Tactical Gamer and ETQW

[Aspie]

After an astonishingly long amount of hours spent in the beta so far, I decided to put together a series of suggestions and thoughts regarding ET:QW and the TG community. I hope to initiate discussion into the guidelines of TG play in this game and how we wish to approach this rather fast-paced game.

Fireteams
In BF, we force members to squad up, or face a boot courtesy of a kick script. I'm not sure if we should include a similar policy for ET:QW, especially since fireteams don't seem to have a real function at this point. Sure, you can issue orders with the radial menu, but that's about it. They exist primarily for organizational purposes. The devs have mentioned that they may enable in-game VOIP for fireteams only, in which case they would be far more practical. If this is the case for retail, we should certainly encourage fireteams, but they still won't be as significant as in the BF franchise, and I'm not sure if making membership in them mandatory will accomplish much.

Bunny hopping
Alright, this is a tough one. Taking bunny hopping out of ET:QW removes one of the gameplay mechanics. You can move a bit faster by strafe jumping, and bunny hopping in a firefight doesn't help unless you're strafe jumping to safety. As long as hit detection is improved, there really isn't a reason to punish for bunny hopping. Jumping foes are easy to hit, and suffer from decreased accuracy. Also, it seems to be a valid escape tactic, especially for the support-based classes. I am usually the first to denounce bunny hopping and its related antics, but in this game, prohibiting it significantly changes the gameplay. It's an intended feature, not an annoying way to dodge bullets.

Comm spam
The radio spam is already annoying me, so I suggest a policy of zero tolerance. People spamming "SSS!" and the like should receive a warning, and if they continue in any fashion, a quick boot. Repeat offenders should be banned. Radio spam is rude, disruptive, and incredibly irritating. TG should not tolerate such behavior.

TKing
It is very easy to kill teammates in this game. Grenades thrown before death will detonate, Stroybombs bounce everywhere, grenade launchers are impossible to control, and artillery (especially of the rocket variety) has a delayed firing timer and will continue to fire even after the target is destroyed. Friendlies will die, and they will die frequently. We should not remove players who unintentionally kill friendly targets, but an excess of incompetence-related kills should be answered with a warning. As in the BF series, players can choose to punish for TKs. As is the TG policy with such kills, players who punish for unintentional friendly fire should be warned regarding their behavior. Because it is quite easy to intentionally damage and kill teammates, we need to be vigilant about spotting such violations and acting on them. I've seen players running around damaging friendlies down to about 10 health, but the victims would often have trouble spotting their attackers. Everyone needs to remain watchful.

Vehicles
Ramming doesn't work, unless you're driving the Strogg Hog. It is designed to destroy other vehicles by ramming them, and is thus an intended game mechanic. TG should not discourage ramming kills with the Hog. As for general vehicle whoring, players who camp the heavy armor spawns, only to waste it every time, should receive a teamwork warning. Players using transport vehicles to mow down enemy infantry should not be tolerated. The transports are there to move troops, not to chase down foes to decorate windshields.

Spawn camping
Forward spawns are intended to be camped. Although doing so may cost the defense valuable numbers, it is a viable tactic. Players are invulnerable for a short period after spawning, and can protect their spawns with a variety of devices, from turrets to mines. However, camping main spawns should be discouraged. Because the spawns have shields, turrets, and artillery interceptors, direct threats are generally small. However, a tank waiting outside to pick off players as they run out of the spawn is a frequent sight on the beta servers. I'm not sure what position would best represent TG's view while upholding designer intentions, so we might want to see how it affects more organized gameplay once retail hits. At this point in the beta, air/orbital strikes still function in the enemy primary spawns. Because they can damage fresh vehicles within the spawn, I would discourage this tactic.

Misc
Flyer Drone spam, Third-Eye Camera suicide runs, Icarus whoring, etc. Some of these things are likely to change through the course of the beta, so I'm withholding comments for now.

That covers the major issues in ET:QW thus far. The game is a great fit for the TG style of play, but has a few quirks and is likely to be misunderstood by the BF/ArmA crowd. We should not police any potential ET servers we have as if it were a BF title. The game functions differently, and must be treated with the intentions of the developers in mind.

[Kilrogg]

ETQW isn't the kind of game that will be enhanced by most of the Battlefield 2 style TG rules, so I agree with most of this .

Bunny hopping is lame because the hit detection isn't very good, but since this is more of a Quake game than a realistic game, jumping is very much an intended mechanic.

[Relmar]

I would think if you tried to enforce BF style rules on this game you wouldn't have anyone playing.

[UnDeaD77]

Good write up man.

[VegaBond]

Yes very good write up, so I'm expecting a kinda large TG presence in ETQW?

[Red]

I have to try this game but from what I read above it might be hard to get a good TG game going in this game. But I guess we did it somehwat in 2142 so it could work as long as we have a lot of TG players in the game.

I just hope we get a mod that we can use at TG that reduces the "Quakeiness" of the whole game.

[kormendi]

Originally Posted by RedBane

I just hope we get a mod that we can use at TG that reduces the "Quakeiness" of the whole game.

Why do we always need to "mod" a game to make it fit what has become the TG mold when the game could simply be cast aside? It's not like there aren't plenty of other BF2 clones in the works.

Personally, I'd love to see this game find a home here, preferably without changing a thing (ok, I do realize, as with all games, a few tweaks here and there are often necessary). I know you guys love your BF2. I've played it, its a good game, but that doesn't mean that Quake Wars needs to emulate it to be fun nor does it need to emulate it to work within TG.

[johnflenaly]

After what you just explained Aspie I think I'll save my self a head ache and the fifty bucks.

[Aspie]

Originally Posted by RedBane

I have to try this game but from what I read above it might be hard to get a good TG game going in this game. But I guess we did it somehwat in 2142 so it could work as long as we have a lot of TG players in the game.

I just hope we get a mod that we can use at TG that reduces the "Quakeiness" of the whole game.

Oh, the feeling I get so far is that the game will be a great fit for the TG style of play. It may be fast, but good coordination is the key to a swift victory. Balancing the classes, helping out teammates, and finding weaknesses in the opposition all make a difference. Revives, heals, turrets, mines, radar, air strikes, and fire support are extremely important.

Even in the beta, where players are testing out a lot of features instead of focusing on the objectives, teams will often organize and push together. Because the objectives are more linear than the BF series, it's much easier to organize strangers into a tight defense or a relentless assault.

[Vulcan]

There's objectives and teamwork based classes, I don't see why it wouldn't be a good fit. Not realistic because it's a fictional based game but still has the right elements to be supported. The real question is will the development of the game allow for TG to strive in it? If it's drowned in the type of people that are a polar opposite of the TG'ers here then it probably won't be a good fit.

[Kilrogg]

Originally Posted by RedBane

I have to try this game but from what I read above it might be hard to get a good TG game going in this game. But I guess we did it somehwat in 2142 so it could work as long as we have a lot of TG players in the game.

I just hope we get a mod that we can use at TG that reduces the "Quakeiness" of the whole game.

Reducing the Quakeness makes the game pointless to play in the first place. Just because it's not like BF2 doesn't mean it's not good, it's just a different playstyle. This is not a game for the people who love the uber slow-paced gameplay of PR mod, so I don't expect it to have the same TG audience, but it's still very much a tactical, team-based game and I see no reason why it shouldn't be supported by TG in it's (mostly) original form.

The real question is will the development of the game allow for TG to strive in it? If it's drowned in the type of people that are a polar opposite of the TG'ers here then it probably won't be a good fit.

If you've played non-TG BF2 servers during BF2's golden days then I can't see how you'd think this is going to be worse

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Kilrogg

If you've played non-TG BF2 servers during BF2's golden days then I can't see how you'd think this is going to be worse

What exactly are you trying to say here?

[RGM-79N_GM_CUstom]

Truth be told I fail to see the problem with this game being arcade.

The only game worthy of the TG title are ArmA and Insurgency.

[TheFatKidDeath]

Any game, reagardless of the type, can be supported by TG. I believe there are enough players here to make Quake Wars successful and tons more waiting to play in a structured gaming environment with rules governing game play.

Go look back at the first BF 2142 forums and you will find dozens of threads and posts by members saying the game is terrible, they have no plans to play and don't see a chance of it catching on at TG especially with the requirement of a public server.

Yet look how many quality players and supporting members that game has brought to TG and how many of those members got hooked. There is no reason QW cannot do the same.

Additionally, this whole nonsense of a game being too "arcadey" drives me nuts. The first requirement at TG is not that the game is realistic but first and foremost players play together as a team and respect and play by the rules.

[RGM-79N_GM_CUstom]

^^^QFT. I also hope we can get a Left 4 Dead server.