MY WALL1st I'm an archer (and a newbie at that.) I normally keep my mouth shut, but chadz's poll post promted me to voice my opinions.
I like this game (yes I said game.) I think this is a great mod and really needs no improvement (we need to learn to play it as is.) It seems everybody here wants to argue and petition for their class to be buffed. In my view it looks as though k/d ratio is all anyone cares about...heck with personal satisfaction from teamwork/teamwins. They want to be able to say "look at me I'm top of the charts and I demand greatness and respect."
ARCHERI am a dedicated archer, I enter the battle expecting death. An archer's job is support, inf job is to initially protect the archer, release as the archer falls back, and finally engage the enemy. I try to do my job. Kills are nice but my number one goal in battle is to put down the horses and then put 1 arrow in each enemy player; in siege it is to keep as many enemy archers focused on me as possible while others storm the castle or wound as many enemy players as possible while they storm. I also believe when inf are engaged in melee I should provide support if the opportunity arises. I'm not looking for a kill, just trying to make it easier for the melee player. To all who complain about damage from archers...thank you we are doing our job.
A good example of inf protection would be Goretooth, I watched him play with another ATS member (dedicated archer?) While he protected her she was wearing the enemy out. She was wounding people in their bathroom, basement, and bedroom. The biggest part...she lived!!!
I believe the main problems with the archer class are a community problem and not a mod problem. Until the community learns to play better as a team the archer will be underpowered/underused/underappreciated. If only inf knew how many kills they get due to an archer!!! With two exceptions I can think of, the archer is balanced. The two exceptions???
1. The hitbox. I am watching my arrows go through heads. Sometimes I hit them in the head and the arrow sticks in their arm??? Yesterday a horse charged me reared and stopped about 10 feet short. I was at full draw and fired. I watched my arrow pass through the horses head and exit out its @$$. The rider then immediatly stabbed me in the face with a lance and I died. The misses were so often that I got frustrated (yea, I even cussed out loud a little) and went to siege, in siege I was hitting over 50% of the time, though I still witnessed some pass throughs (standing right behind a guy.) P.S. a hit to the neck should also be deadly.
2. release time. I draw my bow as a melee guy charges me, at 20 feet I release, he then splits my skull wide open and my arrow falls harmlessly to the ground. Draw time is close to real life, when you take into account target aquisition, but release time shouldn't take so long. I don't notice this delay when dueling other archers...maybe its just me learning.
p.s. English longbows led to the death of fully armoured knights.
INFANTRYI think infantry seems balanced to me. My only complaint with them would be that every one seems to move as fast as everyone else. There should be a obvious difference between Usain Bolt and
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/fattest-athlete-in-the-world.html I have 15 agi and 3 athletics, I am constantly being ran down by tincans wearing 50lbs or armor and weapons...not only that, they also outmaneuver me somehow. I wear only the original peasant suit (but that is about to change : ) ) p.s. yes I do run. When my effectiveness as an archer is up it then becomes my job to distract the enemy. If I can get several greedy enemy chasing me for the easy kill (I carry no melee) I've given my team an advantage. I try to get 3 or more after me and then turn into them hoping their greed causes them toTK (some Inf seem to think this game is all about them.)
Does it make you mad that I run??? Fine I won't run under some conditions: You put down your melee and while you search for a bow to pick up, so that we can battle on even terms, I will repeatedly attempt to shoot you in the back with the help of 3 of my teammates. Sound fair? I'm not asking anything of you, you are not asking of me. By the way I don't delay...if it is near the end I will find a weapon or walk to the most deserving person and allow them to kill me. As I said before I expect death, I'm simply a distraction, but I also don't run and hide...in game I am typically in front of the melee bringing it home for all of about 15 seconds : ). A lesson to you infantry...fear my stupidity.
CALVARYOP yes, and they should be in certain circumstances!!!!!!! (mainly the initial charge.) I mean come on it is a horse. I played a whole map series one time where Noobie killed me each round, before I hardly left spawn or got an arrow out of my quiver (maybe we need self loaded or semi-automatic bows.) The last round Noobie got killed early, I got 2 kills and several woundings, and then lived about 20 secs : ) Noobie was doing his job. If his horse was OP, we both should have known it, I should have taken up position or figured out another strategy to avoid his charge...thats the game. If a horse lancer, no matter how weak, lances me in the head; I should die. Now if a horse simply runs into me and I die, that's crazy...you wouldn't die if a car hit you at 20 mph.
What does frustrate me about horses though is:
1. The sneak attack. I listen for them but many times they sneak up and split my head wide open. The ground tastes my brains before I even know they are loose.
2. The insane manueverability (both horse and rider.) These things turn on a dime. One time the guy rode by me couched, I side stepped, as he passed me he immediatly swung his lance through his horse's head (that must have hurt), and firmly planted it in my ear.
3. The fact that they can lance me and three of my friends in a matter of seconds. A lance was generally a one time use only weapon. It would be nice if after they split me they would have to ride back to spawn and retrieve a new lance from the baggage/inventory..and then they would only get maybe 3 per round. Maybe after one lance kill they should be relegated to using their sword (on or off horseback, their choice.) Why don't we stick on the end of the lance? I would like to see the calvary riding around with me, a 6'2" 250 man stuck on his lance. The lance should break and be left in me!!!
4. The hitboxes seem huge. Just point the lance in the general direction and bam; head shot.
5. HA OP? I'm not sure. It seems a lot of skill is involved here. Maybe they have a large hitbox but I dont know. They wouldn't be as effective if I was doing my job and making them footarchers. Then again I could do my job better with some protection from INF??? Where does the blame end??? Manueverability may be a problem here...don't know
6. Speed, man these things are amazingly fast even the armoured ones. Part of the game. Straight line speed doesn't bother me, but turn radius and acceleration...WOW!!!
7. When a horse dies shouldn't there be a higher than regular upkeep fee to replace the dead animal...is there a way to track this.
GENERAL MUSINGS : )
1. TK...I don't believe their should be a TK penalty (even in the k/d scorecard.) If you are TKing people you should be asked for an explanation and based upon that banned (perma as needed.)
I do TW and TK on accident, from my own negligence, from time to time. I can not tell you how many times I TW or TK but it is not my fault 85%-90% of the time...some moron walks in front of me at full draw as I release, some @$$ kicks me and causes me to doubletap (I play on a laptop mousepad-no mouse) and a wild arrow flies off, I'm shooting down a hall and someone walks into the path, etc. A lot of my TW/TK are because of the other players greed. I say sry when it is my fault and sometimes when it is not (although it brings attention to your character.) I TK today and still feel bad; he was unarmoured and being attacked, I would have never took the desperate shot if he was armoured, but I was trying to save him. I did apologize and did avenge his death.
2. Leeching nominations. I've been accused a few times. I've never leeched, and only once went to get a drink between rounds and was kicked. Last night I had just shot a horse and watched melee mob the poor guy. It was over in seconds and immediatly my screen went red saying some Dracul guy nominated me and push M. Leeching??? I just shot a horse and I think my k/d was like 15/5; a lot of work for a leecher. I don't think there should be a reward for reporting but definitly a penalty for false reporting (if M is pushed.) 30 seconds is fine but I still panicked at losing my multilier and almost screwed it up.
3.DTV has become really tough, why not full xp/gold
4. No gold for kills please, greed will only get worse. If this is implemented then a system to track archer wounds and horse kills, while the horse is mounted, needs to be put in place.
5. Plains maps are the most balanced...its our teamwork that isn't.
6. Cav may be a bit OP...track it by looking at who is the last man/men standing in battle. Recently it seems to always be a cav player seemingly delaying. This may be because they lay back and enter the battle after assessing where they are needed. IDK
7. Seems the heavy hitters like to lay back and allow the rabble to pummel and weaken each other before attacking.
8. How come siege stats don't show on the stat page?
9. Gotta get used to these maps, I walked off the wall twice last night thinking there were steps there (twice at the same place. lol) Let me die and learn, why penalize me as a TK.
10. This is a free mod and a lot of people have put a lot of work into it...STOP WHINING about everything and show some appreciation. I would have walked away from it a long time ago if I had to deal with all this crybaby behavior. If you know something is OP then make a strategy to overcome it (hiding and waiting for easy kills seems to be popular.)
JMHO
