Food For Thought: Competitive Nexus

NewSith · 2013-10-24, 08:32 PM

All the following will be a read for players, and it is based on an assumption that Nexus can be coded separately from the mainstream game.

What it needs:

1. Spectator Modes
Spectator mode implies not just free observer cams for everyone but instead a full-fledged feature that allows huge amount of players to oversee a match. It is rumored that PS2 interactions are all server-side which doesn't make it so hard to create a non-glitchy observer mode. It also goes without saying that VOIP can be used to create several "commentator slots" which will be filled up by actual commentators with the help of match hosts. Above all else spectator mode should show EVERY player on the continental map (which is, once again easy if all the data is serverside), and should allow you to follow commentators' cams aswell as players'. The trickiest part of creating this feature is creating a proper UI to navigate through (supposedly) 96 players and several commentators perspectives.

2. Timers (and Game Mechanics Tied Into Them)
An actual UI and game designation of when a match starts and when it ends. Visible for everyone. It's up to others to decide whether they want 2-half (or best of three or whatever) matches, aswell as what match duration is, but:
a) Until the timer is 0, warpgates cannot be left.
b) Upon timer's start, negative countdown is initiated, every player gets teleported to his according warpgate spawns, all bases go into 3rd empire state (the one where it takes only half time to capture them, but without the ability to hack without a link)
c) Upon reaching a mark where timer starts propewrly a warpgate lockdown is lifted.

3. Experience Points Respecified
Now to the game itself. Current way it works is everyone is given 100k CP at the beginning of a match, which causes alot of room for abuse, or in particular - vehicle sharing abuse. What I propose is a system that's quite simple and somewhat resembles DOTA. Each participant, upon entering Nexus has his CP dropped to zero. However, CP gain rates are increased to an extreme, where you get 1CP for each 4XP. That would mean that a "pure" kill (100XP) will give you 25CP. Some would argue that farming is going to be way too fast, but I have a counter-argument. In any more or less competitive match, in a game of any genre, attrition is less gradual than in a scrub game (as in - either everyone is alive or everyone is dead, no "duckling effect"). Any competitive player will back my words, hell, even a fighting game player, where atrrition mostly touches healthbars (like when a game is typically over when 1 of two fighters gets himself caught without a block followed by him recieving a series of unbreakable combos).

Problems, Solutions and Notes:

Initial phase will almost always be extremely important, since SAMS will be unavailable at the start.
Vehicle Refitting is a must have with such change. It is obvious that dedicated pilots will go up into the sky, but after they get their certs, they'll just have to dump quite a significant amount of resources to refit their jet, if everything remains the way it is now.
I'm not sure how it works, but if a suicided player gives XP to a medic that rezed him, such effect should be removed to prevent abuse.
DCed players returning to the Island before a half/match ends should get their CP saved. That's an obvious thing here, I hope.

4. Resource Remap
One of the easiest things to adjust. All hexes should provide proper resource incomes, warpgates should provide basic incomes. I would also suggest changing the duration of a resource tick towards shorter. I'm not going to dive too much into specifics, since Nexus is not the only BI that's going to be created for that purpose.

5. Item Bans (Restrictions)
This is a butthurt-causing subject, but certain weapons should simply be prohibited in competitive matches. I'm not going to list them here, but instead I'd rather give you an outdated example - early hacksaws. In a competitive game revolving mostly around CQB, having an ES item that rapes everything in that niche is not a way to go. Of course you can ban everything ES in the game, but that's just going to make it blatantly generic, and I oppose that. The items can be put back later on, after revision or reconsideration, but such an aspect of competitive gaming is a must.

6. Level Design
WIP and all, but Nexus needs a lot more signature areas, forcing a specific type of play. I would suggest remaking the three central bases into 3 "arms" (from "combined arms") specific areas. One with points situated in extremely open areas, on higher grounds and without small cover for snipers and air to dominate, second being complete CQB with alot of tunnels leading from distant AMS hubs (the REAL hubs, the ones that can't be reached by ESFs and Libs) small cover and points completely protected against any vehicle intervension, and the third one being basically large open caves with large cover, allwoing ground vehicle combat, while restricting ESF combat inside them severely. Something very akin to tunnels in caves from PS1 if you remember them. Right now, all three bases, despite trying to follow the path I propose have notable issues, like that of mini-Techplant having good CQB fights, but having questionably low AMS longevity around it.
And as a separate subject I would like to point out that turrets are somewhat useless. This also translates into the mainstream game. Turrets are quite effective, while squishy, which balances their effectiveness, however the repair rate of those is unjustly low. It needs to be buffed at least for destroyed turrets.

PS And on a completely unrelated note:
Here's a mind blower - A zerg in current PS2 is not forming out of attackers ammasing on assaults, but it appears because defenders are abandoning oppositional fights...

kubacheski · 2013-10-24, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by NewSith

b) Upon timer's start, negative countdown is initiated, every player gets teleported to his according warpgate spawns, all bases go into 3rd empire state.

PS And on a completely unrelated note:
Here's a mind blower - A zerg in current PS2 is not forming out of attackers ammasing on assaults, but it appears because defenders are abandoning oppositional fights...

Why not have a 3 way match and instead of just 48v48, have it 48v48v48? Its not like theyre not balancing the game for 3 factions already. Its not like theyre not already the largest team structure for esports. Bases go neutral, not another empire.

And thats all a zerg ever has been. The problem is there was no reason before WDS to defend a base so everything was a lot zergy. And many defenders abandon a fight cause their empire's exp generating zerg is on another continent.

Maidere · 2013-10-25, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by kubacheski

Why not have a 3 way match and instead of just 48v48, have it 48v48v48? Its not like theyre not balancing the game for 3 factions already. Its not like theyre not already the largest team structure for esports. Bases go neutral, not another empire.

And thats all a zerg ever has been. The problem is there was no reason before WDS to defend a base so everything was a lot zergy. And many defenders abandon a fight cause their empire's exp generating zerg is on another continent.

Threeways are probably the least competitive thing you can ever imagine.
Not saying that the fact that SOE did very little to prevent the threeways doesnt make them a good thing.