Higby on XP Changes

[typhaon]

I asked Higby on Twitter and got no answer.

What is farming? What am I supposed to do when I attack a base... stop killing the enemy?

I can understand situations where attackers surround a point then seem to intentionally not cap it... but I find those situations few and far in between. AND the people being farmed definitely deserved some of the blame... there is no reason to keep spawning when you realize the battle is over.

It might've been just a bad run of luck... but I mentioned how the XP changes seem to be negatively impacting my cert generation -- and immediately I'm told that I'm somehow doing it wrong... not playing right.

I went to an amp station and attacked with a group. We took down generators, tried to keep them down... I tried to kill every enemy I saw first... and shot back at everyone that shot at me first. What should I be doing differently?

Like I said.. maybe it was just a run of bad luck - but I think the XP changes are going to impact people that fight a lot... vs. people that repair/heal/drop ammo.

[Assist]

Seems to me so far the XP changes were a nerf to XP gain

[Chewy]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Less than is not the same as equals to. A KD of 1 means that, mathematically, you are farming as much as you are being farmed. Which is to say, not at all on either count.

I don't care if you call yourself a support player. I don't care if you don't like how I play (which is HA whenever I can, and HE/HEAT lightning whenever I can't). I have more defends than attacks because sitting around waiting for the cap to go through bores me to tears, and attacking is 10x easier than defending.

But that doesn't matter. At the end of the day, I'm putting down ten guys for every death and the only reason I'm doing that is because this game has incredibly exploitative design. You should be asking me why that is and how it could be fixed, rather than assuming that my playstyle is any less viable than yours.

(Note- I haven't played the new patch and see the changes yet so my thoughts might change after doing so)

I never said your playstyle is of less value, I was talking about your views on having a low KDR only. The fact that I can't stand sitting and farming the same base all day doesn't mean that your style less viable. On the other hand I think that being able to lock down a place is a great thing if those doing it can put it to use for their faction.

Your points on having a KDR under 1 as being farm isn't 100% true. You're only thinking of the idiots that run out of a spawn room time after time when it's fully locked down by attackers. What about the medics that run across open fields to rez a group that just got taken out by a grenade or lucky tank? What about the engies that keep your armor lines in top shape in the heat of battle at the risk of getting ran over and taking enemy splash damage? Does it make them farm feeders for having a low KDR?

I agree that bases need work to help defenders (again haven't play the new patch). But we NEED a better stat sheet to see just what a person can do and how they do it. Even the in game stats are crap at telling how a person plays. The way you said that a player with a lower than 1 KDR is purely being farmed and should act "in the spirit of rational self interest" sounds like you're calling the shit players and should be ashamed to be so. When in fact that they could be the ones that keep everyone alive and maybe even be what decides the outcome of entire battles.

KDR alone means NOTHING in a game like PS2. It takes a combo of so many stats to tell how a player plays and what kind of person they are. We just can't have access to those stats yet. It leads to assuming and everyone being an ass for it.

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by Chewy

Your points on having a KDR under 1 as being farm isn't 100% true. You're only thinking of the idiots that run out of a spawn room time after time when it's fully locked down by attackers. What about the medics that run across open fields to rez a group that just got taken out by a grenade or lucky tank? What about the engies that keep your armor lines in top shape in the heat of battle at the risk of getting ran over and taking enemy splash damage? Does it make them farm feeders for having a low KDR?

I agree that bases need work to help defenders (again haven't play the new patch). But we NEED a better stat sheet to see just what a person can do and how they do it. Even the in game stats are crap at telling how a person plays. The way you said that a player with a lower than 1 KDR is purely being farmed and should act "in the spirit of rational self interest" sounds like you're calling the shit players and should be ashamed to be so. When in fact that they could be the ones that keep everyone alive and maybe even be what decides the outcome of entire battles.

I edited out the parts I agree with.

Let's talk about medics. The medic's first priority should be to clear the area before reviving. Reviving a player into the firing lane of an enemy is irresponsible, counterproductive, and good only for padding the medic's exp and the attackers KDR. Trust me, too many of my kills are from bad medics who decide to revive their friends into my fire. On a similar note, losing your life to revive someone else into enemy fire is the worst thing in the world. You've not only contributed nothing to the fight (1 life for 1 death), you've put that life in a highly compromised position. Not good.

Engineers? Every tanker is also an engineer, and therefore capable of repairing their own vehicle. Engineers on the ground only limit where I can go for fear of tking them, as they are rarely capable of keeping up with my tank. They should be in a tank supporting mine, and should repair me only if it's safe and their vehicle is close and not in danger.

Being a support player does not excuse them from playing intelligently and preserving their own life. 1 smart medic who can kill and keep himself alive to rez entire squads is worth more than 10 dumb ones who suicide themselves on the bodies of worthless teammates, and no engineer should be without his vehicle in a field battle. Simple as that.

EDIT: One more thought; being bad at a videogame is not shameful. Most players will never have the time or the frames to compete with those that do. And that's fine, but they should not assume that they are perfect players just because they like to heal things.