Why K:D, Deaths, streaks and other stats are bad, and how PS2 can evolve the genre - Page 30

Novice bot · 2012-07-23, 07:58 AM

Players already have too much incentives to just go to the major battles. The good thing about K/D is that it encourages fighting at the smaller hubs, not just at the major points of interest. If things like Score Per Hour are implemented, the same plague happens that contaminated Tribes; Ascend. In T:A, the Capture the Flag mode is pretty much "generator destruction" on public games (where the masses play) simply because its easier to accommodate a higher score/hour ratio, which equals more exp and faster unlocks.

I seriously want to see fighting also at the outposts and other small hubs, not just the major locations of fighting. And it'll be a pain if too many incentives are given for large hubs, thus leaving all the less significant locations empty.

Kran De Loy · 2012-07-23, 08:09 AM

I agree with OP - HOWEVER
However K/D is so prevelent in the FPS genre that getting rid of it (removing Deaths from showing on the counter) will cause lots of people to bitch about it so I disagree about removing it. It's gonna stay.

That said, the part about making Score the most 'in your face' stat is a great idea, just have K/D as another stat listed just off to the side somewhere.

For example I see something like this:

SCORE: 9,999
It's OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!

Overall Objectives: #####
-Captures: ####
-Defences: ####
Kills: ####
-Headshots: ###
-Assists: ####
Repairs: ###
Heals: ###

Then mouse over Kills: #### score and it will tell you the K/D of the player. Click on it and it will break down the kills and deaths into empire factions.

diLLa · 2012-07-23, 08:25 AM

Can't we all decide for ourselves which stats we deem important?

soulsurfsublime · 2012-07-23, 08:33 AM

I am a Infiltrator at heart and I love recon, sabotage, and subterfuge. I prefer a knife and pistol over a long range rifle. I love to play the objective and be the eyes and forward scout of my outfit. You could take the death stat away and I wouldn't care one way or the other. I agree with the OP. But take it easy on the stereotypes on the infiltrator class. Not everyone plays it thinking they are a one man army, assassin, or Vassili Zaitsev.

I don't think they will ever remove it or that any modern FPS will not have it. I stated my feelings earlier but kept reading about how the snipers are going to camp for k/d. Not trying to hijack, just raise up for all the inf out there that actually play it as a support class!

leecH · 2012-07-23, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by diLLa

Can't we all decide for ourselves which stats we deem important?

like.. using common sense.. ?

woah woah woah... imagine if...

Broadside · 2012-07-23, 09:17 AM

I like my K/D because I like to see how efficient I am at my job, so even if it isn't accessible in game I would at least like to see it on the stat tracking website.

Accuser · 2012-07-23, 09:29 AM

2 options:
1. List Kills and Deaths... but not K/D. People can calculate it, but it's not a tracked stat.
2. Allow people to disable the tracking of deaths on their account. People that like K/D can watch it, people that don't won't be judged on it.

SavageB · 2012-07-23, 09:45 AM

I like my stats....That is all.

DSxGIIR · 2012-07-23, 09:53 AM

I think K/D makes players want to become more of a better gamer. I mean you have to look at it this why planetside 2 is going to be a competitive game and people want to see if their improving in game. At least have a reason to become better at a game than just shooting willy nilly.

Kezz · 2012-07-23, 10:22 AM

What you promote matters.

Having K/D anywhere prominent, when the FPS crowd are expecting to find it will do nothing at all to promote the thing that will make PS2 different from previous FPS games: broad scale teamwork. Score should be rammed down peoples' throats til they get the idea that this is a different kind of game.

maradine · 2012-07-23, 10:57 AM

I've refined and tl;dr'd my earlier position into "Track Every Thing". Record every useful and useless bit of data, expose the API, and let the community decide what's important.

Realistically, KDR isn't going anywhere without a mass revolt. This thread is decent evidence that the community wants a number of different things. So track 'em all.

Eyeklops · 2012-07-23, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by Malorn

Wow that was one hell of a necro....

You can find it, but it doesn't have to be prominent in the game. It can be buried somewhere. It doesn't have to have a leaderboard promoting it either.

Information is OK, but which information is prominent must be carefully considered.

Yea, I lol'ed on the necro.

On topic, I disagree. I think that K/D should be prominently displayed right above the nametag on the 3D hud for all to see.

SirDart · 2012-07-23, 11:48 AM

While I totally agree that K/D has nothing to do with bragging rights, and score is a much better measurement. I think it would do a disservice to not track Kills and Deaths, but it would need to be tracked for overall time played, and per class/vehicle/aircraft. What I mean here is when I saw Matt Higby showed in one of the early videos about how many stats were tracked, you could compare nearly any stat against another stat, and discover if you were improving in a class, or perhaps you tried a tactic one day, and found that a different tactic worked better for you and your team (to keep teammates alive, make better progress on mission accomplishments, etc...).

It might be nice to have people who love statistics, be able to gather up an outfit's statistics to see overall how it is improving, and perhaps see that the Friday night wasn't half as successful as Thursday night (too many players in drunk ops?).

I'm not suggesting that K/D has any meaning as an individual stat, but when taken into account over time, it could provide more insight to how a groups tactics are developing. Also, it would be best to collect all stats, so you could find out how many revives were made in an evening, how many points repaired, etc...

All stats can have meaning, and believe me when I say there are some nerds out there that would love to mine it for all its worth.

AzureWatcher · 2012-07-23, 12:00 PM

I love my KDR. I love my score per minute. I love knowing how many people of each faction I've killed with a particular weapon. I like knowing how many times I've crashed in a Scythe.

Don't judge me. I love my stats. I also think that KDR is important in any game, FPS or otherwise. Kill/Death Ratio should be easily accessible along with score per minute. None should be made more "prominent" than the other. Because, you know, it is possible to care about teamwork -and- your KDR at the same time. It's not impossible and there are people who do care about both.

There are even some people who only care about KDR. Why does that matter to you? Let him care about it. He's not affecting you. And his presence isn't hurting your teamwork either. He's killing the enemy and that is the main objective of the game because a dead soldier is a soldier that cannot compete for a territory. He's just doing service to his empire in a very efficient and solitary manner is all. Let him track his stat of choice so he knows how well he's doing!

XxAxMayxX · 2012-07-23, 12:23 PM

I don't think this will ruin any curtain feals it will just give the nnobs something to look foreward 2 us more experienced players will just look at it as bragging points and maybe something to work for when you're outfit isn't around.

You do have very good concerns though but I think they will be solved in beta when we get our hands on the game, to see if it's noticeable