I have no problem with sticking to vanilla. I see it as adding expansions to a game. Some people like the base game of Game X. I know a big part of Ryms objections are how to OBTAIN these items and it's a valid objection. What I think is a little unfair is knocking Valve for setting up the game as they have, It's clearly working and making money for them which means they did do something correctly.
*edit* I think it would be grossly unfair to make some items purchasable ONLY, which, to my limited knowledge, they have not done yet. At least giving you multiple ways of getting them is a plus.
Valve has made some items very hard to get unless you pay, though. In particular, the hats that are part of item sets are very difficult to obtain, with a ludicrous cost in crafting materials.
I do think some items improve the game, but perhaps we could restrict it to only allowing the items you get from the milestone achievements, because for the most part those are the only ones that really add to the game, and they also tend to be among the easiest items to obtain - they're the ones that tend to keep being dropped over and over.
Granted, I still think we'd have to make exceptions for the Sandman and Wrangler.
Wait... $37 for the gear?! I'd figure like $2 at most!
I meant for the whole collection. The Cow Mangler, the laser gun, the hat and the Mutton Chops. Whatever. Normally weapons have dropped to less than a dollar. Still, screw microtransactions.
Anyway, played a lot of spy today, and I think I'm getting better, unless the fucking engies are putting sentries right next to each other all the time with a ton of people around it.
I meant for the whole collection. The Cow Mangler, the laser gun, the hat and the Mutton Chops. Whatever. Normally weapons have dropped to less than a dollar. Still, screw microtransactions.
Yes, I also meant $2 for the whole set... there is NOTHING MICRO about $37
Valve has made some items very hard to get unless you pay, though. In particular, the hats that are part of item sets are very difficult to obtain, with a ludicrous cost in crafting materials.
So long as the hard to get stuff has no more functional difference. If it's a hat? Yeah, it might be fun to look at but that doesn't impact anything like the difference between the Huntsman and the standard sniper rifle.
Some of those set bonuses are pretty huge, though. Quieter decloak on the spy, +25 health on the Scout, and in particular +10% movement speed on the Pyro - making you faster than a medic - is quite a large impact indeed, and you can't have it without the relevant hat. That's complete bullshit.
Admittedly, I hadn't looked until after my post (still looking now, actually) so I am beginning to agree with you. But I don't think it's THAT huge. I'm basically just trying to somewhat defend the item system a lil bit. I honestly don't think it's as bad as anyone is saying and it's totally moot considering there is a "Well, fuck this shit" option available.
Hats are ridiculously expensive to craft. 4x refined metal + a craftable weapon, or a total of 25 dropped duplicate weapons (19 if you have the class specific weapon for the hat), is absolutely insane.
Hats are ridiculously expensive to craft. 4x refined metal + a craftable weapon, or a total of 25 dropped duplicate weapons (19 if you have the class specific weapon for the hat), is absolutely insane.
It's actually 73 weapons in total. 72 weapons -> 36 scrap metal -> 12 reclaimed metal -> 4 refined metal, plus the extra weapon from the set you want.
I've been told by some that they consider it a waste of a black box. I'm honestly not that impressed with it, but I find it easier than the normal rocket launchers.
I've been told by some that they consider it a waste of a black box. I'm honestly not that impressed with it, but I find it easier than the normal rocket launchers.
I kinda like it, from the small play about with it I've had. And considering I never used the black box before, it wasn't a worry for me about getting rid of it.
I've been told by some that they consider it a waste of a black box.
Like almost all the extra weapons, it depends on play style and situation. In arena, the black box is great for the healing. I've not tried the new zappy zap since I don't have it yet but I imagine it'll help break the piss out of turtles. A welcome addition, IMO.
The layzar guns look nice, but I'm concerned about the effect their particle effects will have on crowded servers. I got some wicked lag when there were about four or five bolts flying around.
The layzar guns look nice, but I'm concerned about the effect their particle effects will have on crowded servers. I got some wicked lag when there were about four or five bolts flying around.
I frequent a 32 man server, and there was indeed some noticeable lag.
People, when you are voting for the next map take into account the number of people currently on the server. A 4v4 CTF_Well game isn't going to good. Also if the map sucks, type rtv into the chat so we can change it.
On the topic of rocket launchers, I'd say the normal one is the best overall, albeit perhaps the hardest to use. The black box is nice when you don't have any real source of healing, e.g. on Arena maps, but otherwise that fourth rocket is a lot to give up.
With arenas being the exception, I hate it when maps have less than a total of 16 people. It just plain loses it's intensity, especially if it's a really open map like 5 Gorge or Badwater Basin. It definitely forces you to change to compensate for the team.
I think the game starts to be pretty decent at around 5v5, but it is indeed true that you can't just pick whatever class you like. You've got to be willing to play what your team needs.
I don't like to go much above 16 players, though, especially when there's too many newbies, because the more of them there are the worse the teamwork will be.
Man, i lost my shit just last night on some public server, when my team was just about to capture the final capture point and i ubered some soldier in order to pave the way through and the dude just stands there and shoot rockets! Of course the other team comes up with heavies and the charge was broken. I dont normally use my mic or even shout into it, but i really was so annoyed at that point
Man, i lost my shit just last night on some public server, when my team was just about to capture the final capture point and i ubered some soldier in order to pave the way through and the dude just stands there and shoot rockets! Of course the other team comes up with heavies and the charge was broken. I dont normally use my mic or even shout into it, but i really was so annoyed at that point
Next time, try using the "Go! Go! Go!" voice command. If he ignores what you're trying to do (a lot of people either don't know, or don't care, about what they're supposed to do during an Uber), find someone else.
There have been times when I've broken away from a healing target in the middle of major offensive pushes to find someone who actually needed help or was going to use my Uber effectively because they were more interested in camping a point that wasn't even going to be the enemy's target for another few minutes.
I experimented with the Cow Mangler 5000 a little today. It's basically the same as a normal rocket launcher, but with a 5-rocket clip, a changed dynamic vs buildings and the charged shot, as well as not having random crits.
It does pretty much no damage to buildings (one fifth of the normal damage), but the charged shot disables them, so it works well with a team effort. Alternatively, you can disable the buildings with a charged shot, and then run in and shotgun them before they re-enable.
Overall, the charged shot is very specific in purpose, because it barely does the damage of two rockets in the time it would take you to fire four, leaving you nigh immobile for the duration. However, it is useful at long range, because it deals mini-crit damage and so is not subject to the 50% damage reduction due to range.
When I was using it on the server I was just doing lots of charged shots for the lulz and was failing, but it would definitely work well when used the way you would the normal rocket launcher. If you use it that way and don't bother with the charged shot except at long range or against buildings, it's better because of the larger clip, and so it's an overall upgrade and hence takes the crown away from the normal rocket launcher as the best overall soldier primary weapon; you just need team support or your shotgun for taking out buildings rather than the usual approach.
EDIT: Some are saying that there is a reduced blast radius on the Cow Mangler. If this is the case, then there's more of a tradeoff involved.
I can see the Cow Mangler working well with a Pyro and his Homewrecker. Disable the Sentry from afar and have the Pyro round the corner and smash the thing to bits. Other than that, the Cow Mangler hasn't really impressed me so far. I find a Soldier with a Black Box or a Liberty Launcher much more dangerous.
The normal rocket launcher is better than either the Black Box (unless you somehow don't have a medic on your team) or Liberty Launcher because of the fourth rocket, and better than the Direct Hit because of the much bigger splash radius. Similarly, the 5th rocket on the Cow Mangler is a solid advantage over the other weapons, though each rocket does 10% less damage. If it turns out the splash radius is lower, that will change the situation a little, though.
I just topped the scoreboard on a map of Junction by a pretty big margin, spending most of my time as soldier. What I did is I used the normal rocket launcher to attack, and the Cow Mangler to defend.
On the whole, the Cow Mangler is not as great when attacking, because you really need to be able to hurt buildings on the attack. Having one is still useful, if you can either attack as a team, or if the soldier can sneak up on the sentry and disable + shotgun it to death. However, it shines on defense, because the mini-crit on the charged shot makes it pretty much an artillery weapon, unlike the rather mediocre damage of standard rockets at long range. Plus, as the defending team you typically don't have to worry about killing buildings.
It's also very amusing to snipe a sniper with the charged shot.
Comments
*edit* I think it would be grossly unfair to make some items purchasable ONLY, which, to my limited knowledge, they have not done yet. At least giving you multiple ways of getting them is a plus.
I do think some items improve the game, but perhaps we could restrict it to only allowing the items you get from the milestone achievements, because for the most part those are the only ones that really add to the game, and they also tend to be among the easiest items to obtain - they're the ones that tend to keep being dropped over and over.
Granted, I still think we'd have to make exceptions for the Sandman and Wrangler.
Anyway, played a lot of spy today, and I think I'm getting better, unless the fucking engies are putting sentries right next to each other all the time with a ton of people around it.
72 weapons -> 36 scrap metal -> 12 reclaimed metal -> 4 refined metal, plus the extra weapon from the set you want.
This has been a public service announcement.
I don't like to go much above 16 players, though, especially when there's too many newbies, because the more of them there are the worse the teamwork will be.
There have been times when I've broken away from a healing target in the middle of major offensive pushes to find someone who actually needed help or was going to use my Uber effectively because they were more interested in camping a point that wasn't even going to be the enemy's target for another few minutes.
It does pretty much no damage to buildings (one fifth of the normal damage), but the charged shot disables them, so it works well with a team effort. Alternatively, you can disable the buildings with a charged shot, and then run in and shotgun them before they re-enable.
Overall, the charged shot is very specific in purpose, because it barely does the damage of two rockets in the time it would take you to fire four, leaving you nigh immobile for the duration. However, it is useful at long range, because it deals mini-crit damage and so is not subject to the 50% damage reduction due to range.
When I was using it on the server I was just doing lots of charged shots for the lulz and was failing, but it would definitely work well when used the way you would the normal rocket launcher. If you use it that way and don't bother with the charged shot except at long range or against buildings, it's better because of the larger clip, and so it's an overall upgrade and hence takes the crown away from the normal rocket launcher as the best overall soldier primary weapon; you just need team support or your shotgun for taking out buildings rather than the usual approach.
EDIT: Some are saying that there is a reduced blast radius on the Cow Mangler. If this is the case, then there's more of a tradeoff involved.
I just topped the scoreboard on a map of Junction by a pretty big margin, spending most of my time as soldier. What I did is I used the normal rocket launcher to attack, and the Cow Mangler to defend.
On the whole, the Cow Mangler is not as great when attacking, because you really need to be able to hurt buildings on the attack. Having one is still useful, if you can either attack as a team, or if the soldier can sneak up on the sentry and disable + shotgun it to death. However, it shines on defense, because the mini-crit on the charged shot makes it pretty much an artillery weapon, unlike the rather mediocre damage of standard rockets at long range. Plus, as the defending team you typically don't have to worry about killing buildings.
It's also very amusing to snipe a sniper with the charged shot.
Overall, it's all about that 5th rocket, though.