News: Update on new Hex Adjacency System via Higby

[Rolfski]

Well done devs.

Although I've no experience with the PS1 system, I can see how this new limited adjacency system with more predictability could potentially improve the overall battle-flow. I can still understand why they originally went with the current hex system though, predictability in the end is a double-edged sword that can potentially lead to repetitive game play.

What excites me most though is a public test server. This has a great potential for drastically improving the quality of the Game Updates. Just make sure that people don't play on test servers only all the time.

[Blynd]

Originally Posted by Gimpylung

This is a giant leap in the correct direction. Obviously it will need refinement but that's what the test server is for.

Well done Mallorn and the dozens and dozens of other voices that were begging for this kind of structure. Well done SOE for finally taking the advice on board.

This will bring vets and players jaded with the mindless free for all back to the game.

It will give small and medium sized Outfits a role.

only if they allow benefits to be cut from source - ie if there is a link from havar back to the sw WG and up to dakah then cutting a link between dakah and the tech plant wont effect much there has to be a gen or something that doesnt need you to have contol of the hex to be able to deny benefits

[Ruffdog]

Awesome. All of it.

Originally Posted by Sledgecrushr

God I love this. No more bouncing zerg with the changes to instant action. A more logical and easier to forecast movement by the enemy forces. Of course we are going to lose a lot of freedom, but in exchange I think the game will be a little bit more predictable and fun. Overall i think this lattice is a great idea.

Freedom is overrated citizen

[Gimpylung]

Originally Posted by Blynd

only if they allow benefits to be cut from source - ie if there is a link from havar back to the sw WG and up to dakah then cutting a link between dakah and the tech plant wont effect much there has to be a gen or something that doesnt need you to have contol of the hex to be able to deny benefits

Yeah, thats what I'm hoping for, seems like an obvious enhancement, hopefully its obvious to SOE now that Mallorn is in there.

[Fishy]

Great, also a test server!

[Baneblade]

I am cautiously optimistic.

[Takoita]

Test server is a good thing.

I'll be the odd one and disagree with proposed changes though. I'll quote myself from another thread:

###
No!

Bad, bad idea!

No offense meant to whoever decided on this concept, but do they even play the game?!

With such a system, every fight will degenerate to the state of Ti Alloys. PS2 cannot support such a meatgrinder now (and I'm not talking about the newest GU perfomance issues either). Drawing distance less than a room and fps no more than 15 - is that what you want?!

Ghost capping needs to die, but this is not the way to do it. Alter base capture mechanics instead, no need to reduce base connectivity.

Resource system (and especially its effects on cut off bases) needs to be rehauled before you can even suggest something even remotely limiting as this.

Base defence will not magically get better either. While all possible paths on an outpost from the spawnshack to the cap point can be camped by a score of MBT's and a couple of libs hanging above, none of this will help. HE nerfs won't either. Also, whoever decided that turrets are ok as they are, should get the turret duty during a major Zurvan Amp siege. The moment the fight gets bigger than 10v10, they get exponentially less useful. The only base people even bother with them is the Tech Plant; on all others engineers simply use them as a source of easy repair XP, nothing more.

In the picture shown above, any kind of flanking becomes impossible. Because when you try to advance on the second 'branch', guess what you will meet? The same meatgrinder you've just came from. All fights will stalemate until people get bored and leave.

Thankfully, we will get a chance to playtest it before release and you will see how bad this idea is.
###

[Assist]

Originally Posted by Malorn

Surprised nobody has mentioned the additional satellites on Saurva and Allatum yet...

Honestly not sure what you're referring to. Are you talking about the section on the south east side of Allatum that is sectioned off by the white lines? I assumed that was part of Snake Ravine influence, since I see no physical object/base there on the map.
For Saurva I assume you mean the section to the south of it, same situation as Allatum - I assume a structure of some sort will be placed there?

[Shamrock]

It looks good, moving in the right direction.

[bpostal]

Looks good, now to play with it!

[CraazyCanuck]

Optimistic. Reading this took the grrrr out of me after reading Higby's mine modification idea.

[Forsaken One]

They NEED to fix the bases BEFORE doing this.

I love tactical gameplay, but right now defending most bases is unfun, its a pain in the ass, and honestly its mostly just "How long can we hold out getting sprayed into a tincan of a spawnroom?"

Honestly one of the only bases where defending is fun or even worth a shit is Crown, everywhere else its just may as well fall back and join whereever is being attacked by the team.

The reason people don't defend is because its pointless. even if everyone had everything and certs didn't matter. It would still be pointless defending most bases.


If they do something like this now it will simply be anyone with a brain /still/ goes on the attack while the teams just "trade" attack lines.

[PoisonTaco]

I see where you're coming from Forsaken but I think it should happen at the same time on the testing server. As Higby points out that when it becomes easier to predict where the enemy will attack next, it's possible for some combat engineering. Since you know where the other side will move to next, you can set up minefields, you can get defensive turrets ready and you can position your squads accordingly. We've never really been able to do that in base defenses before. Right now when you go to defend a base, you're arriving to a base where the walls have already been breached.

I think the bases have a lot you can work with for defense, but it's impossible to defend ANYTHING without preparation. Hopefully we'll see some good tug-of-war action with this new change.

[OmegaPREDATOR]

Are you all kidding ?

This prototype connectivity is a joke !!!

You want something more predictable than we already have ? Just add 3 bridges form warpgates to the Crown "in order to ensure we're routing players into great fights and encouraging a better overall battle flow". Don't want to just have warpgates and the crown in the middle to go faster???

Come on! What is hard in these small maps to anticipate ennemies movement ? Especially Zergs who go straight.

I know lots of actual games have the same level of intellect than players ("push 'Y' now. Go here. Do that...) but maybe something who is call strategy (and tactics also) could be interesting to continu to use. Because "Go straight away, and nothing else" is not really somethiing interesting for PS2.

Maybe you can change the game in quad race? That would extremely "routing players"...

Be a little realistic please. Actually after one territory cap (anywhere) you have basically 3 or 4 possibility to continu mouving (quite hard to predict, even with "ennemy presence on the map"). So what ? Is it hard to play with that ?

The only problem I see here is Ghost Caps of some alone players in ESF who go every where they can to launch cap and don't stay in place. Because of that, players have to go at 6 or more place to cancel cap. So they have to go where nobody are cause of lonely players. Before make something like your "limited connectivity" stuff re-use what have been in Beta version of the game. If nobody is on a cap point more than 15s, cap point return to the base owner. Add also 2 points of cap in tech plant (even 1 more in small bases). That way players haven't to return def some ennemy-empty bases and can concentrate on more interesting objectives full of ennemies.

[Figment]

Just gonna leave this here.