CRPG is indeed dying.

[Grumbs]

It seems we have a paradox in CRPG. The game is too small to split people up with matchmaking systems but the reason the game can't grow is because people aren't split up with matchmaking systems and new players can't compete with the high skilled players.

This is kind of true and a big reason for the death of old school shooters like Quake or Unreal Tournament, but I think its different in team games with team balance. You don't really need to think of it in terms of 1v1 playing. It doesn't matter how bad you are when 50% of the time you will get carried by your team and still win regardless. Maybe your pride will suffer if you get beaten 1v1 all the time, but you don't ever have to 1v1, in fact its not very smart to 1v1 most of the time. Try to develop some blocking skills but mostly look at developing a sense of when you're strong and when you're weak, pressing advantages, retreating when the fight isn't in your team's favour, tactics, ganking, learning what the better players look like etc. You only need to have some kind of positive impact on your team's chance to win to contribute, you don't ever have to be good at 1v1ing imo

[Kafein]

This is kind of true and a big reason for the death of old school shooters like Quake or Unreal Tournament, but I think its different in team games with team balance. You don't really need to think of it in terms of 1v1 playing. It doesn't matter how bad you are when 50% of the time you will get carried by your team and still win regardless. Maybe your pride will suffer if you get beaten 1v1 all the time, but you don't ever have to 1v1, in fact its not very smart to 1v1 most of the time. Try to develop some blocking skills but mostly look at developing a sense of when you're strong and when you're weak, pressing advantages, retreating when the fight isn't in your team's favour, tactics, ganking, learning what the better players look like etc. You only need to have some kind of positive impact on your team's chance to win to contribute, you don't ever have to be good at 1v1ing imo

Actually I don't think team games are that much noob-friendly. It's very rare that in a team game you never have to do something "1v1". If you fail at every single of these "1v1" sub-games you are not going to have fun regardless of the final outcome. And if there aren't 1v1, then the game probably requires complex cooperation which a new player is going to be awful at. Winning doesn't mean it's fun.

[Grumbs]

Its rare to have real 1v1s in battle imo, unless both agree to fight that way. If you have a few team mates around you and a few enemies in the vicinity then its not really 1v1 even if you seem to be fighting 1v1 at the moment, its still a group fight because of target switching. If you can block a bit then your 1v1 can easily change into a 2v1 if you move a bit or help a team mate. All you need to learn is some blocking (easy with a shield) and some awareness

Also I don't think you have to "win" to enjoy cRPG. You can enjoy the challenge, enjoy seeing some improvements in how you play etc

[Molly]

Can't we just agree that the mod is in fact not dead and lock this thread?

[Breidr]

Can we at least make it so that players don't have to feed for 20 hours after retiring since looms are a key part of this game?  Ease the progression and make it not based on winning consecutive rounds in a public server (ie: multiplier) and  base it on something a little more tangible and less frustrating to the player.  I'm certain this would destroy a large number of "can't compete" complaints.

To a degree, new players are not going to be able to compete, this is just a fact of experience, and the game is not that conductive to matchmaking or other solutions.  One of the fundamental problems with the mod, at least in my eyes, is the "grind" and dominant game mode.  Low level, unloomed players, some lacking skill, are forced to die and watch others play for a large period of time while their little green bar fills up (slowly due to "random" multiplier).  Leeching does not generate commitment to the mod as I've heard others say.  "sticking it out" as a peasant isn't going to make the higher levels more enjoyable.  It's the same with other MMOs, really.  It all happens at endgame and the rest is just a time sink to get to the fun.

The lower levels need to be made more interesting, and less dependent on the random outcome on public servers.  Multiplier relies too heavily on winning consecutive rounds, and in order for one side to get a high multi, the other side has to sit at 1x.  This just sucks in my opinion.  Give me a reason to contribute and play other than "ticks," it doesn't generate enough reward, and commitment to playing, and frustrates people.  If it didn't, do you think they'd come to the forums?  NO!  They would be playing the damn game!

Give players a reason to play, and not leech while alt-tabbing to browse youtube and whatnot.  I killed someone, reward me for that.  I helped raise the flag, reward me for that. etc.  If that happens, I guarantee you'll see a lot of this disappear.  The problem is the current system feels too random to be fun for players.

I'd also prefer that the dominant game mode have re-spawns to keep players in the fight longer, but that's another issue.  The mod may not be in-fact dying, but I don't see it growing or retaining anyone but veterans under the current system.

[Penitent]

...are forced to die and watch others play for a large period of time while their little green bar fills up (slowly due to "random" multiplier

Give players a reason to play, and not leech while alt-tabbing to browse youtube and whatnot.

I'd also prefer that the dominant game mode have re-spawns to keep players in the fight longer...

Just play siege like me, noobs.  Problem solved.



BTW its all skill based.  I left the game many times and gave all my looms away.  I still do pretty well because I've played a while.  Starting a player at lv 20 or at lv 1 or even at lv 30 won't change anything.  If you start them with 10 looms or end the grind, it won't help.  They've got to put their time in like everyone else to not suck and feel useful.

At least when you start at lv 1 and suck you have an excuse -- and a hope.  "Don't worry if I'm a scrub now, once I get to lv 30 or get some looms or whatever, then I'll be good."  By the time they actually get lv 30 and/or retire a few times, they have acquired basic skills and don't suck as much.

If they start at lv 30 and have all looms already, just for example, they will still suck and get steamrolled because they are nubs.  And they will have no hope of leveling up or getting better gear, and will quit.


edit: also being low level is fun as hell, and lasts a short time.  On my last gen I got a lv 1 kill on someone with a rondel.  It is one of the highlights of my CRPG career.  If I never got to be lv 1, I would have never experienced this.
Poking knights with a pitchfork
throwing rock after rock after rock, glancing on everything
fleeing the enemy wearing nothing but a straw hat while spamming QQQ!  QQQ!
This is the essence of crpg.  Embrace it.

[Breidr]

Just play siege like me, noobs.  Problem solved.



BTW its all skill based.  I left the game many times and gave all my looms away.  I still do pretty well because I've played a while.  Starting a player at lv 20 or at lv 1 or even at lv 30 won't change anything.  If you start them with 10 looms or end the grind, it won't help.  They've got to put their time in like everyone else to not suck and feel useful.

At least when you start at lv 1 and suck you have an excuse -- and a hope.  "Don't worry if I'm a scrub now, once I get to lv 30 or get some looms or whatever, then I'll be good."  By the time they actually get lv 30 and/or retire a few times, they have acquired basic skills and don't suck as much.

If they start at lv 30 and have all looms already, just for example, they will still suck and get steamrolled because they are nubs.  And they will have no hope of leveling up or getting better gear, and will quit.


edit: also being low level is fun as hell, and lasts a short time.  On my last gen I got a lv 1 kill on someone with a rondel.  It is one of the highlights of my CRPG career.  If I never got to be lv 1, I would have never experienced this.
Poking knights with a pitchfork
throwing rock after rock after rock, glancing on everything
fleeing the enemy wearing nothing but a straw hat while spamming QQQ!  QQQ!
This is the essence of crpg.  Embrace it.

I'd love to, but NA siege is rarely populated and the outcome is largely determined by the map in most cases.

[Knife]

If anything, siege does indeed seem to be having these timelines where it has more players than battle. Which is a good thing, I especially like that conquest gamemode where you can't just run to that one flag. Instead, you need to take them in order, then defend and attack at the same time. Allows for more strategic gameplay without the need of strategus.

[Leshma]

Replace it with Union Jack.

[Phew]

Latest victim of shitstain mod.

Wait, what? Your banner looks like it could be one of the standard banners. Sure looks like medieval heraldry to me. Meanwhile, we've had guys running around with cartoon sperm, erections, etc. for years. Not that I care; the tweens like that kind of stuff, it's a game so who cares. I'd rather have anachronistic banners all over the place than empty servers.

Definitely some selective enforcement going on with the banner police.

[Tydeus]

Wait, what? Your banner looks like it could be one of the standard banners.
Definitely some selective enforcement going on with the banner police.

The only flaw with that banner, is that it's NOT a banner. That is, it doesn't use the actual banner texture at all. It's just a picture at the proper resolution. I'm sure that if he actually took that image and imposed the mandatory banner texture over the top, there would be nothing wrong with it (although the orange is a bit strong/vibrant and would therefore not match the color scheme.)

[MURDERTRON]

USE COMMON SENSE GUYS

[karasu]

What the hell, I read "use condom sense guys".

I need therapy. 

[Molly]

Guess cartoon semen isn't too vibrant?

[Kafein]

The only flaw with that banner, is that it's NOT a banner. That is, it doesn't use the actual banner texture at all. It's just a picture at the proper resolution. I'm sure that if he actually took that image and imposed the mandatory banner texture over the top, there would be nothing wrong with it (although the orange is a bit strong/vibrant and would therefore not match the color scheme.)

I'm sorry but that's just bullshit (or was your post ironic in some way ?), I'd wager a majority of exclusive banners do not contain even a trace of the banner texture. It sure is the case of the PP banner. There's also a very good reason I did not use the banner texture: it looks ridiculous on shields.