impossible with Hex. We had a dynamic capture timer that was a function of quantity of adjacent friendly territories and quantity of allies in proximity of capture points. This dynamic was vilified by PS1 veterans because they wanted PS2 to be like PS1, which meant looking at a map and knowing EXACTLY how much time a base would take before it was lost.
I guess these people wanted to time their attacks to defend a base at the last possible second to get that epic "just in time" feeling. As far as I was concerned, if a base was being attacked, getting there ASAP was the order of the day, not waiting until the last minute.
That being said, the PS1 mechanic demands won out and 2 things happened: The friendly territory adjacency effect was removed and the requirement to have allies near capture points were removed. That broke Hex badly, introducing "ghostcaps", IE: flipping a point and leaving, letting the base flip on its own. BAD.
It also encouraged back-capping because every base type captures at the same speed. Have 48 people flip a base at the same time as ONE enemy flipped a base behind you, and both bases get captured in the same amount of time meaning 1 lone wolf = an infinitely large force one hex over. In other words, you could cap one base with 12 people or cap 12 bases with 12 people in the same amount of time. Well, duh? What are you going to do? Breaking Hex this way was DUMB.
With the original Hex with adjacency effect, an enemy backcapping would have very little adjacency and flipping a base would take a LONG TIME. So it was possible to push the front line forwards with superior forces and once all adjacency was removed, then go back, flip the attempted backcap which took way too long to be successful, and voila! Your front line moved forward and the attempted backcapping base was no longer in danger.
So don't come to these forums and say that we had 6 months of Hex fixes to try and get it working because we did NOT. We got 6 months of Hex wrecking and no fixes that made any sense.
That being said, Lattice fixed Ghostcapping and Backcapping? NOPE. So overall, saying that is a stupid argument. You can still flip a point and walk away, letting a base continue to flip on its own. IE: ghostcapping. You can also backcap just fine. In fact, in Lattice, it is WORSE. You absolutely MUST have someone sit on the base while everyone else goes and attacks the next base in the line. Otherwise, some lonewolf will flip the point behind your force and prevent you from flipping any points at the next base. With large zergs, this is not so much an issue as there will always be someone spawning at the base left behind. For smaller "squad vs. squad" fights, having to travel all the way back to the base you already secured to flip a ghostcap so you can then return to the next base in the line and hope to flip it before some retard cloaker or lone wolf flips the base behind you again is nothing but aggravation. At least with hex, if someone was backcapping, you could keep your forward momentum and actually flip a point.
Anyway, I've already written too much and have still to get to what I really want to say. Which is,
With Lattice, numbers rule, period. If you are facing 2:1 odds (66% enemy) or worse, it's a matter of time before you start being pushed back. Nothing will stop their momentum other than gaining reinforcement to even things out. Once you start to get near 2:1 odds (55%+) then things will change in your favor. And there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that you can do.
With the original Hex, you could force a superior force to split up by attacking adjacent hexes. If they refused to budge, you just went around them, which is what tended to happen. Not the fault of the numericaly inferior attacking force. Completely the fault of the numerically superior defending force that didn't want to do anything other than sit on some particularly defensible position. A numericaly superior defending force that spread out didn't have problems losing territory. And the closer they came to warpgating their enemies, the larger the battles became.
Now that is gone. I look at the map. If we are facing 1:2 odds or worse, I know there's no point defending a base. I look for places to farm and retreat. If I am with my outfit, we make our fun by seeing how long we can last where we choose to stand. But that is poor gameplay at a metagame scale.
PS2 gameplay with Lattice = 1.5:1 odds or better, you make progress. 1:1.5 odds or worse, you lose progress.
There's just nothing more than that to PS2 lattice.
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2013-08-20, 02:30 AM
Don't feed the trolls, unless it's funny to do so...
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