Why K:D, Deaths, streaks and other stats are bad, and how PS2 can evolve the genre

[Raymac]

Plus K: D ratio is such a ubiquitous tracking stat that it is now as common as ammo. It's a standard feature at this point. I do like the idea of tracking other stats as well and letting the community give more weight to those other stats.

[VioletZero]

Just track a variety of stats. Kills and deaths is okay just as long as it isn't the main focus like in other shooters.

But no killstreaks pls.

[ArmedZealot]

Originally Posted by ThGlump

How? All i saw was promoting statwhoring so far (stats, annoying streaks popups,...). Nothing that promote cooperation was shown.

How about having a persistent universe tied to group goals of taking over bases and objectives to make it easier for others to do so? Or you know.... what makes Planetside.

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by ThGlump

How? All i saw was promoting statwhoring so far (stats, annoying streaks popups,...). Nothing that promote cooperation was shown.

You played PS1 right? You know how good teamwork wins the day over a group of individuals just farming kills? That is the soul of Planetside and tracking K: D didn't kill it in PS1 and so it won't in PS2.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by VanuMAXGuy

I like K : D. It shows that I'm a better combatant and actually providing for my empire. You're not going to get anywhere without kills.

Score tells you you are providing for your empire. Kills generate score, so if that's what you're good at, great.

I never claimed kills were not necessary, nor did I say they were not important. Capturing objectives is rarely possible without killing the enemy more efficiently than they are killing you. Kills are inevitable. And they generate score. In order to take territory you will have to kill. Kills award score. Thus, by contributing your score goes up.

Score is beautiful like that.

Deaths are naturally counter productive to score. Respawning at a base or dying means you aren't generating more score. So by being efficient and not dying you are indirectly improving your score.

Score remains the most important stat.

[Bags]

Just use your superior teamwork to stomp statwhorers~

[Hamma]

+25 Ownage points for Malorn. Agreed with through and through.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by Raymac

Plus K: D ratio is such a ubiquitous tracking stat that it is now as common as ammo. It's a standard feature at this point. I do like the idea of tracking other stats as well and letting the community give more weight to those other stats.

Just because its always been done does not mean its a good idea.

MMORPGs used to have long xp grinds and people expected this. They even had xp loss on death. Modern MMORPGs have evolved and moved away from these things. This is no different. Just because they've done it and it is expected does not mean it is a good feature.

[MrBloodworth]

Team work and Goals need to be king in this game. Its Planetside, a war game. Session based thinking and design is about soloists playing alone, with others. Every design point is to remove the reliance on another. This has creeped into the current design of PS2.


Emphasis needs to be placed on Team objectives, not the individual.


I am personally saddened by PS2's erosion of the team play design that made PS1 awesome.


.

[VioletZero]

Originally Posted by Malorn

Score tells you you are providing for your empire. Kills generate score, so if that's what you're good at, great.

I never claimed kills were not necessary, nor did I say they were not important. Capturing objectives is rarely possible without killing the enemy more efficiently than they are killing you. Kills are inevitable. And they generate score. In order to take territory you will have to kill. Kills award score. Thus, by contributing your score goes up.

Score is beautiful like that.

Deaths are naturally counter productive to score. Respawning at a base or dying means you aren't generating more score. So by being efficient and not dying you are indirectly improving your score.

Score remains the most important stat.

That in itself will be unbalanced. There are some methods that will get more score than others despite not being as important.

While stats should definitely be available as a tool, it shouldn't be a focus. And at the end of the day, it really should come down to whether or not you own the territory you're standing on.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by Synapses

Honestly it was TL;DR man. Try to put a summary at the bottom?

The TL;DR was the title. If you want to know "why" you'll just have to work through my wall of text. Sorry. It's a complex issue, and it is not within my power to make a compelling argument within the confines of a tweet.

Well I could summarize it to "Just because other games have it doesn't mean it's a good idea." But that in itself is a bit too vague.

[SUBARU]

Originally Posted by Hamma

+25 Ownage points for Malorn. Agreed with through and through.

Agreed

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by VioletZero

That in itself will be unbalanced. There are some methods that will get more score than others despite not being as important.

The awesome thing about score is that it can be tweaked and is not a singular data point.

If something is important but not properly weighted by score then its a bug. And it can be fixed.

[ArmedZealot]

How do you prevent exploitation?

What keeps me from picking up and dropping of the same squad from a galaxy over and over again to farm to BR20 or whatever? What keeps some guy nading himself over and over again only to have a medic revive him over and over again?

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by ArmedZealot

How do you prevent exploitation?

What keeps me from picking up and dropping of the same squad from a galaxy over and over again to farm to BR20 or whatever? What keeps some guy nading himself over and over again only to have a medic revive him over and over again?

Diminishing returns.