Balance Mod - Second Iteration

B1
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1 May 2014 - 06:03 EDT
joshhhy: yeah true, you could place it on 2nd hive/t2 upgradeable. The balance part where it scales in, I'm not that great at.

RisingSun: that could work too, to compensate for removing advanced metabolize.
Killing blow or swipe hits of a marked marine could restore HP. "Marking/Parasiting" the target to get HP would be abit too easy imo.

edit: NVM, idea was shot down by bt-team. "it's a parasite"
rantology
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1 May 2014 - 11:30 EDT
I was totally for it and tried to convince people, B1 :(
B1
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1 May 2014 - 12:29 EDT
Thats cool, it's not really my idea anyway. Alittle more transparancy on discussions and who 'people' are would be nice, so it doesn't feel useless to contribute to feedback when you don't hear anything openly and why. If you don't want to discourage your communitys participation in the mod that is, talking about overall here not just this one post :)
rantology
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1 May 2014 - 12:51 EDT
Sure, the people in the conversation were myself, Grissi , Jekt and Wob. Grissi, Dragon and I are the 3 main sort of "deciders" for the mod I suppose, so in order to see a change go into the mod we need pretty much unanimous support from all 3 of us. In this case Grissi did not support the idea. I will see if those involved with the conversation would not mind it being posted publicly. This and most every other balance mod conversation take place in UWE's hosted Slack chatroom webservice.


I think it would also be appropriate to add to this post that, if anyone believes they are knowledgeable in game mechanics and have a passion for theory-crafting, you would be welcome to join the chatroom to participate in such conversations. Preferably premier or div1 level players, but exceptions are also made based on interest and game knowledge/ experience.
sublime
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1 May 2014 - 13:23 EDT
Why don't we just fix the parasite?

Make it last until you die (instead of disappearing almost immediately)
Make it visible from anywhere on the map (instead of disappearing at like 10 metres)

If you think that's OP just make it slow to update like in NS1.





Why don't we just get the Frenchies to update their NS1 mod again?
RisingSun
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1 May 2014 - 14:21 EDT

B1 says


RisingSun: that could work too, to compensate for removing advanced metabolize. Killing blow or swipe hits of a marked marine could restore HP. "Marking/Parasiting" the target to get HP would be abit too easy imo.

edit: NVM, idea was shot down by bt-team. "it's a parasite"




That is what i was thinking as well B1. Health on kill or on damage done by swipe. Even making it a small regen instead of a flat life gain would still make it beneficial in lower divs but give it that handicap to make it hard to abuse in combat in the upper ones.

The reason why i really like this idea is because as a div 2 fade i have problems coordinating with my fade partner. It would cut down on mic chatter and give us a easier means of focus fire.

Additionally when i thought about this ability, i was thinking one target per use and having it fall off the first target if it is reapplied.

I hope Grissi can jump on and explain why this doesn't work for him. I agree on not having fade skulk parasite clone, but with B1's idea mixed with a little bit of restrictions/gains can make it different enough to justify a separate move. I mean the argument can be made leap is at its core much like blink and no one has an issue there.
NotDragon
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1 May 2014 - 16:06 EDT
I'm going to post my thoughts on it since I also dont think that its a good fit for a T2 fade ability.

It is more interesting than the current 'advanced metabolize' seeing as how its a separate ability, however there are a couple reasons why I think it doesn't work well. Its quite similar to parasite which is nice as a skulk only thing, helps keep skulks important. But more importantly I don't think it would be all that useful for higher level teams and players. The fade is the one alien lifeform that should be reasonably difficult to master, especially for lower div players. I feel that this kind of ability may be too much of a skill floor increase for fades, and it doesn't offer much in terms of scaling with skill. Advanced metabolize can offer a good amount of skill vs reward, at least for its use midcombat.

Having it grant HP on swipe/kill is a very tricky balance to strike, to have it restore a meaningful amount while not being too strong.
rantology
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1 May 2014 - 18:56 EDT
Dragon updated CompMod for 265 compatibility, yay Dragon!

There are a few new changes in it as well:

Changes:
-Add ability to research 1 thing per hive instead of 1 thing globally (allows multiple simultaneous researches). The Lifeform Research button is now located on the hive(s).
-increase babbler research cost from 5 → 10 tres
-Babblers are now unhealable, reduced babbler HP to 5 (1 bullet soak only now, not 2)
-Increase gorge tunnel p-res cost from 2 → 3
-Umbra is now a homogenous flat 25% reduction across all weapons (previously had a 36% exception for Shotguns)
-Stab has had the movement impairing aspects removed since shadowstep is no longer in the game to compliment it. You cannot blink while casting it but you should be able to jump, and it no longer slows your momentum.


Fixes:
-When below 25 energy, if you press MovementSpecial to Metabolize, it will switch your weapon to #2slot and you will be unable to swipe
sublime
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1 May 2014 - 18:59 EDT
Wow guys how the living fuck is this a skilled move:

Fade #1 swipes marine
Fade #1 applies some markofeasymode on marine #1
Fade #2 swipes marine
Marine dies
Aliens didn't even have to buy scent of fear

REALLY HARD.


Also makes fast welding on marines essentially impossible
RisingSun
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1 May 2014 - 19:14 EDT

sublime says

Wow guys how the living fuck is this a skilled move:

Fade #1 swipes marine
Fade #1 applies some markofeasymode on marine #1
Fade #2 swipes marine
Marine dies
Aliens didn't even have to buy scent of fear

REALLY HARD.


Also makes fast welding on marines essentially impossible




Angry little b*st*rd aren't you.

The same could be said about parasite. If you have a better suggestion, I would love to hear it.

Problem is with your little scenario the fade magically knows where the marine is. Doesn't fade para when at range but instead goes in for the swipe. He applies the para on his way out while simulatniously dodging marine fire so his fade buddy can get TWO swipes for the kill. You assume too much and just come off as an angry troll.

Dragon on the other hand is sensible and I can understand his method of thinking. Being a lower division fade I did see this making my fading easier. I can appreciate in the higher dive it would just become a perm chore and not much benefit to the team at all, since it would be visible by the fade only. I still like the idea but can understand how it doesn't increase the fades difficulty. I do ask to please not make fading too punishing since everyone would one day like to be at the top level. =)

@Rant
Awesome changes. I can't wait to try this out. The metabolize thing was annoying.
Kaneh
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1 May 2014 - 21:55 EDT
suggestion - make umbra scale with biomass. its always been strong, maybe too strong, and it doesn't help with the whole regen+mucous+crag+umbra thing.

Once 2nd hive pops you get umbra and suddenly your fades and skulks and everything are 25% tougher.

something like 4% per biomass? at biomass 6 it's about equivalent and if you get 3 hives is just ends the game faster.
Virsoul
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2 May 2014 - 02:39 EDT
I think the triple babbler nerf was a bit much. With all of those changes, I would be surprised if it ever got used. I think one of those changes would have been adequate with further review.
herakles
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2 May 2014 - 08:34 EDT
Who gives a fuck if babblers are used? - totally noob shit

Remove hallucinations - totally noob shit
Remove Aura damage spotting - totally noob shit


make the gorge able to BH and lil bit faster

I gave simple explanations for each of my concerns.
herakles
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2 May 2014 - 08:35 EDT
Oh and remove the 60s no res shit in the hive. This is total fucking BS.
Cr4zy
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2 May 2014 - 12:38 EDT
So before you change anything else, there is a MAJOR exploit in the way arcs function right now.

If an arc has a target within range, while it charges up the shot, you can manually change the target after it selected the initial one. This allows you to now target any alien structure ON THE MAP as long as you have vision of it.

So as long as there is anything in the arc range, you can shoot to the other side of a map to kill a hive.

This should probably be fixed. It's amazingly hilarious, but DAMN.

Here's a video of just shooting from one side of kodiak to the other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjwFQmLJKzc
ryssk
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2 May 2014 - 14:17 EDT
Like i spöke with Wob, make the Jetpacks Möre efficient, right now they are utter shit cause of the cost and pres...
joshhhy
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2 May 2014 - 15:09 EDT
How are jetpacks shit? The maneuverability on them is insane right now. The trade off is less fuel so you can't be floater marine for 30 seconds.
sublime
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2 May 2014 - 15:23 EDT

RisingSun says

The same could be said about parasite. If you have a better suggestion, I would love to hear it.

Problem is with your little scenario the fade magically knows where the marine is. Doesn't fade para when at range but instead goes in for the swipe.





Parasite requires a skulk (a different lifeform) to aim, and is a far more profound change to the alien game than just making fade easier for baddies. It's a scouting tool.

Maybe I should clarify how NS1 parasite worked: you can see the marine from anywhere on the map until he dies BUT it updates infrequently - at something like once per second AND it's just a circle. This means you don't know exactly where the marine is OR whether he's reloading OR what gun he has (LIKE YOU DO NOW).

Parasite should be an effective scouting tool which allows aliens to avoid yo-yoing around the map simply reacting to everything the marines are doing.

Drifters took this role at launch when they had invisibility but that was inexplicably removed. Also, I think it's better to remove all this PVE shit and just make it PVP - which parasite most definitely IS.
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2 May 2014 - 15:23 EDT
You fucking prick
B1
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2 May 2014 - 16:09 EDT
rofl that arc play. yeah that def needs fixing, but all exploits/uninteded stuff are illegal anyway in ENSL and will be punished.
Cr4zy
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2 May 2014 - 19:08 EDT

B1 says

rofl that arc play. yeah that def needs fixing, but all exploits/uninteded stuff are illegal anyway in ENSL and will be punished.




True, but it's on a few pub servers where things aren't that well monitored :P
rantology
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2 May 2014 - 20:35 EDT
Dragon to the rescue, the bug should be fixed now.
Wob
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3 May 2014 - 09:04 EDT

joshhhy says

How are jetpacks shit? The maneuverability on them is insane right now. The trade off is less fuel so you can't be floater marine for 30 seconds.




READ: Cost and availability.

Too late game because W3/A3, Cat/Arc/SG spam is much better for the cost of AA, Proto, Jetpack research, Jetpacks themselves and the time taken to acquire that tech provides nothing until jetpacks are up themselves.

Jetpack 15pres is ridiculous for a non-recyclable item when 1 20pres sg can be so much more effective.
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3 May 2014 - 10:00 EDT
The pickup system could use some quality of life improvements :

- Not changing your current weapon to the welder when you pick it up.

- Same with mines.

Because it's always annoying to change to the welder when you don't want to. Especially when you are reloading.

- Automatically pick up the welder when you walk on it.

- Same with mines.

Because why wouldn't you want to pick them up? Also makes it possible to refresh a welder when it's on the same spot as a sg.

And to go with this, up the welder structure dps to be equal to the axe's one, so you don't have to drop your welder to axe an rt or something.
B1
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3 May 2014 - 11:22 EDT
completely agree with king_yo on these points, good changes.
rantology
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3 May 2014 - 11:31 EDT
I agree with those also, but making small QoL changes like that, do they really deserve to be in a comp mod? it would be just 1 more change separating this mod from vanilla. If we start making a lot of small QoL changes it would cause a lot of changelog-bloat and make the barrier of entry from vanilla just that much higher. It feels like things like this would turn compmod from being balance oriented, into being the game-play version of NS2+.

Just something to consider.
king_yo
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3 May 2014 - 17:34 EDT
I doubt much QoL changes are gonna happen in vanilla, so why not do it in the compmod?
Also QoL changes are not a problem when it comes to "compmod too different from vanilla", who is gonna complain about these? Hopefully, QoL changes might even make the compmod more appreciated by the pubscene, wich is a good thing.
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3 May 2014 - 18:22 EDT
Would definately want as much QoL changes in as quickly as possible, i think we're all pretty much given up for UWE to dish out features/changes, no matter how small they are, to this game.

Vanilla should at this point be considered as the first stage of gaming for NS2, if you want the proper experience you start playing compmod.

herakles
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3 May 2014 - 19:02 EDT
Are you serious with that come back?
These are amazing ideas, no competitive player would question those.
10 babblers is what we need.
What a joke.

And to add on that i would donate again to whoever codes those changes (dragon?)
Make it a real compmod, this is what we want, noone gives a fuck about babblers and pub games.
Vanilla? WE DONT GIVE A FUCK

I really have no beef against you, but since you have the power to change the game do it for real.
Most pub players love the ns2+ mod an,d the balance one.
They will follow because the game being balanced by the comp scene is obviously better.
MuteD
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4 May 2014 - 03:18 EDT
I don't really understand why changing the game from vanilla is such a big troll. If you think about it that we have already changed the game quite a lot(lifeform upgrades and alien comm stuff in general). Don't really see changing some basic mechanics to make more sense(welder pickup that is pure crap atm) would really make ppl that want to jump from pubs to comp scene not do so. The thing that would be too much of a change would be for example new weapons or new lifeforms.

UWE probably won't invest anymore time on this game anything else than making small skin updates and asking for money. So the question is do we really want to just stick to making minor adjustments to the numbers or do more quality of the game adjustments. My vote is for the quality of the game adjustments that might take the game a bit further away from vanilla.
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